Press
08/04/2006
The thirth game was declared a draw
on the 46th move.
Because of the record number of visitors on the web site,
the server crashed on the 43th move of the match.
08/04/2006
The Grand Master Dorian Rogozenko:
"When opening the second game of
the match, Topalov made a theoretical innovation, but Dieter Nisipeanu has
already analyzed the position and gained rapidly defensive in front of his
opponent. The World Champion Veselin Topalov played in an extremely precise way
and after a tensioned fight, the Bulgarian succeeded to obtain an advantaging
final score right in the middle of the game.
From my point of view Topalov has a clear psychological initiative after the two
games. On the other side, we shall not forget that Topalov is the greatest chess
player of the world, and Dieter lacks only experience at this level. I think the
chances may be equilibrated at the moment Nisipeanu adapts himself with this new
and difficult situation.
Anyway it is obvious we are attending a fantastic match between two of the most
talented chess players in the world."
08/04/2006
The Grand Master Mihail Marin:
"The more the match goes on, the
more intense the tension is. Playing with the black ones in the second game,
Nisipeanu noticed his opponent resorting to the Queen’s Gambit, which was a very
solid opening he hasn't used before.
Topalov’s 9.e4 move was a innovation, but Dieter reacted quite rapidly,
sacrificing one pawn and letting us understand the move was already known to
him. In exchange to the sacrificed pawn, the world champion could no longer make
the castling, which created him serious problems on ending the development of
the King’s flank. Despite all that, all the other Topalov's chessmen were on
active positions, threatening to attack the vulnerable position of the opposing
king.
The game seemed to be in World Champion’s favor, but using his typical
inventiveness, Dieter changed the rhythm with the help of the 19...Nxc5 move.
Topalov accommodated himself rapidly to the sudden change of situation, giving
back the pawn in order to stop Black’s counter-attack.
Unfortunately the one who didn’t get accustomed to the new change of the game
was Dieter, who found himself in a shortage of time. The European Champion had
to admit he had been defeated.
Topalov knew how to maintain the pressure and how to lead the Black into the
most uncomfortable positions. Dieter remains with the contentedness to have been
at his powerful opponent’s best almost until the end of the game. Remains to be
seen to what extent this interesting experience will be useful to him in the
second part of the match."
07/04/2006
The first game was declared a draw
on the 31st move.
We are sorry to inform you that, because of the great traffic on the web site,
the server crashed on the 24th move of the match.
06/04/2006
The Grand Master Mihail Marin:
"I’ve waited impatiently this unique match to begin, but the first feeling came over me at the moment the two champions got on the stage. I noticed the smile on Dieter’s face, he was obviously nervous to face the big confrontation. But the few jokes made by the President of Romania relaxed the faces of the two grand masters, who began their duel. The way Topalov chose to begin the match (the Spanish game, the Berolina variant) is a sign that he wanted to probe his opponent, with whom he only had one chess game 15 years ago and whose power of play was mostly unknown to him. Dieter opened the game vividly and his innovation (Cd4) raised real problems with the black. The white was obviously in advantage, but after the f5 move the world champion’s defense led right to a draw. Both players have reasons to be satisfied with the outcome of the game: Dieter – because he put great pressure on his enemy, Topalov – because he neutralized our player’s first “white move”.
06/04/2006
The schedule is available here...
05/04/2006
Topalov has arrived in Romania this afternoon and had his first press conference. Please visit the photo gallery for the pictures.