Topalov’s triumph

I am really enjoying Veselin Topalov's return to form. I have great memories of his victory on the 2005 FIDE World Championships in San Luis, Argentina, where he seemed to be 'at the top of the world', beating second place equals Anand and Svidler by a clear 1.5 points. That seemed to be his zenith, and Toiletgate in his 2006 match versus Vladimir Kramnik (which Vlad won after a blitz tie break) seemed to finish him: or maybe it was that he was (is) the victim of FIDE politics. I don't know, but great to see him playing so well in the Grand Prix in Zug, which I think he has won with a round to spare.

He deserves it, and one of his moves today, Ph7-h6, explains why.

I would have played 1…Rc8 or 1…Qc7, trying to do something on the queen side, or at least improving my pieces; or 1…Kg7, looking to shore up defences before white's pawns advance. Houdini, left thinking whilst I made a cup of tea, likes all these moves, and assesses the position as more or less equal; a more in depth search might have altered the appraisal. But 1…h6! was not in its top six candidate moves.

If I were given the above position as a puzzle, and asked which moves would I not think of, 1…h6 would be one (and 1…h5, another): a move to rule out, because it opens up the king side. But watch:

And 0-1 a few moves later. Brilliant: there is a saying that 'you never win a tournament without taking risks', and to me, at my level of play, 1…h6 is taking risks: but Topalov clearly assessed that the move was provocative, provoking the advance of the h pawn which would be unsuccessful in opening up the kingside, and instead would lead to black having a pawn majority and a pawn roller.

I very much hope that Veselin will be invited to further tournaments, and look forward to seeing move of his exciting style.

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