whiteshark: "But the game ended rather surprisingly just after white’s Bishops were looking dangerous towards the kingside from b5 and d6, as Carlsen’s <23…Qe6> invited Topalov to a repetition of moves.The Bulgarian thought for a quarter of an hour before he decided to go for with it, playing <24.Bc7 Rf8, 25.Bd6 Rd8, 26.Bc7 Rf8, 27.Bd6 Rd8, 28.Bc7>.
He was down to 27 minutes when he played his 28th move, and that might have influenced his decision to not continue the game to push for a win.
A possible continuation was to win the a-pawn back quickly, for example with <25.Bc4 Qf5, 26.Rb5 Qg6> and the pawn will fall whenever white wants. He may also active his other Rook, either in the a- or d-file. Black would need look to the kingside for counterplay, as white dominates the queenside.
It was a bit anticlimactic to see the game end in 28 moves, but it was perhaps a clever decision from Topalov as he was looking at possible time trouble if he had continued, and he would’ve needed to play energetic in the continuation to pose Carlsen problems."
From the very fine tournament round report, http://norwaychess.com/en/supertour...
Kibitzing
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