Mr. October: Viswanathan Anand

You thought I was referring to Reggie Jackson??? No, the true Fall Classic this October is the 2008 World Chess Championship match between Vladmir Kramnik of Russia and Anand of India. Most of you probably don't realize that I used to be huge on chess up until this past February. It was probably a little over a year ago that I became so enamored with the game.

It's an amazing game of skill, strategy, and good ol' creativity. Honestly, if I still had time for it, I would play it all the time. Unfortunately, it truly is an obsession of mine, and nothing less than full dedication to it leaves me unsatisfied.

Nonetheless, I had forgotten how out of touch with it I had become when I casually browsed on over to chessgames.com and saw that the match I had been anticipating since last fall was finally upon me: the world championship match! I couldn't believe that I had let the embers of passion burn so low that I had forgotten! Alas, I had missed the first three games, and already a decisive game had been played. And to my surprise, Kramnik had lost!

Now, I must say, I don't find Kramnik's style similar to my own at all. In fact, I should really be rooting for Anand since he is by far "more daring." But Kramnik is a master of the endgame and seems to find winning positions when there isn't one. So I must admit, I am rather disappointed that he is now down two games (!!) in the first five (it's a best of twelve format). He has a lot of ground to make up if he wants to get back in it, but I don't think he has it in him. His 2008 has been nothing like his 2007, when he had some very dominating performances at elite tournaments. I think Anand is far superior in their matchup, which is sad for chess fans everywhere who hoped for a good fight.

But perhaps I am wrong. I sure hope so...