come on Vishy.... Let's Go; you are the better player.... show your best chess now.....thank you......

So thats scores finally leveled now...
Some very good chess going on around here... Like the fighting spirit of Topa but Vishy is no less, just that he is getting too prdictable for topa to prepare..
Come on Vishy fight back. YOU are the Champ!!!!

Topalov strike backs. What a game :-) . Good for chess, but i wish Anand finds his composure back which i couldnt see from past 3 games. Gud Luk for the rest of the games Vishy.

unbelievable, unbelievable... they must would have drawn. neither me or my fritz sees the winning line... I feel like banging my head in a wall. unbelievable.
is it some transmission mistake???

In the Pentala´s analysis, what happens if after 65 ... Bd5 white continues with b4 and b5?

A fantastic match! 4-4

Anands first mistake: he did not play 13..a6 again

second: he did not play 18..Bb4

Topalov leveled the score! WOW!!!

Ouch!

something is seriously wrong with anand !!! how can he not see 54..Bf1 simple draw..he just needs to protect the h7 with the bishop and guide the d7 square with the king !!!now anand has to score in the 9th game with white pieces !! oh yea on more thing is that anand should wear a different shirt in the next round !!!no point being supersticious !!!!

I love this guy! He has guts! He is fighter! Chess needs new champion! If Anand wins it will be boring years for chess!

I want Topalov - Kramnik rematch in 2012!

no Suneet, it was the pressure on Anand which took it's share in this situation I believe. It is unbelievable performance by Topalov after the tough situation he was in at the first part of the match. Great game! This match will be really interesting.

hmmm..........its a bit sad how Anand missed the much said ''draw'' by all experts opinion. I guess its not superstitious, but i believe he is respecting the NIIT commitment he has back in India. Also i think Vishy should come up with a different opening with his white. Feeling really sad :-( . Now the championship is a 4 game tournament. Hope Vishy gets his composure. Gud Luk Vishy.

vishy! keep the nerve, keep the nerve. you've got your game. you haven't gone lame. keep the nerve.

This is a game changer for the challenger. Topalov, not only managed to play actively yesterday (though Anand had an upper hand at the closing stage), managed to break World Champion's Slav. Although objectively Topalov did not get the kind of advantage he wanted, he did level the score, and he is getting into the pace he likes. When the preparations hit the spot, Topalov is incredibly strong, and this games serves as proof. Team Anand has to come up with some novelty to contest this trend; Anand must introduce a novelty, or take his opponent out of the book. This is getting very exiting. Different styles, but still, this is chess at the top!

Also my observation is, Vishy is taking too much time for his initial moves and is coming under time pressure. Hope things start getting into a mode which Vishy feels more comfortable. I am also surprised at his time control knowing how fast he could actually play. Come on Vishy......

Topa won today's game by pushing hard in yesterday's game.

Now the match initiative turned to Topa. One has to remember that in Anand-Kramnik 2008, Anand was under the presure in last 3 games (or 2).

Topa played creatively and has to be rewarded.

@ ravi : i understand the NIIT commitments back home but why cant he wear a diff colour shirt..m sure he has plenty of them !!! anyway its funny !!!

NOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,!

Topalov has great fighting spirit, and it has been rewarded. I feel Anand has let down Caissa since he won the title with his mediocre tournament performances. Time for a change at the top? Four games and we will see.

If Topalov wins, chess world had better hope there will not be another decade of fights, controversies and another spliting of the crown.

this reminds me a bit like the last game of this year's Linares tournament. It was against Gelfand and was looking very well for Topalov, but then he spoiled the win with a few inaccurate moves. Instead of accepting the draw he started to push stubbornly and after a long endgame Gelfand made a mistake. Same thing here, the guy is a real fighter and deserved to win.

Vishy you will make it! We believe in you.
Topi go home. Oh you're already home.

This is Topalov's match now, he has looked much stronger the last games.

Go TOPA!!!

Now I know why Topa team where rooting that much for Sofia Rules.

It was part of their opening repertoire to reach such unclear positions!?

