Is he man or is he machine? GM Veselin Topalov continues to impress the chess world. Just when you think that Topalov is having a "not so good" tournament he makes a come back in the second half to win it all. This past week in Sofia, Bulgaria at the Mtel Masters tournament Topalov won his last four games, after having a weak first half, to win the tournament in clear first.

Is it deja vu? Last year Topalov did the same thing finishing the last half of the Mtel Masters with 4.5 out of 5 to finish in clear first. Is he toying with us? Or, does he just have a knack for rocking the ramparts towards the end of these incredibly challenging and long events? Regardless, Topalov continues to impress us with his top-notch chess play.

GM Gata Kamsky had a fantastic tournament as well finishing in clear second place, missing first place by a just a half point. Kamsky led most of the tournament until the ninth round when he lost to Topalov in his storm to the top.

FINAL RESULTS:

Rank	Name	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	Pts
1	Topalov Veselin	BUL	-	1 1	0 1	½ 0	½ 1	½ 1	6½
2	Kamsky Gata	USA	0 0	-	1 ½	1 ½	½ 1	1 ½	6.0
3	Anand Viswanathan	IND	1 0	0 ½	-	½ ½	1 ½	1 ½	5½
4	Svidler Peter	RUS	½ 1	0 ½	½ ½	-	1 0	½ ½	5.0
5	Ponomariov Ruslan	UKR	½ 0	½ 0	0 ½	0 1	-	½ ½	3½
6	Bacrot Etienne	FRA	½ 0	0 ½	0 ½	½ ½	½ ½	-	3½

View all of the games played in the tournament in PGN format. You can also read more details on the official Mtel Masters web site.

Kamsky,G (2671) - Ponomariov,R (2738) [C88]
Mtel Masters, Sofia 2006, 17.05.2006

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 (8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 is the Marshall Attack. After 8.h3 Black's pawn sacrifice does not work. 13...Qh4 is met by Nd2-f3) 8...Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.a3 Qd7 11.Nbd2 Rfe8 (11...Nd8 was played in Anand-Kamsky round 3) 12.Nf1 Nd8 (Black prepares to defend against Ng3-f5 and to play c7-c5) 13.Ng3 Ne6 14.c3 c5 15.d4 exd4 16.cxd4 d5 17.e5 (Now Black must always be careful on the kingside) 17...Ne4 18.Nf5

(18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.d5 Nc7! 20.Rxe4 c4 21.Bc2 Bxd5) 18...Bf8 19.Be3 Rac8 (19...c4 20.Bc2 c3!?) 20.dxc5 N6xc5 21.N5d4 (The isolated queen's pawn and passive Bb7 make this slightly better for White) 21...Nxb3 22.Qxb3 Nc5 (22...Rc4!? 23.Rad1 g6) 23.Qd1 a5 (23...Ne6 to exchange a pair of knights was reasonable here) 24.Qb1 Ne4 25.Rd1 b4 (25...h6 - Ponomariov was possible and if 26.Ne2 a4 27.Nf4 Ng5! undermining e5) 26.axb4 Bxb4 27.Nc2 Qe7 (27...Rc4 looks more active and if 28.Nxb4 Rxb4 29.Rxa5 Nc3) 28.Nxb4 Qxb4 29.Qa2 Ra8 (29...Rc2!? 30.Qxa5 Qxa5 31.Rxa5 Rxb2 would hold, so 30.Rdb1 would be preferred) 30.Rd4!

(White has obtained the initiative. Black's queenside pawn push only weakened his position) 30...Qb5 31.Ra4 Bc6 32.Rxa5 Rxa5 33.Qxa5 Qxb2 34.Rc1 Ba8 35.Rc7 d4?? (Once again Kamsky's pressure induces a blunder 35...Qb8 was best and if 36.Bf4? Qb1+ 37.Kh2 Nxf2 but 36.Ra7! Rc8 37.Nd4 maintains pressure) 36.e6!! ( Liberating the dark squared bishop) 36...Qb1+ (36...fxe6 37.Rxg7+ Kxg7 38.Bxd4+ or 36...Rxe6 37.Rc8+ Re8 38.Rxe8 mate) 37.Kh2 fxe6 38.Qh5! Nd6 (38...Rf8 39.Qg4 wins) 39.Bxd4 Bxf3 40.Rxg7+ Kf8 41.Qh6 1-0

After the rest day yesterday, the chess tournament resumes on Wednesday. This is the strongest tournament on the planet for the second consecutive year. Topalov, Anand, Svidler, Ponomariov, Bacrot and Kamsky, with an average Elo of is 2747, are taking part in this category 20 double round robin tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The tournament began on the 11th of this month and at the halfway stage is led jointly by Former world Champion and the No 2 chess player in the World, Indian GM, Vishwanathan Anand and United States GM, Gata Kamsky with 3.5 points each.

