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Topalov is fighting till the very end every game but in spite his uncharacteristically good start got down to 50%. Ivanchuk is playing quite well here - except for the first game against Veselin - but is definitely the unluckiest participant as he managed to even lose 2 completely winning games - against Aronian and Carlsen. Having in mind the provisional standings, it is hard to believe that they are still contenders for the title, but nevertheless both are true chess artists and it is usually a pleasure to watch at their games. Ivanchuk seems to be a bit late as this is the only game that has not started yet.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.O-O Najdorf variation with 6.Bc4 was dangerous weapon in Fischer's hands. A lot changed since and the line lost popularity.
8... Be7 9.Qf3 Qb6 10.Be3 Qb7 11.Qg3 b4 (11... O-O is the other move to be seen often.)
12.Na4 Nbd7 13.f3 O-O The opening moves were made rapidly by both opponents. A critical position is reached. Though White has lead in development and some spacial advantage, Black position is very flexible. As the practice is clearly in favour of Black, this line is not so fashionable. Has Vassily prepared some new idea?
14.Rfd1 ( Ivanchuk concentrates his pieces against the weakened squares on the queenside. After 14.Rfd1 Ne5 he has two standard plans: 15.Nb6 ( or 15.Ne2 a5 16.c4 bxc3 17.Nexc3) ( but serious attention deserves 15.a3 having in mind 15... a5 16.Nb6 Nh5 17.Qe1 Qxb6 18.Nxe6 and the 'b4' pawn will be captured as well.))
14... Kh8 ( Not letting the control over 'b6', Topalov evades future tactical motives with Be3-h6 or check from 'e7' as in 14... Kh8 15.Rac1 Ne5 16.Nb6 Qxb6 17.Nf5 Nh5 and 18.Nxe7 is not a check.)
15.Kh1 The result of a 'deep thought' :). After 30 minutes White goes for prophylactic moves as well.
15... Ne5 (15... Ne5 16.Nb6 will be countered by 16... Nh5)
16.a3 Going for the above mentioned plan to undermine Black's hold on the queenside.
17.Rxa3 Rb8 (17... Bd7 18.Ne2) ( After 17... Rb8 18.Ne2 may be met by 18... Qc7)
18.Nc3 With 'b6' covered reliably the Knight goes back to the center. The position can be evaluated as dynamic equality. White has spacial advantage while facing typical Sicilian counterplay. (18.Nc3 Qc7 19.Ra4 prevents 19... Bb7 in view of 20.Bxe6)
18... Ned7 ( This Knight is heading to 'c5'. In the line 18... Ned7 19.Rda1 Nc5 20.Bc4 the 'b2' pawn is poisoned: 20... Qxb2 21.Nc6)
19.Ra2 Nc5 20.Bc4 As 'c5' is not a perfect fortpost for a Sicilian Knight I'm curious to see how will Topalov disentangle his pieces.
20... Qc7 21.b3 As the d6-d5 breakthrough is prevented for the time being, Nfd7 and Bf6 is a possible setup.
21... Bd7 ( Understandably wishes to place second Rook on a semi-open file - Rfc8. 21... Bd7 22.Nde2 may be unpleasant: 22... Ra8 (22... Bb5 23.Bxb5 axb5 24.Nd4 b4 25.Ncb5) 23.Rda1)
22.Qe1 Rfc8 23.Rda1 Ne8 Letting the Bishop to 'f6'. The position is full of dynamics and the clock is important as well. As Ivanchuk is beginning to experience mild time trouble, Topalov speeds up his moves a bit.
24.Nde2 Bf6 25.Bd4 Bxd4 26.Nxd4 Qb6 The Knight is ready for a transfer via 'c7' to 'b5'. Additionally some more tactical possibilities are created to eat up opponent's time.
27.Qe3 Nc7 28.h3 h6 29.Ra5 Kg8 30.R1a2 (30.f4 starting operations on the kingside seems logical.)
