Some Great Topalov Games

Though not of the sort you might expect. Topalov has had a way of finding himself in some of the most brilliant games of our era. The following game, for example, has often been called the greatest game of the winner's career:

Kasparov,Garry (2812) - Topalov,Veselin (2700) [B07]
Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee (4), 20.01.1999

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2 c6 6.f3 b5 7.Nge2 Nbd7 8.Bh6 Bxh6 9.Qxh6 Bb7 10.a3 e5 11.0-0-0 Qe7 12.Kb1 a6 13.Nc1 0-0-0 14.Nb3 exd4 15.Rxd4 c5 16.Rd1 Nb6 17.g3 Kb8 18.Na5 Ba8 19.Bh3 d5 20.Qf4+ Ka7 21.Rhe1 d4 22.Nd5 Nbxd5 23.exd5 Qd6

24.Rxd4 cxd4 25.Re7+ Kb6 26.Qxd4+ Kxa5 27.b4+ Ka4 28.Qc3 Qxd5 29.Ra7 Bb7 30.Rxb7 Qc4 31.Qxf6 Kxa3 32.Qxa6+ Kxb4 33.c3+ Kxc3 34.Qa1+ Kd2 35.Qb2+ Kd1 36.Bf1 Rd2

37.Rd7 Rxd7 38.Bxc4 bxc4 39.Qxh8 Rd3 40.Qa8 c3 41.Qa4+ Ke1 42.f4 f5 43.Kc1 Rd2 44.Qa7 1-0

Likewise, the current world champion (or the nearest facsimile thereof) has won his share his beautiful games against our hero - witness this elegant effort.

Kramnik,Vladimir (2807) - Topalov,Veselin (2743) [B82]
Amber-blind 12th Monte Carlo (2), 16.03.2003

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f4 a6 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0-0-0 Bd7 10.Nb3 Rc8 11.Kb1 b5 12.Bd3 Nb4 13.g4 Bc6 14.g5 Nd7 15.Qf2 g6 16.Rhf1 Bg7 17.f5 Ne5 18.Bb6 Qd7 19.Be2 Qb7 20.Na5 Qb8 21.f6 Bf8 22.a3 Nxc2 23.Kxc2 Bxe4+ 24.Kb3 Ba8 25.Ba7 Qc7 26.Qb6 Qxb6 27.Bxb6 h6 28.Nxb5 Kd7 29.Bd4 Bd5+ 30.Ka4 axb5+ 31.Bxb5+ Bc6 32.Bxe5 Bxb5+ 33.Kxb5 Rc5+ 34.Kb6 Rxe5 35.Rc1 Rxa5 36.Rc7+ Kd8 37.Rfc1 Rc5 38.R1xc5 dxc5 39.Kc6 1-0

It's not necessary to be a world champion nor have the White pieces to win a beautiful game against Topalov, either, as that chess artiste Ivanchuk proves:

Topalov,Veselin (2700) - Ivanchuk,Vassily (2714) [A30]
Linares 16th Linares (13), 09.03.1999

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.g3 Bb4+ 6.Nc3 Qa5 7.Ndb5 d5 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Nf6 10.Bg2 0-0 11.Qb3 dxc4 12.Qxc4 e5 13.Nd6 Be6 14.Qd3 e4 15.Nxe4 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 Rad8 17.Qc2 Nd4 18.Qb2

Nxe2 19.Kxe2 Rfe8 20.Qb4 Qh5+ 21.f3 f5 22.g4 Qh3 23.gxf5 Bxf5 24.Qc4+ Kh8 25.Re1 Rxe4+ 0-1

And then there's the brilliancy prize winner from an earlier Linares event, featuring the normally positional Bareev in an uncharacteristic mode:

Topalov,Veselin (2640) - Bareev,Evgeny (2685) [C13]
Linares 12th Linares (11), 1994

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.c3 Nd7 8.Qc2 e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.f4 Ng6 11.g3 0-0 12.Bd3 Qd5 13.a3 Nxf4 14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.Bxh7+ Kg7 16.Qe4

Re8 17.Qxe8 Bf5 18.Qxa8 Qe4+ 19.Kf2 Qg2+ 20.Ke3 Nd5+ 21.Kd4 Qd2+ 22.Kc5 Qe3+ 23.Kc4 Nb6+ 0-1

Returning to the realm of world champions, Karpov, in the greatest tournament success of his outstanding career, also joined in the fun in that same event:

Karpov,Anatoly (2740) - Topalov,Veselin (2640) [A33]
Linares 12th Linares (4), 1994

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Bc5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Nc3 0-0 9.0-0 d6 10.Bf4 Nh5 11.e3 Nxf4 12.exf4 Bd7 13.Qd2 Qb8 14.Rfe1 g6 15.h4 a6 16.h5 b5 17.hxg6 hxg6 18.Nc5 dxc5 19.Qxd7 Rc8

20.Rxe6 Ra7 21.Rxg6+ fxg6 22.Qe6+ Kg7 23.Bxc6 Rd8 24.cxb5 Bf6 25.Ne4 Bd4 26.bxa6 Qb6 27.Rd1 Qxa6

28.Rxd4 Rxd4 29.Qf6+ Kg8 30.Qxg6+ Kf8 31.Qe8+ Kg7 32.Qe5+ Kg8 33.Nf6+ Kf7 34.Be8+ Kf8 35.Qxc5+ Qd6 36.Qxa7 Qxf6 37.Bh5 Rd2 38.b3 Rb2 39.Kg2 1-0

Our final game isn't noteworthy so much for the game as for Shirov's amazing 47th move. Not only is it brilliant and unexpected, it's the only way to win!

Topalov,Veselin (2740) - Shirov,Alexei (2710) [D85]
Linares 15th Linares (10), 04.03.1998

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bb5+ c6 8.Ba4 0-0 9.Ne2 Nd7 10.0-0 e5 11.f3 Qe7 12.Be3 Rd8 13.Qc2 Nb6 14.Bb3 Be6 15.Rad1 Nc4 16.Bc1 b5 17.f4 exd4 18.Nxd4 Bg4 19.Rde1 Qc5 20.Kh1 a5 21.h3 Bd7 22.a4 bxa4 23.Ba2 Be8 24.e5 Nb6 25.f5 Nd5 26.Bd2 Nb4 27.Qxa4 Nxa2 28.Qxa2 Bxe5 29.fxg6 hxg6 30.Bg5 Rd5 31.Re3 Qd6 32.Qe2 Bd7 33.c4 Bxd4 34.cxd5 Bxe3 35.Qxe3 Re8 36.Qc3 Qxd5 37.Bh6 Re5 38.Rf3 Qc5 39.Qa1 Bf5 40.Re3 f6 41.Rxe5 Qxe5 42.Qa2+ Qd5 43.Qxd5+ cxd5 44.Bd2 a4 45.Bc3 Kf7 46.h4 Ke6 47.Kg1

Bh3 48.gxh3 Kf5 49.Kf2 Ke4 50.Bxf6 d4 51.Be7 Kd3 52.Bc5 Kc4 53.Be7 Kb3 0-1