San Luis R14: Topalov wins, Anand second

by ChessBase
10/15/2005 – A draw between Peter Svidler and Vishy Anand in the final round left Anand in second place by the tiebreak system used of this championship. The winner was and is Veselin Topalov, whose draw against Judit Polgar left him 1.5 points ahead of the field, with a 2890 performance. Full illustrated report.

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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 Fourteen Summary

Round 14: Friday, October 14th
Veselin Topalov
½-½
Judit Polgar
Peter Svidler
½-½
Vishy Anand
A. Morozevich
½-½
Michael Adams
Peter Leko
1-0
R. Kasimdzhanov

Final results of the World Championship in San Luis

The final standings shown above are with the traditional tie-break system, which did not apply in this world championship. The first tiebreak criterium was the direct results between the two players, which in the case of Vishy Anand and Peter Svidler was two draws. The second was the number of wins, and with Anand having five and Svidler four the Indian ex world champion was second.

Official final rankings
1
Veselin Topalov
10
2
Vishwanathan Anand
8.5
 
Peter Svidler
8.5
4
Alexander Morozevich
7
5
Peter Leko
6.5
6
Rustam Kasimjanov
5.5
 
Michael Adams
5.5
8
Judit Polgar
4.5

Toplaov's performance was 2890 and he will appear with a rating of 2806 on the next FIDE list (assuming he doesn't lose points before it appears). Anand, with a performance of 2807 stands to gain three or four points on the next list, while Peter Svidler 2814 will gain more due to his lower base rating.

Videos to watch


World Championship Diary: Round 14

By Nigel Short – on site in San Luis

Pictures to follow...

Lunchtime: Veselin let slip that he would “try” to make a draw today with White against the tail-ender, Judit Polgar. This did not surprise me greatly. I expected that by securing victory with a round to spare either he would feel liberated to harry his prey, or he would be incapacitated by the emotional tsunami. It was the latter apparently. I am dead-beat already and I am only writing about the tournament; I can hardly imagine how he feels. Judit has had a wretched event and I would be surprised if she were to decline. Her husband Gustav has a flight this evening and she will be able to spend the last couple of hours with him.


The end of a long tournament for Judit Polgar

3.50pm: Sure enough the scoresheets are signed. After some perfunctory exchanges in a Queen’s Indian, a tedious endgame was reached. Mind you, when both sides are intent on drawing it scarcely matters what moves are made. Topalov, curiously, has not won a game in the second half although he came very close on a couple of occasions.


Veselin Topalov after the last game in San Luis

The focus now switches to the keen battle for second place. This is important because it secures further advancement in the next World Championship cycle. Svidler needs to win this game due to his inferior tie-break. Breaking Anand’s Petroff Defence will be an extremely difficult task. He has essayed castling queenside in an attempt to inject a bit of life into proceedings. This is all known though and Black should not face too many problems.


Peter Svidler vs Vishy Anand, playing for second place

Alexander Morozevich, who is more or less guaranteed fourth place, has obtained a slight pull in the Spanish against Michael Adams. There are some subtle differences between this position and regular main line – Black having saved a couple of tempi here; White having saved one there but possessing an actively placed bishop etc. Anyway, this is the Englishman’s final chance to register a win. He is very experienced in this type of structure, but I do not see him pulling it off today.


The battle for place five: Peter Leko vs Rustam Kasimdzhanov

Peter Leko has an edge in the White side of a Sicilian Kan against Rustam Kasimjanov. The Hungarian has prospects of developing an initiative against the Black king although a strategic struggle may also rage on the other flank. The winner will probably determine who finishes fifth and sixth.


A pensive Anand coasts home to second place

5.00pm: Peter Svidler concluded that $160,000 was not so bad after all and made a draw in just 19 moves. There was a danger that he would drift into a worse position if he were not too careful. It is a very good, but not exceptional, result for the Saint Petersburger. Anand has not played anywhere near as badly as his critics have made out. He is gaining Elo points on his massive 2788 rating, and on another day his score of +3 might have sufficed for first place. However in San Luis the pre-tournament favourite was outclassed by Topalov, who looked in another league altogether after his blazing start.


Determination etched in the face of Peter Leko

6.00pm: My words about the Leko-Kasim game were almost prophetic. Leko appears to be in control on both sides of the board. The White f-pawn has advanced to the sixth where it offers mating possibilities. Meanwhile Black is tied down on the queenside too, with his a-pawn being a great burden to defend.

6.15pm: Leko has coaxed a further serious weakness out of Black, as his g-and h-pawns have been enticed perilously forward. It looks highly implausible that he can avoid calamity on the kingside. Forget about the lousy a-pawn on the other wing – mate ends the game. I suspect it is coming relatively quickly now.


Trying for his first win in this tournament

Adams is outplaying Morozevich. First he gradually established a preponderance of pawns in the centre and then broke through with a tactical blow, d4, exploiting the loose White cavalry on the queenside. The Muscovite is going to need all his ingenuity to extricate himself from this situation. Just this moment he has abandoned one of his steeds in an effort to liquidate as much material as possible and perhaps bring about a drawn endgame. Adams is rather short of pawns, which will severely complicate his winning task.


Rustam Kasimdzhanov defending against Peter Leko

Kasimjanov has erected some sort of defence with his minor pieces. Still one assumes that he will be hard pressed to stave off mate in the medium term. Tricky fellow though, this Uzbek. One should never write him off. Oh dear, after his last move – a bishop retreat, instead of capturing a pawn – the evaluation has plunged sharply. The computer is showing a near four-point advantage to Leko which usually means bye-bye time.


Leko and Adams trying to win, Mosozevich kibitzing

Tricky Mickey is certainly better but has the wrong rook’s pawn, which means that he will have to extremely careful which pieces he exchanges if he is to preserve any chances. I would guess that a draw is more likely than a win now but there is still a lot of play left – plenty of time for blunders.


Topalov in the audience watching the games

Kasim has dropped an exchange and is also a pawn in arrears at the time-control. That is a pretty hefty deficit to overcome. On the plus side he is unlikely to get mated anymore, particularly after offering a queen trade.


Kasim resigns against Leko, Moroz struggles on against Adams

7.40pm: The Uzbek boat capsizes. Fritz 9 initially suggests that the final position is only clearly better for White, but it looks dead lost to me (and obviously to Kasim). On the other hand the idiotic machine believes that Adams is winning against Morozevich, although I will wager a hefty sum on a drawn outcome. Normally these programmes are exceptionally useful tools, but one always has to engage one’s brain and be sceptical of certain evaluations.


Alexander Morozevich ends on place four

8.10pm: Morozevich-Adams, tablas! Phew! It is all over. This will go down in history as one of the finest tournaments of all time. No, not the greatest, nor even the second greatest, but nevertheless somewhere up there among the very best. It will be spoken of in centuries to come – as long as people are still playing chess. Thank you, San Luis. Thank you, the eight participants.

All photos: 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
Games – Report
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
½-½
Judit Polgar
Peter Svidler
½-½
Vishy Anand
A. Morozevich
½-½
Michael Adams
Peter Leko
1-0
R. Kasimdzhanov
Tie-breaks: Saturday, October 15th

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