First Game Kramnik-Topalov annatated by Crafty

[Volker Pittlik]

[Event "World Championship Match"]
[Site "Elista"]
[Date "2006.09.23"]
[Round "1"]
[White "GM Kramnik, Vladimir(RUS)"]
[Black "GM Topalov, Veselin(BUL)"]
[Result "1-0"]
Annotator "Crafty v20.14"]
{annotating both black and white moves.}
{using a scoring margin of +1.00 pawns.}
{search time limit is 30.00}

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 a5 7. Qc2 Bxd2+ 8.
Qxd2 c6 9. a4 b5 10. axb5 cxb5 11. Qg5 O-O 12. Qxb5 Ba6 13. Qa4 Qb6 14. O-O
Qxb2 15. Nbd2 Bb5 16. Nxc4 Bxa4 17. Nxb2 Bb5 18. Ne5 Ra7 19. Bf3 Nbd7 20. Nec4
Rb8 21. Rfb1 g5 22. e3 g4 23. Bd1 Bc6 24. Rc1 Be4 25. Na4 Rb4 26. Nd6 Bf3 27.
Bxf3 gxf3 28. Nc8 Ra8 29. Ne7+ Kg7 30. Nc6 Rb3 31. Nc5 Rb5 32. h3 Nxc5 33. Rxc5
Rb2 34. Rg5+ Kh6 35. Rgxa5 Rxa5 36. Nxa5 Ne4 37. Rf1 Nd2 38. Rc1 Ne4 39. Rf1 f6
40. Nc6 Nd2 41. Rd1 Ne4 42. Rf1 Kg6 43. Nd8 Rb6 44. Rc1 h5 45. Ra1 h4 46. gxh4
Kh5 47. Ra2 Kxh4 48. Kh2 Kh5 49. Rc2 Kh6 50. Ra2 Kg6 51. Rc2 Kf5 52. Ra2 Rb5
53. Nc6 Rb7 54. Ra5+ Kg6 55. Ra2 Kh5 56. d5 e5 57. Ra4 f5 58. Nxe5 Rb2 59. Nd3
Rb7 60. Rd4 Rb6 61. d6 Nxd6 62. Kg3 Ne4+ 63. Kxf3 Kg5 64. h4+ Kf6 65. Rd5 Nc3
66. Rd8 Rb1 67. Rf8+ Ke6 68. Nf4+ Ke5 69. Re8+ Kf6 70. Nh5+ Kg6 71. Ng3 Rb2 72.
h5+ Kf7 73. Re5 Nd1 74. Ne2 Kf6 75. Rd5 1-0

[diag]8/1r6/2N2p2/3Pp2k/R3n3/4Pp1P/5P1K/8 b - - 1 57[/diag]

8/1r6/2N2p2/3Pp2k/R3n3/4Pp1P/5P1K/8 b - - 1 57

Black to move.

({14:+3.57} 57. ... f5 58. Nxe5 Nxf2 59. Rf4 Ne4 60. Rxf5+ Kh6 61. Rxf3 Rb2+ 62. Kg1 Rd2 63. Rf5 Nc3 64. Ng4+ Kg7 65. Rg5+ Kf7 +-)
({14:-0.01} 57. ... Nxf2 58. Kg3 e4 59. d6 Nd3 60. Ne7 Rb2 61. Ra5+ Ne5 62. Ra8 Nf7 63. Ra5+ Ne5 =)

3.5 pawns are a lot. Was it a mistake by Topalov? Any opinions by better chess players than me?

Volker

[Guenther Simon]

Yes that was a blackout by Topalov who obviously 'forgot'
about the simple 59. Nd3 during his calculations.
A pity as he could have forced the draw at least half a dozen
of times. He tried too hard to win, instead of being content
with a quite easy draw with Black in the first game.
Hopefully he will not try even harder to win the next game now,
because this could well lead to an already hopeless situation
in a 12 games match. However for the spectators it's more
thrilling if those short draws are avoided.

Regards,
Guenther

[Volker Pittlik]

Yes that was a blackout by Topalov who obviously 'forgot'
about the simple 59. Nd3 during his calculations....

Yes. Fortunately they offer annotated PGN on their website now. GM Inarkiev wrote about 57. ... f5

A big mistake. Black could be fixed at draw, for example by 57…Nf2 58.Kg3 e4 59.Kf2 Rb2 with perpetual check, cause f pawn will promote otherwise

Complete PGN is here: http://www.worldchess2006.com/main.asp?id=918

Volker