Topalov Wins First Game, 1-0!

Last night, the first game of the World Championship between GM Anand and GM Topalov got underway at 10 pm (Malaysian time) and it finished fairly quickly.

Topalov won the first game with the queen’s pawn opening 1.d4 with the Grunfeld Opening. White very quickly overan Black’s King defenses forcing the King to move from g8 to d8. In the end, the overwhelming forces of the White took its toll on Anand and he resigned on the 30th move.

The World Championship is being held in Sofia, Bulgaria over a 12 match game to decide the new World Chess Champion. The winner will get to bring home 1.2 million Euros and the loser 800 thousand Euros (minus 20% for FIDE fees).

Here is a copy of the World Championship game last night courtesy of Internet Chess Club held on the 24 April 2010 in Bulgaria between GM Topalov as white and GM Anand playing black. The Exchange Grunfeld opening transpired during the game.

[Event "ICC"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2010.04.25"]
[Round "1"]
[White "*GM_Topalov"]
[Black "*GM_Anand"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D87"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2787"]

{D87: Exchange Grünfeld: Classical Line: Variations without ...cxd4} 1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9.
Be3 O-O 10. O-O Na5 11. Bd3 b6 12. Qd2 e5 {last book move. Black threatens to
win material: e5xd4} 13. Bh6 (13. d5 Bd7 $14)

Pix 1. After Black moved 12…. e5.

13... cxd4 (13... Bxh6 14. Qxh6 cxd4 15. cxd4 exd4 16. f4 $11) 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. cxd4 exd4 {Black king safety dropped.} 16. Rac1 (16. Qb2 Nc6 $14) 16... Qd6 17. f4 (17. Bc4 Bb7 18. Bd5 Bxd5 19. Qxd4+ Qf6 20. Qxf6+ Kxf6 21. exd5 Rac8 $11) 17... f6 18. f5 {White gains
space} Qe5 19. Nf4 g5 {Black threatens to win material: g5xf4} (19... Bd7 20. Bc4 g5 21. Ne6+ Bxe6 22. Bxe6 $11) 20. Nh5+ (20. Nd5 Rf7 $11) 20... Kg8 $15 21. h4 h6 (21... gxh4 $2 {doesn't lead to the expected results} 22. Qh6 Qe7 23. Rf4 $18) 22. hxg5 hxg5 23. Rf3 Kf7 (23... Bb7 $5 24. a4 Rfc8 $17 (24... Bxe4 $4 {Taking that pawn is naive} 25. Bxe4 Rad8 26. Bb1 $18)) 24. Nxf6

Pix 2. White sacrifices a knight for an important tempo attack on black with 24. Nxf6.

{White has a king attack} Kxf6 {Black wins a piece} (24... Qxf6 25. Rh3 Nc6 26. Rxc6 Qxc6 27. Qxg5 $18) 25. Rh3 Rg8 (25... Qf4 $142 {had to be tried to avoid defeat} 26. e5+ Kxe5 27. Re1+ Kd5 28. Be4+ Qxe4 29. Rxe4 Kxe4 30. Qe2+ Kd5 31. Qf3+ Kc5 32. Qa3+ Kb5 33. Qxf8 Bb7 $18) 26. Rh6+ $18 Kf7 27. Rh7+ Ke8 $4 {causes further
problems for ?} (27... Rg7 $142 28. Rxg7+ Kxg7 29. Qxg5+ Kf8 30. Qd8+ Qe8 31. Qxd4 Qf7 $18) 28. Rcc7 $18 Kd8 29. Bb5 Qxe4 (29... Nb7 30. Rc4 Bxf5 31. exf5 $18)

30. Rxc8+ $1 {Double attack: d4/d8} (30. Rxc8+ Kxc8 31. Qc1+ Nc6 32. Bxc6 Qe3+ 33. Qxe3 dxe3 34. Bxa8 $18) 1-0

Pix 3. Black resigned on White’s 30th move, 30 Rxc8+.