Spotlight on Topalov

Veselin Topalov heads the field at the Linares.

THIS week, we are caught in the midst of the Linares tournament. The Linares super-grandmaster tournament, like the Corus event three weeks ago, is considered one of the elite tournaments which make up the chess version of a Grand Slam. Only the best in the chess world get invited to Linares and this year, the invitation list was shorter.

Where previously there used to be as many as 14 players in the annual tournament, the 2010 edition of Linares is reduced to just six participants. The last time the field had been so small was in 2001. However, the participants are of world-class standard, all currently placed within the top 30 players in the world.

  f_pg13topalov.jpgVeselin Topalov

So, imagine a field headed by Veselin Topalov: a previous World Chess Federation (FIDE) champion from Bulgaria and currently, the second highest ranked player in the world. (He was No.1 in the world from April 2006 to January 2007 and again from October 2008 to January 2010).

Topalov is an enterprising player that creates energy on the chessboard. He sees resources where others may well get bogged down in complications. From what I’ve seen so far from his games in Linares, they are stuff to excite any onlooker.

Topalov is the favourite to win the tournament in Linares this year. The last time he won was in 2005 when he was co-winner with Garry Kasparov. (Incidentally, it was at the end of this very event that Kasparov announced his retirement from competitive chess to concentrate on his writing and political career.)

However, it remains to be seen how far Topalov is willing to push himself in this tournament. In just two months, he will be challenging Viswanathan Anand for the world chess championship crown.

The Linares tournament fits well into his preparations and is obviously a gauge of his readiness to face the world champion from India but how much of it is he willing to reveal to his rival? Topalov knows that Anand and his team will be watching his performance very keenly.

But I’m sure that is only a small worry for Topalov. A professional like him will always be concentrating solely on the task at hand. In Linares, this means the stiff challenges from the other competitors. Any of his five rivals is also a close contender for the first prize but none will be closer than Levon Aronian, the grandmaster from Armenia.

Like Topalov, Aronian is a previous winner at Linares but unlike Topalov, Aronian was the undisputed winner in 2006. That year, Topalov could finish in only third place. Since then, the Armenian has been a regular face in this Spanish town. Obviously, he is looking forward to winning the event for a second time.

The other players in Linares are Vugar Gashimov from Azerbaijan, Boris Gelfand from Israel, Alexander Grischuk from Russia and Spain’s own Francisco Vallejo Pons.

As a measure of the close competition between the two main contenders, here is their third-round game from Linares.

White: Levon Aronian
Black: Veselin Topalov

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Bg2 Bg7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.0-0 Re8 10.Nd2 a6 11.a4 Nbd7 12.h3 Rb8 13.Nc4 Nb6 14.Na3 Bd7 15.e4 Nc8 16.Qd3 Re7 (The sign of an imaginative mind. The rook will be heading to the c7 square) 17.Rb1 Be8 18.b4 cxb4 19.Rxb4 Rc7 20.Bd2 Nd7 21.Rc1 Nc5 22.Qb1 b5 23.axb5 a5 24.Rb2 Nb6 25.Ra2 a4 26.Ne2 Rcb7 (Black has given up a pawn to reach this interesting position. However, White is not without resources) 27.Bf4 Nc8 28.Rxc5 dxc5 29.Bxb8 Rxb8 30.f4 (Will White’s occupation of the centre prove decisive? Will Black be able to neutralise those dangerous pawns in the centre?) 30…g5 31.e5 gxf4 32.gxf4 f6 33.Qe4 fxe5 34.fxe5 Qg5 35.Nc4 Bxb5 36.h4 Qg6 37.Qxg6 hxg6 38.Rb2 Nd6 (That’s a brilliant move. Obviously, White cannot capture the knight with his pawn and so, his only reply is …) 39.Nxd6 a3 40.Ra2 Bxe2 41.Rxe2 Bxe5 (Black’s final resource. The bishop on e5 is immune to capture because 42.Rxe5 will lose to 42 … a2 and 43 … Rb1) 42.Nc4 Bb2 43.Nxa3 Bxa3 44.Re6 c4 45.Rxg6+ (Winning a pawn but the game is heading to a draw) 45 … Kf7 46.Rc6 Rh8 47.Rc7+ Kf8 48.Rxc4 Be7 49.Rc8+ Kg7 50.Rxh8 Kxh8 51.h5 ½-½ (Despite the two pawns, White can never make any headway in the remainder of this game.)

Note: You can follow the games live on the official website for the Linares tournament at ajedrez.ciudaddelinares.es/index.htm but be advised that everything is in Spanish.

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