Topalov, Veselin – Sokolov, Ivan
Essent Chess Tournament
Hoogeveen (5), 2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.Qe2 Bg4 10.Rd1 Qa5 11.e4 Qh5 12.Rd3 e5 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Rxf3 exd4 15.g4 Qc5 16.Na2 0-0 17.Rf5 Qe7 18.e5 d3 19.Bxd3 Nd5 20.Bg5 Qe6 21.Nxb4 Nxb4 22.Bc4 Nd5 23.Rd1 Rae8 24.Bxd5 cxd5 25.Qb5 Nxe5 26.Qxd5 Qxd5 27.Rxd5 f6 28.Be3 b6 29.g5 Kf7 30.gxf6 gxf6 31.Rd6 Re6 32.Rd1 Nc4 33.Rd7+ Re7 34.Rxe7+ Kxe7 35.Rh5 Rg8+ 36.Kf1 Nxe3+ 37.fxe3 Rg7 (This is a drawn Rook and Pawn endgame.)
38.Kf2 Ke6 39.Kf3 Rc7 40.h4 f5 41.Rh6+ Ke5 42.b5 Rf7 43.b4 Kd5 44.Kf4 Kc4 45.b5 Kb4 46.Re6 Kxa4 47.Re5 a5 48.bxa6 (Topalov continues to push hard. With proper play, Black should be able to hold.)
49.Rxf5 Ra7 50.Rf6 b4 (I still believe this is a draw with correct play. 51.e4 b3 52.Rb6 Ka3 53.Rb7 Rxa6 54.Rxh7 Rb6 55.Ra7+ Kb4 56.Ra1 Kc3 57.Ra3 Kc2 58.e5 b2 59.Ra2 Rb4+ 60.Kf5 Kc1 61.Rxb2 Rxb2 62.h6 Kd1 63.h7 Rf2+ 64.Kg6 Rg2+ 65.Kf7 Rf2+ 66.Kg7 Rg2+ 67.Kf7 1/2)
51.e4 b3 52.Rb6 Ka3 53.e5 b2 54.e6 Ka2 (This is still a draw.)
55.Ke5 b1(Q) 56.Rxb1 Kxb1 57.Kf6 Rxa6 58.Kf7 Ra2 59.e7 Rf2+ 60.Kg7 Re2 (This is 100% draw.) 1/2
Vincent Vleeming just sent me the following video from Essent. You can click here to view it. Enjoy! Thanks Vincent!
draw draw draw!
Well, it is better than a loss.
I hope cheatalov does lose
I wonder if he has missed …a6!
>38.Kf2 Ke6 39.Kf3 Rc7 40.h4 f5 41.Rh6+ Ke5 42.b5 Rf7 43.b4 Kd5
44. Kf4 Kc4
45. b5 Kb4
46. Re6 Ka4:
47. Re5 …
would it be an option to play 47….h6 ?!
or what else?
thanks
he goes …a5 which is same as..a6. Black Queens with check as white King has to take on f5!
Toplaov will need to find the draw line…which may not be there!
Position may be drawn but I prefer Black.
After 48…b5 49.Rf5 Ra7 both sides push pawns and queen.
Black will have at least perpetrual but looks drawn…still who can say.
Martin you are wrong, and so is Susan to say “Black can hold”.
Black is slightly better now. Topalov needs to play carefully to hold the position. He can lose now but I see no way for him to win. If you are using a computer STOP…this is a horrible position to analyze that way, computers are bad at these types of endings. Too much forced and the 1.0 pawn becomes 9.0 way too fast.
I assume that is White stops blitzing out moves he will hold a draw with little trouble.
Remark accepted. I take my words back (for the winning position, but not for the fighting spirit) lets wait and see. It’s fun though.
At some point white gives rookd for pawn. Immediate 51.Rb6 Ka5 52.Rb8 Ra6 is better Black but maybe still drawn.
Still compliacetd and easy for Topalov to overpush
I suppose 51.e4 Kb5! is what the cheat thinking about.
Toppie fans…
He din’t win again!
heheheheh!
Tell guessthemove Rb6
I do not want to think like Topalov but to play like him…
Anyway 51…b3 looks wrong and (I have no computer) after 51.Rb6 Ka3 white catually wins the pawn race so Black cannot have intended just Ka4–a3-a2 and pawn push so…some other plan?
51.e4?! b3 is still just a draw, although Topalov is thinking a long time, maybe he still is playing to win? But now White is trying to draw and not Black.
