Position after 18…h5
Topalov, Veselin – Polgar ,Judit
Essent chess tournament, Hoogeveen, 2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Nf3 Bb7 8.e3 c5 9.Be2 cxd4 10.exd4 d5 11.b3 Nbd7 12.0-0 dxc4 13.bxc4 Qc7 14.a4 Rac8 15.Re1 Rfe8 16.Bb2 Ng4 17.g3 Ndf6 18.Nd2 h5 19.h3 Nh6 20.Bf3 Red8 (This is a very tense position. The question now is who will make the first break?) 21.Re5 Nf5 22.Bxb7 Qxb7 23.d5 (A good move. White is pushing forward. But White also has weaknesses in his position. 23… h4 is possible here.) 23…h4 24.g4 Ne7 (Judit found the best continuation. But the position is still uncomfortable. However, this is the type of active position they both crave.) 25.Ne4 (This is the best move for White. This now requires a lot of patience from Judit. I would play 25…Ne8 here.) 25…Ne8 (Now this line 26.dxe6 f6 27.Qf3 Qc6 28.Rh5 gives White a big edge.) 26.Re1? (This is a blunder. Now, Judit can play 26…Nxd5) 26…Nxd5 27.Qf3 Rxc4 (Now, Judit can breathe a lot easier. She has a much better position all of a sudden thanks to 26.Re1? She still needs to be careful but she now has a big advantage.) 28.Rg5 (Here, 28…Qc6 should give Black a solid position. Even though White seems to have a dangerous attack, there is nothing there.) 28…Qe7? (This now gives White some hope. The rule of thumb is never to walk into pins. Judit is low on time now.) 29.Bxg7 Nxg7 30.Rxd5 Rxd5 31.Nf6+ (Now, Topalov has at least a perpetual check.) 31…Kf8 32.Nxd5 (Topalov is going for the win even with a pawn down. He is not taking the perpetual checks.) 32…Qd6 (32…Qd8 would have been better to protect the backrank. Now 33.Nf6 is coming with backrank threat.) 33.Nf6 Ne8?! 34.Qa8 (Black is suffering with this annoying pin.) 34…Qe7 35.g5 Rd4 (36.Rc1 is expected.) 36.Rc1 Rd8 (She should be able to hold this. I hope!) 37.Qf3 Rd5 (38.Qf4 is coming.) 38.Kf1 Nxf6 39.gxf6 Qd8 (Black is now fine. Topalov needs to be careful now or he may lose this endgame.) 40.Rc4 Rf5 (Both players made the time control. Even though Black is slightly better, Topalov is not taking a draw. He is going for the win at all costs.) 41.Qa3+ (Kg8 looks like dangerous move but it is the strongest continuation.) 41…Kg8 42.Rg4+ Kh7 (I think Topalov can draw this with correct play such as 43.Rg7+.) 43.Rh4+ Kg6 44.Rg4+ Kxf6 45.Qc3+ Ke7 46.Rd4 (This kind of play from Topalov may help Judit win this game. He should have taken the draw when he had a chance. This is the exact type of style that caused him to lose the World Championship match to Kramnik.) 46…Rd5 47.Rc4 Kd7 (I would have preferred something like 47…a6. The King does not need to move from e7.) 48.h4 Qb8 49.Qf6 Rf5 (It is very tough to play players like Topalov and Judit. They just keep on attacking and attacking.) 50.Rd4+ Kc6 51.Rc4+ Kb7 52.Qe7+ Ka6 (GM Atalik comments: “I am afraid white is not doing fine anymore.”) 53.Rc7 Qa8 (It should be over now. Topalov is out of trick and his King will be in big trouble. As I said earlier, this reckless style is hurting Topalov. This was not how he played in San Luis.) 54.Kg1 (54…Rf4 and there is no defense for Topalov.) 54…Rf4 55.f3 (This does absolutely nothing. Black simply captures the Pawn with the Rook and game over.) 55…Rxf3 56.Qg5 (56…f5 stops everything.) 56…f5 0-1 Congratulations to my little sister! She will tie for first with Mamedyarov with a performance rating of over 2900!
Here it is!
19. h3 Nh6
20. Bc3 Rd8
Topalov should accept the bishops exchange.
21. Re5
A risky decision!
21 … Rf5 was the best move with only imperceptible adavantage for White (+0.12 Rybka) after the exchange 22. Bxb7
After 22..Qb7 (expected) the question is whether white can push/sac pawn in centre to utilise Bb2.
Black a bit disjointed on K-side but lots of coverage in centre.
Balanced.
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Gabor
23 … Rxd5 only increases White’s advantage. Think something else, Judit.
23.d5 is principled but cannot see how it works.
