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Topalov Closes in on FIDE Title

With two rounds left to play, Veselin Topalov holds a 1.5 point lead and seems poised to win the 2005 FIDE Championship in San Luis. Only Peter Svidler and Viswanathan Anand, each 1.5 points behind Topalov, have any chance to overtake the leader.

Topalov has scored 9/12 so far, slowing down slightly after his incredible 6.5/7 performance in the first rotaton. In his second games against the field, he has drawn - at times saving games that seemed lost, in others conserving energy and preserving his lead.

Topalov's last major challenge came in round 12, with just three games to play. Svidler had the black pieces against him, but the two merely played a drawing line and quickly finished without much of a fight.

Here are the complete standings so far:

1.	Topalov, V (2788)	9.0/12
2.	Anand, V (2788)	7.5
	Svidler, P (2738)	7.5
4.	Morozevich, A (2707)	6.0
5.	Kasimdzhanov, R (2670)	5.0
6.	Leko, P (2763)	5.0
7.	Adams, M (2719)	4.5
8.	Polgar, J (2735)	3.5

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.

Although the title seems certain to go to Topalov, the remaining players still have something to fight for. There is increasing prize money for a higher finish; and perhaps more importantly, the top four players will enter the next championship cycle in later rounds as seeded players.

Here is a win by Anand over Peter Leko from round 12, which helped move Anand into a tie for second place.

White: Leko, P (2763)
Black: Anand, V (2788)
FIDE Championship, Round 12
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4 Nb4 9. Be2 O-O 10. a3 Nc6 11. cxd5 Qxd5 12. Nc3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Bf5 14. Re1 Rfe8 15. Bf4 Rac8 16. h3 Be4 17. Nd2 Bxg2 18. Bg4 Bh1 19. f3 Bh4 20. Rf1 f5 21. Bh5 g6 22. Kxh1 gxh5 23. Rg1+ Kh8 24. Qf1 Bf6 25. Rb1 Ne7 26. Bg5 Bxg5 27. Rxg5 Rg8 28. Rxg8+ Rxg8 29. Qe2 Ng6 30. Rb5 Qc6 31. Rxf5 Qxc3 32. Rd5 Qxa3 33. Kh2 Qf8 34. Qe6 Qf4+ 35. Kh1 Rf8 36. Qe2 h4 37. Rd7 Rf7 38. Rd8+ Kg7 39. Ne4 Qxf3+ 40. Qxf3 Rxf3 41. Nc5 b6 42. Ne6+ Kf6 43. Nxc7 Rxh3+ 44. Kg1 Rd3 45. Nb5 Kg5 46. Nxa7 h3 47. Nc6 Kg4 48. Ra8 Kg3 49. Ra1 h2+ 50. Kh1 Nf4 51. Ne5 Re3 52. Rd1 Kh3 53. Nf7 Rg3 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.