Veselin Topalov vs Fabiano Caruana (2013)

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Veselin Topalov vs Fabiano Caruana
FIDE Grand Prix Thessaloniki (2013), Thessaloniki GRE, rd 10, Jun-02
Spanish Game: Morphy Defense (C78) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Given 4 times; par: 69 [what's this?]

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Jun-02-13		ketchuplover: not logical upon further review

Jun-02-13		Eyal: Yeah, 47...a2! was apparently winning for Black - 48.Rxa2 Rxa2 49.Re8 Kh7! 50.Rxf8 Rgxg2+ and mate.

Jun-02-13		ketchuplover: hmmmmm

Jun-02-13		Eyal: Now after 51.Re7? Kh7! (getting the rook out of the pin to continue with Rxe7) Black is winning again.

Jun-02-13		Gregor Samsa Mendel: It looks like Topalov finally threw the game away for good. What a tense and difficult struggle.

Jun-02-13		talisman: ♖g8 wins

Jun-02-13		Eyal: It's extremely tactically tricky to play, of course, especially when both players are probably tired already. The silicon shows that 54...Kh8?? (instead of Qf7!) actually throws away the win after 55.Rxa2!! and White has perpetual check after either recapture, but Topalov threw away this chance - probably his last one - with 55.Rxe4.

Jun-02-13		Gregor Samsa Mendel: Both sides were probably tired, and they were definitely very short of time as well.

Jun-02-13		talisman: white resigned.

Jun-02-13		Eyal: <Both sides were probably tired, and they were definitely very short of time as well.> Yeah, it was brutal for the players to navigate in such a position at the later stages of the game. In the press conference, Caruana keeps saying about lines that he's showing things like "Maybe it's winning, maybe it's losing, I have no idea"...

Jun-02-13		Eyal: Quite ironic that in the early stages of the game Caruana - who, moreover, is such an expert in the Arkhangelsk - played the opening so badly. After 8...Na5? 9.d4! Black got a really lousy position.

Jun-02-13		Eyal: click for larger view Some of the computer preferences at the later stages of the game may look a bit mysterious; for example, in the diagram position - after 50...Qg8 - the only move that's holding for White (assuming accurate play) is <51.Rd2!>. Apparently the reason lies in the following line: 51...Kh7 (Black's basic winning idea, to get Rg7 out of the pin) 52.Qf6 Rxc7 53.Qxh4+ Kg7 54.dxc7 a1Q 55.Qg5+: click for larger view and here Black has to allow perpetual check by 55...Kh7 56.Qh5+ Kg7 57.Qg5+ etc., since 55...Kf7?? gets mated by 56.Rd7+ (and that's why the rook is needed on the d-file).

Jun-02-13		messachess: at 39..Qf6 would seem to be the critical position click for larger view After this, 43.Re7 looks awfully strong. Perhaps white's mistake was 45.Qc3 and should have played 45.Qa6 Ra8 46.QxB a2 47. Re1 e1=Q 48.RxQ+ RxR, sac.'g the exchange for: click for larger view One possibility: 49.Kr2 RxR 50.PxR QxR 51.Qh6+ Qh7 52.Qe5+ Qg7 when black would probably win eventually unless white forces perpetual check.

Jun-02-13		Eyal: <Perhaps white's mistake was 45.Qc3 and should have played 45.Qa6> 45.Qa6? loses immediately to 45...Qf6! and the mating threats by Qd4+ or Rb1+ & Qa1 are lethal; so 45.Qc3, getting the queen back on the long diagonal, was neccesary. Topalov's final misses, as I mentioned above, were the very tough to find 51.Rd2!, and then (after Caruana blundered with 54...Kh8 instead of Qf7) the draw with 55.Rxa2!! when each recapture allows perpetual check. Earlier in the game, Topalov had a big advantage out of the opening after 8...Na5? 9.d4! and apparently blundered it away with 25.Nxd6? after which the knight gets trapped - instead, he should have played something like 25.c3 Bf5 26.Rde3. Caruana suggested after the game that, in the forcing sequence which follows, Topalov may have missed either 28...Kf8 or that after 29.Nxg7 Qxg7, 30.Re7 doesn't work because of 30...Qd4+ & Qxd5.

Jun-02-13		messachess: Yeah, it's amazing about white's 25. It is hard to conceive of Topa's missing that 25..f5 both uncovers the Q and guards the e4 square. Maybe he was deeply considering something to follow. It is Topalov after all.

Jun-02-13		haydn20: Just playing thru--After 20...Rc8(?) it seems that Patzer's move 21. Rxa6 shreds Black's position. In the early opening, I guess Black forgot to play first 8...Nxe4 and only then 9...Na5.

Jun-02-13		haydn20: Also an earlier d6 might have given Black more trouble.

Jun-02-13		Eyal: 7.Nc3 is a relatively rare move - I suppose it confused Caruana, who is quite an expert in the Arkhangelsk but according to this database faced in his games so far only the more common 7.a4 or c3 (Repertoire Explorer: Fabiano Caruana (black)). <After 20...Rc8(?) it seems that Patzer's move 21. Rxa6 shreds Black's position.> Caruana said in the press conference (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwRT...) that he was hoping to get some counterplay in such a case after 21...Rh5 22.f4 Qxb2 (not that he thought it's especially good for Black, but at this stage he was rather desperate); apparently it's very bad for Black because of 23.Ra7, but you have to see the trick 23...Bf5 24.Rc7! to realize how much. Caruana suggested that Topalov may have played 21.Rf3 instead because he had his eye on the f7 pawn, and only after 21...Qg6 realized that 22.Nxf7 Rh5!, trapping the knight (again...), is actually not clear at all.

Jun-03-13		PhilFeeley: I love queen and rook endings. There's just so much that can happen. What a fabulous game.

Jun-03-13		fligorna: The Comedy of Errors of William Shakespeare...performed by Veselin Topalov...LOL

Jun-03-13		JPi: Its not the first time Caruana takes a point or an half point from (if not lost) a very difficult position.

Jun-06-13		Ulhumbrus: An alternative to 13 Nxd4 is 13 Bg5 f6 14 Bh4. The d4 pawn is not going to go away. After 25...f5!! the knight-amazingly- gets trapped. An alternative to 25 Nxd6 is 25 Qe3 attacking the b6 pawn

Jun-22-13		Monocle: <Ulhumbrus: An alternative to 25 Nxd6 is 25 Qe3 attacking the b6 pawn> 25. Qe3? is a blunder that drops the c2 pawn. 25... Rxc2 and white cannot take on b6 because of the mate threat on g2. I notice that your posts often contain such trivial tactical errors. Maybe you should adopt a less authoritative manner in your commentary.

Jun-22-13		perfidious: <Monocle.....I notice that your posts often contain such trivial tactical errors.....> He's too busy generalising to be bothered over such fine points. <.....Maybe you should adopt a less authoritative manner in your commentary.> A most useful piece of advice, though one rather doubts whether it will ever come off, not having happened till now. If the miracle takes place, what's next?

Mar-04-22		fredthebear: The chronic nag <perfidouche> thinks he's the store manager in charge of everyone else. It appears he's about to promote poster Monocle to assistantant store manager after one month on the job. This game kibitzing is an example of interesting, useful chess posting that is much less common now thanks to the likes of cyberbully perfidouche killing it off. It makes him feel like a big man to poach people for their creative thinking. That's not allowed in perfi's rules for chess posting.

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