GM Veselin Topalov
(2813) - GM
S. Mamedyarov (2728);
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r2qrbk1/1b1n1ppp/p1pp1n2/1p2p3/P2PP3/2PB1N1P/1P1N1PP1/1RBQR1K1 b
I think we are now out of book.
[ A more popular line would be: (>/=)
15.b3 g6; 16.Bb2 Bg7;
17.Qc2 Qc7; 18.c4,
"+/="
with a small edge for White.
Z. Almasi
(2490) -
V. Yemelin
(2380); /
Wch U18 / Bratislava, SLO;
(R6) /
1993.
{White won, 1-0 in forty-one moves.}
]
15...Qc7;
16.Qc2 g6; 17.axb5 axb5; 18.dxe5 dxe5!?;
Black might have considered taking with the Knight here.
19.Nb3 Reb8;
The opening is pretty much over, I would assess this position as close to equal.
20.c4 bxc4;
21.Bxc4 Ba6;
22.Nbd2 Nc5!?;
This could have been a tad risky, Fritz prefers 22...Bb4.
23.Bxa6,
This is OK, but its possible that 23.b4! was a little more active.
[ >/= 23.b4! Bxc4; 24.Nxc4 Ncd7; 25.Bd2, "+/=" ]
23...Rxa6;
24.Nc4 Nfd7; 25.Rd1 Ne6; 26.Be3 Raa8;
(>/=) 26...f6 might have relieved Black of the necessity of having to defend his King's Pawn.
27.Qd2 Rd8;
28.Qc3 c5?!;
This weakens Black's d5, now White ... after a long period of relatively equal play ...
starts to gain a solid advantage. (White also wins a Pawn.)
[ >/= 28...f6; 29.b4, "+/=" ]
29.Nfxe5 Bg7;
30.f4 g5!?;
31.g3 gxf4; 32.gxf4 Nxe5;
33.Nxe5 Bxe5!?;
Now Black loses his dark-squared defender ... with possibly dire consequences.
(Maybe '?!')
[Maybe better was 33...Rab8 here.]
34.fxe5 Kh8;
35.Bf2 Qe7; 36.Qf3 Rg8+;
And here it might have been wise to dump one set of Rooks to lessen White's attacking potential.
37.Kh1 Rg6;
38.Rd5 Rag8;
39.Rg1 Rxg1+; 40.Bxg1 Rg6;
41.Kh2 Kg7; ('!?' / '?!')
I don't know about you, but (to me), the Black King looked a lot safer where it was.
(Probably
>/= 41...Ng5 was better than the game.)
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8/4qpkp/4n1r1/2pRP3/4P3/5Q1P/1P5K/6B1 w
Its time for a close look at this position, only White has any winning chances here.
42.Be3 c4;
43.Rd6 Qc7;
44.h4 Qa5?;
Black already had a bad position, but this loses outright. All Black could do was sit tight, and wait for White to prove the
win. (Passive defense should have been the order of the day.)
[ >/= 44...Qe7; 45.Kh3, "+/=" ('±') ]
45.Rd5 Qe1;
46.Kh3! Kf8??;
A blunder ... I can only imagine that Black was very short of time to play a gross mistake of this nature.
[ >/= 46...Kh8[]; 47.Rb5, '±' ]
No further comment is required.
47.Rd7 Rg3+!?;
48.Qxg3 Qh1+;
49.Kg4 Qxe4+; 50.Kh5, "+/-"
(Black
Resigns.)
GM Mamedyarov gives up the fight.
A good game by Topalov, but here, I would say that Black lost this game more by an accumulation of inferior and bad moves; than the fact that White won this encounter by a brilliant execution of his plan.
Copyright (c) A.J. Goldsby, 2006. All rights reserved.