Round nine report
Round 9: Saturday, May 20, 2006 |
Gata Kamsky |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
Vishy Anand |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
Etienne Bacrot |
½-½ |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Games – Report |
All games so far in
PGN
Standings
World #1 Veselin Topalov capped an amazing comeback by beating leader Gata
Kamsky with the black pieces. After Topalov's third straight win they are now
tied for first with one round to play. Kamsky stuck his head into the Bulgarian
lion's mouth by allowing the Najdorf and then tickled the lion's belly by playing
the exact same line he has used many times in the past few months. Topalov was
ready with a strong new move (14..e5) and the white position was soon in ruins.
The attack was executed with Topalov's usual ruthless precision and White resigned
on move 29.
Vishy Anand escaped against Peter Svidler in another Lopez. Even the final
position looks good for Black, but at the end of the first time control Svidler
looked at his clock, then at White's menacing pieces, and decided discretion
was the better part of valor and took a repetition. Bacrot-Ponomariov was a
relatively peaceful draw.
Topalov has white against Bacrot in the final round. Kamsky has black against
Svidler. Anand is a half point back with black against Ponomariov. The curious
tournament regulations dictate that a tie for first place between two players
results in rapid and blitz tiebreaks. If three players are tied for first, they
use various systems, starting with most wins.
Video impressions by Vijay Kumar
Photo report from Sofia
By Frederic Friedel

An outdoor market on the way to the city centre, where the tournament takes
place

It's the start of strawberry and cherry season. Quality is already excellent,
prices I am told will go down to less than a dollar a kilogram.

Veselin Topalov arrives early for his game against Gata Kamsky

Gata comes at the last minute – no piping hot coffee before the game today

At the start of round nine: Etienne Bacrot of France

Bacrot vs Ruslan Ponomariov, both of whom are trailing in the table

Vishy Anand, preparing for a tense game against his friend Peter Svidler

Another Ruy Lopez, under the watchful eye of TV cameraman Vijay Kumar

Round nine is under way

The technology room where the live Internet broadcast is generated

Live audio commentary for the audience

What Topalov second Ivan Cheparinov does instead of anxiously biting his
nails in the playing hall

"To the sweetest Romi" he signs the poster...

...and both enjoys the idea of this becoming part of our round nine report

Yet another young Bulgarian talent: Milena Stefanova, 16, this year's under
16 and under 18 girls' champion of her country. In 2002 Milena won the European
under 12 championship in rapid chess in Novi Sad. She is trained by her father
Plamen Stefanov, an IT specialist, and goes to a special mathematics school.

The book store just outside the playing hall

Prominently on display: the first four volumes of His Great Predecessors
in Russian

During lunch break in a streetside restaurant we are approached by a young gypsy
girl. Mark Lefler, an American friend with whom I am staying in Sofia,
is a contact magician and pulled the coin she wanted out of thin air.

This bright young girl immediately forgot about working the other guests and
spent all of her time trying to figure out how Mark made the coin disappear
and reappear.

No, turns out one cannot simply take them back to Germany

A traditional dance group taking a break on the balcony of their theatre

In the press room: international FIDE arbiter Gregorio Hernandez Santana,
who in his caricature looks disconcerting like a former dictator who currently
being tried in a Baghdad court.
A cartoon on the wall of the press center – can anyone with a knowledge
of Arabic translate it? Alternately, can non-Arabic readers supply a plausible
caption in English?
Addendum: Translation by Mahmud Hassain of Canada: "When
he discovered that in chess there is king, visir (councilor or miniser for the
queen) and soldiers (pawns), he got scared of playing ... He said to leave him
out of politics".

This one needs no translation

Famous movie scenes with chess motifs

Lottery tickets with a chess position

Mild chess erotica in an unusual postcard collection

At the end of a hard-fought game Peter Svidler answers the question of Russian
chess journalist Yurij Vasiliev

Anand showed us his scoresheet, noting that for the first time ever he had made
use of the rule that allows players in time trouble to use dashes instead of
the move notation during the last four minutes. At dinner Peter Svidler told
us that in such situations Alexander Grischuk will write down the full move,
in long algebraic if necessary, and even note the clock times next to it.

Very seldom in time trouble: Vishy Anand

Schedule and results
Round 1: Thursday, May 11, 2006 |
Peter Svidler |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
½-½ |
Gata Kamsky |
Etienne Bacrot |
0-1 |
Vishy Anand |
|
|
Round 2: Friday, May 12, 2006 |
Veselin Topalov |
0-1 |
Vishy Anand |
Gata Kamsky |
1-0 |
Etienne Bacrot |
Peter Svidler |
1-0 |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
|
Round 3: Saturday, May 13, 2006 |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
½-½
|
Veselin Topalov |
Etienne Bacrot |
½-½
|
Peter Svidler |
Vishy Anand |
0-1
|
Gata Kamsky |
|
|
Round 4: Sunday, May 14, 2006 |
Etienne Bacrot |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
Vishy Anand |
1-0 |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Gata Kamsky |
1-0 |
Peter Svidler |
|
|
Round 5: Monday, May 15, 2006 |
Veselin Topalov |
1-0 |
Gata Kamsky |
Peter Svidler |
½-½ |
Vishy Anand |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
½-½ |
Etienne Bacrot |
|
|
Round 6: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 |
Veselin Topalov |
0-1 |
Peter Svidler |
Gata Kamsky |
1-0 |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Vishy Anand |
½-½ |
Etienne Bacrot |
|
|
Round 7: Thursday, May 18, 2006 |
Vishy Anand |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
Etienne Bacrot |
½-½ |
Gata Kamsky |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
1-0 |
Peter Svidler |
|
|
Round 8: Friday, May 19, 2006 |
Veselin Topalov |
1-0 |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Peter Svidler |
½-½ |
Etienne Bacrot |
Gata Kamsky |
½-½ |
Vishy Anand |
|
|
Round 9: Saturday, May 20, 2006 |
Gata Kamsky |
|
Veselin Topalov |
Vishy Anand |
|
Peter Svidler |
Etienne Bacrot |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Games – Report |
|
Round 10: Sunday, May 21, 2006 |
Veselin Topalov |
|
Etienne Bacrot |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Vishy Anand |
Peter Svidler |
|
Gata Kamsky |
Games – Report |
|