[Bobby Ang]
FIDE World Championship
San Luis, Argentina
28 September - 14 October 2005
Final Standings
1 GM Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria 2788), 10.0/14
2-3 GM Viswanathan Anand (India 2788), GM Peter Svidler (Russia 2738), 8.5/14
4 GM Alexander Morozevich (Russia 2707), 7.0/14
5 GM Peter Leko (Hungary 2763), 6.5/14
6-7 GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan 2670), GM Michael Adams (England 2719), 5.5/14
8 GM Judit Polgar (Hungary 2735), 4.5/14
Average elo: 2738 <=> Category: 20
The fat lady sings! The 30-year old superGM from Bulgaria, Veselin Topalov, drew his last two remaining games to become official World Chess Champion. He scored an unbelievable 6.5/7 in the first cycle and drew out all his games in the second cycle to finish with 10 points our of 14, 1.5 points ahead of his closest pursuer. This is a performance rating of 2886.
By my calculations Topalov�s rating in the January list would be 2801 and he would be only the third player in history to breach the 2800 mark (the other two are Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik). Vishy Anand reached 2797 in the July 2001 rating list, and indeed after this tournament he would gain a few points and bring up his current rating to 2792 � knocking on 2800 door but not quite there yet.
Anand and Svidler tied for 2nd place and split the prize money, but the silver medal and seeding to the semi-finals of the 2005 World Cup went to Anand by virtue of the Indian�s having won more games.
He was born on March 15, 1975 in Ruse, Bulgaria. He was taught the rules of chess when he was eight years old by his father. In 1989 he won the World Under-14 Championship in Aguadilja , Puerto Rico, and in 1990 won the silver medal at the World Under-16 Championship in Singapore.
In 1991 he met IM Silvio Danailov in a tournament and the two of them decided to go to Spain together and try their luck. In the beginning Topalov found it difficult, since he did not speak Spanish, but good results in some small tournaments led to more invitations and pretty soon he was playing continuously � in 1992, the year he got his grandmaster title, he played more than twenty opens and brought up his rating from 2460 to 2670. It was hereabouts that people started talking about him, how his tremendous level of opening preparation and will to win made him a particularly difficult opponent.
1996 was his break-out year; he started out with a 3rd place finish in the super-strong Corus Wijk aan Zee tournament, and then reeled off 6 super-tournament victories: VSB Amsterdam in March (category 18 with Kasparov, Short, Anand, and Kramnik, amongst others), In May it was in Madrid (category 17 with Shirov, Salov, Gelfand, etc) and Dos Hermanas (category 19 with Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, Gelfand, Ivanchuk, Shirov and Judit Polgar, amongst others).
July 1996 saw victories in two more high-profile events: Leon (category 17 with Polgar, Leko and Illescas) and Novgorod (category 17 with Ivanchuk, Kramnik, Leko, Short and Polgar)
Next month Topalov won the Vienna Millenium Tournament (category 18) with Karpov, Gelfand, Leko, Korchnoi, Shirov, Jussupow, amongst others.
It was in September, during the Yerevan Olympiad, when he was at his most invincible form, that Eugene Torre upset him in the first round.
Topalov,Veselin (2750) - Torre,Eugenio (2535) [C82]
Yerevan ol (Men) Yerevan (5), 1996
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 Bg4 11.Bc2 Qd7 12.Re1 Rd8 13.b4 Ne6 14.Nf1 Bh5 15.a3 Bg6 16.Ra2 a5 17.Bxg6 hxg6 18.Qe2 Ra8 19.Qxb5 axb4 20.cxb4 Bxb4 21.Rd1 Bc5 22.Qd3 Ncd4 23.Nxd4 Bxd4 24.Kh1 Qa4 25.f4 Bb6 26.Rb2 Bc5 27.Ng3 c6 28.Rf1 Qd4 29.Qc2 0-0 30.Rb3 Qa4 31.Qb1 Qc4 32.Qb2 Bd4 33.Qb1 Bc5 34.Qb2 Bd4 35.Qb1 Bc3 36.Be3 d4 37.Ne4 Nc5 38.Nxc5 Qxc5 39.Bg1 Qc4 40.Rf3 Rfd8 41.Rd3 c5 42.h3 Qa4 43.e6 Qe8 44.exf7+ Qxf7 45.Rb7 Rd7 46.Rxd7 Qxd7 47.Qb3+ Qf7 48.Rxc3 dxc3 49.Qxc3 c4 50.Bd4 Rb8 51.Be5 Rb3 52.Qa5 Rd3 53.Kh2 Kh7 54.Qb4 Qa7 55.Qxc4 Qe3 0-1
After this his most successful year so far Topalov sort of tapered off, still performing at 2700+ level but seemingly incapable of making that one last jump to world championship caliber.
Then, all of a sudden, in 2004 Topalov�s star went into super-nova. First, during the Tripoli World Championship he scored an amazing 9.5/10 in his 2-game mini-matches against Abulhul (2076), Delchev (2602), Movsesian (2647), Zdenko Kozul (2627) and Andrei Kharlov (2593). He was upset in the semi-finals by Rustam Kasimdzhanov who went on to win the title.
This year we saw him tie for 1st with Garry Kasparov in Linares (beating him in their individual game) and finally an outstanding 1st place in Sofia, which included victories over Anand and Kramnik.
