A Major Event

Dr X. posts this from Baguio City, Phillipines:

"You know, the Soviets well understood that chess is to politics as baseball is to sex. But still, there is news in the chess world. We will, for the first time in over a decade, have a match for the championship.

"Not a great match, but a good one. Topalov, in particular, should be a household name. He is rated #1 in the world and has been good for a long time (here is an ass-whipping he gave Kasparov when he was just 18). Kramnik (#4) is strong too, but is probably not as good as Topalov and is recovering from serious illness (here is his calling card to Kasparov). I doubt if he can win, though, Topalov is just too strong...but that's why they play the games.

"But before we can call the winner of this the champion, there is one other little matter to attend to. The best player now may be Anand (#2), who is older than these players and probably would be champion now if the apparatus hadn't collapsed when Kasparov retired. He schooled Topalov from the black side of a Ruy in May, which is about the same as beating the Steelers in Pittsburg.

"Perhaps the whole concept of a champion in individual sports is a flawed one. The concept has been essentially abandoned in boxing, tennis never had it. But it is nice to see the possibility of a real chess champion again, determined by a fair match. Perhaps, finally, the Soviet era is over."