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Topalov Mounts Comeback to win MTel Masters

Veselin Topalov scored an impressive 4.5 out of his final 5 games to go from last to first and win the MTel Masters, one of the strongest tournaments of the year. Topalov not only won the tournament, but had a comfortable advantage, winning by a full point over Viswanathan Anand.

After five rounds, Topalov was tied for last with Judit Polgar at just two points. At the half-way point in the competition, the field had stayed remarkably tight; only one point seperated first and last place.

Then, Topalov began his amazing run. Round six saw all three white players win their games, with Topalov defeating Anand, while Ruslan Ponomariov defeated Vladimir Kramnik and Michael Adams fell to Polgar. Topalov won again in round seven, taking out Adams with the black pieces, and pulling into a first place tie with Ponomariov at 4 points.

Judit Polgar finally found a way to slow down Topalov in round eight, holding him to a draw. However, no player found a way to win, leaving Topolov tied for first and setting up a crucial round nine matchup with Ponomariov.

White: Topalov, V (2778)
Black: Ponomariov, R (2695)
MTel Masters, Round 9
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Rc1 c6 9. e4 d5 10. e5 Ne4 11. Bd3 Nxc3 12. Rxc3 c5 13. dxc5 bxc5 14. h4 h6 15. Bb1 f5 16. exf6 Bxf6 17. Qc2 d4 18. Ng5 hxg5 19. hxg5 dxc3 20. Bf4 Kf7 21. Qg6+ Ke7 22. gxf6+ Rxf6 23. Qxg7+ Rf7 24. Bg5+ Kd6 25. Qxf7 Qxg5 26. Rh7 Qe5+ 27. Kf1 Kc6 28. Qe8+ Kb6 29. Qd8+ Kc6 30. Be4+ 1-0

With a quick and convincing win, Topalov now had a firm hold on first. With Anand a half-point behind, Topalov could have played for a draw in the final round with the black pieces against Kramnik, in an attempt to clinch a share of first place. He had different plans, however:

White: Kramnik, V (2753)
Black: Topalov, V (2778)
MTel Masters, Round 10
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. f3 b5 8. Qd2 b4 9. Nce2 e5 10. Nb3 Nc6 11. c4 Be7 12. Ng3 g6 13. Bd3 Nd7 14. Rd1 O-O 15. Qf2 a5 16. O-O a4 17. Nc1 Nc5 18. Bb1 Qc7 19. Nce2 Be6 20. Bh6 Rfe8 21. Nf5 Bxc4 22. Ne3 Ba6 23. f4 exf4 24. Bxf4 Ne5 25. Nd5 Qa7 26. Bxe5 dxe5 27. Kh1 Bg5 28. Nxb4 Bc4 29. Rfe1 Qb7 30. Nd5 Qxb2 31. Nc7 Ne6 32. Nxe8 Rxe8 33. Rf1 Rf8 34. Nc1 Qxb1 0-1

With the victory, Topalov recorded a resounding win in one of the first major tournaments since Kasparov's retirement, showing that he must be considered along with Anand as possibly the world's top active player. It remains to be seen whether Topalov will be able to pass Anand on the next ratings list.

Here are the complete final standings:

Topalov, Veselin: 6.5/10
Anand, Viswanathan: 5.5
Polgar, Judit: 5.0
Ponomariov, Ruslan: 5.0
Kramnik, Vladimir: 4.0
Adams, Michael: 4.0