
The FIDE World Chess Championship is taking place in the Hotel Potrero de los
Funes
Complex, in the Province of San Luis, Argentina, from September 27 to October
16, 2005.
Round Thirteen Summary
Round 13: Thursday, October 13th |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
½-½
|
Veselin Topalov |
Michael Adams |
½-½
|
Peter Leko |
Vishy Anand |
½-½
|
A. Morozevich |
Judit Polgar |
½-½
|
Peter Svidler |
|
Current standings at the World Championship in San Luis

Videos to watch
World Championship Diary: Round 13
By Nigel Short – on site in San Luis
Lunchtime: Upon entering the room we beheld the heinous crime.
What foul odious act! What dastardy! For twelve long days the team of Veselin
Topalov and its talisman – yours truly – has taken its place on
a table in the corner of the dining room before each game. This sacred union
has given spiritual strength to “La Topadora Topalov” (Toppy the
Bulldozer) and allowed him to surge to his commanding lead. Now we witnessed
Morten Sand, Vice President of FIDE, sat smugly before us in the great Bulgarian’s
chair, gluttonously gobbling down his prandial comestibles. This interloper,
this Norwegian Goldilocks, appeared oblivious to his felony, perhaps on account
of having arrived only yesterday. He was reprimanded sternly. Chastened, he
apologized profusely – but the damage had already been done. Shaken, Toppy
took his place at another table as Danailov tried to console him. Today is the
thirteenth round. Not for nothing do they call it “unlucky for some.”

The daily routine: Nigel tries to take dinner with the event translators

Then Topalov and his team ask their mascot to please join them for lunch

Duty calls – after all there is a world championship title at stake

Please take your seat Nigel, Veselin indicates, while Silvio Danailov dusts
off the chair

And that's how lunch must be taken, if Topalov is to continue his winning streak
4.00pm: One day it will doubtless be proven that the Berlin
is not a very good opening, but for now its reputation remains intact . A misplaced
king and poor development do not seem to matter when one has a firm grip of
the f5 square. Topalov will be hoping to repeat his success against Judit Polgar
in the same variation from earlier on in the tournament, but he will not find
it so easy against Kasimjanov whose reign will end in a few hours and who will
be intent upon reminding the world of his subtle and oft underestimated strength.

Never underestimate this man: Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Polgar-Svidler is heavy Marshall theory and a draw already looks likely. It
is my view that, when White, either one should have some interesting new ideas
up one’s sleeve or avoid facing it altogether. When preparing for me back
in 1993 Garry Kasparov entrusted the surveyal of this opening to Efim Geller.
The renowned Soviet analyst, after a thorough perusal of the main lines of play,
returned to Kasparov with the conclusion that that White had no real advantage
anywhere. He advised ducking it by playing 8.a4, which the great man duly did
– and most successfully too.

Marshalling her forces: Judit Polgar
Polgar was probably influenced in her choice by her victory against Svidler
at the Corus tournament but today she had no luck. A draw has been agreed this
very moment. That has put paid to Svidler’s minuscule chances of becoming
World Champion. Only Anand can hope to catch Topalov now.

Peter Svidler losing his final chance to catch Veselin Topalov
Anand's game against Morozevich looks like a fascinating fight. The Russian
has reverted to his beloved French Defence after dabbling with other ancient
openings. With kings castled on opposite wings, in the Classical Variation,
time will be of the essence.

Anand taking a last shot at the title against Morozevich
5.15pm: The Indian has sacrificed his bishop. His queen and
rook are bearing down upon the Black king. I would not have thought that he
is taking a big risk because there is usually a perpetual check available if
one needs to bale out.

Adams in his 13th round game against Peter Leko
Adams-Leko is tight manoeuvring game of unremitting tedium. If the Englishman
wins he will move up a place or even two is he is lucky, as well as salvaging
some pride. In the grander scheme of things this battle for the lower places
is not very important though.

Veselin Topalov struggling against Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Topalov, meanwhile, would appear to stand worse. Faced with the prospect of
his a-pawn being slowly annexed he had little choice but open up the center
in a bid for counterplay. This turn of events is favourable to White, but whether
he will obtain enough of an advantage to win is less clear. The presence of
opposite coloured bishops always gives the inferior side some hope of survival
in the endgame.

Peter Leko manoeuvering to a draw against Adams
6.10pm: Adams and Leko spared us from narcolepsy by agreeing
to a draw. At the start of the tournament I was critical of a couple of games
that finished prematurely (although in general the tournament has been remarkably
hard-fought) but since then either I have become exhausted or a hypocrite or
perhaps both. Seriously though, there was nothing to suggest either side had
any prospects of winning the final position, played out to its conclusion though
it was not.

Morozevich in his excitingly complex game against Anand
Anand-Morozevich has ended in a spectacular perpetual check – although
not at all in the way I had anticipated. The White queen impaled herself to
allow her two rooks to keep the Black king hopping ad infinitum. I think both
sides can be praised for their uncompromising play. A draw was a very fair result.
This means that unless Topalov loses today, he will be seriously celebrating
tonight – and Morten Sand will escape being burnt in effigy.

