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This year the Ciudad de Leon Masters celebrated its silver jubilee, after 25 consecutive editions. The event pitted Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov, winner of the FIDE tournament world championship in 2005, against GM Francisco Vallejo Pons, the top Spaniard in the current FIDE rankings. Both are considered creative and combative players. They know each other very well, which required greater care on their home preparation. Topalov hired Vallejo as a coach for a couple of years, and was very satisfied with his work: "A large part of the new ideas that are in my games of those years are from Paco", he concedes.
The event consisted of six games, played from Friday, June 8th, to Sunday, June 10th, two per day at a rate of 40 minutes per side plus 25 seconds after each move. GM commentary for the spectators is provided by GM Miguel Illescas (eight times Spanish champion) and IM Michael Rahal.
The first game of the second day, a Sicilian Scheveningen, saw Francisco Vallejo Pons, pile the pressure on his Bulgarian opponent. By move 20 Spain's top GM was clearly on the path to victory, when he complicated things with an exchange sacrifice to open up the black king. One move later Topalov handed over the full point with a capital blunder, the second in this match. Vallejo was able to finish off his former mentor and employee with a flourish.
Vallejo now led the match with 2½-½. In the second game he played the French and was outplayed in a more traditional fashion by the Bulgarian. The score after four games: 2½-1½.
This meant that Vallejo was leading by 3½-½ and had already decided the match in his favour. "But the Bulgarian belongs to a breed of athletes who fight to exhaustion and are marked by great professionality," writes the official bulletin. "He mobilised both virtues to seize the initiative in game six in a final assault with the white pieces. However, after two hours of battle it appeared that the game would end in a draw. But Vallejo made a very strange move and allowed his opponent the sweet taste of victory in the final game."
Veselin Topalov in the press conference with journalist and organiser Leonxto
Garcia
Leonxto discusses the events with Paco Vallejo
The president of the Spanish Chess Federation Javier Ochoa with the pride
of Spanish chess
Arbiter Joaquin Espejo, SCF President Javier Ochoa, Deputy of Sports of
Leon
Jose Maria Lopez Garcia Benito, Leontxo Garcia
Presents: fine Spanish wine for both players
| Rk | Name | Title |
FED |
Rtg |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
Pts |
| 1 | Vallejo, Francisco | GM |
ESP |
2697 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3.5 |
| 2 | Topalov, Veselin | GM |
BUL |
2752 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2.5 |
Links
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 a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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