World Championship matches are the supreme form of chess in almost every way. The quality of play is usually worthy of the event's name; every match has its own off-the-board drama; the opening preparation, for example, is intriguing in a way that is missing in even the Super GM tournaments; and seemingly tangential events--like the mere identity of the contenders' seconds--can make for big news.
The intensity of a World Championship is simply unequaled by every other form of the game...as it should be. And this year's Championship is likely to be no exception.
As the first game of the World Championship nears, may I suggest that you take one more moment to remember a past World Champion--Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov--who passed away recently.
There are few better ways to do so than by reading Tim Harding's piece at ChessCafe.com.
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