Sofia 2007: Sasikiran, Kamsky and Topalov win

Third M-Tel Masters in Sofia, Bulgaria

There are six participants in this double round robin tournament that goes from May 10 to 20. Time control: 2 hours for 40 moves + 1 hour for 20 moves + 30 minutes to the end the game. The players are not allowed to offer draws, they must consult the arbiter, who will decide (usually against) allowing the offer to be made.

Round six: All three games decided

After the "restful" fifth round (all games were drawn) and the rest day, today the players came back slugging. All three games were decided, with Topalov winning the point with the black pieces.

Krishnan Sasikiran took Michael Adams to the cleaners in a Queen's Indian when the British GM committed a strange error on move 18. Using his d-pawn as a battering ram Sasikiran finished the game in just 34 moves with the full point.

Sasikiran,K (2690) - Adams,Mi (2734) [E15]
MTel Sofia BUL (6), 15.05.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Rc8 13.e4 b5 14.Re1 dxe4 15.Nxe4 bxc4 16.Qe2 Rb8 17.Bf1 Nf6 18.Nc5

18...Nd5? 19.Nxa6 Nxc3 20.Qxc4 Nb5 21.Nxb8 Qxb8 22.a4 Nd6 23.Qxc6 Nf5 24.Rad1 Bf6 25.Qe4 Qxb3 26.d5 Nd6 27.Qe3 Qxe3 28.Rxe3 e5 29.Rc3 Bd8 30.Rc6 Nf5 31.d6 Bb6 32.d7 Rd8 33.Rc8 Kf8 34.Rd6 1-0.

Gata Kamsky, whose notebook has stopped working, did not seem to be especially flustered by this unpleasant development. He dominated the tournament leader Shakriyar Mamedyarov and ended the game in a tactical flurry.

Kamsky,G (2705) - Mamedyarov,S (2757) [B08]
MTel Sofia BUL (6), 15.05.2007
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.h3 0-0 6.Be3 c6 7.Qd2 b5 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.0-0 Qc7 10.Ne2 c5 11.c3 e5 12.Ng3 c4 13.Bc2 Re8 14.a4 bxa4 15.Bxa4 exd4 16.Nxd4 a6 17.Bh6 Bh8 18.Ndf5 Re6 19.Rfd1 Nc5 20.Nxd6 Bb7 21.Nxb7 Qxb7 22.f3 Nd3 23.b3 Bg7 24.Bxg7 Kxg7 25.bxc4 Nb2 26.Rdb1 Qa7+ 27.Kh1 Nxc4 28.Qg5 Rc8 29.Nf5+ Kh8 30.Nd4 Rb6 31.Rxb6 Qxb6 32.Bb3 Rc5 33.Qh6 Kg8 34.Re1 Rh5 35.Qf4 Rc5 36.e5 Nh5 37.Qh4 Nxe5

38.f4 Rxc3 39.fxe5 Rxb3 40.e6 fxe6 41.Nxb3 Qxb3 42.Qd8+ Kg7 43.Qe7+ Kh6 44.Qf8+ 1-0.

Veselin Topalov produced another precision game against Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, heralding the predicted strong comeback in the second half of the tournament. Topalov is now at 50% and place three.

Nisipeanu,LD (2693) - Topalov,V (2772) [B90]
MTel Sofia BUL (6), 15.05.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nde2 Be6 8.f4 g6 9.h3 h5 10.fxe5 dxe5 11.Qxd8+ Kxd8 12.0-0-0+ Nbd7 13.Ng1 Rc8 14.Bd3 Bh6 15.Bxh6 Rxh6 16.Nf3 Ke7 17.Ng5 h4 18.Be2 Rc5 19.Rhf1 Rh8 20.Rd3 Rhc8 21.Kd2 b5 22.a3 a5 23.b4 axb4 24.axb4 R5c6 25.Rdf3 Bc4 26.Bxc4 Rxc4 27.Ra1 Rxb4 28.Nd5+ Nxd5 29.Rxf7+ Kd6 30.exd5 Rd4+ 31.Kc1 Nc5 32.Raa7 e4 33.Ne6 Rc4 34.Nxc5 R8xc5 35.Rad7+ Ke5 36.Rf2 b4 37.Re7+ Kd6 38.Rb7 Kxd5 39.Kb2 e3 40.Re2 Re4 41.Kb3 Ke5 42.Rf7 g5 43.Rf8 Rd5 44.c4 Rd7 45.Re1 Rd2 46.Kxb4 Rxg2 47.Kc3 Rg3 48.Re8+ Kf5 49.Rf1+ Kg6 50.Rxe4 e2+ 51.Rf3 Rxf3+ 52.Kd2 Rxh3 53.c5 Ra3 54.c6 Ra2+ 0-1.

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Links

• Official web site
• M-Tel Masters 2006
• M-Tel Masters 2005