Kasparov draws, Topalov wins at Linares; showdown in final round tomorrow

[Jack Rabbit]

Former world champion Garry Kasparov and Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Toplaov will play against each other in the final round of the 22nd Ciudad de Linares chess tournament in south central Spain tomorrow.

Kasparov leads Topalov by one point. Should Topalov, who will be playing White tomorrow, win the game, he and Kasparov would end the tournament with identical scores of eight points out of twelve. Any other result will give Kasparov a clear first place finish and his ninth championship at Linares, known as the "Wimbledon of chess", since he first played there in 1990.

A player is awarded a full point for each victory while draws are worth a half point each.

Kasparov drew his game with Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand today in 22 moves while Topalov defeated Spanish grandmaster Francisco Vallejo in 38 moves. Those results moved Toplalov within one point of first place and gave him sole possession of second place, which he shared with Anand at the start of today’s activity.

According to ChessBase.com, there is some question as to how a tie break would work. All were agreed that the first tie breaking criteria would be the number of games won; however, should Topalov win tomorrow, both he and Kasparov will have five victories, one loss and six draws. Most of the consensus says the second tie break would be games with as Black, as stated on the Spanish website Marca.com; this would give the tournament to Kasparov, who has won three games as Black to one for Topalov.



Veselin Topalov (right) defeated Francisco Vallejo in the 13th round today

Vallejo, playing White, opened with the flexible move 1. Nf3, which often spins into a system characteristic of the English Opening (1. c4) or a Queen’s Pawn Opening. In this case, the opening developed into a Queen’s Gambit Declined, with Black adopting the Orthodox Defense. Vallejo, who has made a poor showing at Linares, offered a draw as early as the sixteenth move. Topalov sensed he could get more and declined the offer.

BLACK: Topalov

WHITE: Vallejo

Position after Black’s 29th Move

In this position Black has just played 29. – b5b4!. Topalov said later that this was the winning move. Play continued 30. axb4 Rb8 31. Ra1. Here, many observers feel White’s best move would have been 31. Nc2, which would have given him a better chance of salvaging something after 31. -- a4 32. Bxa4 Nc4+ 33. Kf2 Nxd2 34. Rxd2 (according to Chess Base), but ChessCenter maintains that in this line 32. – Bc4 would be good for Black. White resigned after 31. -- Rxb4 32. Ra3 a4 33. Ba2 Bc4 34. Bb1 Bf1 35. Ba2 Rab7 36. Nc2 Rxb2 37. Rxa4 Rc7 38. Kf2 Bb5. when he must lose a piece.

In the only other game today, reigning FIDE champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan drew his game Hungarian grandmaster Peter Leko. Michael Adams of Britain, the only other competitor in the tournament, had a bye.

Other games tomorrow will pit Leko as White against Vallejo and Anand as White against Adams. Kasimdzhanov has the bye in the final round and has finished the tournament with four points out of twelve.

The Linares tournament is named for the Andalusian town in which it is played. The tournament is one of the strongest of all annual chess events. Five of the seven competitors this year are ranked seventh in the world or higher.

Crosstable through 13 rounds

---------------- 1---- 2---- 3---- 4---- 5---- 6---- 7-----Total
1. Kasparov . . ** . .½- . .½½ . .½½ . .11 . .½1 . .11 . . 8/11.
2. Topalov. . . ½- . .** . .0½ . .½½ . .1½ . .½1 . .11 . . 7/11.
3. Anand. . . . ½½ . .1½ . .** . .½½ . .½- . .½1 . .½½ . . 6½/11
4. Leko . . . . ½½ . .½½ . .½½ . .** . .½½ . .½½ . .½- . . 5½/11
5. Adams. . . . 00 . .0½ . .½- . .½½ . .** . .½½ . .1½ . . 4½/11
6. Kasimdzhanov ½0 . .½0 . .½0 . .½½ . .½½ . .** . .½0 . . 4/12.
7. Vallejo. . . 00 . .00 . .½½ . .½- . .0½ . .½1 . .** . . 3½/11


Photo from ChessCenter.com (The Week in Chess)
Diagram from ChessBase.com