[Event "Sparkassen sf"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2002.07.16"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Black "Bareev, Evgeny"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Hathaway, Mark"]
[BlackElo "2726"]
[ECO "B12"]
[EventDate "2002.07.13"]
[WhiteElo "2745"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 { This, the Caro-Kann, Advance Variation, makes a lot more sense for Topalov than the Classical Variation (3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5) . He will have more opportunity to create complex, perhaps even confusing, positions. This suits his style and not Bareev's. } 3... Bf5 4. Nc3 ( 4. Nf3 { Is a White approach which pretty much ignores Bf5 and aims for: Be2, Be3, c2-c4, Nb1-c3 with mostly queen-side play. } ) 4... e6 { Black has a solid light square pawn structure, as in a French Defense, but with his light square bishop "outside" the chain. Black has spent one extra tempo  (...c7-c6) to achieve this. Is it worth it? Some people believe Bf5 is just an exposed target. } 5. g4 { This is the very aggressive attempt to refute the early ...Bc8-f5. It's played before Black can use ...h7-h5 to secure the light squares even further. } 5... Bg6 6. Nge2 Ne7 ( 6... h5 7. Nf4 { If Bg6 moves it will cost a pawn. If it stays Nf4xg6 will ruin Black's king-side pawns. } ) ( 6... c5 { to generate some queen-side offense, and hopefully deflect White's attention from Bg6, has been played quite a lot, perhaps mostly } ) 7. f4 c5 ( 7... h5 8. f5 exf5 9. g5 f4 10. Nxf4 { and 11. Bd3 to finally trade off Black's bishop will severely weaken Black's king-side } ) 8. h4 h5 ( 8... h6 9. dxc5 { and White can consider Bc1-e3 to secure Pc5, preparing for Nc3-b5-d6+ } ) 9. f5 exf5 10. g5 { Bg6 is blocked-in, Pd5 is weakened (in light of Bf1-g2 that's serious) and Pc5 is still en prise. After this move Black will have to keep an eye open for opportunities to play ...f5-f4 to reactivate Bg6. He might not want to do that when White can play Nxf4 and follow with e5-e6 to continue breaking up Black's king's protection. } 10... Nec6 11. Bg2 cxd4 { At this stage of the game, and with the lines opening up, White has to take into consideration where his king will reside for the long run. Earlier he might have planned to O-O-O, but now that doesn't seem as likely. Pd4 prevents the simple Bc1-e3, Qd1-d2, O-O-O, so O-O seems more likely; and in that event it might be better to leave Pd4 to keep the c5-g1 diagonal closed. So, Ncxd5, O-O and Ne2-f4 followed by e5-e6 to further force an opening toward Ke8 seems to be the plan. } 12. Nxd5 Nd7 { Black intends to get rid of Pe5 before it can be supported at e6, so White has to get rid of Pd4 to keep material equality or White can gambit Pe5, knowing the open e-file will be of use: 13. O-O Ndxe5 (keeping Pd4 defended) 14. Nef4 } 13. Nxd4 ( 13. O-O Ndxe5 14. Nef4 Bc5 15. Re1 O-O { and though White has some opportunities it appears Black has secured his king and has good piece activity. Kg1 doesn't look completely secure. } ) 13... Ndxe5 { Black's central pawn chain is destroyed, but the knights have replaced them. Probably one of the knights has to be removed to weaken Black's control of the e-file. White has to make threats before Black can simply move ...Bf8 and ...O-O. } 14. Nb5 { White sees ...Bf8-d6 as