Veselin Topalov: Difference between revisions
The current *official* score is still 3-2 at this point, although that's likely to change soon. |
|||
| Line 28: | Line 28: | ||
==Kramnik-Topalov match controversy== |
==Kramnik-Topalov match controversy== |
||
On [[28 September]] [[2006]], Topalov's manager Silvio Danailov published a press release, casting suspicion on Kramnik's behaviour during the games. The Bulgarian team |
On [[28 September]] [[2006]], Topalov's manager Silvio Danailov published a press release, casting suspicion on Kramnik's behaviour during the games. The Bulgarian team made a public statement that Kramnik used to visit his private bathroom (the only place without any audio or video surveillance) unreasonably often, about 50 times per game (a number that FIDE officials later claimed to be exaggerated) and made the most significant decisions in the game in the bathroom. They also demanded that the organizers of the tournament make available to journalists the surveillance video from Kramnik's room for games 1 through 4. The organizers made availabe only parts of the video explaining that parts of the video were missing due to technical issues. This led to further suspicion that there were irregularities on Kramnik's side. Danailov demanded to stop the use of private restrooms and bathrooms, and threatened to reconsider the participation of Topalov in the match, should the problem remain unsolved by 10am [[Elista|local]] time (or 6am [[UTC]]) on [[29 September]] [[2006]].<ref>http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3370</ref> |
||
Danailov's requests have been partly satisfied, which in turn resulted in Kramnik's protest. Kramnik refused to play game 5 and was forfeited. As of September 30th, the match is under the threat of being aborted. |
Danailov's requests have been partly satisfied, which in turn resulted in Kramnik's protest. Kramnik refused to play game 5 and was forfeited. As of September 30th, the match is under the threat of being aborted. |
||
Revision as of 14:44, 1 October 2006
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
Veselin Topalov (IPA: [ve.se'lin to'pɑ.lof]; Bulgarian: Веселин Топалов) (born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess player. He became the FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005. Topalov was awarded the 2005 Chess Oscar[1]. In the July 2006 FIDE rating list, he is ranked number one in the world with an Elo rating of 2813[2], the second highest rated person ever.
Topalov is a highly combinational and creative player. His style is similar to that of former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, with whom he played many exciting games over the years. At times, Topalov's style is reminiscent of Mikhail Tal due to the complex nature of some of the combinations that he executes. Topalov's games are usually rich in well-prepared opening novelties that can lead to wild tactical melees. He chooses sharp opening lines that lead to chances for both sides, such as the Sicilian Defence and Ruy Lopez. Topalov is generally a tactician, though he has also played some great positional games. He fights in all his games and seems to play for a win almost all the time, even when a draw might suffice. In this regard he could be compared to the great Bobby Fischer.
As of 29 September 2006, Topalov trails Classical World Champion Vladimir Kramnik 3-2 in a twelve-game title unification match. The result of the fifth game is currently in dispute. Kramnik refused to play the game after Topalov's team accused him of improper and too-frequent use of the bathroom during the first four games. The match will resume on Sunday, October 1, if the two players can agree on the current score. Kramnik's side wishes the tournament arbiters to nullify Friday's game where he did not show up or move a piece. Topalov's side wishes the arbiters to count the forfeited game.
Early career
Topalov was born in Rousse, Bulgaria. His father taught him to play chess at the age of eight. In 1989 he won the World Under 14 Championship in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and in 1990 won the silver medal at the World Under-16 Championship in Singapore. He became a Grandmaster in 1992. His current trainer and manager is International Master Silvio Danailov.
Topalov has been the leader of the Bulgarian national team since 1994. At the 1994 Chess Olympiad in Moscow he led the Bulgarians to a fourth-place finish.
Over the next ten years he won a number of tournaments, and ascended the world chess rankings. In the knockout tournaments for the FIDE World Chess Championship, he reached the last 16 in 1999, the quarter-finals in 2000, the final 16 in 2001, and the semi-finals in the 2004 tournament. In 2002, he lost the final of the Dortmund Candidates Tournament (for the right to challenge for the rival Classical World Chess Championship) to Peter Leko.
Topalov scored his first "super-tournament" success at Linares 2005, tying for the first place with Garry Kasparov (though losing on tiebreak rules), and defeating Kasparov in the last round, in what was to be Kasparov's last tournament game before his retirement.[3] He followed this up with a one point victory (+4 =5 −1) at the M-tel Masters 2005 tournament, ahead of Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Ruslan Ponomariov, Michael Adams, and Judit Polgar. The average rating of the participants was 2744, making this super-GM, double round-robin tournament the strongest in 2005.