Computer engines very strong in these positions.
23…Rd5 24.Rd5 ed5 25.Qf3 must be the white idea?
Why not Nxd5???
Why not Nxd5???
24. Qf3
At Nd5 Qf3 Adam
oops 🙂
anyway, Judit is meaning business again
Because of Rxd5 with a Qg7 mate threat for instance
Because of 23 … Nxd5 24 Qf3
23. … h4
I would have prefer any other. I think 24. g4 is now a good option.
To all posters…
Sorry, all the anonymous posts are mine. From now I will appear with this nick.
Martin after 23…Nd5 24.Qf3 is the line as 24.Rd5?? forgets that Nf5 covers g7
23 … h4? Seems a small error in the eyes of my little fish
How crazy would it be for Topa to keep pushing the g pawn?
24…Ne7
White looks good but Black must have resources here. Myabe Black can sac a pawn to start a counterattack.
25.de6 Ng6 26.ef7+ Qf7 then rook moves and Black has idea of Nf6-d5-f4
Rybka is giving a +0.92 at depth 15 to 25. Ne4
Sorry but I am not going to tell you move 24, Vesko
Rg5 also looks sexy in my amateur eyes.
Found it – 25. Ne4
damn
Anything else than 25 … Ne8?
No, Judit couldn’t find anything better. Have to live with it.
Are they playing rapid today? Or are both games heading for time-trouble?
Topa’s going for the kill! Go Topzilla, helter skelter the king side and kidnap the black monarch. Don’t kill him, unnecessary bloodshed is desirable only against Kramnik.
The Rybka in Vesko’s wristwatch told him 26. dxe6
Topalov’s attack looks very strong. He is good at organising his pieces.
Judit is going to have to take on d5 soon.
26. Re1? Nice blunder topa. 26. Nxe5! and Judit goes from behind to ahead.
26. Re1 was a definite blunder
26. Re1 Nxd5
27. Rxd5 exd5
28. Nd6 d4 !
and now rxc4, I guess
Yep unless Judit makes a blunder topa is going to be finished fairly soon.
Cannot see Topalov’s idea…is he going 28.Rh5 maybe?
He played Re1 very quickly -maybe Rg5 did not work but was interesting.
And 27. Qf3 was even a bigger one. Should 27. Qb3
Line heavy artillery on c file, Judit
28. … Qe7?
Oh, no. Must 28 … Qc6
and now Judit blunders the initiative! wow!
Боклук си ти Антонов.
Is there a computer evaluation?
Wow and topa returns the favor with the biggest blunder of the game – this game is pathetic – its over, drop the monarch toppy
Боклук ме наричат и хората на Крамник, когато защитавам Топалов. Чети по-ранните ми постове за да разбереш защо съм на страната на Юдит. Къса ми се сърцето в момента.
Hi Susan!
Question: How hard do you find it to watch your baby sister play? Just wondering if you could share you feelings. Do you get all nervous for her? Do you find it difficult or rather easy to watch?
Thanks for your feedback.
Horrible!
She outs Queen on same file as Re1!!
Does 33. … Qb7 work?
32. … Qb7 I mean
Susan do you ever get jealous of how much better Judit is than you? Do you think you would have won any female world championships if Judit had participated?
32…Qd6 and Black should not be worse.
Pity and incredible that Judit either missed or misevaluated the sequence.
Still she is still there!
Is there a computer evaluation?
Rybka +0.17 for Topalov after 33. Nf6
Judit has to be careful, she hasn’t so much time.
Interesting to see how many tactical errors even great players make.
Karopv and certainly Kasparov in their 30’s would not have let Topalov off the hook here.
I hope Judit can safely make it to the time control. Sure she can. Go Judit Go! Go for the win and beat the hell out of Topalov.
Rd1-d8 is coming unless Judit can find a perpetual.
please tell me, why 22…Qb7 was not good!! Or even Qc5
thank you in advance
Adam 22..Qb7 is nothing special after 23.Qa3+ Rc5 24.Nf6 ane black badly coordinated.
Susan has stated 22…Qd8 probably best to cover bank rank.
32. … Qb7 33. Qa3+ and the knight is saved, I suppose
I haven’t seen Judit this balled up in defense in a while! Still, she should be able to hold for a draw.
I hope Judit can safely make it to the time control. Sure she can. Go Judit Go! Go for the win and beat the hell out of Topalov.
Judit has about 1 minute per move to hit the time control – here is where a real slip up can happen.
toppy had her with qf4 and blundered again with kf1 – what’s the record for # of blunders in a single game from the highest rated person on earth?
I don’t know but I’m sure topalov holds that record.
But will judit be able to cash in, under time pressure?
Toplaov has a 2800 rating but tha man makes so many mistakes in calculation.