Should go 52.Rb6 Ka3 and White will give up the rook to be able to win back the rook for a pawn in a few moves, either at a7 or h7. DRAW.
Cannot see the draw as white has an intermediate move h6! which Black has missed!
Topalov seems to think that he can win chess games just by playing on and on
Topalov deserves real admiration for exhausting all possibilities.
This is how chess should be played.
Topalaov showed again how real champinos play.
Not like certain weasels who hide in the toilets.
“Topalov showed again how real champions play.”
Really? I would have expected “real champions” to win. Why not praise Topalov for incredible fighting spirit rather than for results that he does not show at the moment?
Yes Topalov is showing the champions play like a tiger not as spider in toilette.
Veselin is the successor of Lasker,Alechine, Tal, Kasparow – fighting champions.
This game coming from Topalov after 0/2 and exhausting and lost WC match… If Topalov is able to play like this and show this fighting spirit in such a situation, where most people would have wanted simply to get this tourney over and done with as soon as possible, I’d say we’ve got something to admire and look up to. I just cannot imagine his morale after starting 0/2, having lost a gruesome WC match, and nevertheless fighting like a true warrior… Think what you want, but I can only respect and admire that.
Topalov’s “fighting spirit” takes on many forms and I do not admire them all.
Playing on in a balanced middlegame or endgame is admirable. If the typical amatuer cannot understand why it is a likely draw then there is life.
Playing out technical draws, as if he is not understanding the position at all, makes him look foolish and serves no purpose nor adds interest.
As primarily (bordering on exclusively) a correspondence player, I find avoiding short draws just because the positional evaluation is “=” to be admirable in any player. But to play on and on when an opponent 200-300 points below you can hold the draw without effort, this is ridiculous and wastes everyone’s time.
“Veselin is the successor of Lasker,Alechine, Tal, Kasparow – fighting champions.”
Hmmmm, then why is he not the world champion? More precisely, why doesn’t he hold ANY championship title of anykind.
He is the ex-FIDE champion…not the ex-World Champion. The classical champion was the successor to those you mentioned.
Alas, though, this is all over. We have a unified champion…like him or not like him. Kramnik is the both the Classicial and FIDE champ. Thus, the only World Champion.
Ken said:
“As primarily (bordering on exclusively) a correspondence player, I find avoiding short draws just because the positional evaluation is “=” to be admirable in any player. But to play on and on when an opponent 200-300 points below you can hold the draw without effort, this is ridiculous and wastes everyone’s time.”
Well, according to your logic Krapnik should have resign in 10 of the 12 games he played agains Topalov because he was in inferrior positions. Chess is a human sport not a mathematical puzzle. It should be played till the even even with two king left only.
are you suggesting that Capablanca, Petrosian, Karpov and Kramnik are not ‘real’ champions?
also you seem to have forgotten to list Fischer as an attacking player.
Topalov will probably be kicking himself (or Danailov will be kicking him) in the morning for rushing his moves as white. There seemed to be quite a few moments in the early middlegame where he had good alternative moves that might have led to winning chances later on rather than exchanging down into a draw.
“Krapnik”? Really guy’s, find a new joke!
I think we’ve used up the (not very) subtle mis-spellings now – Krapnik, Kremlin, Krist-isthatthetimealready, Korny Katmandu, Krapper-nik (Yes the first WC was invented by mr. Crapper, in England (that small country south of Scotland)!). Topalot, Trapalot, Toiletlov, Top’o’themorningtoyou, Topitallwithawhisky, Topatrap, Topacrap, Toppy, TopitallI’mgettingfedupwiththisnow………
Enough already!
Kramnik is the world champion – fact. In the words of Robert Burns “Facts are chiels that winna ding, An’ downa be disputed (your royal nest, beneath your wing is e’en right left and clouted). So Topalov fans – Lump it!
Topalov may be a bit out of form just now (not surprising really) but he remains a a world class player, former Fide World Champion, and current number 1 ranked player. Kramnik fans – lump that!
How’s about a bit of respect for two of the strongest chess players of all time?
And some new jokes!
G Lehany
“How’s about a bit of respect for two of the strongest chess players of all time?”
Whole-heartedly support this call for respectful attitudes towards great players. We don’t have to like them, be social with them or marry them, so their personal qualitites do not matter in chess forums. They are great players – both had ups and downs, but let’s concentrate on their chess. Personally I have very strong opinions about them as human beings, but they simply don’t belong here or on any other chess forums.