Zug GP R11: Topalov wins game, set and event

by ChessBase
4/30/2013 – Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov finished his extraordinary performance (2924!) with a final brilliant game. Although a draw or even a loss would clinch victory in this Grand Prix he went for a complicated, double-edged line against Sergey Karjakin, committed no errors and won the game and the tournament, a point and a half ahead of the field. Full illustrated report.

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From April 14 to April 30, 2013, the third stage of the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2012-2013 is taking place in Zug, Switzerland. Twelve players are competing in a round robin tournament with time controls of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes and an increment of 30 seconds per move for each player. The Grand Prix Series consists of six tournaments to be held over two years, with 18 top players, each participating in four of the six tournaments. The winner and second placed player overall of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held in March 2014.

Round eleven report (final)

In the 11th round Veselin Topalov needed a draw to secure his sole victory in the tournament. At the same time Sergey Karjakin showed the will to fight, and the former FIDE world champion took up the challenge. Veselin showed a fantastic performance and increased his Live Elo to 2793.

Round 11 – April 30 2013, 12:00h
Peter Leko 2744
½-½
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Gata Kamsky 2741
½-½
Anish Giri 2727
Veselin Topalov 2771
1-0
Sergey Karjakin 2786
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
½-½
Fabiano Caruana 2772
Teimour Radjabov 2793
½-½
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
½-½
Alexander Morozevich 2758

Topalov-Karjakin 1-0
Sergey Karjakin (above) chose a Benoni structure with Black and it became obvious that both players would fight till the end. “It was a brave decision of Sergey to play for win today, despite his result yesterday,” said Veselin Topalov during the press conference. The Russian player got a comfortable position with black but went for dubious plan with Qh8. Later on Karjakin decided to sacrifice a pawn but didn’t play accurately and failed to get enough counterplay. It was hard to defend the position under time pressure, and after the first time control Black’s position was already lost.

Leko-Kasimdzhanov ½-½
Once again Peter Leko (above right) got a very pleasant position out of the opening, but his opponent Rustam Kasimdzhanov tried to keep the balance and was defending very well. At one point the former FIDE world champion started to play quicker than his opponent and managed to get a time advantage. The knight sacrifice of Rustam proved to be good enough for a draw.

Nakamura-Caruana ½-½
Hikaru Nakamura had white pieces against Fabiano Caruana and was the only one who could try to catch the leader Veselin Topalov. The American player didn’t get much in the Exchange Variation of the Slav Defense, but tried to keep the pressure. It was hard to break Fabiano Caruana’s defense, and the last game in the tournament finished in a draw.

The games Radjabov-Mamedyarov (above) and Ponomariov-Morozevich were finished relatively quickly in draws. Hikaru Nakamura finished on the sole second place. Ruslan Ponomariov and Fabiano Caruana shared the third place.

Final standings (after eleven rounds)

Statistics: Of the total 66 games played at the Grand Prix in Zug:

  • 15 were won by White (=22.7%)
  • 7 were won by Black (= 10.6%)
  • 44 games were drawn (=66.7%)

The largest number of decisive games were played by Morozevich and Kamsky – six games each, three wins and three losses. The smallest number was by Giri and Leko – one loss apiece, ten draws. The shortest draw was Giri- Radjabov (R3, 19 moves), the longest Karjakin-Nakamura (R1, 107 moves).

Topalov receiving the €25,000 prize from the sponsor (right: FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov)

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Information and pictures by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich and GM Robert Fontaine

Schedule and pairings

Round 01 – April 18 2013, 14:00h
Alexander Morozevich 2758
1-0
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
½-½
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Fabiano Caruana 2772
1-0
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Sergey Karjakin 2786
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Anish Giri 2727
½-½
Veselin Topalov 2771
Peter Leko 2744
½-½
Gata Kamsky 2741
Round 02 – April 19 2013, 14:00h
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
1-0
Gata Kamsky 2741
Veselin Topalov 2771
1-0
Peter Leko 2744
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
½-½
Anish Giri 2727
Teimour Radjabov 2793
½-½
Sergey Karjakin 2786
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
1-0
Fabiano Caruana 2772
Alexander Morozevich 2758
½-½
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
Round 03 – April 20 2013, 14:00h
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
½-½
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Fabiano Caruana 2772
½-½
Alexander Morozevich 2758
Sergey Karjakin 2786
½-½
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Anish Giri 2727
½-½
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Peter Leko 2744
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Gata Kamsky 2741
½-½
Veselin Topalov 2771
Round 04 – April 21 2013, 14:00h
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
½-½
Veselin Topalov 2771
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
½-½
Gata Kamsky 2741
Teimour Radjabov 2793
½-½
Peter Leko 2744
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
½-½
Anish Giri 2727
Alexander Morozevich 2758
½-½
Sergey Karjakin 2786
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
½-½
Fabiano Caruana 2772
Round 05 – April 23 2013, 14:00h
Fabiano Caruana 2772
1-0
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Sergey Karjakin 2786
1-0
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
Anish Giri 2727
0-1
Alexander Morozevich 2758
Peter Leko 2744
½-½
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Gata Kamsky 2741
1-0
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Veselin Topalov 2771
1-0
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Round 06 – April 24 2013, 14:00h
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Teimour Radjabov 2793
½-½
Veselin Topalov 2771
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
1-0
Gata Kamsky 2741
Alexander Morozevich 2758
½-½
Peter Leko 2744
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
½-½
Anish Giri 2727
Fabiano Caruana 2772
½-½
Sergey Karjakin 2786
Round 07 – April 25 2013, 14:00h
Sergey Karjakin 2786
½-½
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Anish Giri 2727
½-½
Fabiano Caruana 2772
Peter Leko 2744
½-½
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
Gata Kamsky 2741
1-0
Alexander Morozevich 2758
Veselin Topalov 2771
½-½
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
½-½
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Round 08 – April 26 2013, 14:00h
Rustam Kasimdzhanov
2709
½-½
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Ruslan Ponomariov
2733
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Alexander Morozevich
2758
0-1
Veselin Topalov 2771
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
2766
½-½
Gata Kamsky 2741
Fabiano Caruana
2772
½-½
Peter Leko 2744
Sergey Karjakin
2786
½-½
Anish Giri 2727
Round 09 – April 28 2013, 14:00h
Anish Giri 2727
½-½
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Peter Leko 2744
½-½
Sergey Karjakin 2786
Gata Kamsky 2741
0-1
Fabiano Caruana 2772
Veselin Topalov 2771
½-½
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
1-0
Alexander Morozevich 2758
Teimour Radjabov 2793
1-0
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Round 10 – April 29 2013, 14:00h
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
½-½
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Alexander Morozevich 2758
1-0
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Fabiano Caruana 2772
0-1
Veselin Topalov 2771
Sergey Karjakin 2786
0-1
Gata Kamsky 2741
Anish Giri 2727
½-½
Peter Leko 2744
Round 11 – April 30 2013, 12:00h
Peter Leko 2744
½-½
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Gata Kamsky 2741
½-½
Anish Giri 2727
Veselin Topalov 2771
1-0
Sergey Karjakin 2786
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
½-½
Fabiano Caruana 2772
Teimour Radjabov 2793
½-½
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
½-½
Alexander Morozevich 2758

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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