World Chess Championship San Luis, Argentina Sep-Oct 2005

Mickey Adams England 2741		Viswanathan Anand India 2788		Rustam Kasimdzhanov Uzbekistan 2670		Peter Leko Hungary 2763
Judit Polgar Hungary 2735		Veselin Topalov Bulgaria 2788		Alexander Morozevich Russia 2707		Peter Svidler Russia 2738

The FIDE World Chess Championship for 2005 got under way at San Luis, Argentina on Wednesday, September 29 (that's 4.00 am Thursday, Rooty Hill time).

Round 1: After an early draw between Adams and Svidler we saw the Hungarians off to a bad start. Anand built a powerful queenside attack against Polgar who had castled long and was forced to resign. Only a few minutes later Topalov popped the question to Leko's knight and Leko resigned as his position took on a house-that-Jack-built scenario. The last game finished was a draw between Morozevich and Kasimdzhanov. I don't know what Bogolubov would have thought about the score line. He's the man who said, "When I am white I win because I'm white..." The scoreline at the end of Round 1 was White 1, Black 3.

Judit Polgar:   Blitzkrieg!

Round 3: Four winners in this round contrast well with the four draws in Round 2.   Anand and Topalov now lead with 2½/3.
In perhaps the most exciting game of this tournament so far (at least, until Judit Polgar unleashed her missiles a few minutes later) Vishy Anand served notice of his intention to be World Champion. Mickey Adams's attack got under way first but Anand virtually ignored it to go on a rampage of his own. Adams resigned on move 32.
Not to be outdone, Judit Polgar sacrificed two pieces in a blitzkrieg against FIDE World Champion Kasimdzhanov's uncastled king, then, when the opportunity presented itself, declined to take his queen. Kasim resigned in the face of her clearly won knight vs bishop ending.
It was bound to be a rocky battle between Peter Svidler and Peter Leko, if only in name. After all, Peter in English is Petros in Greek and that means "rock". It may have lacked the sacrificial combinations of the other two games but was still a decisive win.
The last game to finish was Topalov's clever attack with black against Morozevich who resigned a knight down in a lost position.

Rustam Kasimdzhanov:   The Thinker

Round 4: Kasimdzhanov sprang back from his tactical meleé with Polgar yesterday to prick Anand's balloon. Down to a queen and rook each, Kasim attacked down the white squares, forcing Vishy's king toward a back rank mate.
Topalov now has the lead on his own following his victory over Adams. Forced to exchange queens, Adams was left the exchange and a pawn down, with little chance of stopping Veselin's giant b pawn.
A Hungarian was always going to win the Leko-Polgar game, but which one? It proved to be Leko's turn. Judit left it too late to castle and her position deteriorated quickly after Peter's surprising 21. Nb5. She resigned a few moves later.
Morozovich appeared to have a major attack with lots of open lines but Svidler's counter-punch forced off most of the pieces. The finish was almost a reflection of the Kasim-Anand match when Svidler used queen and rook to force mate on the white squares.

Veselin Topalov – Nice break

Round 5: I don't speak any Spanish but while I was watching the games live on World Chess Network one of the commentators said, "Esta complicado esto." I had to agree – it was bloody complicated.
Svidler overreached early and Topalov's 16 Bxc3+ not only won a pawn but gained momentum which he never again lost. Svidler's king and rook were cut off from the b pawn with a clear path to b1. Topalov is getting a nice break on the rest of the field.
Adams looked to have a promising attack against Kasimdzhanov after 24 Nb6 which threatened to win a piece by 25 Bxd6 and 26 Qxg5. Kasim ingnored the threat and attacked white's queen. Adams was forced to accept a draw by three time repetition.
Polgar had lots of open lines but, a pawn down, she accepted Morozovich's draw offer.
The last game to finish was a long, hard battle between Anand and Leko. With rook, knight and pawn against bishop, knight and two pawns Vishy had to settle on a draw.

Mickey Adams – Fighting draw

Round 6: Showing no signs of slowing down Topalov increased his lead over second placed Svidler & Anand to 2 points. He opted for an Exchange Lopez against Polgar, won a pawn, then dominated the rook and pawn ending. Polgar resigned after 64 ...Ke5 when black's king could pick off her passed e pawn at will while his own rook confined her king to just four squares while threatening Rxb3.
Mickey Adams played a gutsy draw against Alexander Morozevich. After exchanging his queen for a pair of rooks he was forced to give up the exchange when Moro played 41 ...Qe4, threatening mate. Eventually his bishop sacrificed itself stopping Moro's last pawn but Adams hung in for a R+P vs Q draw in 76 moves. Interesting game!
The Kasimdzhanov-Leko game was drawn with Kasim's two knights proving a match for Peter's two bishops. There was an interesting manoeuvre when black played 34 ...fxe4 threatening the queen. White interposed Nf6 (threatening Rxh7 mate) and was able to recapture with the knight instead of the queen.
After 39. Kf3 the Anand-Svidler game petered out into a draw as they'd have been left with bishops of opposite colours after white captured black's pinned knight.

