1)
Top Talent does not play in it
2)
Blitz and luck have too much impact in the final outcome
3)
The process is over too quickly. In 2 month the process is all
over. Sometimes you don’t recognize the winner’s name. If you do, you
don’t know how he got there.
4)
Destroys rich tradition of world championship being
decided by the man who beat the man who beat the man.
5)
You don’t always get a world champion caliber player. Also you
have this unanswered question, could he/she have beaten Kramnik or
Kasparov. This only devaluates the chess crown jewel.
6)
If you do get a world champion caliber player, like Anand, you deny
him greatness by not having a showdown against the current champion. He
did not get the opportunity to get measured by the yardstick that was
created by all the great champs of the past.
7)
The final 8 game match is too short to be worthy of a world
championship match.
Ponomoriov track record as a champion is far from impressive. Poor results in Linares and Corus. My feeling he is not quite
ready to be a champion, but at 19 he has many years to prove he is worthy.
Bobby Fischer was 29 when he took the title. However Bobby went through the
character building candidates process.
Kasparov went on to
dominant the chess world for 20 years. He successfully defended his title
5 more times, finally losing it to Kramnik in 2000. Kasparov is still the number
one player in the world.
Which one of these two systems has value? I think it
is obvious. I don’t think you can call Ponomoriov a World Champion, at
least not yet. FIDE should not deny him this great honor. It is obvious
that the FIDE knockout process is not worthy of World Champion Selection.
With the old system, a three year process, you had
time to showcase your talent. Once the 8 finalists were identified, there
was time to focus on them. You want these 8 to be your best. You showcase the talent by spreading the candidate matches
out. Give the media time to report on the matches. Give the fans something
to look forward to. Allow the fans time to get know these challengers. Then when you
get to the world championship match, you know you have a great champion
and a worth challenger. You feel good about the match up, knowing the
challenger and his struggle to get there.
I have
never seen a book about a FIDE Knockout World Championship. It’s almost
like it never happened. I see
a book on the last man
who beat the man who beat the man contest. You can buy Kasparov vs.
Kramnik, the Brain Game Championship in bookstores today, three years
after it happened.
I think that Kramnik vs. Leko is having the same
problem. No time to showcase the challenger. Who is Peter Leko? How did
he win the right to play Kramnik? For
those who don’t know, he won the 2002 Dortmund Tournament. He did not
have to play three candidate matches.
Also Kramnik did not go through a character building candidate process
as well. He was chosen to play Kasparov in 2000. Kramnik defeated Kasparov
by a score of 2 wins 13 draws to become the 14th World
Champion.
There is no question that FIDE KO events are exciting
tournaments, but they are unworthy of world championship selection.
-hg
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