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For the record

Bareev #24 - 2683

Svidler #4 - 2750

Cheparinov #83 - 2632

Christine, I'm not picking on Vallejo. My impression is that he is one of the most gentlemanly of grandmasters, but if he wasn't a hometown boy, he probably would never get invited to Linares ever again. I would have thought that Ponomariev would have been a much more logical choice. After all, I believe they have the same manager (do they still?) and Topalov was a second for Ponomariov when he played Ivanchuk for FIDE world championship. But maybe Ponomariov was on Topalov's team too. He just didn't get mentioned in the news item I saw. I'd like to know more about this. Vallejo may be an opening whiz, but he sure seems to lose starting with the opening when he plays against the top ten.

Ponomariov #20 - 2703

Maybe you're right though. After all, you don't have to be the best player to be the best sparring partner.

Kasparov had Kramnik as a second at one time. Maybe that's why Kasparov ended up allowing Kramnik to be his Achilles Heel; the familiarity undermined him. What I wonder about Topalov is whether he chooses not to work with the best because he is afraid of divulging secret weapons. Topalov had to contemplate playing against Ponomariov soon in Mexico City after all! I wonder whether Topalov chose his own seconds or allowed his manager to select them for him. Perhaps Ponomariov was offered the chance but declined.

Perhaps you can tell me who on what message boards had the inside knowledge to be able to make the judgment that Vallejo helped with Topalov's successes in this match. Did Topalov himself perhaps convey such sentiments in any of his press conferences?