Alexander Morozevich – Mating Net

Round 7: Leko easily got the better of Adams's Petroff and, in the end, the game came down to basics: win a pawn and hold it. Adams gave up when Leko's king cast dignity to the winds, abandoned its pawns on the king side, and strolled down the board in support of a new queen.
Morozevich sacrificed the exchange for bishop and pawn, forced Vishy's king to h8, then with a skill that Penelope couldn't have equalled, wove a mating net around it.
Polgar sacrificed the exchange early to break open white's castle; later Svidler sacrificed it back again and the resulting passed h pawn dominated the rest of the game. Judit resigned in a hopeless position on move 59.
Topalov's win was a thriller. A pawn up in the endgame he marched his king from c5-f2 then forward to h5, sacrificing two pawns along the way. Kasim resigned in the face of Kg6 threatening mate. WGM Anna Zatonskih (former Ukrainian women's champion) was so impressed with the finish that she not only announced that Topalov would win the tournament but that he was the "new Kasparov".

Peter Leko – No fireworks

Round 8: There were no fireworks in the first game to finish this morning when Topalov conceded only his second draw, this time to Peter Leko. A short game that was over quickly but allowed him to retain his two point lead.
In the next game finished Svidler, a pawn up, conceded a draw to Adams in a R+P ending. Adams's score is probably lower than he would have expected – certainly lower than he would have hoped! – but he's not so very far out of this on ability.
Kasim played 22. Rxf6 to open lines to Morozevich's king but the king went on the first of two journeys, escaping to d7. When it went walkabout again, zigging and zagging till it reached f4, Kasim resigned.
The Anand-Polgar clash developed into a dour clash of wills as Polgar, two pawns down and with her bishop blockading Vishy's passed d5 pawn, tried to create some counter play.Eventually the combination of mobile passed pawn and pinned rook made it possible for Anand to play Rxe3. Judit had the option of Bxe3 but "Resigns" was probably better.

Toppy & Vishy – Analysis

Round 9: Topalov and Anand, the two highest rated players in the tournament settled on an early draw when Anand permitted Topalov to capture a knight then used a pin to regain, permitting a two time repetition with the third to come. Vishy can claim to be the only player to take a point from Topalov so far but he needed two games to get it.
Polgar and Adams agreed to a draw on move 37 in an unspectacular game, with Polgar a pawn up but bishops of opposite colours.
The Svidler-Kasimdzhanov game was anything but dull. Kasim came out with sixguns blazing on move 21. His bishop travelled from e7 - d8 - a5 - c3, attacking white's b2 pawn. Obviously overawed by the prelate's company the little b2 pawn refused to capture and when hostilities had settled Svidler found himself a rook and bishop to the good but in such a position that Kasim was able to force a draw. Fascinating stuff.
The only result of the day was between Morozevich and Leko. Leko sacrificed a piece for an attack which failed after 46. Qd4+ followed by the unexpected 47. Rg5+ forcing off the rooks and leaving Moro with an easy win.
Topalov is looking very comfortable with his two point lead but, as Yogi Berra said more than once, "It isn't over till it's over."

Svidler – Elbows

Round 10: Yesterday's friendly draw between pre-match favourite Anand and runaway leader Topalov gave pause to wonder whether Vishy has already realised that he can't catch up. In the first of today's games he conceded a quick draw to Adams. Barring a miracle the crown is now beyond his reach.
Leko-Svidler was also drawn but this was a dynamic exercise in development as white used every opportunity to improve his position. Obviously a student of that eminent chess guru, Jim Hacker (who once told Sir Humphrey, "You've got to have elbows, Humpy,") Svidler elbowed his way back into the game and was in a pretty good position when the draw was agreed.
Kasimdzhanov got his revenge for his first round defeat by Polgar when she blundered with 44 ...Ra7. Kasim had a forced win with 45. Re8+, or the move played, f6. After Qxf6 46. Re8+ Kh747. 47. Qb1+ and write resigned. Had she interposed the queen it would be lost to the rook check on h8, had she moved to g7, Qg2+ won the rook on a7 (or mated if she moved the king to f7).
Topalov appeared to have the fourth game well in hand when he played 46. Rc2 to which Morozevich immediately responded 46 ...Qf2 threatening Nf3+ and Qg1#. Toppy was forced to give up the exchange and, although he was two pawns up and with a protected passed pawn on f7, the game tailed off into a draw.

