1/2006 - I will never forget Al Michael's call in the
final moment of the US vs. Soviet Union Olympic Hockey Game in 1980. The
winter Olympics were being held in Lake Placid, New York. In an
earlier exhibition game, the Soviet National team had crushed the US Olympic
Team by a
score of 10-3. In 1979, the US professional hockey all-stars had also been soundly
defeated by the Soviet team by a 6-0 score. This set the stage for the
greatest upset in sports history. So when the US amateur team faced the
Soviet National team in the Olympic medal round, the worst was expected.
However, through tough gritty play, the US amateur hockey team went on to
defeated the Soviet National team by a score of 4-3. The US team went on to
win a gold metal.
It's tough being the underdog and playing in front of the home town
crowd. Well the 20-year old, home town boy, Arkady Naiditsch, the Wizard of Dortmund, pulled off the upset
of the year. What makes this upset special, is that he was the the lowest seed in the tournament of
10 top players. 176 rating points separated Naiditsch from the top seed
Veselin Topalov. Dortmund 2005 was a category 19 tournament, consisting of 6
top ten players, namely Veselin Topalov, Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Leko,
Michael Adams, Entienne Bacrot, and Peter Svidler.
Arkady took first place with 3 wins, one loss, and 5 draws.
His only loss was to future FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov. Arkady
triumphed over Peter Leko, Emil Sutovsky, and Peter Heine Nielsen. Later on
in 2005, Arkady proved that Dortmund was no fluke. He won the Dutch rapid
open ahead of a field consisting of Loek Van Wely, Yassar Sierawan, and Jan
Timman. As of the this reporting, Arkady is rated 2657 and is the 46th
highest player in the world. He is clearly a player on the rise.
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