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The traditional Sachova Corrida Novoborska is taking place in Prague, Czcech Republic. The main attraction of the event features the match between Veselin Topalov against Viktor Laznicka. Laznicka has played this event both previous years, once losing to Navara and once beating Shirov. The players will play a six game match regardless of whether one side achieves a winning match score before the sixth round.
As a side event IM Thaddeus Kriebel is playing the legendary GM Oleg Romanishin in the same match format.
Laznicka switched to a more solid Slav in game five and it gave him a comfortable draw
The fifth round of the match was not the most exciting. Laznicka went for a more solid line of the Slav instead of taking the gambit that got him in some trouble in rounds one and three. He was never in any real trouble and although Topalov kept expanding on the kingside he was unable to do much with it. Topalov obtained the better pawn structure but Laznicka struck back by obtaining counterplay against the pawn center and by having a powerful and annoying knight. Eventually a repetition was forced and the game ended in a draw.
Analysis didn't show much for either side
The last round, however, was a totally one sided affair. Topalov showed why he is one of the best players of the world and positionally annihilated his young Czech opponent. Here are the full annotations of this game:
[Event "Topalov-Laznicka m 2013"] [Site "Novy Bor CZE"] [Date "2013.09.25"] [Round "6"] [White "Laznicka, Viktor"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D31"] [WhiteElo "2677"] [BlackElo "2769"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2013.09.19"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Be7 {There's always a lot to be said about the Orthodox type of position in the Queen's Gambit. Obviously Black isn't aiming for an utlra-aggressive setup the way that the King's Indian or Benoni deal with the opening, and it's even more solid than a Queen's Indian or a Slav, so why isn't it more popular? The reason really is that it is quite passive and if White doesn't do anything special he should retain the slightest of edges. However, once in a while, specially lately, White goes for immediate aggression to try to punish Black for trying to develop so harmoniously.} 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Bf5 (6... Bd6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 {is also a popular line.}) 7. g4 $5 {Nothing new under the sun. This idea has been around since the age of Botvinnik, but only lately has White really explored all of its potential.} Be6 8. Bd3 (8. h4 $5 Nd7 9. g5 h6 10. g6 {was seen just yesterday in the game Stefanova-Kosteniuk, Tashkent Grand Prix}) 8... Nd7 9. Bf5 $5 {Not entirely new. Volkov tried it unsuccessfully against Grachev last year, but whenever Volkov essays something grandmasters look at it with interest.} Bxf5 {already new, Gracehv chose Nf8.} 10. gxf5 Bb4 11. Nge2 Ne7 12. Qc2 {White's pawn on f5 is very weak, but it is hard to get to. The open f-file and the potential to set up a strong pawn center compensate.} Nb6 13. f3 $2 {Strangely we will see that this move is the source of all of White's problems from now on. Of course, hindsight is 20/20.} (13. Rg1 g6 14. Be5 {was certainly more to the point.}) 13... g6 $5 {Black takes advantage of the fact that the f3 move has somewhat weakened dark squares, specifically the h4-e1 diagonal and the e3 square. Topalov's idea is very strong.} 14. fxg6 Nxg6 $1 {Topalov's idea.} 15. O-O-O Qe7 16. Rd3 Nc4 {The pressure on e3 is ramping up, and Laznicka decides to kick out this knight from c4, but at the cost of further weakening his dark squares.} 17. b3 Na3 18. Qb2 Nxf4 19. Nxf4 Rg8 {With white's discoordinated rooks, it is suddenly Black that takes advantage of the open g-file.} 20. Qf2 O-O-O 21. Kb2 Kb8 22. Nb1 Rde8 23. Nxa3 Bxa3+ 24. Kb1 Bd6 {White's position is very discoordinated, and oh did he wish his pawn on f3 was back on f2...} 25. Ne2 Qe6 26. Nc3 Qf5 27. Rhd1 Rg6 28. R1d2 Qh3 29. f4 Qf5 30. Ne2 h5 31. Ng3 Qg4 32. Qe2 h4 33. Qxg4 Rxg4 34. Nf5 Bb4 {White hasn't lost material yet, but his position keeps becoming worse and worse. His rooks are horrible compared to their counterparts and specially h2 will be hard to hold on to.} 35. h3 (35. Rf2 Rh8 $1 {Suddenly puts the question to the knight on f5: how exactly are you going to go back? The threat is Rh5.}) 35... Rg6 36. Re2 (36. Nxh4 Rg1+ 37. Rd1 Rxd1+ 38. Rxd1 Rxe3 {is hopeless as White is about to lose a pawn or two.}) 36... Rh8 37. e4 Rf6 38. Ng7 Rg8 {The lone knight on g7 perishes as his rooks are unable to support him. Topalov played a positionally brilliant game to conclude this match.} 0-1
Topalov showed in Novy Bor he is a master with the Black pieces
The other match ended in a 3-3 tie between GM Romanishin and IM Kriebel
Topalov receives his prize, which is being examined by Silvio Danailov, his manager and ECU President
The artist Ludmila Zilkova, was the designer and creator of these beautiful trophies
The man with his deserved prize: Topalov beat Laznicka quite convincingly
Photos by Vladimir Jagr
| Players | Rtng |
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
Total |
| Veselin Topalov | 2769 |
1
|
0
|
½
|
1
|
½
|
1
|
4
|
| Viktor Laznicka | 2677 |
0
|
1
|
½
|
0
|
½
|
0
|
2
|
| Players | Rtng |
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
Total |
| Thaddeus Kriebel | 2365 |
½
|
0
|
1
|
½
|
½
|
½
|
3
|
| Oleg Romanishin | 2499 |
½
|
1
|
0
|
½
|
½
|
½
|
3
|
LinksThe games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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