Tournamnent and local favourite, World Chess Champion, GM Veselin Topalov lies in 3rd place with 2.5 points after 5 games.The games Scheduled today are as follows:

Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Veselin Topalov	vs	Peter Svidler
Gata Kamsky	vs	Ruslan Ponomariov
Vishwanathan Anand	vs	Etienne Bacrot

Kamsky brought down to earth as Topalov wins First game; Anand draws with Svidler & SuperMariov not super any more...


The Anand - Svidler game today petered out into a tame draw after neither players could find any advantage out of a spanish closed opening. The Middle game was a push - pull battle between two of the strongest players in this tournament. At one stage it looked as though it might get into a similar position as th Anand - Ponomariov game yesterday , with Anand at the receiving end. But in the end the players repeated moves and Drew the game on move 38.

The moves for the game:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8.
h3 Bb7 9. d3 Re8 10. Nc3 Bb4 11. Ng5 Rf8 12. a3 Bxc3 13. bxc3 h6 14. Nf3 d6
15. Nh4 Bc8 16. Qf3 Na5 17. Ba2 c5 18. Nf5 Bxf5 19. Qxf5 c4 20. Rd1 Qc8 21.
Qf3 Qe6 22. a4 Rfc8 23. Ba3 Ne8 24. Qe2 Qd7 25. Bb4 Qc7 26. dxc4 Nxc4 27.
Bxc4 bxc4 28. a5 Qe7 29. Rd2 Rc6 30. Rad1 Qe6 31. Qf3 Rb8 32. Rd5 f6 33.
R5d2 Rb7 34. Kh2 Kf7 35. Qh5+ Kg8 36. Qf3 Kf7 37. Qh5+ Kg8 38. Qf3 [1/2-1/2].


The other game between last placed players Ponomariov and Bacrot was another Anti-Marshall system. Both players had their moments in the game as they jostled to get out of the last place in the tournament. In the end , after heavy exchange of pieces at a rapid interval in the mid-game, both players called it a day. Ponomariov was a pawn down , but GM Bacrot could not prevent repetition of moves.

The Game between World FIDE Champion and crowd favourite, GM Veselin Topalov and Giant killer of the tournament US GM Gata Kamsky , showed us why GM Topalov is so highly rated.
In a system aptly title the Slav Chameleon system, Topalov completely dominated the proceedings, forcing Kamsky to draw on all his technical prowess. Eventually it proved insufficient as Topalov kept piling the pressure on Kamsky's weakened King side, crashing the Cow Boy from USA to a humiliating defeat.

Ranking after Round 5

Rank	Name	1	2	3	4	5	6	Pts
1	Kamsky Gata	* *	1	0	1	½	1	3,5
2	Anand Viswanathan	0	* *	1	½	1	1	3,5
3	Topalov Veselin	1	0	* *	½	½	½	2,5
4	Svidler Peter	0	½	½	* *	1	½	2,5
5	Ponomariov Ruslan	½	0	½	0	* *	½	1,5
6	Bacrot Etienne	0	0	½	½	½	* *	1,5

More Reports On round 5:

1. Mtel Masters 2006, Round 5 - Topalov destroys Kamsky, at the halfway stage Anand and Kamsky lead
2. MTel R5 Express: Topalov beats Kamsky

Comeback artist Kamsky pulls of another stunner, Anand returns to winning ways & Topalov has another bad day.
GM Gata Kamsky continued his giant killing ways in the 4 th round of the M-tel Masters 2006 chess championship, being held at Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.
Playing the white side of the Sicilian:Scheveningen, Modern variation he completely outplayed GM Peter Svidler in a 24 move sharp stunner of a game. The players kept exchanging their pieces at regular intervals, till Kamsky came up with a stunner on move 21. His rook for Knight and pawn sacrifice completely opened up the Black king side, which with a strong queen-bishop placement forced Svidler to resign 3 moves later in a completely hopeless position.

In the other games:

GM Vishwanthan Anand of India returned back to winning ways with a facile victory over GM Ponomariov. Playing the white side of the Caro-Kann, Anand quickly equalised in the opening and slowly built up the pressure on the queen side. The russian grandmaster tried to thwart Anand's superior positional play with exchange of queens on move 17, but the pawns kept rolling and Ponomariov had to resign on move 56.

