Topalov just reeled off another amazing streak to win Mtel again, beating Anand, Ponomariov, Kamsky and Bacrot in succession after being at -1 after 6 rounds!! Last year, he also had a similar streak to win Mtel.
This is not Ponomariov’s tournament. He has a superior against Anand, over pushed and almost lost again. With the win, Anand would have moved into a tie for 2nd with Kamsky, who drew against Svidler. However, Anand seemed to let the position go and it ended up in a draw.
It is amazing that Topalov can turn it on and off like no one else currently. When it looked like his rating will plummet below 2800, he picked up points with 4 straight wins to widen the rating lead from Anand (who fell below 2800 after Mtel).
What can we say about Kamsky? He belongs up there with the elite. Even with an average opening repertoire at best (what else is new?), he scored 1.5 / 2 against Anand, Svidler, Bacrot and Ponomariov. His only losses were to Topalov.
Congratulations to Topalov for another thrilling tournament victory and to Kamsky for thrilling his fans!
Final standings:
1 6.5 GM Topalov (Bulgaria, 2804)
2 6.0 GM Kamsky (USA, 2671)
3 5.5 GM Anand (India, 2803)
4 5.0 GM Svidler (Russia, 2743)
5-6 3.5 GM Bacrot (France, 2708), GM Ponomariov (Ukraine, 2738)
Correction: Ponomariov – Anand is draw, according to official site.
I don’t see why it should be a draw with Black 2 pawns up.
There are several top chess players in the world that are at almost equal level and each of them could win or lose against the others. Probably such a complete domination of one player, as was Kasparov’s period, belongs to the past. But anyway, at the moment Topalov seems to be slightly better than his opponents and he just demonstrated that he is the real World champion.
Interview with Vesselin Topalov for TopSport.bg, right after winning the Mtel Masters 06:
—————–
“In the last two rounds, right after the opening I had a won position, but this was due to luck, as my opponents chose weak moves, perhaps due to nervousness. Now I want to give myself a short rest. Before the match with Kramnik, I will play only in Lyon (9 – 11 June). I am happy with the tournament result, although my last two wins do not really reflect my shape – they are rather due to bad opening preparation by my opponents. Regarding my losses – I had two, and escaped a third one by a narrow margin. I have to analyse these positions before the match with Kramnik, as I’m afraid to find myself in them once again. There is a contract signed for the match with Kramnik, but it is not 100% certain that it will happen – it has already occured before that matches of such level have been cancelled.”
Asked whether he would join the Bulgarian olympic team, the Mtel Masters winner said:
“It seems to me that I can be of more help with my individual successes. We tried several times with the team to do something serious, but it didn’t happen, although I can try again in some time. There is an olympiad every 2 years, but olympiads are not easy things, and I have already a lot of games for this year.”
Interview with Vesselin Topalov for TopSport.bg, right after winning the Mtel Masters 06:
—————–
“In the last two rounds, right after the opening I had a won position, but this was due to luck, as my opponents chose weak moves, perhaps due to nervousness. Now I want to give myself a short rest. Before the match with Kramnik, I
Congratulations to GM Kamsky on 2nd place with +2 score. I would have been happy if he scored even, so this is a huge sign of progress.
And of course congrats to GM Topalov, who is perhaps today’s greatest exponent of fighting chess.
Kudos too to the M-Tel organizers, whose anti-draw format provides much more fan-friendly chess than the standard supertournament.
“Kudos too to the M-Tel organizers, whose anti-draw format provides much more fan-friendly chess than the standard supertournament.”
We must force grandmasters (= drawmasters) to play chess, not draw. If the Bulgarians can do it, why can’t we?
Anyone can have tournaments like that.
YOU just have to have the MONEY to make it possible
Topalov plays like Alekhine
Congratulations to GATA.
I am very proud of GATA.
He did a super job. 2829 Tournament Performance Rating.
He went into this tournament as the lowest rated player and almost won it all.
The only thing left is to slay the dragon called Topalov.
Kramnik is the King!
If you ask me the whole tournament was bad chess too watch… too many anti-marshalls it got old after a while 🙂