[Event "?"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "1999.01.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Bilounov"]
[ECO "B07"]
[EventDate "1999.01.20"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[Source "TaL's Chess"]
[SourceDate "1999.01.20"]

{ CLUB KASPAROV http://www.clubkasparov.ru/news/wijk99/round4e.htm Round 4
- "Thru away your useless Fritz..." The only meeting of the members of the
"great seven" - Kasparov-Topalov - was, of course, the central game of this
round. After the World Champion's brilliant performance at the blitz
tournament, and after his confident victory over Yermolinski, it became
absolutely clear that Kasparov was only gathering speed. The audience of the
ICC server, which provides a direct transmission of all the games of the
tournament, anticipated interesting fight, and their expectations were fully
justified. We witnessed Garry carrying out a phenomenal combination, demanding
such profound calculation as to 15-20 moves ahead. Experienced audience of the
Net, consisting as well of international masters, and armed with the strongest
chess programs (Fritz, Junior, Rebel, Crafty and others) expressed its extreme
amazement with the following expressions in the chat: "Kaspy is cool", "Thru
away all these useless computer programs" etc. The audience in Wijk aan
Zee was also extremely excited. A well-known Holland observer Lichtering said
to Garry after the game, that he considered it a great honor for himself to
witness the birth of such a game. In Lichtering's opinion, it should be a
pretender to the best game of the year. Denis Bilounov: } 1. e4 d6 { Individual opening preparation has, obviously, acquired far too muchimportance
for the meeting of chess top players. In order to throw the adversary off his
smooth analysis prepared at home, one does not avoid using something that no
one expects him to. All through the recent years Topalov played Pirc-Ufimtsev
defense only once, in 1997 against Salov in Dos Hermanas. } 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 c6 6. f3 b5 7. Nge2 Nbd7 8. Bh6 Bxh6 9. Qxh6 Bb7 10. a3 e5 11. O-O-O Qe7 12. Kb1 a6 13. Nc1 O-O-O 14. Nb3 exd4 15. Rxd4 c5 16. Rd1 Nb6 17. g3 Kb8 18. Na5 Ba8 19. Bh3 d5 { Black has successfully started the
opening, and the chances of the opponents were roughly equal when they entered
the middle game. Garry Kasparov: "I did not gain any advantage in the
opening. Topalov is great, he disposed his pieces very well and managed to
play d5..." } 20. Qf4+ Ka7 21. Rhe1 d4 22. Nd5 Nbxd5 23. exd5 Qd6 24. Rxd4 $5 { As it turned out later, this move shook everyone, including Topalov.
Bulgarian grand master thought for a little white and still decided to take
the Rook. He will say after the game: "I calculated the line up to the 30th
move, where White, I thought, should have played 30.Qc7, and then a draw with
a perpetual check (Qd1-d4 (d5)) should follow". On some hesitations, Fritz
also showed this same line. The audience, having consulted their computers,
wondered - Why on Earth does Kasparov aim at a forced draw? Garry
Kasparov: "I saw that White has marvelous opportunities in the line 29.Ra7
Bb7 30.Rxb7. It looked very beautiful: I suddenly saw the geometry of the line
and then I decided to capture on d4. While Topalov was thinking over the
answer, I calculated all the forced lines to the end and White got a decisive
advantage everywhere." } 24... cxd4 25. Re7+ Kb6 ( { Rook is invulnerable: } 25... Qxe7 26. Qxd4+ Kb8 27. Qb6+ Bb7 28. Nc6+ Ka8 29. Qa7# ) 26. Qxd4+ Kxa5 ( { From Kasparov's calculations: after } 26... Qc5 27. Qxf6+ Qd6 { a delicate } 28. Be6 $3 { decides, for example: } 28... Kxa5 29. b4+ Ka4 ( 29... Kb6 30. Qd4+ ) 30. Qc3 Bxd5 31. Kb2 $1 { And a mate from b3 is inevitable. } ) 27. b4+ Ka4 28. Qc3 Qxd5 29. Ra7 Bb7 30. Rxb7 { Now Black can exchange the Queens. And obviously
that is why the programs (and not only programs!) thought that White should
not play this line. } ( { "I calculated the line [after 24.Rxd4] up to the
30th move, where White, I thought, should have played } 30. Qc7 { and then a draw with a perpetual check (Qd1-d4 (d5)) should follow". - Topalov } 30... Qd1+ 31. Kb2 Qd4+ ) 30... Qc4 31. Qxf6 { The move in the game lets White finish the attack effectively: } 31... Kxa3 ( { However, the position of the Black King is so dangerous, that he is vulnerable
even for a mate attack in the ending: } 31... Rd1+ 32. Kb2 Qd4+ ( { The most stubborn way would be to play } 32... Ra8 { but here after } 33. Qb6 $1 Qd4+ 34. Qxd4 Rxd4 35. Rxf7 a5 36. Be6 axb4 37. Bb3+ Ka5 38. axb4+ Kb6 { (he mustn't blow on b4 because of c2-c3) } 39. Rxh7 { White's advantage is enough to win. } ) 33. Qxd4 Rxd4 34. Rxf7 Rd6 ( 34... Rhd8 35. Rf6 Ra8 36. Be6 Rc4 37. Bd5 $1 Ra7 38. Rc6 $1 ) 35. Re7 Ra8 36. Be6 { and Black has to return the exchange on entering a hopeless Rook ending. } ) 32. Qxa6+ Kxb4 33. c3+ $1 Kxc3 34. Qa1+ Kd2 35. Qb2+ Kd1 36. Bf1 $1 Rd2 37. Rd7 $1 { The Black King has made a long way from a7 to d1 in order to
settle finally in the square. Topalov sacrifices the Queen, thus he prolongs
the game only for a few moves more. } 37... Rxd7 38. Bxc4 bxc4 39. Qxh8 Rd3 40. Qa8 c3 41. Qa4+ Ke1 42. f4 f5 43. Kc1 Rd2 44. Qa7 { After the game
Kasparov analyzed the refusal to take the Rook on d4: 24...Kb6!? with other
participants of the tournament. In the opinion of the World Champion, Black
parried all the threats and even gained some advantage. However, it is
probably still early to make final conclusions, as the game is worth a most
careful analysis... } 1-0