The moves - 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. h4 h6 8.
h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14.
Qxe4 Nf6 15. Qd3 Qd5 16. c4 Qe4 17. Qxe4 Nxe4 18. Be3 O-O 19. Ne5 Bd6 20.
f3 Ng3 21. Rh3 Nf5 22. Bf2 Rad8 23. g4 Ne7 24. Nd3 b5 25. b3 Bc7 26. Rhh1
Bb6 27. Nc5 Rfe8 28. Kc2 bxc4 29. bxc4 Bxc5 30. dxc5 e5 31. Rd6 Rb8 32.
Rhd1 Rb7 33. Rd8 Rxd8 34. Rxd8+ Kh7 35. Rf8 f6 36. Be1 Rd7 37. Bc3 Ng8 38.
a4 g6 39. a5 gxh5 40. gxh5 Kg7 41. Rb8 Ne7 42. a6 Kf7 43. Ba5 Nf5 44. Bb6
Ne3+ 45. Kc3 Ke6 46. Rc8 Kf5 47. Rxc6 Nd1+ 48. Kb4 Rd2 49. Bxa7 Rb2+ 50.
Ka3 Rb1 51. Rb6 Ra1+ 52. Kb3 e4 53. fxe4+ Kxe4 54. c6 Kd3 55. c7 Rb1+ 56.
Ka3 Black resigns [1-0].

This is Anand's third win in four games. He now lies in sole 2nd position,0.5 points behind American GM Gata Kamsky.

GM Topalov, the local favourite and present World Champion was again held to a draw, this time by the tournament last place holder, French GM Etione Bacrot. Playing the Romanishin variation of the Nimzo-Indian opening, Bacrot held on till the 29thmove when both players called it a day after they were left with opposite colored bishops and an equal number of pawns.
Topalov is having a particularly bad tournament and now liesin 4th place having secured just 1.5 points after 4 rounds.

The tournament Standings after Round 4:

Rank	Name	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	Pts
1	Kamsky Gata	USA	* *	1	1		½	1	3,5
2	Anand Viswanathan	IND	0	* *		1	1	1	3,0
3	Svidler Peter	RUS	0		* *	½	1	½	2,0
4	Topalov Veselin	BUL		0	½	* *	½	½	1,5
5	Ponomariov Ruslan	UKR	½	0	0	½	* *		1,0
6	Bacrot Etienne	FRA	0	0	½	½		* *	1,0

Tags: Anand, Svidler, Topalov, Kamsky, M-tel, sofia, Bulgaria

Topalov,V (2804) - Anand,V (2803) [C88]
Mtel Masters Sofia BUL (2), 12.05.2006
[Mihail Marin]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 Re8 10.c3 h6 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.a3 d6 13.Ba2 Nb8 14.b4 c5 15.Nb3 Nc6 16.Rb1 Bc8 17.Be3 Be6 18.Qc2 Rc8 19.Qb2

White has placed some of his pieces on rather unnatural squares, while Black has regrouped in a harmonious way. 19...c4 20.dxc4 Bxc4 21.Nbd2 Bxa2 22.Qxa2 d5 This thematic central break ensures Black at least equal play. 23.Rbd1 d4 24.cxd4 exd4 25.Nb3?! [Still fighting for an advantage, something not surprising in Topalov's games. 25.Nxd4 would have been safer.] 25...Nxe4 26.Bxd4 Nxd4 27.Rxd4

27...Ng5!! A fantastic move, overlooked by Topalov. All of a sudden, White is in trouble. 28.Ne5 [Accepting the "sacrifice" with 28.Rxd8 would have led to equally unpleasant consequences after 28...Nxf3+ 29.gxf3 Rxe1+ (This intermediate move is possible only because the back rank is defended by the bishop.) 30.Kg2 Rxd8 with a small material advantage and the safer king's position for Black.] 28...Nxh3+! 29.gxh3 Qg5+ 30.Kh2 [In case of 30.Rg4 Black had an "echo-line" at his disposal: 30...Rxe5! 31.Rxg5 Rxe1+ followed by 32...hxg5.] 30...Qf5! [Avoiding unnecessary complications after 30...Rxe5 31.f4!?] 31.Rde4 Rxe5 32.Rxe5 Bd6 33.Nc5 Bxe5+ 34.Kg2 Rc6 35.Qb3 Rg6+ 36.Kf1 Bg3 Just like in Morelia 2006 and Sofia 2005, Topalov seems to have problems of warming up. From this point of view, the World Championship from San Luis 2005 is an obvious exception: from the first 7 rounds, he only "lost" half a point! 0-1

From Chessbase

Gata Kamsky Pulls off Upset



Vishwanathan Anand has lost his third round match against comeback GM Gata Kamsky of the United states Of America , in a spanish closed variation. Anand with white looked in no trouble with white pieces in the opening or Middle game. But his nemesis of corus Wijk an Zee tournament, Kamsky, pulled of a victory in a rook versus rook ending. Vishwanathan Anand has shown a weakness with a rook vs rook ending in previous games too..

