Topalov – Anand blitz in Sofia

The first game starts at 16:20h local time = 15:20h Paris/Berlin, 14:20h GMT/London and 09:20h NY (you can find the time in your city here). The exact schedule is as follows:

• 1st Game – February 1st, 2004, starting at 16:20 p.m.
• 2nd Game – February 1st, 2004, starting at 16:45 p.m.
• Tiebreak – February 1st, 2004, starting at 17:15 p.m.

The venue is the Musala Hall in the Hilton Hotel, Sofia, Bulgaria. The organizer and sponsor is MobilTel EAD with the support of the Bulgarian Chess Federation and the media partnership of Dneven Trud Newspaper.

• Official Mtel web site

Top Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov vs world number three player Vishy Anand

The regulations state that "the main rule while holding the competition will be correctness and mutual respect – “FAIR PLAY”. When achieving an equal position (equal score) in the last minutes of the match, it would be ADVISABLE for the party having more time, if it were not to see a winning plan, to offer a draw." After this preamble the conditions are laid out:

• There will be two games with the players alternating colours.
• The players receive ten minutes each for all the moves of a game, with the blitz rules of chess applying.
• If the match ends in a 1:1 tie there will be a tiebreak game where White has five minutes and Black four minutes, with the latter winning in case of a draw.

Interesting are some special provisions mentioned with regard to medical care (do they know something we don't know?): "If during the match any of the competitors should urgently need any medical help, the referee judge will stop the clock after which he records the last move and the times of the two players. After 5 minutes at the most, the game is continued. If the competitor who has fallen sick cannot continue playing, he loses the game."

According to the official web site the two players have so far met 48 times. Anand scored 13 victories, Topalov nine. The Sicilian Defense was used in 23 games, there were ten Najdorfs, nine Ruy Lopezes, five French, three Rubinsteins, and Anand defended twice with the Petroff. 27 games were played under classical time control, with an even 50% score for both players. In blindfold chess the score was +2 =3 –1 for Anand, while in rapid chess he was victorious with +4 =9 –1.

Here is a list of their individual encounters: