[Event "Sofia/Bulgaria"]
[Site "Sofia/Bulgaria"]
[Date "2010.05.01"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2010.05.01"]
[EventRounds "12"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 {Topalov deviates from the
previous Catalan line which had led to a nasty defeat. The question now is
what Anand would have in store.} 6. Ne5 c5 7. Na3 cxd4 8. Naxc4 Bc5 9. O-O O-O
10. Bg5 {#Though the official novelty only takes place a move later, this can
be described as the real novelty and the essence of what the World Champion
had prepared.} h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 $146 12. Nd3 Ba7 13. Qa4 {#} Nc6 ({The
enticing fork with} 13... b5 {falls flat to} 14. Qc2 bxc4 15. Qxc4 {and the
rook on a8 is lost.}) 14. Rac1 e5 15. Bxc6 b5 16. Qc2 Qxc6 17. Ncxe5 Qe4 18.
Qc6 Bb7 19. Qxe4 Bxe4 20. Rc2 {#We now have a very complex fight between the
bishop pair and the knight pair.} Rfe8 21. Rfc1 f6 22. Nd7 {This seemingly
innocuous move is in fact the first move in a masterly plan by Anand to
regroup his knights. While said somewhat tongue-in-cheek, this does actually
begin the longest run of consecutive knight moves ever seen in a World
Championship match with no less than thirteen!} Bf5 23. N7c5 Bb6 24. Nb7 Bd7
25. Nf4 Rab8 26. Nd6 Re5 27. Nc8 Ba5 28. Nd3 Re8 29. Na7 {#"It seems that with
this Vishy has lost his 'faith' in the position. Surprising. I liked it." - GM
Yasser Seirawan} Bb6 30. Nc6 Rb7 31. Ncb4 a5 32. Nd5 a4 33. Nxb6 Rxb6 34. Nc5
Bf5 35. Rd2 {Finally giving the cavalry a rest.} Rc6 36. b4 axb3 37. axb3 b4
38. Rxd4 Rxe2 39. Rxb4 Bh3 $1 {#Despite being a pawn down, it is now White who
must tread carefully with the unpleasant threats around his king. This is all
that is needed to neutralize Anand's winning ambitions.} 40. Rbc4 Rd6 41. Re4
Rb2 ({Black could even play} 41... Rc2 {illustrating the back rank weakness.}
42. Rc4 Re2 $11) 42. Ree1 Rdd2 {#At this point Topalov can be considered the
moral victor, since even though he is hardly winning, his position appears
preferable.} 43. Ne4 Rd4 44. Nc5 Rdd2 45. Ne4 Rd3 {#And by refusing the
repetition, he says exactly what he thinks.} 46. Rb1 Rdxb3 47. Nd2 Rb4 48. f3 {
Opening the escape route for the king.} g5 49. Rxb2 Rxb2 50. Rd1 Kf7 51. Kf2 h5
52. Ke3 Rc2 53. Ra1 Kg6 54. Ra6 Bf5 55. Rd6 Rc3+ 56. Kf2 Rc2 57. Ke3 Rc3+ 58.
Kf2 Rc2 {#} 1/2-1/2