I was I bit critic about Anand strategie to play systematically the same defense.
I have to apologize because during the game I predicted unpleasant surprises for the next game if Anand stubborn himself to play Slav.

Bad surprise came ealier than I thought.

Very interesting ending match coming

This is the result of the two previous games. Topalov kept on pressing and winning the theoretical battle. It was a matter of time that Anand would eventually collapse. It was a strategic mistake to repeat the Slav when team Topalov had obviously gained gradual ascendancy in opening preparation over the champion. The situation called for something dramatically new (perhaps Nimzo or Queen's Indian, even a better prepared Gruenfeld!) to change the character of the battle, but Anand did not react quickly enough and paid the price. Or was it obstinacy?
What will happen next? Catalan again?

this was bound to happen......i had on this site only said on 1st May-10 that vishy needs to reverse the opening. Topalov has analysed both the slav and catalan opening to the proverbial "T" and the result showed in Game 8. Vishy has let the opponent re-group himself by repeating the openings without much novelty.

Anand has lost a great opportunity to go for the kill when his opponent was down and win out right. As cricketer steve waugh said to gibbs during there semi-final world cup match when the later dropped his catch - ' son, you just dropped the world cup' and goes without saying that australia went on to win the world cup cricket title.......anand has blundered once again.

It is my observation that Anand has got great performance's to his credit for so many years, but falters at the real BIG events like this !
I pray that he holds on to his nerve's and goes on to win the title.

cheers !!!

Just remember what happened last time Anand lost a big game: he bounced back with his great victory in Game 2 after blundering away Game 1.

Game 9 is *huge* for Anand, damn near a must-win situation else Topalov will continue to gain momentum.

Damn Topalov is a strong finisher.

Well Done Topalov

Looking back I get more and more impressed what great matches Kasparov and Karpov played. Just after 8 games - and 3 rest days- those guys break heavenly in the ending. K & K did not only played longer and more complicated middlegames (with preperations ending ten moves earlier) but there were also able to fight endings end even to excel there ( I always remember Ng2! if someone what I mean..). Opening preperation has become a little bit to dominant.

@AljechinsCat: "K & K did not only played longer and more complicated middlegames"

Are you aware of the number of short draws (less than move 15) in the K-K match (for eg. in the 45 game match).

Get your stats right before any claims. One endgame blunder does not generalize to a statement of fatigue after 8 games.

"Opening preperation has become a little bit to dominant.".... Read the great predecessors book on kasparov and you will know how more dominant opening preparation was then compared to now.

First of all, I root for Topalov and don't always appreciate Vishy, but I greatly respect him and Kramnik who have been outstanding players for more than 15 years But the problem for Anand now is that he's not in the same situation that after game 2 because his Slav collapsed while Topalov's Catalon solidified. Now Anand has to find something with Black in order to survive, while it"s not sure he will come up with novelties with White.

i really hope that 1.e4 will be played at some point. It's such a shame to not see this opening anymore. I wonder why?

In the variation on move, 40 Kg5 and 48... Be4 I wondered if black isn't lost after 58... Kc8: 59 Bg3 Bf7 60 Bh4 Bg6 61 Bg5 Bf7 62 d7+ Kxd7 63 Kxb7 Bc4 64 b5 axb5 65 a6 b4 66 a7 but after 66... b3 (66... Ke8? 67 Kb6 Bd5 68 Kc5) 67 a8Q Bd5+ 68 Ka7 Bxa8 69 f7 b2 70 f8Q b1Q Fritz (and the tablebase without ph5) can't find anything.
In the comments, on move 46 (46 Be5 gxh5 47 Kxh5 Bb5), 48 hxg6 is not legally possible anymore. 48 Kh6 instead is winning - the Harakrishna plan. Instead, 46 Bc3 gxh5 47 Kxh5 Kf8+! 48 Kh6 Bg6 49 Bb4 Bf7 50 g4 seems to lead in the above variation, so a draw after all - a bit unexpected to me.
Quite unbelievable Anand blundered like this, maybe the 'five year advantage' Topalov was talking about before the match is doing it's work. In the second half of the match against Kramnik, Anand also looked exhausted.
@Harish "Are you aware of the number of short draws" - so Topalov was tactically right to put pressure on Anand by ruling these short draws out.

