GM Svidler (2727) – GM Topalov (2791) [B12]
Nanjing 2008, China, 20.12.2008
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 Nd7 7.Nbd2 c4 8.a4 h6 9.b3 cxb3 10.Nxb3 Rc8 11.Ra2 Qc7 12.Bd3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Ne7 14.0–0 Qc4 15.Rb1 b6 16.Qf1 Nc6 17.c3 Qxc3 18.a5 Be7 19.axb6 axb6 20.Qd1 Qc4 21.Nc1 Nb4 22.Ra7 Qc2 23.Qxc2 Nxc2 24.Bd2 Na3 25.Ra1 Nc4 26.Rb7 Nb8 27.Ra8 0–0 28.Raxb8 Nxd2 29.Rxc8 Nxf3+ 30.gxf3 Rxc8 31.Ne2 Bd8 32.f4 g6 33.Kg2 Kf8 34.Kf3 Ra8 35.Ke3 Ra3+ 36.Kd2 Bh4 Black wins 0–1
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Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Topalov is a great chess player !
Anand and Topalov are clearly above the field.
Yes, even for a Topa fan it becomes tiring to praise his game every day 🙂 It is clear that Anand is his only true opponent right now.
Topalov will get his highest ever rating on the official January rating list if he wins his last round game (against Movsesian), only Kasparov has had a higher rating before.
Ratings don’t lie- Topalov has clearly the best rating performance in 2008 (going from 5/6th to clear number 1 and 2800+)- just Anand has the excuse of his title match.
I would say Topalov is the player of 2008, but Anand won a title match which meant he was not looking at rating or other tournaments (and he won Linares). But Topalov did not lose any title event so it is not his fault in 2008.
In a way it is like comparing apples and oranges- both Anand and Topalov deserve the chess oscar 2008 as they did the best in very different situations. A tie might be fairest.
+1