The moves for todays game...

[White "GMAnand"]
[Black "GMKamsky"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2803"]
[BlackElo "2671"]


1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8.
h3 Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. a3 Qd7 11. Nbd2 Nd8 12. c3 Ne6 13. d4 Rad8 14. d5 Nf4
15. Nf1 Ng6 16. Ng3 c6 17. Bg5 cxd5 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Bxd5 Nf4 20. Bxb7
Qxb7 21. Qc2 g6 22. Rad1 d5 23. exd5 Rxd5 24. Rxd5 Qxd5 25. Rd1 Qe6 26. Qe4
Rb8 27. Ne2 Nxe2+ 28. Qxe2 Re8 29. Qe4 h6 30. g4 Bg5 31. Nxg5 hxg5 32. Qd5
Kg7 33. Qxe6 Rxe6 34. Rd7 Kf6 35. Kf1 Rc6 36. Ke2 Ke6 37. Rd8 e4 38. f3
exf3+ 39. Kxf3 Rd6 40. Re8+ Kd5 41. b3 Rf6+ 42. Kg2 Rc6 43. Re3 f5 44. gxf5
gxf5 45. Rg3 Ke4 46. a4 bxa4 47. bxa4 Kf4 48. Rf3+ Ke5 49. Re3+ Kf6 50. Rd3
f4 51. Kf3 Ke5 52. Kg4 Rd6 53. Rxd6 Kxd6 54. h4 gxh4 55. Kxh4 Kd5 56. Kh3
Ke4 57. Kg2 Ke3 White resigns [0-1]

With this defeat Anand has 2 points out of 3 games, and Kamsky is on 2.5.

In the other games, GM Peter Svidler was held to a draw by French GM Etione Bacrot in a Grunfeld: Modern Exchange, game. The game lasted for 32 moves when it was drawn by repetition of moves, with both players failing to make any head way.

After this game Svidler has 2 and Bacrot has opened his account with 0.5 points out of 3 games.

Topalov held Ponomariov to a draw, or maybe it was the other way around? An unbalanced endgame got wild and crazy and it was Super Mariov and his extra piece forcing the repetition against Topalov's pawns.

Topalov and Ponomariov are now both on 1 point each after 3 rounds.

Standings after Round 3

Indian Grand Master, Vishwanathan Anand, today demolished world champion and local favourite ,Veselin Topalov, in a Spanish closed variation at the M-tel Masters chess championship being held in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In other games played today, GM Peter Svidler beat former FIDE World Champion GM Ruslan Ponomariov in a Spanish( Closed, 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 d6) game. The game was highly tactical and evenly poised for most of the time. But the vast experience of Svidler won out in the end with a superior pawn structure.

And In the third game, Kamsky played a new idea in the Spanish with 13.Rb1 against Bacrot and backed up his novelty with strong play that netted a pawn. The rook and pawn endgame they reached "should" be drawn, but it turned into an adventure. Several times it looked like a simple draw, but Bacrot avoided the simple and Kamsky kept up the pressure. It came all the way down to rook versus knight with no pawns! This is tricky but usually drawn at the master level but both players were terribly short on time (no time increment in Sofia) and reaching the seventh hour of play, it was far from tablebase perfect. It was drawn, then lost, then drawn, then finally Kamsky put the hammer down after the Frenchman's final mistake.

Standings:
Anand Vishwanathan 2.0/2
Svidler Peter 1.5/2
Kamsky Gata 1.5/2
Topalov Veselin 0.5/2
Ponomariov Ruslan 0.5/2
Bacrot Etione 0/2

Reports From Chessbase

Indian Grand Master, Vishwanathan Anand, today demolished world champion and local favourite ,Veselin Topalov, in a Spanish closed variation at the M-tel Masters chess championship being held in Sofia, Bulgaria.

This was Anand's second consecutive win with the black pieces, after his first round defeat of Bacrot.

The Moves for the game are as follows....

