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Veselin Topalov And The Najdorf Sicilian

GM BryanSmith

| Nov 12, 2015 | 13834 views | 27 comments

San Luis, Argentina, 2005: A double-round-robin tournament

was held to determine the FIDE world champion.
In those days the world championship was still split after Garry
Kasparov and Nigel Short left FIDE for their 1993 match. The
chess world largely -- almost unanimously -- regarded those
who continued the lineage of the classical world champions
(Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik) as the "real" world
champions.
Nevertheless, FIDE was still holding its own world
championships, usually in a tournament (rather than match)
format.
The winner in San Luis 2005 was the Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Topalov. Soon after, a
reunification match between Topalov and Kramnik was organized, to finally end the split in the
chess world. During and before this match, Topalov was called the world champion. Thus he is
often considered to belong to the ranks of "classical" world champions, although he did not win
the title by a match.
Topalov has a fantastically sharp style, energetic like electricity. He has an ability to create
complications in almost any position. His play is extremely concrete and based on precision,
including deep opening preparation. Another major factor in his success is his iron nerves -- he
would never shy away from even the most dangerous and risky positions, and frequently entered
lines where his king faced the most obvious dangers, emerging unscathed.

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As we move closer to today's chess, we find that the top players have an ever-wider opening
repertoire. This is perhaps because of the increased ease in preparation for specific opponents.
Not only has it become more important to surprise one's opponent, it has also become easier to
learn many openings and develop expertise in them.
Thus we find that Topalov has a fairly large opening repertoire. As White he can play 1.d4 or 1.e4,
and as Black many different defenses. Against 1.e4, for instance, it might be surprising that he
frequently used the French defense when he was younger. In recent years he can be found
playing the Berlin Defense, the Caro-Kann, and a variety of Sicilians. But certainly, his biggest
contributions -- both as White and as Black -- have been in the Sicilian Najdorf.

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In most lines of the Najdorf Black can choose between a classical "Najdorf-style" approach with
...e5 or the Scheveningen-like ...e6. The former creates a more stable pawn structure, with
some weaknesses, while the latter is far more dangerous for Black, whose safety depends much
more on specific sharp variations.
Topalov played both ways, but more often he chose the latter.
He really burst on the scene in the 1994 Moscow Olympiad. Here we see him adopting an
extremely sharp and risky approach to defeat Je Jiangchuan:

Ye Jiangchuan (2575) vs. Topalov, Veselin (2645)

Moscow ol (Men) | Moscow | Round 3 | 1994 | ECO: B80 | 0-1
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6
7. f3 b5 8. Qd2 Bb7
This was in fairly early days
of the English attack, when
the lines were not well
explored. At the time, this
was the main line, but in
more recent times Black has
looked for other paths. First
8...Nbd7 9.g4 Nb6 was
played a lot, and when
10.a4! became problematic
Black turned to moves like
8...b4.
9. g4 h6 10. O-O-O
Nbd7 11. h4 b4

J # , . @

In that same tournament Topalov defeated Kasparov on the white side of a Najdorf, in a game
which really brought him in to the limelight. Kasparov got a good position out of the opening,
but made a risky combination. Topalov found his way through the complications to assume the
initiative and won a dramatic game:

Topalov, Veselin (2645) vs. Kasparov, Garry (2805)

Moscow ol (Men) | Moscow | Round 6 | 1994 | ECO: B81 | 1-0
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6
7. g4 Even more
aggressive than the English
Attack with 7.f3, as we saw
Ye Jiangchuan playing. This
move can lead to a twopiece sacrifice known as the
Perenyi Attack.
7... h6 Kasparov opts not
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to accept the sacrifice, and

the play stays somewhat
more rational.
( 7... e5 8. Nf5 g6 9. g5
gxf5 10. exf5 This is the
Perenyi Attack. )
8. f4 Topalov gains space

J # , . @

A couple of years later, already practically established as a top player, Topalov defeated Kasparov
again in the Najdorf. This time he managed to carry out an unbelievable knight maneuver, Ng1-f3d4-d6-d6-f7-g5-f7:

Topalov, Veselin (2700) vs. Kasparov, Garry (2775)

Amsterdam Euwe Memorial | Amsterdam | Round 1 | 22 Mar 1996 | ECO: B86 | 1-0
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6
7. Bb3 Nbd7 8. f4 Nc5
9. O-O A very sharp
attacking line, with White
sacrificing the e-pawn.
9... Ncxe4 Kasparov takes
the pawn, which is the
critical move, although it is
not necessary to do so.
10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. f5
e5 12. Qh5 Qe7?! Soon
after, Nigel Short defeated
Topalov with 12...d5, which
is still a critical line. Also, in
recent years the move
12...Qd7 has become an

