Gata Kamsky

[Jonas Grumby]

Has anyone noticed the renascence of Gata Kamsky? First he's mysteriously invited to the Mtel Masters tournament, where he finishes 2nd behind Topalov by half a point, and ahead of Anand, Svidler, Bacrot and Ponomariov.

Then he jets to Torino a day after that, and after playing four rounds he's at 3.5/4.0 (http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/archives/turin_06_tutu.htm).

I guess Rustam finally went away.

[GosuJohn]

Ive noticed his coming back to play from the ICC and his participation in some not top level tournaments in the past year or two, but didnt know about him playing against people like anand.

[Shaft]

Ive noticed his coming back to play from the ICC and his participation in some not top level tournaments in the past year or two, but didnt know about him playing against people like anand.He never left the ICC - when he retired from professional chess, he continued to play Blitz on the ICC server. Gata studied medicine and law, and them returned to professional chess. Rustam is still very much around, but i think Gata is his own man now.

There is no mystery as to why he was invited to play in the MTel Masters. His active rating at the time the invitations were determined was >2700. it dropped off due a few mixed results, but he's likely to return to at least 2685+ shortly. He more than justified his invitation (see the results). One very nice moment was the neat save against Ponomariov in round 1 when he played 48... h6! - and the game soon ended in a draw. (He could have played ...h6 a move earlier but neat none the less.) He does have problems with Topalov though. (who doesn't?)

He keeps some of the old habits.... he does not do post mortems - even with the likes of Topalov and Anand and Svidler. And shortly after completing his game he can usually be found on ICC kibbing or blitzing.

I love to see him back, playing at the highest level, and especially as he has made it a habit now to beat Anand when he plays him. It also looks like he has started to work on his openings (which was a really big problem when he returned to professional chess). He produced a few novelties in the Ruy Lopez in the MTel Masters. He also plays games through to the bitter end, so his motivation is still there, and I really admire that.

Go Gata Go !!

(Chess trivia question - where was Gata born? And don't use the inetrent to search for the answer...)

[1695814]

(Chess trivia question - where was Gata born? And don't use the inetrent to search for the answer...)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gata_Kamsky will tell you. BTW, what do you find so interesting about that fact?

[E. Blackadder]

23 days before Bobby Fischer resigned his title.

[1695814]

23 days before Bobby Fischer resigned his title.That has to do with when not where. :-? :oyh::shrug:

[E. Blackadder]

It's at least as interesting in this case. :-?

[1695814]

It's at least as interesting in this case. :-?ok:bunny: