Veselin Topalov

Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov (pronounced [vslin

toplof]; Bulgarian: ;
born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster
and former FIDE World Chess Champion.

pov participating. The next year he won at Antwerp and

Madrid.
Topalovs loss to reigning Classical World Champion
Garry Kasparov at the 1999 Corus chess tournament is
generally hailed as one of the greatest games ever played.
Kasparov later said, He looked up. Perhaps there was
a sign from above that Topalov would play a great game
today. It takes two, you know, to do that.[7]

Topalov became FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005. He lost
his title in the World Chess Championship 2006 against
Vladimir Kramnik. He challenged Viswanathan Anand
at the World Chess Championship 2010, losing 65. In 2001, he shared the overall title at Amber Melody and
He won the 2005 Chess Oscar.[1]
won at Dortmund.
He was ranked world number one from April 2006 to In the knockout tournaments for the FIDE World Chess
January 2007. He regained the top ranking in October Championship, he reached the last 16 in 1999, the
2008 until January 2010. His peak rating was 2816 in quarter-nals in 2000, the nal 16 in 2001, and the semiJuly 2015, placing him equal-eighth on the highest FIDEnals in the 2004 tournament. In 2002, he lost the nal
rated players.
of the Dortmund Candidates Tournament (for the right
to challenge for the rival Classical World Chess Championship) to Peter Leko.

Topalov has competed at nine Chess Olympiads (19942000, 2008-2016), winning board one gold in 2014 and
scoring best overall performance in 1994. He also won in
Linares, Corus, Dortmund, Stavanger and Pearl Spring
tournaments.

Topalov tied for rst at the 2002 NAO Chess Masters in

Cannes and won at Benidorm in 2003.[8]

Topalov scored his rst major success at Linares 2005, tying for rst place with Garry Kasparov (though losing on
tiebreak rules), and defeating Kasparov in the last round,
1 Early career
in what was to be Kasparovs last tournament game before
his retirement.[9] He followed this up with a one-point vicTopalov was born in Ruse, Bulgaria. His father taught tory at Mtel Masters. In 2006 he tied for rst at Corus
him to play chess at the age of eight. Topalov quickly es- with Anand.
tablished himself as a chess prodigy. At age 12, Topalov
began working with Silvio Danailov, a relationship that
continues today.

2 FIDE World Chess Champion

In 1989 he won the World Under-14 Championship in

Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and in 1990 won the silver medal
at the World Under-16 Championship in Singapore. He
became a Grandmaster in 1992 and won in Terrassa.
He shared rst at the Budapest Zonal group B in 1993
but struggled at the Biel Interzonal, scoring 5.5/13.[2][3]
He made his Olympiad debut in Moscow 1994, leading
Bulgaria to a fourth-place, defeating Garry Kasparov on
board one.[4]

Main articles: FIDE World Chess Championship 2005

and FIDE World Chess Championship 2006
Based on his rating Topalov was invited to the eightplayer, double round-robin FIDE World Chess Championship in San Luis, Argentina, in SeptemberOctober
2005. Scoring 6/7 in the rst cycle, Topalov had virtually clinched the tournament at the halfway mark, before
drawing every game in the second cycle to win by 1
points to become FIDE World Chess Champion. The average rating of the eld in the championship was 2739,
and Topalovs performance rating was 2890.[10]

Over the next ten years Topalov ascended the world

chess rankings. He played in Linares 1994 (6/13),
Linares 1995 (8/13), Amsterdam 1995. In a strong run
of tournament performances in 1996 he placed third at
Wijk aan Zee, tied for rst at Amsterdam, Vienna and
Madrid,[5] won outright at Novgorod and shared rst in
Dos Hermanas.[6] As early as 1996, he was being invited to events for the worlds elite such as Las Palmas
(5/10), the rst category 21 tournament, played in December 1996, with Kasparov, Anand, Kramnik and Kar-

On 16 April 2006, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced that a match between Classical and FIDE
World Champions Kramnik and Topalov would be held in
SeptemberOctober 2006 to re-unify the Championships
after thirteen years of . Kramnik defeated Topalov to be1

2
come the rst undisputed champion in thirteen years.
On 28 September 2006, Topalovs manager Silvio
Danailov published a press release, casting suspicion on
Kramniks behaviour during the games. The Bulgarian
team made a public statement that Kramnik visited his
private bathroom (the only place without any audio or
video surveillance) unreasonably often, about fty times
per game (a number that FIDE ocials later claimed to
be exaggerated[11] ) and made the most signicant decisions in the game in the bathroom.
They also demanded that the organizers of the tournament allow journalists access to the surveillance video
from Kramniks room for games 1 through 4. The organizers made parts of the video available, explaining
that other parts of it were missing due to technical issues.
Danailov demanded to stop the use of private restrooms
and bathrooms, and threatened to reconsider Topalovs
participation in the match.[12] The Appeals Committee
that governed the match agreed, and ruled that the players private restrooms should be closed and replaced with
a shared one.

2010 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

3 Career after the 2006 match

Soon after losing the match, Topalov nished third of
four players in Essent with only 2/6, losing both games
against Judit Polgr and one against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.[19]
In May 2006 Topalov defended his M-Tel Masters title,
coming rst with 6/10, a half point ahead of Gata Kamsky.
In January 2007 Topalov nished in joint rst place
at Corus along with Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjabov.[20]
In May 2007 Topalov won the M-Tel Masters tournament
for a third consecutive time with 5/10, defeating thenleader Sasikiran in the nal round.[21]
In November 2007 Topalov won the Vitoria Gasteiz charity event.[22]

Topalov won the 14th Ciudad Dos Hermanas rapid, 17

21 April 2008, defeating GM Francisco Vallejo Pons
(Spain) 21 in the nal match by winning the rst
Kramnik refused to play game 5 and was forfeited. On game and drawing the rest.[23]
1 October, the restroom issue was resolved in Kramniks
favour and the Appeals Committee resigned and were re- In September 2008 Topalov won the Bilbao 2008 tournaplaced. The FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov decided ment. He advanced to rst in the world in the ocial Octhat the current score of 32 should be preserved. He also tober 2008 ratings list. He also won the Pearl Spring event
[24]
indicated that this was not a compromise decision but his held in Nanjing as well as Villarobledo Chess Festival.
own.[13] The match resumed on 2 October 2006.
On 1 October, the Association of Chess Professionals released a statement denouncing Danailov for publicly accusing his opponent without evidence, and calling for him
to be investigated by the FIDE Ethics Committee.

4 2010 World Championship

Topalov lost his chance to compete in the 2007 world

championship tournament when he lost the 2006 reunication match. Danailov expressed a desire for a rematch between Topalov and Kramnik, proposing a match
in March 2007,[25] though no such match took place.
The issue was settled in June 2007 when Topalov and
Kramnik were granted special privileges in the 200809
[26]
Topalov was given direct entry
On 14 December 2006, Topalov directly accused Kram- championship cycle.
to
a
"Challenger
Match"
against the winner of the Chess
nik of using computer assistance in their World Champi[16]
World
Cup
2007.
onship match. On 14 February 2007, Topalovs manager released pictures, purporting to show cables in the The 2007 Chess World Cup was won by Gata Kamsky.
ceiling of a toilet used by Kramnik during the World The Challenger Match between Topalov and Kamsky
Championship match in Elista. They were supposedly re- took place in February 2009 in Soa. Topalov won the
ported to the authorities, who Danailov claims suppressed match 42 . The World Chess Championship 2010
the information. The Topalov team claims they were match was held in Soa, Bulgaria, which Topalov lost by
pressured by ocials to keep their allegations quiet.[17] 65 margin.[27]
On 29 July 2007, following a complaint by Kramniks
in
manager Carsten Hensel, the FIDE Ethics Commission Topalov won the 2010 Linares chess tournament held
[28]
February,
defeating
Boris
Gelfand
in
the
last
round.
sanctioned Topalov with a severe reprimand because
of the accusations made in the interview of 14 Decem- As runner-up in the World Chess Championship 2010,
ber. According to the Ethics Commission, these state- Topalov automatically qualied for the Candidates
ments were clearly defamatory and damaged the honour Matches for the World Chess Championship 2012, where
of Mr. Vladimir Kramnik, harming his personal and pro- he was the top seed. However, he lost to newly crowned
fessional reputation.[18]
U.S. champion Gata Kamsky in the quarternals. Later
that year he won the Kings Tournament in Romania.
On 3 October, Topalov said in a press conference, I
believe that his (Kramniks) play is fair, and my decision to continue the match proves it.[14] However the
next day the crisis escalated, with Topalovs manager
strongly implying that Kramnik was receiving computer
assistance.[15]

2013
Topalov competed in the FIDE Grand Prix 2012
13. Having won in Londons Grand Prix event
in 2012, in April 2013, he won the 2013 Renova
Grand Prix in Zug, 1.5 points ahead of second-place
Hikaru Nakamura. This marked his comeback as
one of the top ve players in the world, as this victory propelled him to the fourth place on the FIDE
rating list.

in a tie for sixth place with a score of +2-2=5.[31]

In the London Chess Classic in December 2015, he
came in last, scoring +0-4=5.
He played in the Chess World Cup 2015 in Baku,
Azerbaijan as the top seed. He was eliminated by
Peter Svidler in the fourth round.

8 2016

By scoring 100 points in the 2013 Grand Prix in

Beijing, he guaranteed himself a rst-place nish
with one tournament to spare, thus qualifying for the
2014 Candidates Tournament.[29]

Veselin Topalov participated in the Candidates

Tournament, held in Moscow, Russia from March
1030, 2016, as a rating qualier. Topalov nished
in last place, losing 5 games (+0-5=9).

Topalov played in the 2013 edition of the Norway

Chess Tournament. He placed 8th with 4 out of 9
possible points +0-1=8.

Topalov participated in the Paris Grand Prix, part

of the Grand Prix cycle. Topalov scored 12/36 for
ninth place.

From September 18 to 25, 2013, Topalov played a

6-game match with Viktor Lznika. Time control
was 40/90 + G/30 with 30 seconds increment per
move. Topalov won the match 4-2.

Topalov participated in the Leuven leg of the 2016

Grand Chess Tour. Topalov scored 14/36 points,
which placed him in 10th place in the tournament.

2014

9 Team results

Topalov has competed on rst board at nine Chess

Topalov competed at the Candidates Tournament Olympiads (1994-2000, 2008-2016), winning individ2014 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. He nished in ual gold in 2014 and scoring best overall performance in
last place, scoring +2-4=7.
1994.
Topalov played in the 2014 edition of the Norway
Chess Tournament. He placed 5th with 4.5 out of 9
possible points.

10 Sample games

Topalov played in the 41st Chess Olympiad in

Troms, where he won the gold medal on board
one, with the second best overall tournament performance of 2872.[30]

Topalov vs. Ponomariov, 2005

After 17 moves, Topalov (White) initiates a series of
strong tactical blows with the sacrice of a knight and a
rook.

In AugustSeptember 2014, Topalov played in the

Sinqueeld Cup 2014, where he came in 3rd place On the way to winning M-Tel Masters in 2005, Topalov
behind winner Fabiano Caruana and runner-up defeated former FIDE World Champion Ruslan PonoMagnus Carlsen.
mariov with the white pieces in a Queens Indian defense.[32]
Topalov participated in the 2014 European Club
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6.
Cup in mid-September 2014.
Bd2 Be7 7. Nc3 0-0 8. Rc1 c6 9. e4 d5 10. e5N Ne4
11. Bd3 Nxc3 12. Rxc3 c5 13. dxc5 bxc5 14. h4 h6 15.
Bb1 f5? 16. exf6 Bxf6 17. Qc2! d4 18. Ng5!! hxg5
7 2015
19. hxg5 dxc3 20. Bf4 Kf7 21. Qg6+ Ke7 22. gxf6+
Rxf6 23. Qxg7+ Rf7 24. Bg5+ Kd6 25. Qxf7 Qxg5
Topalov came third at the Gibraltar Masters.
26. Rh7 Qe5+ 27. Kf1 Kc6 28. Qe8+ Kb6 29. Qd8+
Topalov competed in the 2015 Grand Chess Tour, Kc6 30. Be4+! 10
consisting of Norway Chess, the Sinqueeld Cup,
and the London Chess Classic. At Norway Chess
2015, Topalov won clear rst place with 6.5/9, earning him 13 Grand Chess Tour points. He scored +51=3. At the 2015 Sinqueeld Cup, Topalov nished

11 References
[1] Chess Oscar 2005 for Veselin Topalov. ChessBase

[2] "(C16) 1993-1996 Zonal Cycle : World Chess Championship. www.mark-weeks.com. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
[3] 1993 Biel Interzonal : 1994-96 cycle : FIDE World
Chess Championship. www.mark-weeks.com. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
[4] Veselin Topalov vs. Garri Kasparov, Moscow Chess
Olympiad.
[5] The Week in Chess 83. theweekinchess.com. Retrieved
2016-08-22.
[6] The Week in Chess 113. theweekinchess.com. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
[7] Champion Kasparovs In A League Of His Own.
tribunedigital-sunsentinel. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
[8] Topalov wins Benidorm. 2003-11-30. Retrieved 201608-23.
[9] Linares R14: Topalov beats Kasparov, shares rst.
ChessBase

12

EXTERNAL LINKS

[25] Topalov back in Bulgaria, seeks rematch.

[26] Veselin Topalov and the new FIDE world championship
cycle, Chessbase, June 24, 2007
[27] Results & Games AnandTopalov FIDE World Chess
Championship 2010. Anand-Topalov.com. Retrieved
13 October 2011.
[28] Topalov wins Linares, remains number two in the world.
ChessBase. 2010-02-25. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
[29] Archived July 19, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
[30] Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 41st Olympiad
Tromso 2014 Open. Chess-results.com. Retrieved
2014-12-01.
[31] Pairings & Results. Grand Chess Tour. 2015. Retrieved
31 October 2015.
[32] Veselin Topalov vs Ruslan Ponomariov (2005) Mtel it
like it is"". Chessgames.com. 2005-05-21. Retrieved
2014-12-01.

[10] San Luis R14: Topalov wins, Anand second. ChessBase

[11] Makropoulos on the World Championship Crisis.
ChessBase
[12] Topalov threatens to abandon the World Championship
Match. ChessBase
[13] World Chess Championship Match Press Release
Game 6. Archived from the original on 2007-09-04.
FIDE
[14] Elista 2006: the latest before game seven.
[15] Silvio Danailov accuses Kramnik of using Fritz 9.
[16] Topalov: the Kremlin will not admit that Kramnik
cheated...
[17] Article + photos.
[18] Case N.4/06: JUDGEMENT rendered by the FIDE
Ethics Commission (PDF)
[19] Essent 2006 Mamedyarov, Judit Polgar are the winners. ChessBase.com. 2006-10-29. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
[20] Corus Chess Tournament Grandmaster A April 2007
Netherlands. FIDE. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
[21] " "- 2007,
a
". topsport.bg. Retrieved 21
October 2014.
[22] Chess Champions League benet in Vitoria Gasteiz.
2007-11-03. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
[23] Topalov Wins Dos Hermanas Rapid. ChessBase News.
21 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
[24] Topalov wins Villarrobledo Chess Festival | Chessdom.
tournaments.chessdom.com. Retrieved 2016-08-23.

12 External links
Veselin Topalov chess games at 365Chess.com
Veselin Topalov player prole and games at
Chessgames.com
Veselin Topalov team chess record at OlimpBase
Interview with Veselin Topalov
Edward Winters Books about Leading Modern
Chessplayers (Chess Notes Feature Article)

13
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