Many people ask why is it that one starts so well yet in the second half one doesn’t perform to that high standard set in the second half. Is it that you are not focussed or is that you are not strong enough?  Well in actual fact it is a combination of the two. Personally I as a veteran of a few rating tournaments and I perform relatively to the same strength in both halves. This article is a part of a 3 different parts which includes statistics, analysis and research all conducted by me of results of the world’s top players in both halves of the event.

However some criticism I might receive is that ‘some players relax and play to draws as they have a strong lead’. Well I would like to ask how many times you will race away with the lead. Another piece of criticism I might receive is that some players play weaker opponents in the second half. Well I will average the results out and give an overall conception. All results gathered are in tournaments which have appeared in the April 2006 rating list until the recently concluded Mtel Masters.

Please note the 2006 Turin Olympiad and other team championships are ignored as there are external factors such as team’s performance and the availability of rest are taken into account. Furthermore when the number of games is an odd number the number of games counted as 1^st half will become 7 in the case of 13 games, 6, in the case of 11 games and 5 in 9 games.

Firstly let us take a look at how the World Champion Vladimir Kramnik fares in the performance test. Kramnik has played the Russian Championship 2005, Dortmund 2006, World Championship match 2006 and Corus 2007.  In total Kramnik has played 23 first half games and 19 second half games scoring + 4 in the first and +2 in the second. The rating average of his 1^st half games has been 2725 and the second half games 2726. However his rating performance was 2781 in the 1^st half compared to 2797 in the second! Don’t you think that is a bit strange to have a stronger second half than the first? The reason why Kramnik has been renowned for his consistency is the difference between to halves. This view has been supported as on two occasions has 1^st half was stronger while on 2 other occasions the second half was stronger. His staggering 2982 performance in the last 3 games in Dortmund is probably the reason for Kramnik’s fantastic win over there. This is why Kramnik has been in the top 10 for the last 15 or so years.

Of course next in line comes The World’s highest rated player Vishy Anand. Vishy has played in Corus 06, Mtel 06, Corus 07 and Linares 07Vishy has played 26 first half games and 24 second half, scoring +7 in the 1^st and +4 in the 2^nd.  The rating average in the first half was 2723 and in the second 2721. However the disappointing fact is that Vishy’s rating performance of 2807 slips to 2779 in the second. Only in Corus06 did his 2^nd half performance better his first and that is probably the reason for his victory there. In Linares even though the second half performance dropped it was still hovering at 2795 which is very good.

Well if you thought that Veselin Topalov was a brilliant starter after his fabulous 6.5/7 start in San Luis 2005, I think you are mistaken. Topalov has been very active playing in Corus 06, Linares 06, Mtel 05, Topalov-Nisipeanu match, and World Championship match 06, Essent 06, Corus 07 and Linares 07! The Bulgarian has scored only an even score in the 1^st half after 44 games against an average opposition of 2715 for a pretty ordinary performance of 2709, for a player who has crossed 2800. However be prepared to be amazed! He has scored 27/42 (+12!!!) in the second half against an average opposition of 2726! And guess what his rating performance is at an incredible 2852 with 6 performances 2800+ and 1 with 2795! And to explain in plainer words his 2^nd half has outscored his 1^st on 5 occasions and remained the same on 2. Wow! That is truly remarkable.

I hope the readers can now see that second half is actually more important than the first. Anand outscored his 1^st half resulting in Victory; Topalov outscored 5 times resulting in 3 victories and a couple of second places. Kramnik’s famous 2.5/3 finish at Dortmund was the decisive factor there. In the next part you shall be witnessing statistics on the youngster Magnus Carlsen, the ever consistent Peter Leko and the ever inconsistent Alexander Morozoveich! In part 3 you shall have access to the analysis of Indian players and see how they fare.

Thank You

Siddharth Gopakumar

P.S If latestchess.com wants the data copy of my research, please let me know.