Well, the big chess match has resumed. There are still unresolved issues, but I don't have the patience to wade through them. The bottom line is that game six was this morning, and it was a fairly uneventful draw. Topalov got his customary advantage with the white pieces, and Kramnik responded with his usual tough defense.
Kramnik's forfeit in game five stands, so officially the score is now 3.5-2.5. The match is now half over, and Topalov still has an uphill climb if he is going to tie or win.
When the match started I was planning to write a whole post at this point about how this match compared with Kramnik's previous title defense, against the Hungarian grandmaster Peter Leko. Leko and Kramnik had very similar, stodgy, take no chances styles, which led to a pretty boring match. In he beginning of this match, Topalov's pyrotechnics and Kramnik's unflappability had led to four interesting games. The match was shapng up to be a real classic. Now everything that happens from this point on has the stain of controversy and classlessness from both players. Topalov was wrong to file his silly protest, the appeals committee was probably wrong not to dismiss it out of hand, and Kramnik was wrong not to show-up for game five. Sigh.
Hopefully the remaining games can be played on a normal schedule and will lead to interesting chess.
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FYI: If you weren't already aware, Susan Polgar has extensive analysis and comments on the match at her blog. Interesting reading...