He Went to the Head of the Class

Loo-gate is over, mercifully.

Accusations of too many bathroom breaks during the world championship final threatened to derail the epic chess battle between Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in Elista, Russia.

Now it’s back to plain old fighting and feuding.

Shortly before the beginning of Game 7, Topalov’s manager presented “evidence” that Kramnik’s moves coincided with the computer program Fritz 9, ranging from 63% in Game 1 to 78% in Game 6.

Earlier, Topalov’s supporters had accused Kramnik of taking too many bathroom breaks, calling the frequent trips “suspicious.”

Just a stray thought now that a computer has been pulled into the fray.

If Kramnik ultimately loses, will the headline be “Going on the Fritz”?

Toto’s greatest hits

Toilets, for better or worse, seem to be in the sports news lately.

Tennis star Roger Federer, it seems, is making the most of his first tournament in Japan. In his second blog entry for the ATP’s website, he was raving about a trip to the men’s room.

Luckily, no chess players were there to keep him waiting.

“This is quite an experience here in Japan as they have the best toilets in the world,” Federer wrote. “You could sit on the toilet for hours! The seat is warm, there is a water spray.... Toto, the makers of this special toilet seat, are geniuses.

“The toilet in my bathroom is like a space shuttle, there are so many buttons that I am always afraid to press the wrong one. I definitely want to buy one for my apartment!”

Let sleeping

dogs lie

Sadly, it will be a dog day afternoon in St. Louis.

A potential conflict surfaced when it became clear that two landmark events in that proud town -- Game 3 of the National League Division Series between the Cardinals and the Padres and the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge National Finals -- would be presented on Saturday.

Challenge organizers sent a tongue-in-cheek request to Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, asking for some puppy love, so to speak:

“Since the time of the game at Busch Stadium has not yet been determined, we were wondering if it could be scheduled in the evening, so it would not conflict with the National Finals at Purina Farms.

“Pet lovers throughout the region would then be able to see both events.... Mr. Commissioner, we don’t want to beg, but it would be great if you could throw us a bone.”

Trivia time

What were the breeds of the two dogs who survived the sinking of the Titanic?

New meaning to the word ‘ageless’

Orlando Sentinel columnist Jerry Greene notes that the Packers had a whopping turnover of 39 on their season-ticket waiting list of 72,029.

“At that rate,” he writes, “the last guy on the list has to wait 1,846 years to get tickets. The good news is that Brett Favre will still be there.”

Trivia answer

Pekingese and Pomeranian.

This question and answer came courtesy of the USA Network’s quiz on its web page about the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Briefing HQ anticipated getting an F on the quiz, but amazingly got seven of 12 questions correct on the beginner quiz. The secret? Guessing.

And finally

Czech Republic author Milan Kudera, on a certain four-legged animal:

“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring -- it was peace.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com