Spotlight on Topalov

This week, we are caught in the midst of the Linares tournament. The Linares super-grandmaster tournament, like the Corus event three weeks ago, is considered one of the elite tournaments making up the so-called chess version of a Grand Slam. Only some of the best in the chess world gets invited to Linares and this year, the invitation list grew shorter. 

Where previously there used to be as many as 14 players in the annual tournament, the 2010 edition of Linares is reduced to just six participants. The last time that the field had been so small was in 2001. However, despite the reduced field, the participants are of world-class standard, all currently placed within the top 30 players in the world.

So, imagine a field headed by Veselin Topalov: a previous Fide world champion from Bulgaria and currently, the second highest ranked player in the world. (He was ranked as Number One in the world from April 2006 to January 2007 and again from October 2008 to January 2010). 

He is an enterprising player that creates energy on the chessboard. He sees resources where others may well get bogged down in complications. From what I’ve seen so far from his games in Linares, they are stuff to excite any onlooker’s blood. 

Topalov is the favourite to win the tournament in Linares this year. The last time he did so was in 2005 when he was co-winner with Garry Kasparov. (Incidentally, it was at the end of this very event that Kasparov announced his retirement from competitive chess to concentrate on his writing and political career.) 

However, it remains to be seen how far Topalov is willing to push himself in this tournament. In just two months’ time, he will be challenging Viswanathan Anand for the world chess championship crown. 

The Linares tournament fits well into his preparations and is obviously a gauge of his readiness to face the world champion from India but how much of his preparations is he willing to reveal to his Indian rival? Topalov knows that Anand and his team are sure to be watching his performance very keenly.

But I’m sure that is only a small worry for Topalov. A professional like him will always be concentrating on the task at hand and not anything else. In Linares, this means the stiff challenges from the other competitors. Any of his five rivals are also close contenders for the first prize but none will be closer than Levon Aronian, the grandmaster from Armenia.

Like Topalov, Aronian is also a previous winner at Linares but unlike Topalov, Aronian was the undisputed winner in 2006. That year, Topalov could finish in only third place. Since then, the Armenian grandmaster has been a regular face in this Spanish town. Obviously, he is looking forward to winning the event for a second time. 

Aronian is also a fiercely competitive player with many chess tournament titles under his belt. It remains to be seen how close the competition will be between him and Topalov.

The other players in Linares are Vugar Gashimov from Azerbaijan, Boris Gelfand from Israel, Alexander Grischuk from Russia and Spain’s own Francisco Vallejo Pons.

As a measure of the close competition between the two main contenders, here is their third round game from Linares.

White: Levon Aronian 

Black: Veselin Topalov 

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Bg2 Bg7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.0-0 Re8 10.Nd2 a6 11.a4 Nbd7 12.h3 Rb8 13.Nc4 Nb6 14.Na3 Bd7 15.e4 Nc8 16.Qd3 Re7 (The sign of an imaginative mind. The rook will be heading to the c7 square) 17.Rb1 Be8 18.b4 cxb4 19.Rxb4 Rc7 20.Bd2 Nd7 21.Rc1 Nc5 22.Qb1 b5 23.axb5 a5 24.Rb2 Nb6 25.Ra2 a4 26.Ne2 Rcb7 (Black has given up a pawn to reach this interesting position. However, White is not without resources)

27.Bf4 Nc8 28.Rxc5 dxc5 29.Bxb8 Rxb8 30.f4 (Will White’s occupation of the centre prove decisive? Will Black be able to neutralize those dangerous pawns in the centre?) 30...g5 31.e5 gxf4 32.gxf4 f6 33.Qe4 fxe5 34.fxe5 Qg5 35.Nc4 Bxb5 36.h4 Qg6 37.Qxg6 hxg6 38.Rb2 Nd6 (That’s a brilliant move. Obviously, White cannot capture the knight with his pawn and so, his only reply is….) 39.Nxd6 a3 40.Ra2 Bxe2 41.Rxe2 Bxe5 (Black’s final resource. The bishop on e5 is immune to capture because 42.Rxe5 will lose to 42…a2 and 43…Rb1) 42.Nc4 Bb2 43.Nxa3 Bxa3 44.Re6 c4 45.Rxg6+ (Winning a pawn but the game is heading to a draw) 45…Kf7 46.Rc6 Rh8 47.Rc7+ Kf8 48.Rxc4 Be7 49.Rc8+ Kg7 50.Rxh8 Kxh8 51.h5 ½-½ (Despite the two pawns, White can never make any headway in the remainder of this game)

Note: You can follow the games live from the official website for the Linares tournament at http://www.ajedrez.ciudaddelinares.es/index.htm but just be warned that everything is in Spanish. 

Up next  

Pearl Point age group

The Excel Chess Academy will organize the Pearl Point age group chess tournament for under-11 and under-9 players at the Pearl Point shopping mall, Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur this Sunday. Entry fees are RM18 per player (RM15 if registered through a school.) More details from Jax Tham (jaxtham@hotmail.com)

UTP open

The Universiti Teknologi Petronas will organize their UTP chess open tournament at their campus in Bandar Seri Iskandar, Tronoh, Perak this Sunday. There will be an open section as well as an under-18 and under-12 sections. Entry fees are RM20 for the open, RM15 for under-18 and RM10 for under-12. UTP students and staff need pay only RM15 upon presentation of their matrix cards. More details from Hussein (017.6410194, husseinnordin@gmail.com), Faizal (017.3934291, faizalakram91@gmail.com) or Qistina (019.2602094).

Rookie tornado chess

The Dato' Arthur Tan Chess Centre in Kuala Lumpur will organise a chess tournament on Feb 27 for beginners, first-time tournament players and all other players who are below the national rating of 1400 points. If there is sufficient response, the event will be separated into different tournaments for the Under-15 and Under 11 sections. For more information, call Hamid Majid (019.3158098) or Najib Wahab (016.3382542).

KL rapid grand prix

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) and Polgar Chess Asia will jointly organize the second leg of the KL rapid grand prix on Mar 6-7. The grand prix, sponsored by the Malaysian Intellectual Development Foundation and the Royal Selangor Club (RSC), will feature four legs from February to May and followed by the grand final in June. 

Each leg will have six rounds with a 45-minute rate of play per player for each round. The top 10 winners of the open and under-12 sections will be given free entry to their respective sections in the final. Total prize fund for the grand prix is RM6,600.

Entry fees for the open section are RM15 for members of the KLCA and the RSC and RM20 for non-members. For the under-12 section, the entry fees are RM5 for children of KLCA and RSC members and RM10 for others. All legs will be played at the RSC’s Card Room at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. More details at  the KLCA website, (http://www.klchess.com/)

3rd DATCC chess league

The third DATCC Kuala Lumpur commercial and recreational chess league at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex kicks off on Mar 24. The DATCC chess league is a Fide-rated team tournament played over nine rounds with long time controls. Each round will be played on Wednesdays at the chess centre. 

Entry fee is RM400 per team of a maximum 10 players. Junior teams (players below 20 years old) are charged at RM200. Any entry received after Mar 12 will need to pay an extra RM100. Details are available from Hamid Majid (019.3158098, aham@pc.jaring.my) or Najib Abdul Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@hotmail.com).