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Jul-02-04
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| acirce: <He has to prove himself in a supertournament.>
Wijk aan Zee 2004, 4th place, performing 2754. Linares 2004, half a point behind Kasparov, performing 2731. Make what you want out of it. Personally I think his results lately even WITHOUT this tournament would indicate that Kasparov on decline would only be close favourite in a match. |
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| Jul-02-04 |
| karlzen: Of course I think that Topalov is one of the best players in the world, but he is still not in the same category as the absolute best players. About Kasparov, I'm not sure. He will definitely win the match, but sometimes he almost plays like a regular 2700 player. I don't think he's declined as much in strength as some people may think, at times I see him on top again. In Linares Topalov did a good effort, finished one point after the winner, Kramnik, if I'm not mistaken, but also only one point ahead of Shirov and Vallejo who finsihed last. Topalov took 6/12 and even counting the rubbish perfomance ratings, he didn't do anything special. In Wijk Aan Zee, I think he played very well, finishing ahead of Kramnik (although Kramnik wasn't himself and Kasparov, Polgar and Moro were missing). I think it's a pity that not Anand is going to win tournament as that would give us the perfect matches: Kr-Leko and K-Anand, followed by a match between the winners. :) |
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Jul-02-04
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| acirce: <Of course I think that Topalov is one of the best players in the world, but he is still not in the same category as the absolute best players.> Agreed. I think there are three or four of them; Topalov is not one of those. <About Kasparov, I'm not sure. He will definitely win the match, but sometimes he almost plays like a regular 2700 player. I don't think he's declined as much in strength as some people may think, at times I see him on top again.> I don't know what "some people" think, personally I think he is obviously still one of the very best, maybe even THE best, but this is doubtful. <the rubbish perfomance ratings> Those aren't exactly rubbish; they are far from saying everything of course but they are valuable clues, important parts of the puzzle. |
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| Jul-02-04 |
| karlzen: Well I wouldn't say that perf ratings are an important part of the puzzle, it's just dead stats, but that's only my point of view of course. I just find it ridicoulus when a player has 3000 or something in calculated performance. :) I pretty much share your view on Ka. |
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Jul-02-04
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| ajile: Very clever opening move order by Black. White plays an early d3 which allows Black to transpose into a Philidor Defense but with an extra tempo. Note the best way for white to make progress against the Philidor is to play D4 which he ends up doing here after the fact. I don't believe this should be classified as a Bishop's opening. It's a Philidor with a delayed d6. |
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| Jul-03-04 |
| karlzen: A very interesting observation <ajile>. It is indeed a variation of the Philidor although with a tempi less more for black. Perhaps it was more exact to continue in closed Ruy Lopez fashion with 8.c3 intending Nb1-d2-f1-e3 or -g3 and maybe a later d4. |
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Nov-22-04
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| iron maiden: It's because of games like this that I'm considering adding Topalov to my list of favorite super-GM's. |
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| Oct-18-05 |
| Averageguy: The Bishops Opening doesn't seem to offer white as good chances as other openings. Black can equalize fairly quickly, and can begin his own attack, as well illustrated in this game. |
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| Jan-15-06 |
| trolls: Crowing over a sacrifice born of necessity? Black obviously plays a
principled, practical game thru-out, helped along by White's evident
time pressure, coming up with lemons like 25 Rd4? and then 33 Rg3? (33 Bh4!). 20 Nde2 was un-necessary (20 Be3!). |
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| May-15-06 |
| SnoopDogg: I love looking back at these silly predictions and assumptions kibitzers made. From Kasparov being just a regular 2700 player to Topalov not rising to Top 3 in the world. To me, their logic clouds more doubt than my dog's intuition. It seems they lack that "killer instinct" to detect who's on the rise and who are flukes. Every once in a while I just like to see these two year old posts and look at how stupid they look even though tons of other kibitzers support their points with groundless logic and have no sense of intuition whatsoever. |
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| Jul-16-07 |
| BAG: SnoopDogg I was thinking the same thing today looking at some of the earlier posts on Mangus Carlsen |
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| Dec-05-08 |
| LaFreaK: AMAZING! |
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Dec-05-08
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| al wazir: What was the point of 48. Rg2 ? It just loses an exchange. |
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Dec-05-08
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| An Englishman: Good Evening: The persistence with which Topalov insists upon remaining a Rook down amazes. |
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Dec-05-08
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| andymac: <al wazir>, assuming you mean 48. Rg2 Bxg2?? which would lose the Queen to 49. Qxf4, and hence not win the exchange. |
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| Dec-05-08 |
| amateur05: Incredible game. Topalov seems to have taken the game into a different dimension where the value of a piece is irrelevant! |
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Dec-05-08
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| Richard Taylor: <Topalov> seems to be the most creative player around these days - incredible game! |
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Dec-05-08
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| kellmano: Great stuff from Topy. It is always nice to see games that remind us the points balue of scoring pieces is irrelevant compared to what the pieces can do. |
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Dec-05-08
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| Mateo: It seems that nobody noticed the pun with the play 'My Dinner with Andre", which was also a movie from Louis Malle (and one of his best). |
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| Dec-05-08 |
| arnaud1959: Great game by Topalov. I think White was too greedy. Being a rook ahead he could have given back some material.