Governor Alberto Rodríguez Saá watching the games
6.40pm: Veselin Topalov has just sacrificed the exchange in
the endgame! This guy is amazing! He has been suffering for most of the game.
He had to shed a pawn to avoid any even worse fate but manoeuvring his bishop
to d5 it seemed as if he would create just about enough threats to save himself.
Then came the daring sacrifice. This is bold indeed because if he has misjudged
the position he will surely be lost – so great is his material deficit.
It would appear though that his judgment is spot on. White is driven to passivity
and has to be very careful to avoid losing himself.

The great Argentinian player Oscar Panno in the audience
7.15pm: The time control has been reached safely. The Black
kingside pawns are most ominously poised and white will surely have to return
the exchange soon. He has. The White rook supports the passed c-pawn, but the
Black rook scurries back just in time. The king advances upon the g-pawn. It
is defended. White pushes his h-pawn and…. draw! Veselin Topalov is the
new World Champion! What a brilliant performance!

The governor congratulates the new world champion: Veselin Topalov
His tournament was won in the first half with a blistering Fischeresque series
of victories. He was in serious trouble in only one game – the first –
against Peter Leko. Michael Adams had him under pressure as did Rustam Kasimjanov
today, but neither player missed anything concrete. On the other hand Topalov
could and indeed should have defeated both Anand and Morozevich. He has outclassed
everyone here and has deserved his success. Congratulations! Let us hope that
he continues to thrill us with his exuberant brand of chess and not rest on
his laurels – not that I think he will.

The new world champion in his post-game press conference
A Short Glossary
heinous – adjective; shockingly brutal or cruel
odious – adjective; extremely unpleasant; repulsive;
from the Latin odium ‘hatred’.
dastardy – noun; base timidity; cowardliness.
prandial – adjective; of or relating to a meal; from
Latin prandium ‘meal’.
comestible – noun; any substance that can be used
as food.
narcolepsy – noun; a sleep disorder characterized
by sudden and uncontrollable episodes of deep sleep; an extreme tendency to
fall asleep whenever in relaxing surroundings; from Greek narke ‘numbness’.
effigy – noun; a sculpture or model of a person; Latin
effigies, from effingere ‘to fashion’.
All photos: Frederic Friedel; Word Chess Championship Press
Full schedule
Round 1: Wednesday, September 28th |
Peter Leko |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
A. Morozevich |
½-½ |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Peter Svidler |
½-½ |
Michael Adams |
Judit Polgar |
0-1 |
Vishy Anand |
|
|
Round 2: Thursday, September 29th |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Vishy Anand |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Judit Polgar |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
A. Morozevich |
|
|
Round 3: Friday, September 30th |
A. Morozevich |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
Peter Svidler |
1-0 |
Peter Leko |
Judit Polgar |
1-0 |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Vishy Anand |
1-0 |
Michael Adams |
|
|
Round 4: Saturday, October 1st |
Veselin Topalov |
1-0 |
Michael Adams |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
1-0 |
Vishy Anand |
Peter Leko |
1-0 |
Judit Polgar |
A. Morozevich |
0-1 |
Peter Svidler |
|
|
Free day: Sunday, October 2nd |
|
Round 5: Monday, October 3rd |
Peter Svidler |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
Judit Polgar |
½-½ |
A. Morozevich |
Vishy Anand |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
|
|
Round 6: Tuesday, October 4th |
Judit Polgar |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
Vishy Anand |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
A. Morozevich |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
|
|
Round 7: Wednesday, October 5th |
Veselin Topalov |
1-0 |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Peter Leko |
1-0 |
Michael Adams |
A. Morozevich |
1-0 |
Vishy Anand |
Peter Svidler |
1-0 |
Judit Polgar |
|
|
Round 8: Thursday, October 6th |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
0-1 |
A. Morozevich |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
Vishy Anand |
1-0 |
Judit Polgar |
|
|
Free day: Friday, October 7th |
|
Round 9: Saturday, October 8th |
Vishy Anand |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
Judit Polgar |
½-½ |
Michael Adams |
Peter Svidler |
½-½ |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
A. Morozevich |
1-0 |
Peter Leko |
|
|
Round 10: Sunday, October 9th |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
A. Morozevich |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
1-0 |
Judit Polgar |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Vishy Anand |
|
|
Round 11: Monday, October 10th |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
Vishy Anand |
1-0 |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Judit Polgar |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Peter Svidler |
1-0 |
A. Morozevich |
|
|
Round 12: Tuesday, October 11th |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
A. Morozevich |
½-½ |
Judit Polgar |
Peter Leko |
0-1 |
Vishy Anand |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
½-½ |
Michael Adams |
|
|
Free day: Wednesday, October 12th |
|
Round 13: Thursday, October 13th |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Vishy Anand |
½-½ |
A. Morozevich |
Judit Polgar |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
|
|
Round 14: Friday, October 14th |
Veselin Topalov |
- |
Judit Polgar |
Peter Svidler |
- |
Vishy Anand |
A. Morozevich |
- |
Michael Adams |
Peter Leko |
- |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Games –
Report |
|
Tie-breaks: Saturday, October 15th |
|
Links