Sunday 27 February 2011

How to start an online brawl

With the world top 4 usually containing Anand, Carlsen, Aronian and Kramnik (is various orders), Susan Polgars website has posed the question about who will be the next young gun to break into the world's top 5. The choices are Caruana, Giri, So, Liem or 'someone else'. At this stage So holds a slight lead over Giri with Liem in third place.
Now I must say I'm a little surprised that So is in the lead, although reading the comments on the poll (click on the view results link to see the 30 posts so far) did possibly explain why. Based on the cheer leading for So in the comments section I'm assuming that national pride has a part to play, with his Filipino fans 'getting out the vote'. The Giri supporters, who are almost as numerous, have added their voices to the debate, with a bit of back and forth name calling the result.
Now I voted for Giri (before I saw any of the comments or results) as I felt that being based in Europe is a big advantage in terms of invites, strong competition etc However natural talent also counts for something, which is why my son was adamant that Liem will be the best of the lot.
But as the poll question asks who will make the top 5 in the next 3 years, it may well be 'no one' is the right answer, with the current top 4 plus Ivanchuk/ Nakamura or even a resurgent Topalov keeping them at bay.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Giri might have a little chance, So has no chance at all. Somebody who drops out from tournaments because of bad performance is not worth the paper his name is written on.

99% nobody will make it to the top 5 list in 3 years.