Kamsky (2725) – Topalov (2796) [C65]
Sofia Match, 18.02.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0 Bc5 This is a very surprising choice for Topalov. This line is generally considered risky for Black. However, I am sure that the Topalov team has something prepared. If the clock is correct, Kamsky is spending a lot of time on his 5th move. One thing you have to give Topalov a lot of credit for, he does take chances and go for the win with both Black and White pieces.
5.Nxe5 Nxe4 6.Qe2 Nxe5 Both 7.d4 or 7.Qxe4 are fine
7.d4 Qe7 Both 8.Qxe4 and 8dxc5 are playable. 8.dxc5 maybe a slightly better option. It seems the the Topalov team has out prepared the Kamsky team in the first two games. However, we have yet to see the fruitful result for Topalov. That’s due to Kamsky’s resourcefulness.
8.dxc5 Nxc5 9.Nc3 Ng6 Topalov is moving with lightning speed. He is ahead by around 50 minutes on the clock. However, I do not see much for Black. White is still slightly better. He has excellent compensation for the pawn with far superior development. I like 10.Be3 here for White. White surely does not want to trade Queen with a pawn down.
10.Qh5 Kamsky now has approximately 42 minutes vs 118 minutes for Topalov. I do not think that this is not the strongest move for White. Black can simply 0-0 and then try to convert the pawn up endgame. White does have compensation for the pawn. However, being low on time, Kamsky does not have an easy task. But never count him out though. He is a fighter.
10…c6 I think 11.Bg5 is the only move to maintain compensation for the pawn. It gains a tempo for the Rooks to be connected.
11.Bg5 Excellent find by Gata. Black must defend with 11…f6.
11…f6 If 12.Rae1 then 12…Ne6 =
12.Rae1 Ne6 This position is quite complicated and dangerous for White. One false move and he will be looking at an inferior endgame. The best move for White here is 13.Bd3.
13.Bd3 Once again, Gata found the best move under pressure.
13…0-0 Yesterday, Topalov sacrificed early for an attacking initiative. He failed to make serious progress and the game ended in a draw. Today, it is Kamsky’s turn.
14.Bd2 Gata continues to make good moves. If 14…Qf7 then 15.f4. If 14…d5 then 15.Bg6 hxg6 16.Qxg6.
14…d5 Topalov decided to give back the pawn to trade down pieces. White can either take the Knight of g6 or play 15.f4.
15.f4 Gata decides not to trade pieces. He wants to keep the pressure on. The threat is obviously f5. Black has 15…Qd6 If 16.f5 then Nef4 =+. 15…Qc5 is also fine for Black.
15…Qc5+ This is an interesting continuation: 16. Be3 Qb4 17. a3 Qxb2 18. Nd1 Qxa3 =
16.Kh1 Time pressure is starting to get to Gata. This is not the most accurate move. 16.Be3 would have been a better move.
16…d4! 17.Bf5? Now 17…Nexf4 and Black stands better.
17…Rf7? I have no comprehension of this move. This allows Gata back in the game.
18.Ne4 Qd5 19.Bxg6 = The ONLY move for Black here is 19…hxg6. Everything else wins for White.
19…hxg6 20.Qxd5 cxd5 21.Nd6 At first glance, White seems to be better because of the threat of Nxc8 then Rxe6. However, Black has 21…Rc7 22.Nxc8 Raxc8 23.Rxe6 Rxc2 24.Re2 Rxb2 =+
21…Rc7 22.c4?! Now Black has 22…dxc3 23. Bxc3 d4 24. Nxc8 Raxc8 25. Rxe6 dxc3 26. bxc3 Rxc3 -/+ Gata is also in severe time trouble. He has around 5 minutes or less to make move 40!
22…dxc3 23.Bxc3 d4 24.Bb4 Now White is in serious trouble.
24… Bd7 25. Rf2 a5! An excellent move to expand his advantage.
26. Ba3 b5 27. b3 -+ b4 28.Bb2 Ra6 29.Ne4 Rac6 -+ Both players played very fast in the past few moves.
30.Kg1 Rc2 31.g3 Unless Topalov blunders here, Black will score a full point in this game.
31…d3 32.Rd1 Now 32…f5 and game over. If White moves the Knight, Black will take the Rook on f2, followed by Rc2+ winning the Bishop on b2.
0-1
Special thanks to the 15,000+ of you who joined me for the LIVE commentary today. I will be back for game 3 with Topalov having White!
Topa is really mixing it up in these early games!
why Bc5?
