by Aviv Friedman

Today a few words about the character and demeanor of the players in the main event: First what can I say that haven't been said about Kasparov, still the highest rated in the world albeit "titleless". He possesses the charisma of a televangelist and the mercy of a shark. His presence is really quite strong on and off the board. At the dinner table, one of the journalists commented that Kasparov was seen with a "mean look on his face". "Oh" said another, "then all is normal" and we all giggled. His desire to win and competitiveness haven't lost an iota. Even at age 38 there is little argument about who is boss here. He is clearly the favorite to win here, even after his first round draw with the event's lowest rated, GM Vallejo.

"Vishy" Anand is clearly one of the nicest players in the circuit. Once introduced to him, he will always acknowledge you pleasantly. He is free of any games of honor or grandeur and is always modest, soft spoken and polite. Anand has a phenomenal memory and genuine talent. I suppose in this event he will have to disprove those who claim that he is suffering from some burnout.

FIDE world champion, Ruslan Ponomariov, looks younger than his 18 years - he literally has a "baby face". But if you ever thought that looks have anything to do with "business" then get ready to get blasted. The Ukrainian youngster has the nerves of steel and the poker face that will startle Jackie Chan! Yesterday with white, Ponomariov answered Ivanchuk's rhetoric with a "1-0" to signal he is no tourist here.

Former "wunderkind" British GM Mickey Adams is another player who can be catalogued under "quiet but deadly". Also very soft spoken and eloquent, he certainly resembles Anand in being quite sympathetic and social. Having had the pleasure to witness him demonstrating games in the past, I can testify that he is one of the best at it. His solid and patient style of maneuvering might not win him a first place in this demanding event, but a place in the upper half is expected.

FIDE vice world champion Vassili Ivanchuk's worst enemy might be Vassili Ivanchuk. I still remember him winning the NY open in 1989 leaving a strong impression of a world-class player, despite not being a GM yet. His trademark of looking away from the board, at the ceiling usually, and then coming up with long and accurate variations is unforgettable. Unfortunately along with his awesome talent come some demons. It is hard to explain why he makes some of the mistakes he makes - even he is lost for words sometimes. But they happen, and too often at critical times. Ivanchuk is also quite friendly, but in a different way than say Anand and Adams. One year in Groningen (Holland) where he was playing in the main event, after one of his games, he came to the open section and before you knew it, he was analyzing games of complete amateurs. He challenged players to some games of … checkers(!) in which as I understand he is quite good.

Spanish GM Alexey Shirov is certainly one of the most exciting players to watch in the elite. Often aggressive and original, I think he was badly affected by his canceled match with Kasparov, after Shirov beat Kramnik in 1998. Perhaps the energy and time he put into it, even after it became evident that it will not happen, took a lasting toll on him. A top player without doubt, he still has considerable problems when facing Kasparov (I think Shirov is minus 12 or so!) and Anand. Lets see how he will fare here.

Closing the list of players is Spanish youngster "Paco" Vallejo. I have heard some commentators call him "the other day off" for the rest of the competitors, but his first round draw with Kasparov tells us otherwise. In the 2000 youth festival in Oropesa del Mar (Spain) he and a girl friend challenged one of the American girls and myself to a game of foosball. After a proper whipping, he smilingly apologized to us, explaining that this game is "in the Spanish culture" and so we shouldn't feel bad. As you might gather, he is also quite the friendly type. He has meteorically improved since I have seen him last, gaining not only 100+ rating points and achieving the GM title, but also breaking the coveted 2600 ELO mark. Naturally, all here wish him a successful first tournament in the lion's den.

Now, for some games:

Ivanchuk - Shirov: Perhaps still not over yesterday's loss to Ponomariov, Ivanchuk seemed very hesitant today. A very quiet Slav followed 10 moves of theory - 11.Nh4 seems new. 2 moves later, after black's forced capture on c3, Chucky offered a draw that was accepted. Thank god the founder of the Linares festival, Don Rentero wasn't here to see this ‘dereliction of duty'.

Anand - Vallejo: Another very respectable performance by Paco! Black against Anand is no easy feat, but he passed the test with flying colors. In the spirit of the absent Kramnik, black employed the Berlin defense of the Ruy, playing the not so common 9…Ne7. This is a favorite of Polish GM Markowski who has used it consistently. Anand played 10.Re1 quite quickly, but then deviated from what the usual plan of playing b3 and placing the B on b2 with his 12.Bd2 idea. No one really knows if Anand missed anything, it is one of these positions that probably only "further testing" could shed more light on the position, but either way, after some not so exciting maneuvering, a draw was registered.

Adams - Ponomariov: The closed Ruy Lopez is one of Adams' favorites and so must have come as no surprise to Ponomariov. I would not go as far as to say that this was a bad choice of opening for black, but it strikes me as this is one of the positions that Adams is most comfortable with, and is most dangerous with. On move 18, Ponomariov played 18…h6 which Beliavsky has played before. The value of this move escapes me, since after other known tries such as 18…Qc7 or 18…Qc8, white voluntarily captures on f6 at once anyway. In this game, Adams indeed played 19.Bxf6 and seemed to be up a tempo in comparison to previous games. He quickly gained the upper hand. Ponomariov faced positional bankruptcy if white got to play Ne3 and Bb3. He then lashed out with 21…d5, but after 22.exd5 Qxd5 (of course 22…Qxd5 Rd1 was too much) 23.Bb3 and 24.Qh5 white was better. Black tried to bail out by sacrificing his 'e' pawn, clearly not a good idea. It would have been much better to defend patiently and not give away anything. The consensus is that Adams played fantastically after the pawn sac, and even if some of Ponomariov's moves were nothing to be impressed by (30…Kg7?!) Adams deserves full credit for a fine work. The way he realized his advantage must have been depressing for black. At the end, for good measure, he built his own mate net which Adams quickly closed. A first loss for Pono as a reigning FIDE world champion!