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I ask this question because to me and this is my opinion it really did not matter much. No luster and it was very boring.

I know that there were many short draws, but I still enjoyed it.
Both players were there on merit - Anand defending his title and Gelfand winning through in qualification events.
I found the opening battles to be interesting, especially with GM commentary.

Kingghidorah wrote:I ask this question because to me and this is my opinion it really did not matter much. No luster and it was very boring.

I followed it but there wasn't the dramatic tension that I have sensed in previous matches.

Part of the is due to the draws.

But a big part of it was that I did not feel particularly compelled to root for either player. I really like Anand so I WAS rooting for him. However Gelfand was hard to root AGAINST.

I felt a little of the same thing in the Anand Kramnik match 4 years ago. It was really easy to root against Topalov 2 years ago.

I have said this before but I think Anand-Carlsen would have been spectacular. Not that I would necessarily root against Carlsen but the age vs. youth factor would have created a built in rooting interest for or against one of the players by default.

Still I am glad Anand won. He is classy and has been great for a long time. And champ for a long time!

I do think he needs to be in consideration for one of the best champions of all time as he has now successfully defended his title twice and has won the title in three (?) different formats (or was it two formats)

There aren't many champs who have been able to retain the title that many times after winning it!

I told BG to play c5! instead of b3? and eventually he listened to me and played it in game 7 - the only game he won!

I also predicted that VA could win game 8 - and within ten moves he did!

So it meant something to me because I watched it.

The incessant early agreed draws were a bit disappointing but I am sure that something could be done about that in the future.

I followed it but there wasn't the dramatic tension that I have sensed in previous matches.

Part of the is due to the draws.

But a big part of it was that I did not feel particularly compelled to root for either player. I really like Anand so I WAS rooting for him. However Gelfand was hard to root AGAINST.

I felt a little of the same thing in the Anand Kramnik match 4 years ago. It was really easy to root against Topalov 2 years ago.

I honestly feel that the WC died when GK retired. It's like having Jordan leave basketball. I think Shirov would've lost to GK but that was supposed to happen but never did. Fischer-Karpov would've been huge but that never happened due to Fischer's hands in the matter.

The rematch for Alekhine-Capablanca never materialized either because Alekhine was a coward. You see this in boxing all the time.

Kingghidorah wrote:

I followed it but there wasn't the dramatic tension that I have sensed in previous matches.

Part of the is due to the draws.

But a big part of it was that I did not feel particularly compelled to root for either player. I really like Anand so I WAS rooting for him. However Gelfand was hard to root AGAINST.

I felt a little of the same thing in the Anand Kramnik match 4 years ago. It was really easy to root against Topalov 2 years ago.

I honestly feel that the WC died when GK retired. It's like having Jordan leave basketball. I think Shirov would've lost to GK but that was supposed to happen but never did. Fischer-Karpov would've been huge but that never happened due to Fischer's hands in the matter.

The rematch for Alekhine-Capablanca never materialized either because Alekhine was a coward. You see this in boxing all the time.

I kind of feel that Fischer was a coward for not facing Karpov. Fischer hid behind the mask of "competitive principles" but a real champion would have relished the challenge.

tomgdrums wrote:

Kingghidorah wrote:

I followed it but there wasn't the dramatic tension that I have sensed in previous matches.

Part of the is due to the draws.

But a big part of it was that I did not feel particularly compelled to root for either player. I really like Anand so I WAS rooting for him. However Gelfand was hard to root AGAINST.

I felt a little of the same thing in the Anand Kramnik match 4 years ago. It was really easy to root against Topalov 2 years ago.

I honestly feel that the WC died when GK retired. It's like having Jordan leave basketball. I think Shirov would've lost to GK but that was supposed to happen but never did. Fischer-Karpov would've been huge but that never happened due to Fischer's hands in the matter.

The rematch for Alekhine-Capablanca never materialized either because Alekhine was a coward. You see this in boxing all the time.

I kind of feel that Fischer was a coward for not facing Karpov. Fischer hid behind the mask of "competitive principles" but a real champion would have relished the challenge.

Fischer had a psychological issues,he was not a coward....

I think that he will smash Karpov if the match did take place....
Dr.D

It meant absolutely nothing to me. Just countries and people making a lot of money , the same thing that motivates everything.

It meant something to me, but not enough for me to watch the games. Now if they start playing FRC I'll really be interested.

I think that even _I_ would have realized that Qf6 was a mistake, in game 8.
Obviously, that doesn't mean i would have won or drawn vs Anand, but if Gelfand would only have seen his queen was being trapped, then everything else being the same, that would have been a draw and Gelfand would now be world champion.
This would have been world shattering! Then Gelfand would have gone on to make sure it stays that way!

Probably, Gelfand got a bit too excited, and lost his calm, which made him press for another win, and blunder.