Extremely weak play by Anand today. He played like 1900 or less. Unbelievable that he didn't find the plan with Ke8 and B on the b1-h7 diagonal, I am so sad and angry. Topalov has caught up, o god please let Anand awake and beat the guy in the end.

@ron: I don't think it's likely Topalov would take 56 moves to beat somebody 1900 or less. But I do think Anand was probably a little tired, given that in yesterday's game it was very tense and he had to find all the moves over the board, while Topalov just trotted out his preparation.

Well, Topalov's win today is a slap on the face of those (including this site) who criticized him for not accepting draws. He deservedly won a game today by keeping the pressure on in a position that most GMs would agree as draw. Well done Mr. Topalov. This is a great duel between two great players; the match is still open to any result. I would bet on Topalov though; momentum is on his side, he usually finishes very strong in the second half of any tournament/match he plays, possibly due to his superior mental and physical preparation. But of course he cannot underestimate Anand.

Sofia rules got to Anand's nerves. what a tragedy.

I see him recover for the rest of the match, this should act as caffeine, or nothing can.

Topalov must be credited for following 'not accepting draws ', find it more sportsmanlike than 25 move peace. Though hope it keeps him as a worthy challenger onlee :)

hard-fought game, two great players!

@ed: I haven't seen anybody criticizing Topalov for not accepting draws simply because... no draw offers have been made so far in the match.

@shabazz “if topalov wins....another decade of fights, controversies,..............split..."
funny, but i got the same impression after the game ended: that camp danilov could set chess back a generation, back to the cold war era!!! although it is far too early in the match to count vishy out. keep the nerve. keep the nerve.

by the way, who won the rapid match played in sofia a few years ago, vishy or veselin?

Theodulf on chessninja has an excellent point. I am quoting his point as to why in those days blunders in the endgame were not quite common - a fitting reply to @AljechinsCat who had mentioned this careless comment

"Looking back I get more and more impressed what great matches Kasparov and Karpov played. Just after 8 games – and 3 rest days- those guys break heavenly in the ending. K & K did not only played longer and more complicated middlegames (with preperations ending ten moves earlier) but there were also able to fight endings end even to excel there"

Below is theodulf comment on chessninja

"you won't see very many of these blunders in the ending. And you know why? Because those WCs all had the luxury of adjournments and a much slower schedule. 40 moves in 5 hours and they were done for the day and could go back and analyze the games with their whole team. The "Harikrishna line", as we were calling it on the ICC, would then have been analyzed to death on both sides and move 42 would never habe been played - it would have been drawn without resumption."

This is turning out to be a fantastic match with very interesting games. I enjoy the playing styles of both players, but will not be disappointed whoever wins or loses.

In terms of character, Topalov has the toiletgate stigma and recent comments (with implied disrespect to Kramnik and the actual title) that this match should have taken place a long time ago. The bright side, if Topalov wins, is that he will then actually be the world champion and perhaps then we can dispense with this ridiculous FIDE title lineage. It will simply be Kasparov -> Kramnik -> Anand -> Topalov and we can hope that his wily manager will realize that's the best way to sell it.

Generally I am rooting for Anand, but his persistance that he had already won the title previously, trying to glorify the FIDE tin crowns and distance himself from his match loss against Kasparov, is enough for me to not mind so much if he loses.

Of course, the most important thing is great games, and we're getting that. Many thanks to both these great combatants.

Firstly, I appreciate Topalov for a nice match 8. Also, he did play well taking less time than Anand.

I remember 2 important quotes in the chess book by Robar. I want to tell them to Vishy Anand.

1) "Defence is the best offence but offence is the best defence"

So Anand must use offence with Topalov. Topalov has habit of making mistakes under pressure and can't think clearly in complex situations. Even games 7,8 show only his preparation but not real fighting power.

2) "Win the center of the board and u win the match"

While this may not be completely true for all situations, this works against topalov as I am watching his moves. Also, Vishy need not worry about openings with this opponent (Topalov) but rather should take over center. For every position beyond initial moves, he must try to press for advantage taking command at center.