Has Judit lost on time?
Judit has safely passed the time control. In fact, if she manage to exchange the queens, she can play for a victory.
41. – ke8 forced
I bet for
41. Qa3+ Kg8
42. Rg4+ Kh7
43. Rg7+ Kh8
44. Qe7
and Judit can make a perpetual check.
Susan says Black slightly better but i these major piece endgames one slip from either side could be fatal.
41…Ke8?? 42.Rc8! and its over so what is Judit thinking about?
Maybe checking when 42.Rf2+ gives perpetual.
sorry, 41.- ke8??? 42. rc8!
41. – Kg8 played
43. Rg7+ =
Will toppy try to grab the pawn and go downhill?
Toplaov probably checking to see if can play on but 43.Rh4+ Kg6 looks OK Black.
He has played a few surprising and some bad moves so he may go for it.
He does!
Brilliant or reckless?
here we go toppy forsakes the draw and presses on to win, resulting in a loss if judit shows best play.
Bye bye #1 rating
After a long thinking:
43. Rxh4+?
With the # of “best moves” in a row that Topalov often plays, I’m not so sure many of his blunders are accidents. I think he feels he’s #1 and can get away with anything. He’s finding out he can’t.
Had he not blundered so much in Elista he’d already be holding the crown again. In Hoogoven he’s blundering just as often if not much more often.
There are only so many loses top players can absorb and then it impacts their nerves.
Topalov seems to overcompensate and loses some horrible games.
Although everyone has there opinions I would put my money on Kramnik to beat Toplaov in another match if only because he maintains a better objectivity.
How can Topalov think this better white.
Black will have options on virtually every move so he simply cannot have forseen all variations.
The pure Queen ending probably drawn but only Black can try.
Weird.
But after all 42 QG3+ seems to win !! So had he blundered or not ?? Topi is a strange player …
46…Rd5 safe and eliminates possibilities to lose.
46…Qb8!? was more winning attempt.
Draw or win Judit.
42.Qg3+?? hg3
Oupps … Sorry, i’ll have forget the H3 pan ;-((
48…Qb8
Now Toplaov will have to find a draw line.
White is on the ropes but black need to avoid the sucker punch!
How the hell she responds to Rc7???
rc7 then Qa8
unless Judit blunders horribly (and she is playing best defense on every move so far) then he’s going to have to resign soon.
White is lost.
I think 0-1 “fair” result.
Topalov better before 26.re1 but then worse . He could certainly drawn at will several times but this 42.Rh4? was hust a bad move and showed little respect for the opponent.
Reckless.
Its all over but the kicking and screaming, time for Topalov to resign his drawn, then won, then drawn, then lost position.
Qg5 now?
55.Qg5 e5! and 0-1
Great tournament by Judit!!
c.2900 performance and 2-0 against Topalov.
Looks like Sokolov is pulling out a nice victory agains Mamedyarov
wow Topalov found an even faster way to win – a swindle hoping she takes on a4 and gives a draw. Rxf3 is CRUSHING though.
NEW ABSOLUTE WORLD CHESS CHAMPION IS JUDITHA POLGAR!!
Topalov is just trying every swindle in the book hoping Judit blunders but he’s out of moves and just about out of time. Its over.
f5 was the final nail in his coffin – he needs to give up now. behind material, zero king safety etc. its a done deal.
Judit will take home the victory from Essent, she is playing fantastic.
Will you be Judit second if She faces Kramnik in world championship?
Judit outplayed Topalov AGAIN!!!!
She is amazing! :))))
Great how good an attacker like her can defend!!! Her chess is quite ‘complete’
Thx Judit, you’re the greatest!! You killed the so-called ‘world champ’ with 2-0 !!!! 😀
Judit for World Champ!!!! =:)))))
Topalov = you deserve this!!! (justice)
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
no way for sokolov to win that one
Nope he’s resigned.
Nice win Judit. Now Topalov will go back to his hotel room analyzing the game seeing how many times he threw either the draw or full point right out the window.
0-1. Congratulations, Judit!
Furthermore, it seems that Sokolov is going to achieve a victory over Mamedyarov.
Sokolov is a draw at best as 51…Ke4?? loses to 42.h5! nice trick Also 51…Ke6 52.Kc4 Kf4 loses to 53.g6!
looks like sokolov just blundered away the game with 51 … Ke6 ?
What a nerve has Judith.
Great play!
I WILL GIVE 10 MILLION FOR KRAMNIK TO CHALLENGE JUDITH ANYWHERE, ANYTIME!!
JUDITH PLAYED BETTER THAN KRAMNIK IN BEATING TOPALOZ!!
Judith surely showed Vesselin how to play chess.
