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| Mar-10-07 | | ahmadov: I just do not understand Topalov playing 79...Qe4 when everything is already finished. It is a bit strange when players of Topalov calibre play such reduntant moves in a lost position... |
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| Mar-10-07 | | Billy Ray Valentine: <alicefujimori: It's still quite unbelievable how Topalov managed to lose this game. The position around after move 45 looked at least equal for black. Topalov must have missed the 50.Ng4 idea, but still I think the endgame is probably still drawn after 50...Kxe4 rather than 50...Nc4.> Perhaps Topalov played 50...Nc4 because he was worried about the sacrifice 51. Nxf6. After all, after 51...gxf6 52. h6 Nd6 53. h7 Nf7 and the pawn is stopped. If 50... Kxe4 51. Nxf6 Kf5 (gxf6 52. h6 and black cannot stop White from Queening) 52. Ne8 and I think black is busted because he will lose the pawns on g7 and e6 (but pick off the white pawn on h5). That would still leave him down two pawns. Am I missing something? |
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| Mar-10-07 | | KamikazeAttack: <The Russians said the same thing about Larsen, that he would never become the World Champion because he did not know when to take the draw, instead -always- trying to win.
>
What happened to the "Topa never takes a draw" accolade? He always goes for the win no matter what. When did this stop being a positive and start becoming a weakness? |
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| Mar-10-07 | | KamikazeAttack: It is just refreshing how Moro plays basic openings to take away his opponents from over-analysed standard openings. Moro knows how to play chess - period. |
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| Mar-10-07 | | Jole: when he stopped winning apparently (and when he wins again, he'll be supported again) |
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| Mar-10-07 | | euripides: Topalov played the middle game very well and came very close to a win in the knight and pawn ending, but I don't know if it was ever there. One key defensive idea is that in many lines after an exchange of knights Kxa4 will be met by Kc4 and the black king is too far away for f5 to work. The game turns when he commits his knight too far to the queen's side and allows the Ng4-f6 idea. 51.Nxf6 and 53.g4 deserve analysis. |
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| Mar-10-07 | | KamikazeAttack: < euripides: Topalov played the middle game very well and came very close to a win in the knight and pawn ending, but I don't know if it was ever there. > Topalov never came close to any win. |
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| Mar-10-07 | | euripides: The drawing line after 46...Nb4 that some of us pointed out during the game is pretty close; if the king ended up one square closer to the h pawn Black would win in that line. The defence doesn't look all that easy after 49...f5, either. |
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| Mar-10-07 | | Billy Ray Valentine: I realize I'm probably overlooking something very obvious, but why does black let go of his a-pawn on move 32? Why can't he play 32...a6 and attempt to keep his a-pawn? |
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| Mar-10-07 | | acirce: If I recall, Yermolinsky thought Topalov would have some problems if 36.h3 instead of 36.Kf2?! allowing ..g4 with counterplay. The way he played was a little strange but I agree, I can't see where it was ever close to win for Topalov. Instead, it was indeed he who messed up rather quickly, and failed to solve the problems Morozevich gave him by finding the nice plan with h4! etc, but then was Morozevich's time to hesitate by misplacing his knight instead of, for example, 53.g4!  intending to win the h-pawn with his king or knight.The Q+p vs Q+p endgame was drawn from the beginning but incredibly hard (for Black in particular of course) to play in practical play when you're tired and all. Both players "blundered" according to tablebases, which of course is little more than a curiousity. |
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| Mar-10-07 | | malthrope: <acirce: If I recall, Yermolinsky thought Topalov would have some problems if 36.h3 instead of 36.Kf2?! allowing ..g4 with counterplay. [...]> Yes, that's correct <acirce> I'll gladly back you up there (watching 'live' on the ICC as well) as that was Yermo's (aka: Sweere) judgment of the position (36. h3! instead of 36. Kf2?!). GM Emil (Sutovsky - aka: GMAlex) appraisal nine moves later (after 45... Nc2+) was, 'It's  , so white shall be able to hold.' I agree with all the rest of your statements... Gotta luv Moro he sure made it exciting! (it was good for my ChessBookie bets too!). Regards, - Mal |
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| Mar-10-07 | | csmath: <I realize I'm probably overlooking something very obvious, but why does black let go of his a-pawn on move 32? Why can't he play 32...a6 and attempt to keep his a-pawn?> That really wasn't a problem. Again, if not that pawn then e5 pawn would fall and after f6 black would stay with a bunch of weak white squares. It is a matter of taste, Topalov plays with emphasys on dynamic position, he wants to be in control since Moro tortured him in the opening and they apparently dislike each other. Topalov missed couple of easy draws later on and a much tougher draw in queen ending. It is a tragedy but the way he plays this whole tournament it is by no means a surprise. This is a far cry from his 2005 form. |
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| Mar-10-07 | | euripides: <csmath> I don't think Topalov missed a draw on move 45; he was still trying to win. What is the draw on move 54 ? |
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| Mar-10-07 | | csmath: I know he was trying to win, but ...
