In a repeat of last year's final, Viswanathan Anand will take on Veselin Topalov in the title match of the Magistral Ciudad de Leon Chess Tournament after the Bulgarian Grandmaster defeated Rustam Kasimdzhanov in the semi-finals in Leon, Spain.
Anand had won the title last year by defeating Topalov 2.5 -1.5.
Anand is eyeing his seventh title in the rournament.
Topalov defeated his Uzbek opponent 2.5-1.5 in the four-game semi-final of rapid chess. Topalov took an early lead in the match by winning the first two games. He lost the third game but managed to hold a draw in the last game to advance to the finals.
Unlike the first semi-final between Anand and Ponomariov, which the Indian won quite easily, the Topalov-Kasimdzhanov match was a close contest. In fact, it was Kasimdzhanov who
held the upper hand in most of the games.
The first game was a Queen's Gambit declined with Topalov opting for the Catalan Opening. Kasimdzhanov chose a solid setup with black and obtained a grip on the light squares on the queenside. Topalov reacted by launching a king side attack, but Kasimdzhanov defended resourcefully and slowly outplayed his opponent.
Topalov was clearly struggling by move 30 and was lucky to escape an outright loss after he made a tactical mistake on the 38th move. Kasimdzhanov's play went downhill thereafter and Topalov fought back to win in 70 moves.
The Bulgarian, playing the black pieces in the second game, chose to defend with the Modern Benoni.
Kasimdzhanov obtained some advantage from the opening, but Topalov managed to create enough counter play to prevent his opponent from getting a free hand.
The middle game play was very complicated and unclear. Topalov rallied his pieces to the kingside and the black king began to look quite unsafe. He conducted the attack very skillfully and won in 60 moves.
Kasimdzhanov kept his hopes alive in the third game with a quick win with the black pieces. The Uzbek Grandmaster played the Slav defense and obtained easy equality from the opening.
Desperate to stay in the match, he sacrificed a piece in the middlegame and got a promising attack against the white king.
Topalov failed to find the best defense and Kasimdzhanov managed to crash through the kingside to score a thumping victory in 33 moves.
Topalov needed a draw in the last game to ensure a place in the final and he achieved this aim without any problem.
Kasimdzhanov did not gain much from the opening but kept on creating some chances for himself with inventive play.
Topalov was unfazed by the complications and started creating threats against his opponent's king. The hard fought game ended in a draw after 52 moves when Topalov managed to get perpetual checks against the white king.
The moves
Game 1: Topalov Kasimdzhanov
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 00 6.Qc2 Nc6 7.00 Nb4 8.Qb3 a5 9.a3 Nc6 10.Bf4 a4 11.Qc2 dxc4 12.Qxc4 Nd5 13.Nc3 Nb6 14.Qd3 Bd7 15.Rad1 Na5 16.h4 Nac4 17.Ng5 Bxg5 18.Bxg5 Qe8 19.Bc1 Bc6 20.e4 Rd8 21.Rfe1 f6 22.g4 Qf7 23.Qg3 Kh8 24.Rd3 f5 25.Rf3 Rxd4 26.gxf5 e5 27.Bg5 Nd7 28.Bc1 Nf6 29.Rd3 Rfd8 30.Red1 Qe7 31.Nd5 Rxd3 32.Rxd3 Bxd5 33.exd5 Nd6 34.Bh3 Nde4 35.Qe3 Nc5 36.Rd1 Nb3 37.Bg2 c6 38.Qa7 Nxc1 39.d6 Ne2+ 40.Kf1 Qf7 41.Kxe2 Qc4+ 42.Ke1 Qb5 43.Rd2 e4 44.Bf1 Qe5 45.Be2 h6 46.Qxb7 e3 47.fxe3 Qxe3 48.Qe7 Qg1+ 49.Bf1 Rd7 50.Qe6 Kh7 51.Rd3 Qh2 52.Be2 Qxh4+ 53.Kd1 Qf4 54.Kc2 c5 55.Rd1 Qf2 56.Rd2 Qf4 57.Bb5 Rd8 58.d7 h5 59.Qe7 Qb8 60.Rg2 Ng4 61.f6 Rg8 62.f7 Rf8 63.Rxg4 Qxb5 64.Qe4+ Kh8 65.Rg5 Qb3+ 66.Kc1 Qxf7 67.Rf5 Qxf5 68.Qxf5 Rxf5 69.d8Q+ Kh7 70.Qe8 10. Black resigns.
Game 2 Kasimdzhanov - Topalov
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 00 6.Be3 c5 7.Nge2 Nc6 8.d5 Ne5 9.Ng3 e6 10.Be2 exd5 11.cxd5 h5 12.00 Nh7 13.Qd2 h4 14.Nh1 f5 15.Nf2 Bd7 16.Rab1 Qf6 17.f4 Nf7 18.Kh1 Rfe8 19.Nb5 Qd8 20.b4 b6 21.bxc5 bxc5 22.Bd3 Nf6 23.Nc3 Qa5 24.Qc2 Ng4 25.Ncd1 Ba4 26.Qe2 Bxd1 27.Nxd1 Nfh6 28.Bd2 Qxa2 29.Rb7 Qa3 30.e5 dxe5 31.d6 Kh8 32.d7 Re7 33.fxe5 Rxe5 34.Qf3 Rd8 35.Bb5 Qa2 36.Bg5 Bf6 37.Bf4 a6 38.Bc6 g5 39.Bxe5 Nxe5 40.Bd5 Qd2 41.Qb3 Kg7 42.Be6 Qe2 43.Rg1 f4 44.h3 c4 45.Qb6 f3 46.Qf2 Nd3 47.Qxf3 Qxe6 48.Rf1 Nf4 49.Ne3 c3 50.Rd1 Nf5 51.Re1 Ng3+ 52.Kh2 Be5 53.Ng4 Nfe2 54.Qd3 Bf4 55.Qxc3+ Kf7 56.Qd3 Nf5+ 57.g3 hxg3+ 58.Kg2 Nh4+ 59.Kf1 g2+ 60.Kf2 Bg3+ 61.Qxg3 Nxg3 01. White resigns
Game 3 Topalov Kasimdzhanov
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.a3 Nbd7 9.g3 Bd6 10.b3 00 11.Bg2 b5 12.00 Rb8 13.c5 Bc7 14.f4 a5 15.b4 Ra8 16.Bd2 Qe7 17.Qe2 Ra7 18.Rab1 Rfa8 19.g4 axb4 20.axb4 Ra3 21.Bf3 Nh7 22.g5 e5 23.dxe5 Nxe5 24.fxe5 Nxg5 25.h4 Nh3+ 26.Kg2 Qxe5 27.Rh1 d4 28.exd4 Nf4+ 29.Bxf4 Qxf4 30.Rh3 Rxc3 31.Rf1 Re3 32.Qd1 Rd8 33.d5 Rxd5 01. White resigns.
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