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Round 9 (May 20, 2006)
Kamsky, Gata - Topalov, Veselin 0-1 29 B97 Sicilian Najdorf
Anand, Viswanathan - Svidler, Peter 1/2 40 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed
Bacrot, Etienne - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 45 E15 Queens Indian
Mtel Masters Sofia BUL (BUL), 11-21 v 2006 cat. XX (2745)
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1 2 3 4 5 6
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1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2804 ** 11 01 =0 =. =1 5.5 2815
2 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2671 00 ** 1= 1. 1= =1 5.5 2841
3 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2803 10 0= ** == 1= 1. 5.0 2775
4 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2743 =1 0. == ** == 10 4.5 2753
5 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2708 =. 0= 0= == ** == 3.5 2666
6 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2738 =0 =0 0. 01 == ** 3.0 2614
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The ninth round of the MTel Masters took place on Saturday 20th May 2006. Malcolm Pein of the Daily Telegraph commentates on round 9. World one Veselin Topalov crushed Gata Kamsky for the second time and moved up to share the lead with the American GM going into the tenth and last round of the MTel Masters at Sofia. Topalov has scored two fine victories with the Sicilian Najdorf very much in the style of Garry Kasparov whose mastery of this opening was often his main weapon in top level tournaments. Topalov won the inaugural MTel tournament last year with dashing play and although he had a terrible start this year he has repeated the remarkable comeback he made at Linares and he has white against Etienne Bacrot in the last round who has yet to win a game. Kasmky was dismissed in just 29 moves of a very one-sided game and a quick look at the database shows that none of the leading players employ Kamsky’s line anymore. In particular Kamsky’s 13th move looks suspect to me. Topalov’s reply launched an attack on Kamsky’s king and just a few moves later the outcome of the game had been decided. Round nine Kamsky 0-1 Topalov, Sicilian Najdorf, 6.Bg5, 29; Anand draw Svidler, Ruy Lopez Anti Marshall, 8.h3, 40; Bacrot draw Ponomariov, Queen’s Indian Defence, 45; Scores with a game to play: 1-2 Kamsky (USA), Topalov (Bulgaria) 5.5/9; 3 Anand (India) 5; 4 Svidler (Russia) 4.5; 5 Bacrot (France) 3.5; 6 Ponomariov (Ukraine) 3; G Kamsky - V Topalov MTel Masters Sofia (9) 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 (Inviting the Poisoned Pawn variation after 8.Qd2 Qxb2 but Kamsky prefers to avoid the argument) 8.Nb3 Be7 9.Qf3 Nbd7 10.0-0-0 Qc7 11.Bd3 b5 12.Rhe1 Bb7 ( With the Nb3 on d4 which arises from a move order where Black plays Qc7 in one move, Nc3-d5 is a dangerous sacrificial idea opening the e file) 13.Qh3?! (Preventing Black from castling but 13.a3 h6 14.Qh3 and 13.a3 0-0 14.Qg3 are both more promising; 13.g4 is also possible) 13...b4! (Launching an attack with his king in the middle. Not 13...0-0 14.e5 dxe5 15.fxe5 Nxe5 16.Rxe5 Qxe5 17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.Qxh7 mate) 14.Nb1 e5! (With Nc3-d5 and e4-e5 ruled out Topalov prepares to castle) 15.N1d2 a5 16.Kb1 a4 17.Nc1 0-0 18.Ne2 (The 8th move of a white knight) 18...Rfc8 19.Ng3 g6 ( Cutting out White's only attacking option, Nf5) 20.Nc4 (20.f5 a3 21.Nb3 axb2 22.Kxb2 Nc5 23.Nxc5 Qxc5 with overwhelming threats of Qa5, Qc3+ and Rxa2+ followed by Qc3 and Ra8) 20...Ba6 
21.b3 (21.Ne3 exf4 22.Bxf4 a3 with a ferocious attack) 21...axb3 22.cxb3 Nc5 (Threat Nxd3 and Bxc4) 23.Ne2 (23.Bc2 Bxc4 24.bxc4 Qa5) 23...Nfxe4 24.Bxe7 Qxe7 25.Bxe4 Nxe4 26.Nb6 Qa7 27.Nxa8 Rxa8 (There is no defence to Bxe2 followed by Nc3+ either winning the rook or invading on a2 or Bd3+ and takes on a2) 28.a4 (28.Rc1 Bd3+; 28.Qf3 Bd3+ 29.Qxd3 Qxa2+ 30.Kc1 Qa1+ 31.Kc2 Ra2 mate) 28...Bxe2 29.Rc1 Qf2 0-1 White cannot move and Nc3+ and Nd2+ cannot be prevented. |
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 Kasparov Books |
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 Giant Chess Sets |
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 Chess Computers |
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 Chess Assistant |
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 Books 2000/1/2/3 |