It’s called preparation. Topalov has studied this opening which gives him the advantage plus forcing Kamsky into unfamiliar territory. Just looks at the time after 6 moves: 1:18-1:59!
Susan , glad that you are doing commentary for this match.
Followed your anand-kramnik commentary too.
“However, I do not see much for Black.”
Isn’t Black a pawn extra?
1.03 1.59
Gata is now near an hour behind, again.
10.Be3 maybe or perhaps 10.Qh5 (10…Qe5?? 11.Qxe5+ Nxe5 12.Re1 1-0)
10. Qh5
Finally Topalov has to use some clock!
Did Kamsky successfully navigate through the analysis or did he actually come up with something unexpected in the middle of it?
yes, he is a pawn less but there’s dynamic returns in exchange. he hasn’t just given anything away
10..O-O 11.Be3-d6 12.Bxc5-dxc5 look good?
Good to see the games get out of boring openings. At least this is wide open. one slip and you are dead. the board wide open allows for many options.
my only concern now is the time. I feel he has enough for the pawn (weak squares, development, bishop pair, etc.) But does he have enough clock to calculate?
10..O-O, absolutely.
Kamsky has become more active with a pawn behind, so 11.Bg5 or 11.Nc3, whatever. He’s gotta get back more active, which is kinda against his style somewhat.
Topa hasn’t castled! i’m way behind, but typical of him not to…
f4 is on the way
“But does he have enough clock to calculate?”
I wonder too.
Topalov used 12 minutes on move 10. Other than that he might as well have been playing blitz.
13.Bd3 is good!
now mr topalov castles, haha!!
topo still has awkward knights, a wekness on g6 and will have to spend a few moves on the Q-side to finish development. Kamsky will progress his attack during these moves. But the clock…. The darn clock
why not Qc5 then Nf4?
topo is offering the pawn back in exchange for completeing his development
If white can find a way to control d4 he can leave himself with a better minor piece
Froth! Froth!
“Gata continues to make good moves”
… at ten minutes a move. He’s got about two more at that rate.
If gata had more time he would best to play f4 but he will retake his pawn and try to catch up on the clock in a more siplified possition
Come on, Gata! You are making us nervous…
okay
f4, what else?
still a really complex game, but the more i look at Kamsky’s position the more i like it. however the time is now:
0.25-1.44
Ouch!
25 moves left in 12 minutes…. sigh… do the math, do the darn math
wow! he played it anyway… short on time. now f5 is threat , has to open files for rooks
He is slamming him down. Right?
What is the probability that Kamsky won’t make a blunder, when has 30 second average for the remaining moves until the 40th move?
during these long thinks he has seen a lot of these possibilities so that will helkp on the clock, but he has to spend some time of course rechecking the accuracy now
what about 15… qd6 16 Re6
i prefer whites position ( if the clocks were even) i wonder what rybka thinks
Rybka probably thinks “you really need to hurry up, Gata”.
i hate to say but there are just too many moves left to make before time control for a possition this dynamic
I tend to agree, the time advantage is just too much. Hiarcs does not like the move Bf5 much – it wanted to see the queens swapped off. Now Hiarcs reckons Ne6xf4. I must say, given the dire state of the clocks, I would have thought a simplification of that sort would be sensible, but then again the advantage of the extra pawn becomes more significant…
GM Dimitrov says: “15.Be3 d4 16.Bxg6 does not suit Topalov’s style and is easy to play as White even with little time.” Maybe Kamsky should have gone for the simpler option, with such little time left. It looks like he might do an Ivanchuk and run into serious time trouble very soon.
Gata will lose – as i said yesterday!!!
gata had the chance to simplify with a decent game and even pawns but chose to continue the attack with little time. Not practical in such a short match?
Gata has 8 min left and he’s walked away from the table! WTF!?
20 moves, 8 minutes… do the math baby! im glad gata simplified
with the pawn weaknesses and the better bishop I believe gata got enough for the pawn. He just has to hurry
19…hxg6 is a must. I wonder why Topalov taking this much time.
Or the broadcast went to a screeching halt?
Wow – let off there for Gata – after h7xBg6 Hiarcs has this as all but level, whereas if Topa had taken the f4 pawn on move 17 the evaluation was almost +1 for black. Still, Gata is playing blitz now…
(19… hxg6 20. Qxd5 cxd5 21. Nd6 Rc7 22. Nxc8 Raxc8 23. Rxe6 Rxc2 24. Re2 Rxb2 25. a4 d3 26. Ref2 Rcc2 27. Rd1 a5 28. Kg1 b5 29. axb5 a4 30. Ra1 Rxd2 31. Rxd2 Rxd2 32. Rxa4 Kf7 33. Ra3 Ke6 34. b6 Rb2 Rybka Aquarium (0:04.36)-0.77|d21)
c2 is going to be a problem in this ending
Maybe gata will draw now still a bit better for topy. rf7 thanks! hehe!