J # , . @

Several important novelties were introduced by Topalov in the sharp 6.Be3 e6 line of the Najdorf
(featured in the above game against Ye Jiangchuan). He used a sacrifice of the b-pawn to defeat
Kramnik in only 20 moves:

Kramnik, Vladimir (2754) vs. Topalov, Veselin (2757)

Corus | Wijk aan Zee | Round 2 | 19 Jan 2005 | ECO: B80 | 0-1

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6
7. f3 b5 8. g4 h6
9. Qd2 b4!? It looks
strange to play this move so
early, but it is connected
with concrete ideas. Black
wants to find out where the
knight will go, and the move
is also connected with ideas
of counterattack in the
center.
10. Na4
( 10. Nce2 Keeping the
knight in the center but not
aiming at squares like b6.
Now Black can push in the

J # , . @

Topalov's play as Black in the Najdorf was highly provocative. Here is a dramatic and adventurous
encounter with Vassily Ivanchuk that shows chess in its pure beauty. The game is far from
perfect, and most positions are so complicated they are almost unfathomable -- and yet we know
it could not happen this way if we throw away classical chess in favor of shorter time controls.

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Ivanchuk, Vassily (2746) vs. Topalov, Veselin (2812)

Sofia MTel Masters 5th | Sofia | Round 5 | 17 May 2009 | ECO: B99 | 0-1
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5
Ivanchuk opts for the most
direct and explosive line.
6... e6 7. f4 Be7 The
classical system, rather than
sharper and more
provocative lines like
7...Qc7 or 7...Qb6 (which
Topalov has also played). But
this does not mean that
Black will not still play
provocatively.
8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O
Nbd7 10. Bd3 h6
11. Qh3!? One of the ways
of avoiding 11.Bh4 g5, the

J # , . @

Whether making the wildest incalculable sacrifices or defending against the same, it was clear
that the Najdorf was the perfect battleground for Topalov to show his artistry.
Comments

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1 2 Next

Iskandar
Thank you for this great article! Superb!!!

4 hours ago

lal_badam
Topalov is one of the sexiest chess player

9 hours ago

Fixing_A_Hole
I love this guy's articles!! I feel guilty reading them for free.

17 hours ago

vijdan
mnogo dobre dano pak da s parv v sveta

21 hours ago

shamaror
amazing article...thx

24 hours ago

leonel196388
good!!!!

25 hours ago

FM backreg
27 hours ago
Love the article and love the gentle stab at the "faster time controls" proposals floating
around.
Michael_he
so nice

29 hours ago

barbasa
@gidetiger those are the one of the games of bobby fisher itn't it?

30 hours ago

a queen sacrifice and a mate on a bishop.

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Wolf-Sathi
Nice article... Thanks once again @ Mr. Brayn

31 hours ago

gidetiger

33 hours ago
1. Bc3 Qg5 2. Re1+ Kd8
3. f4 Qxf4 4. Bxg7 Rg8
5. Qg4 Qxg4 6. Bf6#

J # , . @

vinniethepooh
Great article!

33 hours ago

ongoingprocess
Thank you for this chess article.

37 hours ago

jim1729
Great article Bryan. Nice insight into Topa's play in the Najdorf.

39 hours ago

Everling10
40 hours ago
Really needs mention of Hikaru Nakamura if you are doing one on the Najdorf though.
Isn't there even ONE game where he played it vs. Topalov?
goodchess123
Nice!

40 hours ago

sixtyfoursquares
Topalov and Ivanchuk are a class of their own!!

41 hours ago

PawnDillinger
42 hours ago
As usual, loved the article by GM BryanSmith. A great look at Topalov and the Najdorf.
The author made it clear about what is a "real" and "linear" champion and made the
distinction between Kasparov and Kramnik and the FIDE title. He also made it clear that
"some" believe Topalov to be a "classical" champion despite not winning the title in a
match.
I'm a huge admirer of Topalov, but unless he wins the linear championship "the man
who beat the man" in a match, then he is no classical champ. Small point, but in no
way do I detract from Topalov or the article. I'm just a purist.
I'm still looking forward to Anand and Carlsen or any other player/opening our writer
fleshes out.

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iNedko
superb!

42 hours ago

TheNoose
43 hours ago
Great article! In the notes to the 1994 game, in the annotation of the moves of the
game from the U20 Girl's Championship, the final move is Rbd7#, not Rbe7#.
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