Cheers

This is good news for the entire chess community!! Topalov is now one step closer of regaining his title after Kramnik blatanly cheated on him back in 2007!

Sofia rules didn't matter in this game. Topalov had a clear advantage, with practical chances to win and no chance to lose. Any savvy GM in his position would've kept playing for a while to see if their opponent might not break. And besides, it's a match--even if you don't win, torturing your opponent for a lot of moves is a good way to wear him down and assert your dominance. ;)

@Harish:

your comments sound more or less superficial; let me discuss your "wisdom" taken from a book and a blogger comment:

@AljechinsCat: “K & K did not only played longer and more complicated middlegames”

Are you aware of the number of short draws (less than move 15) in the K-K match (for eg. in the 45 game match).

Yes I´m aware.
The reason for the short draws in the first K&K was obviously the lack of a rest day after each 2 games (!) as it is for Topalov and Anand. I can remember the 23rd (end-)game of the ch-85, that lasted more than 90 moves-- where the young Garry did not crack at all.

Get your stats right before any claims. One endgame blunder does not generalize to a statement of fatigue after 8 games.

The champion simply blundered (as he himself stated). If that was not due to fatigue- what then? Lack of concentration? Missing endgame knowledge? Hell, never would I assume something like that to the 40year champ.

Yours:
“Opening preperation has become a little bit to dominant.”…. Read the great predecessors book on kasparov and you will know how more dominant opening preparation was then compared to now.

Thanks for the nice book tip, but please leave such snotty teaching.
Goddess, do you really believe that prep has not made a huge development during the the last 20 years and has the dominant factor in that match? Do you, for example, want to seriously compare Kasparovs Maroczy Gambit - refuted after justtwo moves - with the refined preparation of Topa in the first game? Have you really played in a serious international tournament or league in the last decade?

Vishy, you have fans here - people who support fair play.

SURPRISE, how a world champion can miss simple 54..Bd3.
Big shock for Anand fans.

Ed, even a 2300 rated GM would play on against Anand in such a position... no risk and good chances to win, what more can you want?

Wow!!!
Great game!
I said that Topalov will be stronger at second half of the match.
I still believe in Anand.
Regards,
GC

Thanks, Siva. But having played chess now for about 30 years I doubt It will help much reading general principles found in just about every indroductory text for the game of chess.

;-)

In K-K matches (84 and 85), rest days were very common. There were never two games at consecutive days; it was more or less 3 games a week.

@Saket "Anand has got great performance’s to his credit for so many years, but falters at the real BIG events like this !"

It was in BIG events that Anand made his name. Mexicon 2007, Bonn 2008 were all big events. One game lost and why such pessimistic conclusions?

@FFlintstone: I guess pk responded to your comment on rest days as there plenty. Several on chessninja agree on Theodful's point in chessninja on the adjournments being a key reason for error free endgames played in those days.

"If that was not due to fatigue- what then? ". The champion also blundered in the first game. Is that also due to fatigue? silly logic yours.
There is no denial that he blundered, you cannot attribute it to fatigue.

With all the respect to the players but why are we confronted with an endless repeating of just a few opening games for so long now? Where is the Dutch opening, the Spanisch, The French etc?
It looks more or less a battle for who will find the best moves in these pair prepared openings over who is the most inventive, agressive, etc in chess in common.
Although the level and the players are beneath any doubt, the battle who ist the best of the world is.
All according to my humble opinion ofcourse.

@Harish:

year, the first game Anand lost for what he himself called "mixing variations up".
Typical for todays playing on the edge of a high-end-prep.

I do not share your opinion that great endgame play requires adjournments. I remember landmark endgame play by Aronjan catching Shirovs King in the corner forcing him into Zugzwang (12-moves-combination) or Topas -Bh3!! vs. Shirov. No adjournment, no break after 2 games, real life tournaments.

Let me express that I respect Mr. Anand very much. I simply express my disappointment that in real life chess where endgames are fought til the end the champ just blundered, due to fatigue, miscalculation/evaluation or whatever. Karpov has squeezed endings for more than 120 moves (so adjournment is of no importance), and Gary Kimovitch just held up.

