[Event "GMA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2004.01.24"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Topalov,V"]
[Black "Anand,V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Henderson - Topalov"]
[BlackElo "2766"]
[ECO "B80"]
[EventDate "2004.01.10"]
[WhiteElo "2735"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e6 7. Be3 b5 8. g4 Nfd7 9. Qd2 Nb6 10. a4 bxa4 11. Nxa4 Nxa4 12. Rxa4 Be7 13. g5 $164 ( { Topalov improves on an Anand game with Kasparov! } 13. Be2 O-O 14. O-O Bb7 15. Rfa1 Nd7 16. Nb3 Rb8 17. Ba7 Rc8 18. Na5 Ba8 19. Bxa6 Ne5 20. Be2 f5 21. gxf5 exf5 22. Nc4 Qe8 23. Nxe5 dxe5 24. Bd3 fxe4 25. fxe4 Qh5 26. Be3 Rc6 27. Qe2 Rg6+ 28. Kh1 Qxe2 29. Bxe2 Bc6 30. Rc4 Bb5 31. Ra5 Bxc4 32. Bxc4+ Kh8 33. Rxe5 Ra8 34. Rf5 Rg4 35. Rf1 Rb8 36. Bd3 Rxb2 37. e5 Rb8 38. Ba7 Rf8 39. Rxf8+ Bxf8 40. Bf2 Rg5 41. Bd4 { 1/2-1/2 Anand,V-Kasparov,G/Kopavogur 2000/EXT 2001 } ) 13... O-O 14. h4 Bd7 $6 ( { Topalov felt that Anand should have continued in the same vein as the Kasparov game with } 14... Bb7 ) 15. Ra1 Nc6 16. Rxa6 Qc7 ( { According to Topalov, already Anand has gone astray and instead thought the best plan to be: } 16... Rxa6 17. Bxa6 Qa8 18. Nxc6 Bxc6 19. Be2 d5 20. exd5 ( 20. e5 Qa1+ 21. Qc1 Ra8 22. Kf2 Qa5 ) 20... Bxd5 21. Kf2 Rd8 22. Qc1 Qb7 { with compensation - however Anand wasn't so sure. } ) 17. Kf2 $1 { Topalov want's to get his king out of the centre, and obviously castling is out of the question as it can be hit in the future with ideas such as d5 opening up the b8-h2 diagonal. } 17... Nxd4 18. Bxd4 e5 19. Be3 Rxa6 20. Bxa6 f5 { This is the only compensation Anand has - opening up all the lines to the kingside. Anything else and the white queenside pawns quickly win the day. } 21. gxf6 Bxf6 22. Qd5+ { As Topalov explains, "Ultimately Anand would like to play ideas such as Be6, Qc6 and eventually a break-out with d5. This stops those ideas in their tracks." } 22... Kh8 23. Bc4 { Wrong, according to Topalov. Instead he should have a tempi with the immediate Be2. } 23... Be8 24. Be2 Bf7 25. Qd2 Bh5 ( { Staking all on "something" happening on the kingside. Instead, } 25... Ra8 26. c4 Ra2 27. Qb4 { and white will untangle to make use of the extra queenside pawn. } ) 26. b3 Qe7 27. Kg2 $1 { Topalov explained that the beauty behind this move is that, not only does it get the king off the potentially dangerous f-file, but it also prevents any ideas of Bxh4 for black as after Rxh4 Qxh4, Bg5! traps the queen! } 27... Qf7 28. Rh3 $1 { It's now becoming clear that Anand is unable to generate any compensation for his pawn - and this maneuver from Topalov further protects f3 and looks towards action down the g-file. } 28... Be7 29. b4 { The pawn now runs to good effect. } 29... h6 30. b5 Qg6+ 31. Kh2 Qe6 32. Qd3 Be8 33. Qb3 Qc8 ( { Anand is in dire straits as Topalov has a nice trick if the queens are exchanged: } 33... Qxb3 34. cxb3 Bd7 35. b6 $1 Rb8 ( 35... Bxh3 36. Kxh3 Rb8 37. Ba6 Bd8 38. b7 Bc7 39. Kg4 ) 36. Ba6 Bc6 37. b4 $18 ) 34. b6 Bf7 35. Qb1 ( 35. Qb2 Be6 { with good counterplay } ) 35... Qc3 $2 ( { Ultimately the critical moment of the game and yet it was glossed over by Topalov, who still probably thought he was easily winning. Obviously the specter of the b-pawn looms large, but it looks as if Anand missed his shot here (a fact that was confirmed the next day to me by Topalov manager, IM Silvio Danilov): } 35... Be6 $3 { with serious counterplay } 36. Rg3 Bxh4 ( 36... Bxh4 37. Rg6 $2 Qe8 38. Rxe6 Qxe6 39. b7 Rb8 40. Ba7 Qg6 $1 41. Bxb8 Bg3+ 42. Kg2 ( 42. Kh3 Bf2 $1 { quickly mates } ) 42... Bf4+ 43. Kf1 Be3 { Oops, white has fallen into a mating net! } ) ( 36... Bxh4 37. Rg2 Qb7 ( 37... Qb7 38. Qc1 Kh7 39. Qa3 Qc6 40. Qa6 ( 40. Bd1 ) 40... Rf7 ( 40... Bg5 41. Bxg5 hxg5 42. b7 Qc7 43. Bb5 ( 43. Rxg5 Bf7 ( 43... g6 ) ) ) 41. b7 Qc7 ) ( 37... Qb7 38. Qb5 Qf7 { and now it becomes difficult for white to win - the black queen is heading over to Qh5. } 39. Qc6 Rd8 40. b7 Rb8 41. Ba6 Qh5 42. Kg1 Qxf3 ) ) ) ( 35... Be6 36. b7 { White has to be careful not to move the b-pawn too soon as it could be difficult to protect with white having to unravel some of his pieces: } 36... Qc3 $1 ( 36... Qc3 37. b8=Q Qxe3 $1 38. Bf1 ( 38. Q8b6 Qxe2+ $19 ) 38... Qf2+ 39. Bg2 Rxb8 40. Qxb8+ Kh7 $19 ) ( 36... Qc3 37. Ba7 Qd2 $1 ) ( 36... Qc3 37. Bf2 Rb8 38. Qb6 Bxh3 39. Kxh3 Qxc2 40. Qa7 Qc7 41. Ba6 d5 42. exd5 ( 42. Bb6 Qd7+ 43. Kg3 Bd6 { consolidates everything. } ) 42... Bd6 { again consolidating the material advantage. } ) ( 36... Qc3 37. Bd3 Rb8 38. Rg3 ( 38. Ba7 Qd2+ $1 ) ( 38. Qb6 Bxh3 39. Kxh3 Qe1 $1 { and white's king is in a precarious state } ) 38... Qc6 39. Qg1 Bf8 $1 { and black is more than surviving! } ) ) ( 35... Be6 36. Qb2 { trying to stop the awkward Qc3 } 36... Bxh3 37. b7 Qc6 $1 ( 37... Qb8 $2 38. Kxh3 { and eventually the b-pawn will win the day. } ) 38. b8=Q Rxb8 39. Qxb8+ Bc8 { and black holds an advantage in the ending as he'll be a pawn up. } ) 36. Bd3 Rb8 37. Qg1 $1 { Just when you think you have contained the queenside, Topalov wrong-foots Anand by switching his attentions to the kingside. It just shows how the elite-GM mind works - just about everyone would have still have been trying to crash through on the queenside. As it is, Topalov uses that as his decoy for what's about to come. } 37... Bc4 38. Qg6 Bxd3 39. Rg3 $1 Bf6 40. cxd3 Rxb6 ( { There's no time to take on d3: } 40... Qxd3 41. Bxh6 $1 Rb7 42. Bg5 Qe2+ 43. Kh3 Bxg5 ( 43... Qf1+ 44. Kg4 ) 44. Qe8+ Kh7 45. hxg5 { with the idea of g6+ and Qh8 mate! } 45... g6 46. Qf8 Rxb6 47. Kg4 $1 { soon decides the game. } ) 41. Bxb6 Qb2+ 42. Rg2 Qxb6 43. Rc2 Bd8 44. h5 1-0