Judit Polgar is an eye-catching addition to the line-up for this year's London Chess Classic, Kensington Olympia, 1-10 December, http://www.londonchessclassic.com/ . She is living evidence that genius can be nurtured, if not quite created out of nothing, as the most successful of three Hungarian sisters brought up and developed to be chess grandmasters. Currently number 48 in the world on the constantly updated list, only Michael Adams among British players, at number 22, is ahead of her.
Ladbrokes are not usually a firm I applaud in the bookmaking industry but they do have odds to offer on this event. At 25/1, they don't seem to think Judit will win this immensely strong tournament but she is ahead of the three British players in their list.
Given the great success of last week's Saturday Nap feature here, which was not only one of the best pieces of horse racing journalism I've ever written but also one of the best I've ever read, and given that this website's record of tipping chess winners is even better than its record on horse racing, having suggested that Anand would retain his World Champion title against Boris Gelfand, why don't I offer some sundry reflections that might help us guess what might happen.
The scoring system of three points for a win and one for a draw, rather than the traditional one for a win and a half for draws, favours those players whose style encourages decisive results. This most obviously brings in Luke McShane, who will quite probably lose a game or two but might compensate by getting some well deserved rewards for his adventure, as he has previously. Ladbrokes don't believe that, though, and will let you have 33/1.
Magnus Carlsen usually comes good here, too, as well as nearly everywhere else and has apparently taken this event as seriously as any in its brief history. As World number one and suited to this sort of tournament, you will need to be confident and have your betting boots on to make any extra cash for Christmas out of him as he is odds on at 5/6.
Vishy Anand is hard to beat, which makes him a durable title holder but less likely to come first in an event like this and so he might look generously priced at 11/2 but the odds compiler has factored in our reservations and I don't think he's likely to win this. I wouldn't even take 10/1 even if he is my favourite chess player these days.
It's a shame that there doesn't appear to be an each way option on the first three places in a field of nine. One could have a sporting punt on McShane, or maybe Judit, if there were. But the sensible options in taking on the favourite in a win-only market would appear to be only Lev Aronian or Vladimir Kramnik. I like Kramnik a lot as a player and even more so of what I've seen of him as a person.
And seeing the class act, Aronian, who I've not seen in the flesh, as well as Judit, would be the main reasons for getting myself a ticket and going to watch. But the internet coverage is so good that the bone idle option is to stay here by the gas fire rather than traipse up to Kensington via train or coach and tube.
Kramnik's rating has been on the rise again recently but I don't see him winning this. The most likely bet is Aronian, at 3/1, if you want to oppose the perfectly justifiable hot favourite that is Carlsen.
Of the others, the H-Bomb, American number one, Hikaru Nakamura, will wear a nice hat, play his first 10 moves in almost no time at all but his opponents will usually find the time to neutralize the time pressure he tries to create. He is not an attractive gamble at 8/1; Michael Adams perhaps is a 28/1 shot and English Champion Gawain Jones similarly realistically priced at 40/1 but I'm sure they will stand up for themselves well. But it will be no surprise if somehow the results eventually make Magnus Carlsen the overall winner once more.