But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays     Upon this Chequerboard of Nights and Days;     Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays,     And one by one back in the Closet lays.              – Omar Khayyam

Round 11: There's not much to say about the Polgar-Leko game. (I was going to say clash instead of game but it certainly wasn't that. The words that come to mind are short, quick, friendly, draw and repetition.) At this stage of the tournament with both players out of contention there was little point in beating each other up.
There was nothing friendly about Anand's handling of Kasimdzhanov. On Move 29, faced with the need to defend against both 30. Qxf7# and 30. Re7+ Kf1, 31. Rb2+ winning the queen, Kasim resigned.
Adams-Topalov was an exciting tactical battle which ended when Adams, threatened with mate on the move found a draw by repetition.
Svidler-Morozevich was a long hard game with a complicated bishop and pawn ending. Two pawns up Svidler had the chances and Moro's 69...Bg6 was just a playful way of resigning. The clever defence produced an intriguing endgame and, against a lesser opponent, may well have worked.

Anand - Southpaw

Round 12: It's been claimed that you burn off kilojoules no matter what you do – even playing chess. If that's true I doubt that Svidler and Topalov lost much weight in this game. Topalov's strategy seemed to be "see Svidler's piece, take Svidler's piece." A quick swap-off and an early finish as Toppy closes on the title.
Leko-Anand was a more interesting game. Leko played his usual white response to the Petroff and forced open the g-file, exposing Vishy's castled king. His attack never gained enough momentum and, with no effective way to stop 54...Ne2 in support of 54 ...Rg1+, he resigned.
In a game of tactical possibilities Kasimdzhanov held a pawn advantage but Adams had a lot of initiative. The game was drawn after Kasim played 48 Qe4 to hold his position together, allowing Adams a perpetual check.
Once again Polgar left her king in the middle of the board, and once again handled the complications well. Morozevich moved his knight to h5 on move 42 and it stayed there for the rest of the game, a potential tactical target. Moro's 52. Kc1 was a clear invitation to Judit to draw.
With two rounds left to play Topalov has a comfortable 1.5 point lead. To lose from here he would not only have to lose both his games but either Anand or Svidler would have to win both of theirs.

Adams, Polgar, Svidler

Round 13: Starting the day only 1.5 behind Topalov, Svidler's catch-up chances took a nose dive when he drew with Polgar. He had few problems equalising with black but the game quickly wound down to a drawn rook-and-pawn ending.
In a game where white seemed to have the advantages of space and open lines, Adams-Leko also petered out into a disappointing draw.
By contrast, Anand-Morozevich was spectacularly drawn. Vishy had a strong attack down the h file when Moro played the surprising 22 ...Bc5. White moved his other rook from f1-g3, ignoring 23... Bxb4 along the way. He then sacrificed his queen on f8 forcing a perpetual check. Like Svidler, his chances of catching Toppy faded.
It was all to become academic anyway. Topalov, with good chances in the end game, drew the longest game of the day to establish an unassailable 1.5 point lead.

Topalov – The Cinderella Man

Round 14: In a game whose result could not affect the tournament outcome, Veselin Topalov and Judit Polgar played a featureless draw to wrap up their last round game. Undefeated, Topalov has won both tournament and title and is the new FIDE Heavyweight Champion of the World—he is the Cinderella Man.
Tied for second place a point and a half behind him Svidler and Anand also settled on a quick draw. Perhaps the only point of interest in this one is the comparison of Svidler's style (compared to Leko) in playing against Anand's Petroff.
Leko-Kasimdzhanov was far more interesting. Leko always had plenty of initiative and, Already a pawn up, he played 41. Nc6 (threatening 42. Ne7+). Black was forced to give up a rook for the knight. On Move 46. Kasim sacrificed knight for pawn but failed to see Leko's simple refutation. He resigned two moves later.
Morozevich's king-side knight circumnavigated the board to land precariously on b5 where it rapidly became a liability. Adams won it for two pawns and a complex pattern of knight forks quickly simplified the position. As Moro forced the pawns off the board Adams's bishop was left to survey the scene, as impotent as a eunuch in an empty harem.
Standings: Topalov 10, Anand, Svidler 8.5, Morozevich 7, Leko 6.5, Adams, Kasimdzhanov 5.5, Polgar 4.5.

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                    —Report:   David Evans

Hey Monk, what would happen if you put Svidler on the roof? Easy, Chess Genie . . . he'd Topalov.