[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: This Week's ChessBase Show: Topalov-Ponomariov, MTel 2005

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
This Week's ChessBase Show: Topalov-Ponomariov, MTel 2005
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1220426272.shtml


   Looking through my recent ChessBase shows and comparing them with the
   lineup for the Grand Slam Final in Bilbao, it seems that the only
   player not to have a win presented in the last couple of months is
   Veselin Topalov. This is an omission to rectify, especially as he's in
   the final four for the world championship. Another factor that makes
   him an easy choice is his very aggressive style. Whatever one's views
   about Topalov and the controversies he has engendered, the man can
   play some dazzling chess.
   Accordingly, we'll look at one of the former world champ and #1's
   brilliant games from 2005, his banner year. He won everything in sight
   then: Linares (tied with Kasparov), MTel, and then - destroying the
   field - the FIDE World Championship in San Luis. That year, he
   dominated like no one had but Kasparov, and in his style, will to win,
   and superior opening preparation he also resembled the "Beast from
   Baku". It is from this annus mirabilis that we take our game of the
   week, the game Topalov-Ponomariov from the second cycle of the MTel
   Masters.
   Topalov hadn't gotten off to a great start and had lost to former FIDE
   champ Ruslan Ponomariov in the first cycle, but now he caught fire.
   Although one rarely associates the Queen's Indian Defense with sharp
   and lively play, Topalov (with his second, Cheparinov) has detonated
   many dangerous novelties on the white side of this opening, and we'll
   see one of them in this game. He came out of his prep with a
   significant advantage, but the game still needed to be won. That he
   did it, you all know, but how he did it deserves to be seen and
   savored. Super-GMs can prepare brilliantly, but they can play
   brilliantly once the preparation finishes - as you'll see for
   yourself.
   At least, you'll get to see if you join me tonight - Wednesday night -
   at 9 p.m. ET. The show is free if you catch it live on the
   Playchess.com server; go into the Broadcast room when the time is
   right, select the games tab, click on Topalov-Ponomariov, sit back and
   enjoy! (More details [1]here.) Hope to see you then!

References

   1. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1114234449.shtml