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Krishnan Sasikiran vs Veselin Topalov
Mtel Masters (2007), Sofia BUL, rd 4, May-13
King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation. Gligoric-Taimanov System (E92)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
May-13-07  suenteus po 147: Topalov wins with the King's Indian? This will be an instant fan favorite.
May-13-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  chancho: Gotta give the Top his just due. He played this one beautifully.
May-13-07  Jafar219: Nice game! Radjabov style.
May-13-07  Plato: Now we finally know who stole Radjabov's laptop...
May-13-07  Softpaw: <Plato: Now we finally know who stole Radjabov's laptop...>

LOL!!

May-13-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  WannaBe: Holy Nice Game!! Shredder did not quite like 17. Nd4 and 20. Nb5 really got white into a negative evaluation.
May-13-07  alicefujimori: Nice game by Topalov. It looks like the KID might be on its way to a new revival in the elite level if wins like this by black continues.
May-13-07  Eyal: 19.f4? leads to a dangerous weakening of the black squares on the kingside (especially e3), which in combination with 20.Nb5? and 23.Nxc7? proves fatal. White should have tried 23.Bf2, although even then, after 23...Rac8 24.fxg5 Nf5, his position is very far from enviable.
May-13-07  Gouki: one interesting thing to note is that,(according to the chessgames database) the last time these two played the colours were switched and Sasikiran played the King's Indian,Topalov vs Sasikiran, 2000

a whole lot of preparation on Topalov's part in playing this king's indian i think...but nonetheless a good game :D

May-13-07  newton296: Why did the (Ki) ever lose its reputation as a first rate q pawn defense? It seems like it never fails to set the board totally on fire!
May-13-07  amuralid: 30. ... Ne6 is a spectacular resource. It prevents Qg5 whether White captures the knight or not. Deep calculations by Topalov.
May-13-07  WillC21: Champagne chess played by Topalov.
May-13-07  notyetagm: Beautifully played KID game by Topalov.

http://www.crestbook.com/?q=node/428 points out that Topalov missed a forced mate in 3 at the end of the game with 33 ... f3xg2+ 34 ♕g4xg2 (♔h1-g1 ♖f8-f1#) ♖f8-f1+! 35 ♕g2x♖f1 <lateral pin against h2> ♕a2-h2#.

(VAR) Position after 33 ... f3xg2+ 34 ♕g4xg2 ♖f8-f1+!


click for larger view

(VAR) Position after 35 ♕g2x♖f1 ♕a2-h2#


click for larger view

That http://www.crestbook.com is an -incredible- chess website. Damn shame that I cannot understand Russian. But you can learn from the site just by reading the variations to the annotated games, like I did in this post where I saw the mate in 3 that crestbook pointed out.

May-13-07  ganstaman: <newton296: Why did the (Ki) ever lose its reputation as a first rate q pawn defense? It seems like it never fails to set the board totally on fire!> That may be exactly it. There are more reliable ways of getting ok chances. The KID isn't in everyone's super crazy style. Plus, because it's so sharp, it requires a lot of constant work to make sure you're always on top of the most current theory.

<amuralid: 30. ... Ne6 is a spectacular resource. It prevents Qg5 whether White captures the knight or not. Deep calculations by Topalov.>

I don't quite get it. Are you saying that 30...Kh8 31. Qg5 is good for white? I don't understand, this game is too hard.

May-13-07  TheGladiator: <Eyal> pointed out 3 weak moves by white, but even before 19. f4?, white made a couple of dubious moves, clearly underestimating the danger of black's counterplay. The complete sequence of Nb3-d4-c6 followed by f4 in moves 17-19 seems misunderstood, IMO. White simply chose a very wrong plan.

So while Topalov took good care of the chances he got, white's play in this game wasn't very impressing, to say the least. Several clear mistakes degrade the over-all value of the game, and make it hard to accurately judge Topalov's play too.

May-13-07  whatthefat: A nice complex battle. This tournament is turning out to be a real gem in terms of game quality.
May-14-07  Magician of Riga: The King's Indian fell out of style when Kasparov gave it up after a string of losses in 1997 to Ivanchuk and Kramnik. Kasparov said in an interview that he felt the King's Indian was far too theoretical and so a good KID player needed to be fully devoted to it, much like a good Najdorf player must be fully devoted and he trusted the Najdorf more. He didn't have the time or energy to devote himself to both systems.
May-14-07  Magician of Riga: The Bayonet attack has also been a thorn in the side of many King's Indian players. GM Gallagher who has written some very good books on the King's Indian has said that the reason a lot of KID players lose to the Bayonet attack is because the KID player is looking for a crazy mating attack and in the Bayonet its usually not a feasible goal. Black must play for equality first before trying to win.
May-14-07  aragorn69: Great game by Topalov. Even more than Radjabov's style, it reminds me of the young Kasparov!
May-14-07  peters4n6: Missing the point of 30...Ne6 as well. Can those who understand please elaborate?
May-14-07  Ulhumbrus: <peters4n6: Missing the point of 30...Ne6 as well. Can those who understand please elaborate? > Black is threatening 30...Qxg2 mate and White has to answer the threat. If Black plays 30..Kh8 at once with White's Q on d5, White can answer the threat of 31...Qxg2 mate by 31 Qxf3!! Rxf3 32 Rb8+ Rf8 33 Rxf8+ Bxf8 34 c7 and the pawn queens. After 30...Ne6!! 31 Qxe6+ Kh8 White lacks the resource of Qxf3, and defending g2 by 32 Qg4 does not answer a second threat on Black's part, that of a mating attack by ...Be5+ followed by ...fxg2+, ...Rf1+!! and ...Qh2 mate
May-14-07  vaskokibika: <notyetagm> "Topalov missed a forced mate in 3" - after the game, Topalov was asked "didn't You saw mate in 3?" and he answered something like this: "Yes, it wins in 3 moves, but 33...f2 wins in one - white should resign after it"
May-14-07  peters4n6: Thanks Ulhumbrus. Excellent explanation.
May-17-07  OneArmedScissor: <30. ...Ne6!!>

Incredible move!

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