A shocking loss for the world champion
Vaselin Topalov cruised to his second straight victory by crushing current world champion Vishwanathan of India in just 25 moves of the Queens Indian. And it looks like everything is a result of intensive home preparation for the Bulgarian. Anand made an interesting but unproven push of his d-pawn 12..d5?! a move that Topalov seems already well prepared of. A series of minor pieces exchanges ensued then Toplov come up with a winning move 16. Nh4! to control the d file that was unopposed for the rest of this short match.
Overall, it was a fighting day at Bilbao that saw all three matches ended in convincing victories. Magnus Carlsen defeated Teimour Radjabov after 37th moves of the Sicilian Dragon, Yugoslav attack - Carlsen's own Sicilian pet defense. Some beautiful counter plays by both players occur on the 27th and 28th moves, but it was Carlsen who has save his best for last with 34. Ng5! When asked after the match what he would do if he was Black, he jokingly said would probably lose. He said: "But all kidding aside, I would probably do fine as I play the Dragon myself." Many considered the Carlsen - Topalov match as the best so far in the tourney. And it were not for Anand's shocking loss to Topalov, the match could stir the chess world with the same intensity as winning the tournament for the two young chess phenom. The Aronian - Ivanchuck match was a marathon one as it took Aronian all 70 moves to submit the strong resistance of Ivanchuk's Queens Gambit Accepted. You can watch the LIVE games and broadcast HERE.
Standings after 4 rounds:
1. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2777 8
2. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2775 7
3. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2737 5
4. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2744 3
5. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2781 3
6. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2798 3
Links:
- Photo courtesy of chessvibes
- Tournament official website
- Live broadcast
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