essential to Black's effort to secure Ne5, but after Nb5 there's less force available to break up the knights. It's a difficult choice for White. He chooses to threaten Nc7+. } ( 14. Qe2 { the queen doesn't seem to belong here after Black castles } 14... Bd6 15. Nb5 ( 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Bf4 O-O 17. O-O-O Re8 ) 15... O-O ) ( 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Bf4 Bd6 16. Nc3 Qe7 17. Qe2 O-O $15 ) 14... Rc8 $6 { It appears Black doesn't want to part with his dark square bishop, but that endangers his king. } ( 14... Bd6 15. O-O ( 15. Nxd6+ Qxd6 16. O-O Rd8 ) 15... Bb8 ) 15. Qe2 Bd6 ( 15... Bc5 $5 { If he has time to develop the bishop then perhaps he shouldn't give it to White at all! } 16. Bf4 O-O 17. O-O-O $13 ) 16. Nxd6+ Qxd6 17. Bf4 { White blocks Pf5 to keep Bg6 locked in! } 17... O-O { It appears Black has survived anyway. Now he just has to figure out how to proceed without the use of Bg6! } 18. O-O-O { threatening Nd5-f6+ to win Qd6 } 18... Qc5 19. Rh3 { With Bg6 stuck it only makes sense to bring all the pieces into play. } ( 19. Bxe5 $4 Nxe5 20. Qxe5 $4 Qxc2# ) 19... Rfe8 20. Rc3 Qa5 21. Ra3 { He could be chasing Black's queen, just to see the positions, making it easier to decide which he prefers. Black will just stay active with his queen and take what he can. } 21... Qc5 22. Re3 { White's pieces hold together as though they're glued. } 22... Nd4 $5 { This is a most interesting choice. The knight appears (despite immediate appearances that he's trying to grab Qe2 or clobber Pc2) headed to e6 to dislodge Bf4. White won't allow that, of course. } 23. Rxd4 Qxd4 24. Rxe5 $16 { Now White has five pieces free to fight and Black only has three. Does it matter that material is nominally equal? } 24... Kh7 25. Qd1 { White guards g1 and offers a trade, knowing it's hugely to his advantage to trade pieces (except for Bg6) . } ( 25. Rxe8 Rxe8 26. Qf1 { is advantageous to White, but might be a little difficult to play with Black's queen so well placed } ( 26. Qxe8 $2 Qg1+ 27. Kd2 Qxg2+ 28. Kc3 Qxd5 ) ) ( 25. Qe3 { might be better } ) 25... Qf2 26. Bf3 Rxe5 27. Bxe5 f4 $2 { Though it's clear Black needs to activate Bg6 he can't afford to weaken his king in doing so. It might have been better to grab Ph4 before considering ...f5-f4. } ( 27... Qxh4 28. Bf4 ) 28. Bc3 { clearing the way for Qd1-d4xg7# } 28... Rd8 ( 28... Rc4 29. Bxh5 Qxh4 30. Bxg6+ fxg6 ( 30... Kxg6 31. Qd3+ Kxg5 32. Qxc4 $18 ) 31. Nf6+ gxf6 32. Qd7+ Kg8 33. Qe8+ Kh7 34. Qf7+ Kh8 35. Bxf6# ) 29. b3 ( 29. Bxh5 $16 ) 29... Kh8 30. Be1 ( { Winning is } 30. Bd4 Qxh4 31. Bxg7+ Kxg7 32. Qd4+ Kg8 33. Nf6+ Kg7 34. Nxh5+ Kf8 35. Qxd8# ) 30... Qc5 31. Kb2 Bf5 32. c4 b5 33. Bb4 Qf2+ ( 33... Qc6 34. Qd4 bxc4 35. Bc3 { combines threats to Kh8 with the threat of consolidating the queen-side and in some cases Nd5-e7 can do all these things at once } ) 34. Qe2 Qxe2+ 35. Bxe2 bxc4 36. bxc4 Bg4 37. Bd3 f3 38. Kc3 Be6 39. Ne3 { Black doesn't really have any good moves. } 39... Bh3 40. Nd1 { Topalov puts an end to any hopes Black may have had of using Pf3 to stretch White's forces thin. After Nd1 Black may have lost by time forfeit, but he can't bring his king into play, Pf3 can't move and Pc4 can easily advance with the support of a king and two bishops (Nd1 holding Pf3 at bay). } ( 40. c5 ) 1-0