30... Qb4 31.Nce2 ( If 31.Nce2 d5 then after 32.c3 Qb6 33.exd5 exd5 34.b4 dxc4 35.Rxc5 Nb5 36.Qf4 White gets some edge.)
31... Qb6 32.Nc3 Qb4 33.Nce2 Being troubled by time, Ivanchuk doesn't object repeating moves.
33... Qb6 34.Ng3 (34.Nc3 wold have lead to a three-fold repetition but the Ukrainian is in fighting mood.)
34... d5 ( Too risky. 34... Nb5 is better.)
35.exd5 (35.exd5 exd5 36.Ndf5 attacks the Nc5. After playing 34...d5 almost instantaneously now Topalov is thinking for a prolonged period. Perhaps he expected draw by repetition and lost his rhythm?)
35... exd5 36.Ndf5 Re8 White may win a pawn in three different ways. It's hard to guess right in time trouble.
37.Qxc5 (37.Ne7+ Kf8 38.Nxd5 Nxd5 39.Qxc5+ Qxc5 40.Rxc5 looks like winning advantage.) (37.Qc3 Bxf5 38.Nxf5 N5e6 39.Bxd5 Rbd8 lets Black have counterplay.)
37... dxc4 38.bxc4 Bxf5 39.Nxf5 Re2 40.Qxb6 Rxb6 They've made it to move 40. With one more hour on the clock each, Topalov has to defend an inferior ending for 4th time in this tournament. White has great advantage but the doubled 'c' pawns create technical difficulties. King's position should be improved starting with 41.Kh2. (40... Rxb6 41.Kh2 Ne6 (41... Rg6 42.Ng3 Rf2 43.Re5) 42.c5 Rb5 43.Ne7+ Kf8 44.Rxb5 axb5 45.Nd5 Nxc5 46.Ra8+ Re8 47.Rxe8+ Kxe8 48.Nc7+ demonstrates a possible threat in such ending.)
41.Kh2 Rd2 ( Actually the Rook doesn't go to a better square - 41... Rd2 42.Rc5 Ne6 43.Rd5 Re2 44.Ng3 Re1 45.c5 Rb5 46.Ne4)
42.h4 Kh7 Ivanchuk spent more than 40 minutes on the last two moves. His Ra2 is perfectly placed but the one on a5 has to be activated soon, else Black will be able to set some defensive lines.
43.h5 Rf6 44.Re5 Ne6 While White wasted time to fix the pawn structure, Topalov managed to coordinate his pieces and a draw is already the most likely result.
45.Rxa6 (45.Rxa6 misses 45... Nd4 46.Rxf6 Nxf3+ 47.Kg3 Nxe5)
45... Nd4 46.Rxf6 Nxf3+ 47.Kh3 Nxe5 48.Rd6 (48.Ra6 Rxc2 49.Nd6 with draw.)
48... Rxc2 49.Rd5 Nxc4 50.Rc5 Ne3 51.Rxc2 Nxc2 52.g4 Ne1 53.Kg3 Nd3 54.Kf3 Kg8 55.Ke4 Nc5+ 56.Kd5 Nd7 57.Ke4 Kf8 58.Kf4 Nc5 59.Ke5 Ne6 60.Kd5 Ke8 Ivanchuk not only failed to convert his advantage into a point but had to defend a pawn down in time trouble. The position is of course dead draw but we've seen a lot of surprises at this tournament.
61.Ke5 Kf8 62.Ke4 Draw agreed. We've witnessed a tense Sicilian battle in a position of approximate dynamic equilibrium. At the very moment his opponent deviated from a three-fold repetition, Topalov played a tempo blundering a pawn. Ivanchuk emerged from the time trouble in an ending with Veselin's pieces lacking coordination. The Ukrainian spent a lot of time but was not able cope with the technical difficulties and even lost two pawns in his second zeitnot after the Bulgarian defended resourcefully. The tiredness of the long tournament is already showing so mistakes are inevitable even for such strong players, so draw seems like the just result for their game.
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