MTel R3: Ivanchuk wins again, Topalov beats Cheparinov

The tournament, which is being held in the Central Military Club in Sofia, Bulgaria, is a double round-robin (all play all, with white and black). The rate of play is 90 minutes for 40 moves + 1 hour to the end of the game. Starting time: 15:00h local time (12:00h UTC), except the final round, which starts at 14:00h.

Round three report

Vassily Ivanchuk in action against Bu Xiangzhi

Ivanchuk,V (2740) - Bu Xiangzhi (2708) [A11]
4th M-Tel Masters Sofia BUL (3), 10.05.2008
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 a6 5.Qc2 b5 6.b3 Bg4 7.Ne5 Bh5 8.cxb5. This position, achieved by a somewhat unusual move sequence, has occurred before, in Agamaliev,G (2516)-Khaghani,M (2289) Teheran 2005, where it continued 8...Qc7 9.Nxc6 Nxc6 10.bxc6 Qxc6 and White won in 30 moves. In Sofia Bu played the catastrophic 8...cxb5?? and could have resigned the shortest game of the decade at this level of chess.

Naturally our hawk-eyed readers will immediately see the refutation:

9.Bxb5+ axb5 10.Nxb5 (threatening 11.Nc7+ against the smothered king) 10...e6 11.Nc7+ Ke7 12.Nxa8. Count the pieces: White has a rook and two pawns for a bishop – and things are going to get worse for Black, with his king dragged out into the open. 12...Nfd7 13.Ba3+ Kf6 14.Bb2 Nxe5 15.f4 Nbd7 16.Nc7 Bg6 17.Bxe5+ Nxe5 18.fxe5+ Kxe5 19.Qc3+ Kf5

Bu Xiangzhi is playing on for one reason only: to try to get the move count as high as possible before he resigns. He wants to stay out of the record books. Now Ivanchuk had an opportunity to force mate and make this a truly memorable miniature: 20.e4+ Kg4 (20...dxe4 21.0-0+ leads to a slightly shorter mate) 21.Qf3+ Kh4 22.g3+ Kh3 23.Qf1+ Kg4 24.h4 Qf6 25.Qh3+ Kf3 26.g4+ Kf4 27.Rf1+ Ke5 28.Qg3+ Qf4 29.Qxf4+ Kd4 30.Qf2+ Ke5 31.Nb5 Bc5 (or 31...d4 32.Qxd4#) 32.Qf4#. You should play through this line and enjoy the merry king hunt that leads to the following kill:

Ivanchuk's strategy lead to certain victory, but not quite as spectacularly: 20.0-0+ ["Sure, he missed a quicker mate," writes Rick Massimo of Providence, RI USA. "But you can never criticize someone for castling with check, can you? It's one of the most satisfying moves in chess." Indeed it is.] 20...Kg5 21.a4 Kh6 22.Rf3 Bf5 23.Raf1 Bd6 24.Nb5 Bb8 25.Nd4 Be4 26.Rh3+ Kg6 27.d3 Bf5 28.Rhf3 Be5 29.Qe1 Bxd4 30.Rg3+ Kh6 31.exd4 g6 32.Rgf3 Qh4 and with 32.Qxh4 coming up Bu resigned – 32 is an acceptable move count. 1-0. [Click to replay]

What to do? Bu at move six.

Cheparinov,I (2696) - Topalov,V (2767) [C11]
4th M-Tel Masters Sofia BUL (3), 10.05.2008
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Ne2 Be7 9.c3 0-0 10.g3 cxd4 11.Nexd4 Nc5 12.Bg2 Bd7 13.0-0 Rc8 14.Kh1 Ne4 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.c4 a5 17.Qc2 g6 18.Rad1 Nc5 19.Nd4 Qc7 20.g4 Rfd8 21.Qf2 Be8 22.f5 Qxe5 23.fxe6 Nxe6 24.Nxe6 Qxe6 25.Rde1 Qxg4 26.Bd4 Qh4 27.Rxe7 Qxe7 28.Re1 Qg5

White is struggling to get some kind of attack to compensate for the material imbalance (Black has a rook and two pawns for a bishop). Here 29.Qf6 would have offered some resistance, unlike 29.Re5?, which loses quickly to 29...f5! (Topalov repeats moves briefly to gain time). 30.Re1 Qg5 31.Re5 f5 32.h4 Qg4 33.Kh2 dxc4 34.Bh3 Qd1 35.Re1 Rxd4 36.Rxd1 Rxd1 37.Bf1 Bf7 38.Be2 0-1. The master has taught his pupil (and trusted second) a severe lesson. [Click to replay]

Video reports by Europe Echecs

Give us an autograph, grandmaster! Veselin Topalov is stopped by a fan on the streets of Sofia

Vassily Ivanchuk on a walkaround in the Bulgarian capital

Schedule and results

Links Official web site All games so far in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use it to read, replay and analyse the PGN games. Download free PGN reader ChessBase Light