Veselin Topalov – the homecoming

The Homecoming

Veselin Topalov, the new FIDE World Chess Champion, has returned to Bulgaria, the country of his birth (Topalov now lives in Spain). He was greeted by an ecstatic crowd of chess dignitaries, journalist, photographers and fans.

The new world champion Veselin Topalov arrives at Sofia Airport

...where he is effusively greeted by the media and Bulgarian chess fans

Topalov was also received by the President of the country, who decided to become the patron of the next M-Tel Masters tournament. The previous event earlier was won by Topalov, a full point ahead of a world-class field.

Announcement

Bulgaria may be the next host of the world chess championship, it appeared upon the arrival of the President of the International Chess Federation Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in Sofia. "I am glad to be in the smartest country in the world," Ilyumzhinov said in Sofia. In his words it is still not clear where the next championship will be, but Ilyumzhinov said that it is very possible that Bulgaria's capital may be the next host city.

Over last years Bulgaria conquered three chess tops. Vesselin Topalov won the prestigious title on October 14. Last year Bulgarian Antoaneta Stefanova became the World Chess Queen.

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov honors the Bulgarian world champion

A New World Chess Champion, With Modest Moves

New York Times article (excerpts)

What has allowed Mr. Topalov to put some distance between himself and his rivals over the last year? In a telephone interview from his home in Salamanca, Spain, Mr. Topalov said he had recently become more confident and that was making it easier to handle the pressure of top-level competition. One reason for his change, he said, was clearly Mr. Kasparov's retirement.

Mr. Topalov said people assumed then that he, Mr. Kramnik or Viswanathan Anand, an Indian grandmaster, would eventually challenge Mr. Kasparov's longtime supremacy. But it did not work out that way. "I did not improve," he said, "and Kramnik and Anand got better. Between 1998 and 2003, Kasparov was No. 1 and Vishy or Kramnik was No. 2."

Mr. Topalov continued: "Kasparov's retirement opened up an opportunity for me. I had a goal. In the past, I didn't really feel confident that I could win."

Sounding uncharacteristically modest for a top chess player, or perhaps just particularly honest, Mr. Topalov added that he had been lucky and his competitors had not. "I also made mistakes," he said. "My mistakes were done when I was close to winning. These guys made mistakes when they were close to lost."

Immediately after the championship was over, Mr. Topalov's manager, Silvio Danailov, seemed to suggest that Mr. Topalov would be interested in playing Mr. Kramnik in order to settle the question of who is the legitimate champion, which has been in dispute since 1993. But, according to Chessbase.com, an online database and news site, Mr. Topalov said in the Saturday edition of Sports Express, a daily Russian newspaper, that he would be willing to play Mr. Kramnik, but not with the title at stake, as Mr. Kramnik was currently not in his class as a player and therefore he did not have the right to challenge him.

Chessbase reported that Mr. Kasparov agreed with Mr. Topalov, saying by virtue of his recent results and his ranking, only Mr. Topalov should be considered the world champion. Chessbase also reported that Mr. Kramnik, in the current issue of 64, a Russian chess magazine, reiterated that he was the world champion and that he would welcome a match with Mr. Topalov to settle the issue.

How does he see himself compared to Mr. Kasparov? "Kasparov is Kasparov because he showed the results he showed over 20 years," Mr. Topalov said. "If I have these results for the next 20 years, then I can say that I am like Kasparov. Right now, I am Kasparov divided by 20."

• Full article in the New York Times (free registration required)