[White "GMTopalov"]
[Black "GMAnand"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2803"]
[ECO[ 15]: C88.15
NIC[ 13]: RL.17.1
LONG[ 15]: Spanish: Closed, 8.h3]


1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8.
h3 Bb7 9. d3 Re8 10. c3 h6 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. a3 d6 13. Ba2 Nb8 14. b4 c5 15.
Nb3 Nc6 16. Rb1 Bc8 17. Be3 Be6 18. Qc2 Rc8 19. Qb2 c4 20. dxc4 Bxc4 21.
Nbd2 Bxa2 22. Qxa2 d5 23. Rbd1 d4 24. cxd4 exd4 25. Nb3 Nxe4 26. Bxd4 Nxd4
27. Rxd4 Ng5 28. Ne5 Nxh3+ 29. gxh3 Qg5+ 30. Kh2 Qf5 31. Rde4 Rxe5 32. Rxe5
Bd6 33. Nc5 Bxe5+ 34. Kg2 Rc6 35. Qb3 Rg6+ 36. Kf1 Bg3 [White Resigned 0-1]

On hindsight Topalov's 27.Rxd4 maybe was over ambitious. Anand with black pieces never appeared to be in any trouble after a tactical opening. Once Topalov made the overambitious move, Anand found the win and took it. With this win Anand has laid to rest the ghosts of San louis world championship loss last year.

You can watch the games live at the official Website here and follow the links....

Topalov, Anand, Svidler, Ponomariov, Bacrot and Kamsky, with an average Elo of is 2747, are taking part in this category 20 double round robin tournament from May 11–21 in Sofia, Bulgaria. As in last year's M-Tel they are not allowed to offer draws.

Its patron is the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Georgi Parvanov. The six players will play against each other at Sofia Hall of Grand Hotel Sofia. The first edition of “M-Tel Masters” was held from May 11th to May 22nd 2005 in Sofia. The tournament was won by the Bulgarian grand master Veselin Topalov. The winner came first by a point, ahead of Viswanathan Anand, followed by Judit Polgar, Ruslan Ponomariov, Vladimir Kramnik and Michael Adams. Only five months later Topalov won the world title at the competition in Saint Luis, Argentina and headed the FIDE ranking.

Vishy Anand has won his first game, from the black side of a Queens Indian Petrosian.The Moves for this game...

Bacrot,E (2708) - Anand,V (2803) [E12]
Mtel Masters Sofia BUL (1), 11.05.2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 Be7 7.e3 Ne4 8.Nxe4 Bxe4 9.Bg3 d6 10.Bd3 Bb7 11.0-0 Nd7 12.e4 Bf6 13.Rc1 g5 14.Bb1 h5 15.h3 Rg8 16.b4 g4 17.hxg4 hxg4 18.Nh2 Bh4 19.Bf4 Bg5 20.Qxg4 Qf6 21.Be3 Bxe3 22.Qxg8+ Ke7 23.Qxa8 Bxa8 24.fxe3 Qg6 25.Rf4 e5 26.Rf5 Qh6 27.Re1 exd4 28.exd4 Qd2 29.Nf3 Qxb4 30.Rc1 Bb7 31.Rb5 Qa3 32.Re1 Qc3 33.Rb3 Qxc4 34.Bd3 Qa4 35.Rc3 c5 36.Bc4 Qb4 37.Rcc1 cxd4 38.Nxd4 Ne5 39.Nf5+ Kd7 40.Bd5 Bxd5 41.exd5 Qf4 42.Rf1 Nf3+ 43.gxf3 Qxf5 44.f4 Qxd5 45.f5 Qd2 46.f6 b5 47.Rce1 Kc6 48.Ra1 Qd4+ 49.Kg2 Qb2+ 50.Kg3 b4 51.Kg4 d5 52.Kg5 Qg2+ 53.Kh4 Kd6 54.Kh5 a5 0-1.

Anand was in total control right from the opening stages of this game. And though he had to sacrifice both his rooks for his opponents queen, in the end , his superior positional play and a dominating pawn structure proved too much for GM Bacrot. Bacrot resigned on move 54.


In the other games, World Champion Vasselin Topalov was heldto a draw by GM Peter Svidler of Russia in a Sicilian: Najdorf, Byrne (English) attack. Svidler had some anxious moments before the game was drawn after repetition of moves ,as, both players found it difficult to make any headway in a position of equal strength.


Former World champion GM Ponomariov was held to a draw by U.S. GM Gata Kamsky in a Ruy Lopez Game. Gata Kamsky is having a great comeback to the international chess circuit after a long break.


More Reports and analys is available at Chessbase

Paolo Coelho made the first move of M-Tel Masters 2006

The world-famous Brazilian writer made the first move of M-Tel Masters 2006. Coelho chose e2-e4 for the beginning of the game in which Peter Svidler plays with the white pieces against Veselin Topalov. The other two games of the first round of the tournament are Ruslan Ponomariov against Gata Kamsky and Etienne Bacrot against Viswanathan Anand.

The competition is of 10 rounds and will end on May 21.