World Champion
On the strength of his rating, Topalov was invited to the 8 player, double round-robin FIDE World Chess Championship in San Luis, Argentina, in September-October 2005. Scoring an extraordinary 6.5/7 in the first cycle, Topalov had virtually clinched the tournament at the halfway mark, before drawing every game in the second cycle to win by a convincing 1.5 points and become FIDE World Chess Champion. The average rating of the field in the championship was 2739, and Topalov's performance rating was 2890. [4]
The unification between the FIDE World Title (held by Topalov) and the Classical Chess World Title (held by Vladimir Kramnik) has been fervently encouraged by the chess community and on the 16 April 2006, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the current President of FIDE, announced that a reunification match between Kramnik and Topalov will go ahead in September 2006. The match started on 23 September with two wins for Kramnik, following by two draws. There are eight games remaining to be played. In case of a draw, the title will be decided through rapid or blitz games.
In May 2006, Topalov defended his M-tel Masters title in the 2006 edition of the tournament, coming first with 6.5 ahead of Gata Kamsky with 6. Topalov started the tournament somewhat hesitantly to later record four consecutive wins and clinch the title.
Kramnik-Topalov match controversy
On 28 September 2006, Topalov's manager Silvio Danailov published a press release, casting suspicion on Kramnik's behaviour during the games. The Bulgarian team made a public statement that Kramnik used to visit his private bathroom (the only place without any audio or video surveillance) unreasonably often, about 50 times per game (a number that FIDE officials later claimed to be exaggerated) and made the most significant decisions in the game in the bathroom. They also demanded that the organizers of the tournament make available to journalists the surveillance video from Kramnik's room for games 1 through 4. The organizers made availabe only parts of the video explaining that parts of the video were missing due to technical issues. This led to further suspicion that there were irregularities on Kramnik's side. Danailov demanded to stop the use of private restrooms and bathrooms, and threatened to reconsider the participation of Topalov in the match, should the problem remain unsolved by 10am local time (or 6am UTC) on 29 September 2006.[5]
Danailov's requests have been partly satisfied, which in turn resulted in Kramnik's protest. Kramnik refused to play game 5 and was forfeited. As of September 30th, the match is under the threat of being aborted.
Notable tournament victories
- Madrid 1994, 1996, 1997
- Dos Hermanas 1996
- Amsterdam 1996
- Vienna 1996
- Novgorod 1996
- Antwerp 1997
- Monaco 2001
- Dortmund 2001
- Semi-finalist at the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004 in Tripoli, Libya.
- Linares 2005 (joint first with Kasparov)
- M-tel Masters 2005 (a point ahead of Anand)
- FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 (a point and a half ahead of Anand and Svidler)
- Corus 2006 (joint first with Anand)
- M-tel Masters 2006 (half a point ahead of Gata Kamsky)
Sample game
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 |              | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
On the way to winning M-Tel Masters in 2005, Topalov defeated former FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov with the white pieces in a Queen's Indian defense. The moves are given in algebraic notation. (Analysis by Shredder 9.)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Rc1 c6 9.e4 d5 10.e5 Ne4 11.Bd3 Nxc3 12.Rxc3 c5 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.h4 h6 15.Bb1 f5? Needlessly weakening the position. Better is 15. ... Nd7 16. Bxh6!? f5 (16...gxh6 17.Qc2 f5 18.exf6 Rxf6 19.Qh7+ Kf8 20.Ng5! wins) 17. Bf4 Qa5, which may have given black good chances for equality. 16.exf6 Bxf6 17.Qc2! d4 17. ... Bxc3? leads to bloody death after 18. Qh7+ Kf7 19. Bxc3, with an overwhelming attack. But Topalov found a way to break black's defenses in Ponomariov's chosen line, too. (See diagram) 18.Ng5!! hxg5 19.hxg5 dxc3 20.Bf4 Kf7 21.Qg6+ Ke7 22.gxf6+ Rxf6 23.Qxg7+ Rf7 24.Bg5+ Kd6 25.Qxf7 Qxg5 26.Rh7 Qe5+ 27.Kf1 Kc6 28.Qe8+ Kb6 29.Qd8+ Kc6 30.Be4+! 1-0
External links
- Topalov's games on ChessGames.com
- 35 Crucial Positions from His Games
- Play through Veselin Topalov's FIDE 2005 World Championship Chess rounds
- A page dedicated to Veselin Topalov