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Topalov Coasts to World Chamionship

Taking no chances in the final rounds, Veselin Topalov drew his final seven games in route to scoring 10/14 to become FIDE World Champion. Topalov clinched the title with a round to spare, and finished 1.5 points ahead of both Peter Svidler and Vishwanathan Anand.

Due to tiebreakers, Anand took second place in the tournament. If the next FIDE Championship cycle goes as scheduled - which is never certain - Anand will enter the competition in the quarterfinal round. Svidler and the 4th place finisher - Alexander Morozevich - would also be seeded, entering a round earlier.

Topalov was never seriously challenged after jumping out to an early lead. At the halfway point, his score of 6.5/7 gave him a two point lead over Svidler, and the lead never shrunk to less than 1.5 points.

Topalov's performance should be enough to get his rating over 2800, making him the only active player to surpass that barrier. Garry Kasparov will still be the top-rated player on the FIDE rating lists until April 2006.

Here are the complete final standings:

1.	Topalov, V (2788)	12.0/14
2.	Anand, V (2788)	8.5
	Svidler, P (2738)	8.5
4.	Morozevich, A (2707)	7.0
5.	Leko, P (2763)	6.5
6.	Kasimdzhanov, R (2670)	5.5
	Adams, M (2719)	5.5
8.	Polgar, J (2735)	4.5

Here is a final round win by Leko over former FIDE Champion Kasimdzhanov.

White: Leko, P (2763)
Black: Kasimdzhanov, R (2670)
FIDE Championship, Round 14
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Ba7 7. Qe2 Nc6 8. Be3 d6 9. f4 Qc7 10. O-O Nf6 11. Bxa7 Rxa7 12. Nc3 b5 13. a4 b4 14. Nd1 a5 15. Ne3 O-O 16. Kh1 Bb7 17. Ng4 Nxg4 18. Qxg4 Raa8 19. Rae1 Qe7 20. Re3 g6 21. Qg3 Rfe8 22. Bb5 Rac8 23. c3 Red8 24. f5 bxc3 25. bxc3 Ra8 26. f6 Qf8 27. Qf4 h6 28. Rh3 g5 29. Qe3 Ne5 30. Rh5 Ng6 31. Qh3 Bxe4 32. Nd2 Bc2 33. Rxh6 Rac8 34. Rh5 Rc5 35. Rc1 g4 36. Qxg4 Bf5 37. Qg3 d5 38. Nb3 Rcc8 39. Nd4 Be4 40. Nc6 Rxc6 41. Bxc6 Qd6 42. Qg5 Qf4 43. Qxf4 Nxf4 44. Rg5+ Kh7 45. Bb5 Kh6 46. h4 Nxg2 47. Rxg2 Rg8 48. Rcc2 1-0

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