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Topalov Takes Overwhelming Lead in FIDE Championship

In one of the most dominating performances in recent memory, Veselin Topalov has put a wide gap between him and the field in San Luis. Barring a collapse, it seems inevitable that Topalov will becoming the next FIDE World Champion, and do so in impressive style.

Topalov has scored an amazing 5.5/6, conceding only a draw to co-favorite Vishwanathan Anand in the second round in an otherwise perfect tournament. Considering the strength of the field, Topalov's accomplishment has the potential to be one of the strongest performances of all time; right now, his performance rating is a mind-boggling 3157.

Topalov's closest competitors are Anand and Peter Svidler, each with 3.5 points. Anand picked up wins against Michael Adams and Judit Polgar, while dropping a surprising game to current FIDE Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Svidler has picked up wins again Peter Leko and Alexander Morozevich, but dropped his head-to-head confrontation with the frontrunning Topalov.

Other than Topalov's performance, the other main story at the tournament has been the low number of drawn games. Most strong tournaments see a high percentage of drawn games, as players struggle to gain slight advantages against roughly equal opponents. However, half of the games in the FIDE Championship have been decisive thusfar - including every game in both the third and fourth rounds.

Here are the complete standings so far:

1.	Topalov, V (2788)	5.5/6
2.	Anand, V (2788)	3.5
	Svidler, P (2738)	3.5
4.	Kasimdzhanov, R (2670)	3.0
5.	Leko, P (2763)	2.5
6.	Adams, M (2719)	2.0
	Morozevich, A (2707)	2.0
	Polgar, J (2735)	2.0

The FIDE Championship is a double-round robin tournament with a total of 14 rounds. If two or more players are tied for first, the player with the best head-to-head record among the tied players will take the championship. If the tie still cannot be broken, a series of rapid tiebreaker games will be played.

Here is Topalov's latest victory: a win with the Black pieces over Judit Polgar in round 6.

White: Polgar, J (2735)
Black: Topalov, V (2788)
FIDE Championship, Round 6
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ne7 10. h3 Ng6 11. Ne4 h6 12. b3 c5 13. Be3 b6 14. Rad1+ Bd7 15. Nc3 Kc8 16. Nd5 Be6 17. c4 Kb7 18. Bc1 a5 19. a4 Rd8 20. g4 h5 21. Ne3 Re8 22. Rfe1 Nf4 23. Ng5 Be7 24. Nxe6 fxe6 25. gxh5 Nxh3+ 26. Kf1 Rxh5 27. Ng4 Bg5 28. Bxg5 Rxg5 29. f3 Rf8 30. Kg2 Nf4+ 31. Kg3 Rh5 32. Kf2 Ng6 33. Rd7 Rh3 34. Re3 Nh4 35. Rdd3 Kc6 36. Rc3 Rh1 37. Red3 Nf5 38. Ne3 Nd4 39. Nf1 Rh5 40. Re3 Rf4 41. Rcd3 g5 42. Re4 Kb7 43. Kg3 Rxe4 44. fxe4 Rh4 45. Nd2 Kc8 46. Re3 Kd7 47. Re1 Ke7 48. Nf3 Nxf3 49. Kxf3 Kf7 50. Rd1 Rf4+ 51. Ke3 Kg7 52. Rd7+ Rf7 53. Rd1 Kg6 54. Rd8 g4 55. Rg8+ Kh5 56. Rh8+ Kg5 57. Rg8+ Kh4 58. Rg6 Rf3+ 59. Ke2 Kg3 60. Rxe6 Kf4 61. Re8 Re3+ 62. Kf2 g3+ 63. Kg2 Kxe4 64. e6 Kd3 0-1

We will be providing complete coverage of the FIDE World Championship through its conclusion on October 16th. For more information, you can click here for the official tournament site.