He didn't miss anything on 54th move, my error.
I actually started to loo at this game only after the game. This is actually pretty nice ending. It is pitiful that Topalov had to lose like this but then again Moro deserved it. |
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| Mar-10-07 | | euripides: <cs> yes, it's game 1 of Elista again. |
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| Mar-10-07 | | Fisheremon: At 59 move Black admitted 59...e4?! leading to a very complicated endgame which is theoretically drawn, but not practically. Later on Black chosen worse and worse moves. The most intriguing moment seems to be at 69 move: 69...e5? here a unique saving move is 69...Qh1+. In his turn White admitted 70.g6?!, cos' 70.Qf1+! is a unique winning move, e.g. 70...Kd2 71.g6 Qe6 73.Kh5! again a unique winning move (!). So Black still had a unique saving chance 70...Qh1+! as noted at 69 move, but he missed finally 70...e4? clearly losing. |
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| Mar-10-07 | | euripides: Topalov may have wanted to jettison the e pawn in the belief that this would open lines for queen checks - sometimes the presence of a pawn makes things worse for the defender. If so, he misassessed the resulting Q+ b pawn vs Q ending. I don't know if there are any useful rules here beyond keeping the king in the opposite corner and as far as possible off the same diagonals as the opposing king. |
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| Mar-10-07 | | outplayer: <Fisheremon> When the game was being broadcasted I thought 71...e3 was just a blunder. |
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| Mar-10-07 | | csmath: I think it was very hard to play the game for black given the a-pawn. Topalov has chosen fight in a position where it is much easier to play white. Even so he could have drawn he refused to do so and eventually lost. This is a nice game nonetheless, much better than the French crap they played in Morelia. <yes, it's game 1 of Elista again.> True.
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| Mar-11-07 | | contrarius: While many people have commented on the fact that Topalov doesn't know when to take a draw, what hasn't been mentioned is that fact that he also doesn't know when to resign. He was clearly lost on move 71 but stubbornly pushed on for another 9 moves. I'm surprised he didn't force Moro to mate him. Such behaviour is simply insulting to his opponents. |
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| Mar-11-07 | | euripides: <contrarius> Q+P vs Q is extremely tricky to play and assess. Topalov may not have been sure he was lost until about move 78. Remember he resigned a drawn position in Morelia. |
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| Mar-11-07 | | csmath: Euripides, this guy's objective is not to comment on Topalov but to show whow he "knows" it is so "elementary" lost. In real game OTB he would probably have no idea what the evaluation of the position is. :-) This is like the bunch on Monday morning puzzles - they all knew immediately. :-)) Anyway the more I look at this game the more I like it, this is a great game and amazing battle. Too bad Topa had to lose but it is still a nice game. Cheers to both for playing this. |
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May-19-07
 | | Peligroso Patzer: <outplayer: <Fisheremon> When the game was being broadcast I thought 71...e3 was just a blunder.> According to the tablebase ( http://www.k4it.de/index.php?topic=... ), the position after 61. ... Kxd2 is a theoretical draw. Topalov's 69. ... e5? was a blunder (69. ... Qh1+ was the only drawing move here.). At move 70, however, Morozevich missed the only winning move (70. Qf1!). His 70. g6? would have allowed Topalov to draw with 70. ... Qh1+!=. All other moves by Black at move 70 were losing. After 70. ... e4?, White was winning for the remainder of the game. So, Topalov would have been theoretically lost whatever he played on move 71. |
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| Oct-25-10 | | GilesFarnaby: This game was voted by a pannel of Russian experts "#1 coffehouse game of the year" |
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Apr-13-13
 | | Check It Out: Great battle. |
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