Novy Bor: Topalov leads 2.5-1.5

by ChessBase
9/24/2013 – In absolutely fantastic games Topalov has been able to score 1.5/2 in games three and four against Laznicka. The latter was lucky to save the third game, but very unlucky in the fourth as he blundered a clear advantage in time pressure. Topalov gave a lovely simultaneous to the local players, including this young lady that held him to a draw. Analysis and report.

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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.

Topalov Simultaneous

Novy Bor, the city where the match is taking place, is a small town of a mere 12,000 inhabitants in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It is world famous for its production of beautiful glass artifacts, and is even host to a Glass Museum.

On the day off Topalov gave a 20-board simultaneous exhibition against local players. All of them went for a scalp of one of the best grandmasters in the world, and although no one was able to beat him some players did manage a draw.

Inaugurating the simultaneous: IM Pavel Votruba, Petr Voleslav, Veselin Topalov and ECU Chairman Viktor Novotny

Everything is ready for the show

Eating some good food and playing against a top 10 player. Not a bad way of spending your Sunday.

Topalov putting some of the finishing touches on one of the last boards

Martina Fuskova was able to draw the grandmaster

Some players were able to have a brief post-mortem on what exactly went wrong.

The youngest participant of the exhibition: Kristyna Laurincova

With obvious disappointment at the result. Kristyna was only able to achieve a draw!

Topalov was held to a draw in five games and won all the others games.

First and second rounds

The third game was a nail biting affair. Topalov was extremely aggressive and repeated the line that gave him a victory on the first game. This time the ante was upped as he sacrificed an exchange and two pawns for an initiative against his opponent's king. His plan almost worked as he was very close to victory, and only a slight inaccuracy and clever play by the Czech player allowed Black to salvage half a point.

Laznicka held with the skin of his teeth on his second black

The second game didn't go so well for Laznicka. He obtained an extra pawn from the opening but Topalov kept throwing blow after blow against White's position. Laznicka defended resourcefully and kept pushing back Topalov's threats one after another until he was able to finish development. He might even have been able to claim an advantage with the superb move 21.h4! dislocating Black's queen from her beautiful position. The way that he played in the game was also good, and it seemed that White was simply a pawn up, though maybe converting it would be difficult with the opposite colored bishops on the board.

Disaster struck shortly before move 40, though. Laznicka was too aggressive with his rook and Topalov seized the moment to sacrifice his bishop in order to deactivate his opponent's rook while retaining a strong initiative with his remaining attacking force: a queen, a rook and a pawn. This proved to be perfectly executed as White's pawn on c5 blocked out not only the rook on c6, but also the bishop on b6, and White's king was left defenseless against the onslaught. Topalov scored an important victory with the black pieces.

The commentator team does not miss a beat of what has been a very interesting match

A brilliant place for lunch. The restaurant is packed during the matches.

Kriebel won his second game with the White pieces to tie the match. Currently the score is 2-2.

Veronika makes sure the commentators and the players don't have anything to complain about

Photos by Vladimir Jagr

Replay the games

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,165,57054%2421---
1.d4946,47455%2434---
1.Nf3281,31256%2441---
1.c4181,93756%2442---
1.g319,68856%2427---
1.b314,23654%2427---
1.f45,88648%2377---
1.Nc33,79651%2384---
1.b41,75348%2380---
1.a31,19754%2403---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d394850%2378---
1.g466246%2361---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c342651%2425---
1.h327956%2416---
1.a410860%2468---
1.f39147%2431---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
Topalov started the match with the White pieces. The Bulgarian started things in a sharp manner as he sacrificed two pawns straight out of the opening. Laznicka accepted the first gift but declined the second, and although Topalov was able to mound some threats eventually the Czech player was able to push him back and obtain a comfortable advantage. Topalov fought back and equalized, eventually simplifying into an endgame in which White had the pair of bishops but nothing else going for him. Laznicka strangely sacrificed his knight to reach an endgame he thought was an easy draw, but Topalov clearly showed that it was quite the contrary. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bxc4 Nxe4 7.0-0 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Be7 9.Qc2 0-0 10.Bf4 Nd7 11.Rad1 Nf6 12.Rfe1 b6 13.Ne5 Bb7 14.Re3 Nd5 15.Rh3 f5 16.Bc1 Bf6 17.Re1 c5 18.g4 Bxe5 19.Rxe5 Qd7 20.dxc5 Rae8 21.gxf5 Rxf5 22.Rxf5 exf5 23.Bd2 Re4 24.Qd3 bxc5 25.Re3 Qe6 26.f3 Rxe3 27.Qxe3 Qxe3+ 28.Bxe3 Kh8 29.Bxc5 Nxc3 30.Bd4 Nxa2 31.Bxa2 Bxf3 32.Bb1 Bg4 33.Kg2 a5 34.Kg3 Bd1 35.Bxf5 Bb3 36.Kf4 Kg8 37.Ke5 Kf7 38.Bxh7 g6 39.Kf4 Bc2 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Topalov,V2769Laznicka,V26771–02013D37Topalov-Laznicka m 20131
Laznicka,V2677Topalov,V27691–02013A29Topalov-Laznicka m 20132
Topalov,V2769Laznicka,V2677½–½2013D37Topalov-Laznicka m 20133
Laznicka,V2677Topalov,V27690–12013E21Topalov-Laznicka m 20134
Topalov,V2769Laznicka,V2677½–½2013D17Topalov-Laznicka m 20135
Laznicka,V2677Topalov,V27690–12013D31Topalov-Laznicka m 20136

Scores

Players Rtng
1
2
3
4
5
6
Total
Veselin Topalov 2769
1
0
½
1
   
Viktor Laznicka 2677
0
1
½
0
   
Players Rtng
1
2
3
4
5
6
Total
Thaddeus Kriebel 2365
½
0
1
½
   
2
Oleg Romanishin 2499
½
1
0
½
   
2

Links

The 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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