37.c4 c5 38. b5 d4 39.xd4 cxd4 40. xd4 and e4, b6, g6 are weak and white has serious counterattacking possibilities. |
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| Dec-05-08 |
| Superbull: After 31 moves, white should win being a rook for 3 pawns up. I think the key mistake was occupying g3 with the rook and not the bishop. 33 Re3 followed by Bg3 is better for white. |
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| Dec-05-08 |
| newzild: This is an astounding game. I would never think of sacrificing a piece as Topolov does here. Even several moves later it doesn't look like he has enough compensation. |
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Dec-05-08
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| whiteshark: I have to agree with <An Englishman>. The matter by itself does not lack of drollness. :D |
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| Dec-05-08 |
| Ezzy: [White "Andrei Kharlov"]
[Black "Veselin Topalov"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C24"]
[WhiteElo "2593"]
[BlackElo "2737"]
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O d6 6. a4 O-O 7. Re1 Nbd7 8. Nc3 Nc5 9. d4 exd4 10. Nxd4 a5 11. Bf4 Ng4
<With ideas of 12...Bh4 13...Qf6 with pressure on f2.> 12. Be2 Nf6 13. Bf3 Re8 14. Qd2 g6 15. h3 Nfd7 16. Rad1 Bf8 17. g4 <Always a big decision when you push your pawns infront of your king. This pawn push will soon be a nightmare for Kharlov.> Qb6 18. Bg2 Ne5 <It was this knights destiny to arrive at this square eventually. It does have a powerful threat of 19...Nc4 20...Nxb2.> 19. b3 Qb4 <This does have a subtle threat of 20...Ned3 21 cxd3 Qxd4 and black has pressure on whites queenside pawns.> 20. Nde2 f6 21. Be3 h5 < Typical Topalov. He sees a target (g4) and goes for it.> 22. f4 Nxg4!! < It takes great chess vision from a great chessplayer to play this.> 23. hxg4 Bxg4 24. Qc1 <White has no plan of action, wheras Topalov has lots of constructive idea's. Whites knight on e2 is pinned. He has threats of 24...f5 25...Bg7 if necessary. pushing his 'h' pawn is a strong option. And bringing his rooks into the attack wont take long. All in all a good practical knight sacrifice for 2 pawns. Sometimes with Topalov, it's 'who dares wins.'> f5 25. Rd4 Qb6 26. Qd2 Qc7 27. Bf2 Re6 28. Rc4 Rae8 29. Nd4 Rxe4 30. Nxe4 Nxe4 31. Bxe4 fxe4 <Threatening 32...d5 33...Bb4> 32. Rc3 d5 33. Rg3 Bd6 34. Be3 Qd7 35. c3 Rf8 36. Rf1 b6 37. Rf2 c5 38. Nb5 Bb8 <Topalov's powerful bishops and well placed pieces, 2 passed pawns with the addition of a big space advantage, gives Topalov a nice position.> 39. Rfg2 g5 40. Rf2 Kg7 41. Qc1 Kg6 < Topalov can improve his position at leisure. Kharlov has no plan but to defend. > 42. Qf1 Rf5 43. Rgg2 Qf7 < 43...Bh3 looks obvious, but Topalov has better idea's. >44. fxg5 Bf3 45. Rh2 Bxh2+ 46. Rxh2 <Don't forget white is 47 Nd6> Rf4 < This threatens 47...Rg4+ 48 Rg2 Rxg2+ Kh1 49 Qf5 and mate is unavoidable.> 47. Bxf4 Qxf4 <ow ready to push his central pawns.> 48. Rg2 <{ A possible saving grace for white is - (48. Qe1 e3 49. Na3! d4 50. Rh3 d3 51. Rxf3! Qxf3 52. Nc4 Qg4+ 53. Kh2 d2 54. Qxe3 d1=Q 55. Ne5+ Kf5 56. Nxg4 Qxg4 57. Qd3+ Kxg5 58. Qd8+ Kf4
and black will have a mammoth task to try to win this.)> 48... h4 < Threat 49...h3> 49. Qe1 <To stop 49...h3 50 Rh2 Qg3+> e3 50. Rh2 Qxg5+ 51. Kf1 h3 <Topalov now threatens 52...Be4 53...Qf4+ and it is soon mate.> 52. Qb1+ <( 52. Nd6 Kf6 53. Rb2 Ke6 54. Nb5 Be4 Threat 55...Bd3+ and it's over)> 52... Be4 53. Qb2 Bd3+ 0-1 Absolutely stunning performance by Topalov. Just shows what imagination you need to be a number 1 in the world player. I agree with all the other kibitzers. Who cares about material!! |
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| Dec-05-08 |
| cyclon: Black is playing against `laws of physics`. Beautiful and somewhat astonishing play by V. Topalov. Brings A. Aljechin to mind. |
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