Linares 10: Topalov beats Shirov, quick draw by Kasparov

Linares Round 10

Before the rest day here is the cross table for ten rounds. Note that due to the odd number of participants some players have one less game than others, so the total score is not really very meaningful.

• Here are all the games played so far in PGN

Here is the most exciting game of the day:

Topalov,V (2735) – Shirov,A (2736) [C97]
XXI SuperGM Linares ESP (10), 29.02.2004

Here comes the utterly terrifying kingside assault: 38.e5 dxe5 39.Bxg6 hxg6 40.Qxg6 e4 41.Rh3 Rfb7 42.Nf4 Rb1 43.Qh7+ Kf7 44.Qh5+ Kg8 45.Ng6 1-0.

Pictures from round nine

Slugfest between Bulgaring champion Veselin Topalov and Latvian-born Alexei Shirov

Kramnik's intention to teach the kid a lesson never really materialised

Not in a fighting mood after yesterday's accident: Garry Kasparov and Peter Leko

Whom do we spot in the background? None other than Don Luis Rentero (right) who built up the tournament and ran it for decades. Some years ago Rentero barely survived a tragic car accident. Popping out briefly to collect something, Rentero, instead of using his Rolls Royce, opted to use his wife’s smaller family car, which unfortunately was hit at a junction by a lorry. Whether he would have been better protected in the Roller is open to question – however his injuries were such that he was no longer the person he once was. There was a long, but steady recovery from his horrific injuries – injuries that forced him to relinquish control of "his" tournament which has now passed over the City of Linares. To the left of Rentero is his son who runs the family hotel business.

All results so far