I’m not so sure about Sokolov…
Ke4 wasn’t possible, because of Kc4. Black can then win the f,g and h-pawns, but the e-pawn promotes.
Excellent fighting spirit from both players. Congratulations to Judit!
Thank you, Susan, for the live coverage!
Brava Judit!!! Really nice and entertaining comeback since her last serious play!
Anonymous Frank
Congratulations, Judit !
This is a most remarkable comeback.
WTF did Sokolov do??? HTF can you screw up that position.
Ahh, I know, he got paid to throw the game!! Fool..
What have Sokolov did??? He has nothing to do.
1. Judit and Mamedyarov
2. Topalov
3. Sokolov
Losepalov lost, Losepalov lost… Again! 😉
I will look at this fiasco later this weekend
From earlier post:
{
“Easiest way to beat Topa is to equalize, get into a drawn position, and he will refuse the draw and go on to lose…. Sad “
EXACTLY!!! Nobody beats Topalov better than Topalov.
}
This reminds me of how Korchnoi blew his chance against Karpov, in either 1978 or 1981. I recall Korchnoi lost games early due to reckless unsound openings, which Karpov punished.
Korchnoi tied the match late, but then Karpov got the one last victory he needed to retain the Steinitz match WCChamp title.
The consensus was that Korchnoi had the chess knowledge necessary to perhaps have defeated Karpov in that title match, but psychological factors limited his final achievement. Those psychological factors are just as real and valid in assessing a player’s overall chess skill.
Of course, Korchnoi’s wife (or child?) was being help prisoner by Soviet Russia, to punish and upset Korchnoi — and that probably worked.
Gene Milener
http://CastleLong.com/
Congrats to Judit! She shouldn’t have lost yesterday and we would have had a great unique champio with an amazing performance!
It is alarming Topalov’s tenendcy to blunder. See that the game left the opening phase very equal and tense. Topalov made a brilliant move with 23.d5! which made Judith make a bad mistake with 23..h4? The following line analyzed with Fritz proves it:
24.g4 Ne7 25.Ne4! (another great move by Topa) Ne8? this second mistake gives white a clear advantage after 26.dxe6! (and not Topa’s blunde 26.Re1??) This was even such a natural move! 26… Ng6
A must! as 26…f6 seems to trap the rook but then 27.Qf3! and it is already +- (2.06) as you can see with the following two variations:
27…Qc6 (as indicated by Susan in the blog) 28.Rg5!! (much better than Rh5) fxg5 (28..Qxe6 29.Nxf6+ and 28…Kf8 29.Rh5 Qxe6 30.Rh8+ Ng8 31.Ba3+! also win) 29.Qf7+ Kh8 30.Nxg5 and black is toast as there is no defence agains the sequence Qh5+ Kg8, Qh7+ Kf8, Qh8+ Ng8, Ba3+! and even Rd1 after that if necessary.
27…Qc7 28.Nxf6+! Nxf6 29.Rg5!winning
Now, getting back to the forced 26…Ng6 (26.dxe6!) again 27.Qf3! Qe7 28.exf7+ Qxf7 29.Qxf7+ Kxf7 30.Rf5+ Kg8 31.Rc1 +/- and white has material and positional advantage, as well as initiative.
So, Topalov just needed to move 26.dxe6! to win the game and punish 23…h4?
After the great move 23.d5! black is already in a very delicate position, as all variations give at least += to white. Fritz recommends to defend the Nf5 by 23…Qd7!? to allow the trade on d5, but then after 24.Qf3! (again the Q to f3!) white keeps great pressure. This variation may follow: 24…h4 25.g4 Nd6 26.g5! Nh7 27.g6!? (or maybe even 27.dxe6 fxe6 28.g6) Nf8 28.gxf7+ Nxf7 29.Rh5 exd5 30.Rxd5 Qe6 and black miraculously escapes being crushed and have some drawing chances!
Topa really needs a break from chess, to recover his excellent calculating abilities and to learn to accept an equalized position instead of trying to force the win and end up losing.
Cheers to all.
Game over good outcome well done Judith….Congratulations
Playing Topolov Must be like facing a Category 5 Cyclone (extremely dangerous with widespread damage)
Topalov a real chess player plays to win
(no boring draw stuff from him)… Great sportsmanship again..
This game was a real nerve-wracking treat and left all of the GM IM and Chess Fans watching this game on ICC in the dark
Thanks Judith and Topolov for a great chess game
Brava Judit!
Topalov really needs a rest. And maybe a slightly modified attitude. He needs to play for a win, not only to attack.
Felicitations Judit!!!!!!!
Long Live the Queen of Chess!
Next: World Championship Crown!
Judit is now rated higher than Topalove, right?