Gata has less than 5 mins… ouch
Anonymous said…
Tomorrow Gata will lose with White. You’ll see
This is a comment from yesterday. You can see now why he made this guarantee anonymously.
22. c4 doesn’t look good, after dxc4 white’s position appears to be falling apart. With less than 4 mins now, it is probably up to Topa to see if he is feeling generous for the second time in this game…
Less than 30 seconds now – Gata needs a miracle. Hiarcs eval is at +1.8 for black after move 30…
Kamsky is playing really well… despite his huge lack of time management.
Dear Susan,
You are 5 moves behind chessok/com.
You are quite aware that it analyses through Rybka Aquarium.
It is over. Topalov won.
Topa is the man. Kamsky still young to understand pawn sacrifices for nothing.
32… f5 and it’s all over for Gata – looks like Topa is well prepared for this match. Entertaining game…
Handshake? Isn’t that forbidden?
Susan,
We all thank you the live commentary.
It makes a huge difference for us to understand what’s going on.
1st blood to Topa. bad luck, Gata.
& Thanku for the fine commentary, as usual, Susan!
until the next game, guys…
I started watching the game after move 9. At that point Kamsky was down at 40 some minutes. How is it possible, that players who play for years and years, don’t realize that spending nearly an hour on one or two moves (I don’t know what happened, where Kamsky lost an hour) during the opening sequence can’t possibly avoid serious time troubles later? How can anyone against (another) world class player gain SUCH an advantage at the opening sequence worth sacrificing that much time?
This is seriously a real question. I am a lousy amateur, who have seen this quite a few times, always puzzling the heck out of me.
all because the time for 5th move.
all because the time for 5th move.
But the 5th move was still a book move. Surely, he must know that book sequence into the 5th move.
I am still puzzled.
A player who plays to be World Champion Challenger to Anand looses on move 32 because of time. That is really funny, where are the guys who was claiming that Kamsky was more difficult opponent to Topalov than Kramnik???
But Anand will show who is better against Topalov Anand will smash out Topalov’s brain into pieces!
That is really a shame for Kamsky, he lost on time in such a game!
gooooOOOO TOPA!!
This is exactly the result that would have befallen Kramnik had not the KGB connected him to Deep Fritz. These Russian GMs do so well inside the USSR but are babies outside. If it were not for the wires in the toilet it would have been Topalov world champion, not Anand !!!
i love to see a well-played match.
but neither of these is a match for anand. hope they enjoy it while it lasts.
This is the beginning of the end for Gata…..and eventually Anand.
GO TOPA!!!!!!!!!!
My guess, in response to last Gabor posts, is that Gata was surprised by the line starting on move 5. So much deep preparation on a limited number of lines leaves him with only limited memory of a large number of infrequently-played lines past the first few moves. Gata can’t be trying to spot non-book novelties during the game — too ridiculous of a strategy.
Im with you gabor, yeah topy won the game but it seems his rf7 showed some vunerabilites maybe gata can pinch him in game 3!
Topa has luck more than knowledge.
Gata gotta play faster.
He just gata.
See you tomorrow, Susan. Love the commentary!
So sad! Of course Topa will win! Why? Because he has always been set up for cheating. I feel sorry that Honest & Brilliant Anand will be up against Unscrupulous Topailov. Human vs Rybka! No match.
Topa needs to be chloroformed and undergo a complete physical check up.
Thank you Susan for the commentaries , regards from france
lessons learned so far:
game 1, white pieces: be aggressive, yet cautious. explore opponent’s weaknesses. never loose initiative, but keep your guard up. analyze opponent’s response, prepare your forces for a blow. do not get hot-headed if you get an edge – it’s the first game.
game 2, black pieces: take control of the game, dominate. punish every inaccuracy ruthlessly. play fast, play accurate. put your opponent against the ropes, deliver blow after blow, never loose focus. execute with a killer instinct.
i am confident that gata will emerge as a stronger, more well-rounded chess player after he analyzes his peformance in this match and studies the free lessons delivered on-board by topalov.
Gata does not need free lessons from Topalov. He can get the same lessons from Fritz
Can’t wait for the next game!
Topa cheat… Idiots…