@FFlintstone:

Sure Gary would have held up. So what do you say that Gary has never blundered in an endgame. What about others. We all know about the famous Fischer endgame blunder getting his bishop trapped. Same way, Anand has also held in long games, take Topa-Anand itself example in san luis 2005. 100 odd moves. Anybody is capable of blunders at any point in the game, it is rare, but possible.
All I am saying is the endgame errors that occur in today's game are less than what it was during the wch matches before due to adjournments.

WOWWW!!! After Vishy easily levelled the score and went on to take the lead he already looked like the winner to me. I had my doubts whether Topa could come back. Now he has and he has done it in an endgame ... double impressive. Looking forward to some hard fought matches ...

Go for it, Vishy! Four (4) more games to go to retain your title as world champion. I know you can do it because you've done it before.

trivial observation:
all 4 wins so far have come from the left side of the board, anands name plate side (see fide wcch poster board behind the players while they are seated at the board). if this trend continues vishy will win tomorrow (if there is a win) because anand again sits to the left.
admit it all the computer analysis and all the talk about the sofia rule etc. has gotten the best of me.

----------------------------------------------------THE END

"I remember landmark endgame play by Aronjan catching Shirovs King in the corner forcing him into Zugzwang (12-moves-combination) or Topas -Bh3!! vs. Shirov."

It was Shirov who played Bh3!! in the famous opposite colour bishop won against Topalov ;)

Thanks for replying me Mr.Vishy Anand !!!.

Agreed to what you said.

I just wanted to convey what I felt is right among a plethora of basics that particularly suits this opponent.

I wish from heart that you win all games further.

Cheers

@siva: hmm... that's interesting. You're actually right, you know? Looking at Topalov's games with a fresh perspective, I do see that he's especially uncomfortable when he doesn't control the center. Your insight is pretty original and ingenious.

Was wondering if you'd care to be my second (over skype) for the next 3 games? And if it works out, we can move forward from there. If you're interested, please leave your email address here, and Aruna will contact you.

And I dedicate game 9 to you, my friend (check out the awesome center I'm gonna build)! Thanks!

@Herb: And I was so dumb as to think that White has won all 4 games.

I can't help suspecting that siva and Vishwanathan Anand are one and the same person, just fooling around ... . (The real Anand has just one 'h' in his name)

Thomas, ur not correct. We are different people.

While I am serious, looks like ur point is also to be considered. If someone is fooling me using Anand's name, then I can't help.

Regarding ur doubt, U can trace my IP address by asking the host of this domain.

But my points are correct. This is just my analysis. Anyone is free to disagree.
Further, I will never post anything here anymore as the seriousness of the blog is on loose because of un wanted discussions.

Cheers

@Thomas: I can't help but agree.... but who knows; maybe a spelling mistake or internet numerology or something? This could be a chance of a lifetime for siva (lucky bastard). So let him try and don't dissuade him.

Sigh... siva's study of some Robar guy seems more influential than my studies of Dvoretsky. Go siva!!

@Harish:

"So what do you say that Gary has never blundered in an endgame. "
No - all I said was that Gary proved the stamina to hold such games in important matches, even after two months of playing. But he was 24 then, not 40 like Anand.

"All I am saying is the endgame errors that occur in today’s game are less than what it was during the wch matches before due to adjournments."
Huh? You were arguing before that modern games may include MORE endgame errors compared to earlier games due to the lack of adjournments. Now its the opposite?

"example in san luis 2005. 100 odd moves. "
Sorry - you dont know what youre talking about. These moves were all but odd, As you can read (for example) in the german magazine SCHACH, Topalov had two times the opportunity to clearly win this game. (If you would like to I can find you the issue). This time Topa took his chance!

@Ianis:
Sorry- I just remembered the fantastic idea, moves like that make me believe in true genius.

@chandler
thx! glad i'm not the only space kadett in the crowd. enjoy yourself!

I take my words back. Finally we saw a heroic fight in game 9 starting with a different opening. Concratulations both!