And now we come to the San Luis World Chess Championship. Topalov�s 6.5/7 in the first cycle was another incredible energy outburst, and he drew out all his games in the 2nd half to crown himself chess king.
The game which clinched the title was in the penultimate round against the reigning world champion, GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan, the first Muslim chess champion in history. By scoring the draw Topalov preserved his tournament lead of 1.5 pts, which meant that no one can catch him anymore come the final round. Against Kasim he fell into an inferior position from the opening but fought back and at the end it was Kasim who had to force the draw. Here it is.
Kasimdzhanov,Rustam (2670) - Topalov,Veselin (2788) [C67]
FIDE World Championship San Luis (13), 13.10.2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ne7 10.h3 Ng6 11.Be3
Usually white fianchettoes this bishop on b2, but putting it on e3 also has its points - from there it supports f2-f4.
11...Be7 12.Rad1+ Ke8 13.a3 h5 14.Rfe1 h4 15.Nd4 a6 16.f4 Rh5
In the Berlin it is crucial for Black to maintain the square f5.
17.Ne4 Bd7?!
Some commentators criticized this move as too passive. They prefer ...c5 followed by ...b7-b6.
18.c4 a5
Black can't move his knight. For example 18...Nf8 19.f5! Bxf5 (19...c5 20.f6!) 20.g4!
19.c5 a4
This is a bit of a controversial move, on the one hand he fixes white's queenside, but on the other the a4-pawn becomes weak.
20.Rc1!
This rook will go to c4, followed by Ne4-c3, and he will win the pawn.
20...f5!?
Faced with the prospect of losing his a-pawn Topalov decides to change the "flow" of the game by opening up the center. Since White has more space this should be good for him, but what Topalov is after is counterplay, and this he gets.
21.exf6 Bxf6
If 21...gxf6 22.f5 Ne5 (22...Bxf5? 23.g4!) 23.Nxf6+ Bxf6 24.Bf4 Kf7 25.Bxe5 Bxe5 26.Rxe5 is clearly better for White.
22.f5 Ne7 23.Nxf6+ gxf6 24.Bf4 Kf7 25.Bxc7 Nxf5 26.Rc4 Nxd4 27.Rxd4 Be6 28.Bd6
White will be winning one of his opponent's pawns and will then be able to play for a win at no risk. Topalov finds a resource.
28...Ra5! 29.Rde4
This might be a mistake, forcing the enemy bishop to go to its best square. Probably 29.Re2 is better, the point of which you will see soon.
29...Bd5 30.Re7+ Kg6 31.Rxb7 Rb5 32.Rb6
Of course white gets more winning chances by keeping the rooks on the board.
32...Rg5 33.Re2 Rb3 34.Kh2?!
He should have exchanged rooks.
34...Re3 35.Rd2
caption: position after 35.Rd2
35...Reg3!
You will appreciate how difficult it is to make moves like this with the world championship on the line.
36.Bxg3 hxg3+ 37.Kh1 Rf5 38.Rd1 Rf2
Probably at this point Rustam realized that the planned 39.Rg1 is met with the pawn lunge to f3 39...f5! etc.
39.Rb8 f5 40.Rd8 Bxg2+ 41.Kg1 Bd5
Leads to a clear cut draw, which was all Topalov needed to become world champion. I am sure under different circumstances he would have continued playing for the win with 41...Kg5!? 42.R1d3 Kf4 followed by trying to advance his f-pawn.
42.R8xd5 cxd5 43.Rc1 Rxb2 44.c6 Rb8 45.Kg2 f4 46.Kf3 Kg5 47.h4+ 1/2-1/2
Kasimdzhanov offered a draw which Topalov immediately accepted. The probable continuation will be 47.h4+ Kxh4 48.Kxf4 g2 49.Ke5 Kh3 50.c7 Rc8 51.Kxd5 Kh2 (51...Rxc7? 52.Rxc7 g1Q 53.Rh7+ Kg2 54.Rg7+ Kh2 55.Rxg1 Kxg1 56.Kc5 white wins) 52.Kd6 g1Q 53.Rxg1 Kxg1 54.Kd7 Rh8 55.c8Q Rxc8 56.Kxc8 Kf2 57.Kc7 Ke3 58.Kc6 Kd3 59.Kb5 Kc3 60.Kxa4 Kc4 dead draw. This is a long variation but quite forced, and the result quite clear.
With the draw the chess world got itself a worthy champion, one who deserved the title beyond a shadow of a doubt. He is a maximalist, always striving for the victory, trying to get the last squeeze out of the position. The chess world needs such a champion.
Talking about maximalists, I am reminded of the story about a carnival which had a booth where a really big muscle-bound wrestler would get an orange, squeeze it with all his might, and then offer a special bonus to anyone among the audience who could squeeze one more drop out of it.
A short, bespectacled man came forward and took the challenge. To the surprise of everybody there he not only coaxed a few drops from the totally dried-up orange, but even got enough to fill a small glass.
�This is amazing!� the wrestler said. �Where did you learn to do that?�
The answer? �I am from the Bureau of Internal Revenue.�
Reader comments/suggestions are urgently solicited. Email address is bang@bworldonline.com
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