Chess World Championship

[David Ottosen]

In case anyone feels like a random gamble that I like.

On Pinnacle:

V.Topalov -0.5game +135
V.Kramnik +0.5game -145

I think Kramnik is excellent value here. His rating has gone down quite a bit in the past few years due to some health problems which appear to be resolved now (he's had some excellent recent results and his rating is recovering). Topalov is a very streaky player who has had up and down results since winning the FIDE world championship.

The "draw odds" from the 0.5 game are very large in this; Kramnik often goes many many games without a loss so a drawn match is a distinct possibility. As well, Kramnik has always done well against Kasparov, and Topalov has a very similar style to Kasparov in terms of aggression.

In the end, I'm going with Kramnik as Kramnik has always (since his mid teens) been considered a World Champion level talent. Topalov has always been considered a strong grandmaster but not necessarily an obvious future world champ.