CHESS | Lubomir Kavalek
With a turbocharged finish -- four wins in the last four games -- world champion Veselin Topalov clinched the victory in the elite M-Tel Masters in Sofia, Bulgaria, yesterday. The Bulgarian grandmaster scored 6 1/2 points in 10 games, edging the American Gata Kamsky by a half-point. The Indian superstar Vishy Anand ended with 5 1/2 points; four-time Russian champion Peter Svidler had 5 points; and Etienne Bacrot of France and Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine shared the last place with 3 1/2 points.
Incredibly, the lowest-rated Kamsky led the double round-robin by a full point with two games to go. He then lost to Topalov almost without a fight and drew his last game against Svidler, yielding the tournament victory to the world champion. Still, it was Kamsky's best result since he came out of retirement. He will soon join the U.S. team at the chess olympiad in Turin, Italy, that began yesterday.
Going for Broke
Before defeating Kamsky, Topalov created his own luck in the game against Ponomariov in the Anti-Marshall Spanish. It was the key game in Topalov's splendid climb into the tournament lead, featuring a fascinating hidden combination that impressed even the computer programs, the foremost critics of tactical play.
Topalov-Ponomariov
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 (This position was reached in 12 games in Sofia, but in only one game did white allow the Marshall Attack 9.c3 d5.) 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.a4 Na5 11.Ba2 c5 12.Nbd2 Nd7 13.Nf1 Nb6 14.Bd2 b4 15.c3 bxc3 16.Bxc3 Nc6 17.a5 Nc8 18.Ne3 N8a7 19.Nf5 Bc8 20.Nd2 Rb8 21.f4?! (Topalov wants to open the diagonal a1-h8, but surrenders control of dark squares. After 21.Bd5 Nb4! black is fine.) 21 . . . Bxf5 22.exf5 exf4 23.Qg4 Nd4 24.Ne4 Nab5 (Black is threatening to win an exchange after 25 . . . Nxc3 26.bxc3 Nc2.)
25.Bd2?! (Topalov sacrifices an exchange, preserving his dark bishop, but putting himself at the brink of defeat.) 25 . . . Nc2 26.Bxf4 Kh8! 27.Qh5 Nxe1 28.Rxe1 Qxa5 29.Ra1 Rbd8? (Ponomariov wants to neutralize white's light bishop by advancing his d-pawn, but it plays into white's hands. At least four different computer programs suggested 29 . . . f6!, and after 30.Kh2 d5!, giving back the exchange 31.Bxb8 Rxb8, but refuting white's attack, e.g. 32.Qf7 Qc7+ 33.Ng3 Nd4!; or 32.Ng3 Bd6! and black wins.)
30.f6? (Unable to resist shattering the pawn cover of the black king, Topalov misses the more precise way to play for advantage: 30.Kh2! d5 [Black loses after 30 . . . Nd4? 31.Bxf7 Qxa1 32.Bg6 h6 33.Bxh6!] and white has two ways to continue: The first is 31.Bxd5 Qxa1 32.f6 Qf1! 33.fxg7+ Kxg7 34.Bh6+ Kh8 35.Qe5+ Qf6! 36.Nxf6 Bd6 37.Bg7+! Kxg7 38.Ne8+ Kg8 39.Nxd6 Rxd6 40.Be4 with a clear advantage. The second way is 31.f6!, forcing black to transfer to the game with 31 . . . gxf6, because after 31 . . . dxe4? 32.Bxf7! Qxa1 33.fxg7+ Kxg7 34.Be5+ Bf6 35.Qg5+ Kxf7 36.Qxf6+ Ke8 white wins with a pretty 37.Qe6 epaulet mate.) 30 . . . gxf6 (After 30 . . . Bxf6? 31.Nxf6 gxf6 32.Qf5! white wins.) 31.Kh2 d5? (Black cracks under pressure. He should have moved to the open g-file with 31 . . . Rg8!, for example 32.Qxf7 Rg7, beating back white's attack.)
32.Nxf6! Bxf6 33.d4!! (An amazing point of Topalov's combination. Suddenly, black is in dire straits, unable to cope with 34.Bb1!, threatening 35.Qxh7 mate or 35.Rxa5 winning the black queen. Black's answer is forced, leading to white's material advantage.) 33...Qxa2 34.Rxa2 Nxd4 35.b4! (Winning the game is still not easy, but breaking black's connected passed pawns helps.) 35...Ne6 (After 35...cxb4 36.Be5! wins the knight.) 36.Be5 Bg7 37.bxc5 Rc8 (White ends up with a strong passed pawn since after 37...Nxc5? 38.Bxg7+ Kxg7 39.Qg4+ Kh6 40.Qf4+ Kg6 41.Qg3+ Kh6 [or 41...Kh5 42.Rf2 f5 43.Rf4 and mates] 42.Qe3+ black loses the knight.) 38.Bd6 Rfd8 39.Ra5 Kg8 40.Rxa6 Rd7 (After 40...Nxc5 41.Ra7! wins.) 41.Qxd5 Bf8 42.Qf3 Bxd6+ (After 42...Nxc5? 43.Bxc5 Bxc5 44.Qg4+ wins.) 43.cxd6 Rcd8 44.Qd5 Ng7 45.Ra8 Ne6 46.Rxd8+ Rxd8 47.g4 h6 48.h4 Rb8 49.Kg3 Re8 50.Kf3 Nf8 51.Qd2 (Black's only hope is to give up the knight for the d-pawn and create a fortress, for example 51...Ng6 52.Qxh6 Rd8 and now after 53.h5? Rxd6 54.hxg6 Rxg6 black draws. But after 53.Qd2! Nxh4+ 54.Ke4 Ng6 55.d7 white wins.) 51...Kg7 52.Qd4+ Kg8 53.Qf6 Re6 54.Qe7! (Disturbing black's defensive coordination.) 54...Kg7 55.Qc7 Kg8 56.d7 Nxd7 57.Qxd7 Kg7 58.Qd4+ Kg8 59.Kf4 Rg6 60.Kf5 Re6 61.Qd7 Rg6 62.h5 Rg5+ 63.Kf6 Kh8 64.Qe8+ Rg8 65.Kxf7 (The pawn endgame is lost.) Black resigned.
Burt Hochberg (1933-2006)
A brilliant editor and prolific writer, Burt Hochberg died on May 13 in New York at the age of 72. He edited the monthly periodical Chess Life during the golden age of American chess journalism from 1966 to 1979. His work "Title Chess," covering the 1972 U.S. championship, is one of the best tournament books. Hochberg edited "The 64-Square Looking Glass," a comprehensive anthology of chess in literature. He was also senior editor at the RHM Press chess publishing house and at Games magazine. He will be missed.
Solution to today's problem by W. Speckmann (White: Ke6, Nd8,P:e7; Black: Ke8,Nb2,P:b5): 1.Nb7 Nc4 2.Nc5 Nd6 3.Na6! b4 4.Nc7 mate
