Kamsky's victory earned him a match against world number-one Veselin Topalov in 2009 for the right to challenge for the World Chess Championship 2010 against world champion Viswanathan Anand. The match was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, in February 2009. Although Kamsky won game four to level the match 2–2, Topalov scored +2 in the final 3 games (including an exciting last round victory on the White side of the French Defense) to win the match 4½–2½.