Deac
Slightly better
Topalov
Deac
 
Topalov
 
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h

Round 27

Grand Chess Tour - Rapid & Blitz Poland

Commented by: Vladimir Hamitevici

1
4
8 turns without comments
5

Bogdan-Daniel goes for the Maroczy formation - a structure that appears in many different openings.

00:03 c4
5
10
10 turns without comments
10

A bit of a gambling sacrifice from Veselin, but he’s in an all-in situation.

00:05 d5
11
12
4 turns without comments
13

!!GREAT MOVE!!

Bogdan-Daniel castles and protect his central pawn at the same time.

00:16 O-O-O
13
16
6 turns without comments
16

Topalov managed to trade white's strong bishop and gets back in the game.

00:03 Nxe3
17
19
5 turns without comments
19

Veselin’s piece activity keeps growing. His dark-squared bishop feels perfectly placed on the long diagonal, especially with its counterpart off the board.

00:02 Rd8
20
23
7 turns without comments
23

!!GREAT MOVE!!

Exchange sacrifice by Topalov, in his true style.

00:49 Rxc3
24
30
13 turns without comments
30

With such a powerful dark-squared bishop, Black will always have enough compensation - especially since it’s aimed directly at the opponent’s king.

00:56 Qc7
31
37
13 turns without comments
37

??BLUNDER??

After playing fantastic and courageous chess, Veselin makes a misstep. One more check might have sealed the game for Black - but unfortunately, he didn’t spot it.

00:16 Bxc3
38
51
28 turns without comments
52

The final position was very much a draw, but Veselin ran out of time and forfeited the game.

00:01 Ra2

It’s the final round of the tournament, and Veselin Topalov needs a win to try and escape last place. That’s usually all the motivation a proud champion needs - expect him to come out fighting.