| Topalov to Play Anand in Linares Finale |
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| By Jennifer Shahade | |
| March 6, 2008 | |
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By the luck of the draw, Linares-Morelia (February 14-March 7) features a thrilling last round finale: Veselin Topalov, a point behind will face the tournament leader Vishy Anand. If Veselin wins, it will also give Carlsen and Aronian a chance to catch up or in Carlsen's case, surpass Anand. Topalov has once again proved that of all the elite players, he is the most consistently hungry. In round twelve, he lost a wild game against Carlsen, miscalculating badly. 
Position after 33...Kg7
Carlsen played 34.Bd8! here (34.Bf6+ Kg8 35.Qh6 leads to nothing after Qd7. 34.Qh6+ Kg8 Be7 is also easily met by Qe8.) Bd8 should lead to a draw after Qd5 Bxa5 followed by a perpetual. Instead Topalov blundered with 34...Nc6 35.Qf6+ Kg8 36.Qe6+ Kf8 37.Bg5 1-0 Here is the entire game. 1691 To his credit, Topalov rebounded with a win against Peter Leko: 1693 One thing is for sure: we can expect Topalov to go for the win tomorrow. The only other action from the past two rounds was Radjabov's win over Shirov: 1692 You can watch the final game live on ICC at 10:00 EST, or check CLO for a final report. Be sure to check out other CLO articles on Morelia-Linares, including predictions by major American chess personalities, an opening Linares blog by GM Ian Rogers, a second blog by Ian, "The Draw Makes a Comeback in Linares" and Macauley Peterson's recap at the half. You can also watch Macauley's ICC videos here. Linares-Morelia Standings after 13 rounds 1. GM Anand IND 2799- 8 2. GM Carlsen NOR 2733-7.5 3-4 GM Topalov BUL 2780 and GM Aronian ARM 2739- 7 5 GM Radjabov AZE 2735- 6.5 6- GM Ivanchuk UKR 2751- 6.0 7-8- GM Shirov ESP 2755 and GM Leko 5 |
