Kamsky wins game 4 to level match score

Gata Kamsky defeated Veselin Topalov in the fourth game of the Challenger's Match to level the score: 2-2. In a Zaitsev Ruy Lopez, the American sacrificed a pawn for strong pressure, won two pawns back and then converted his material advantage in the ending.

The Kamsky-Topalov World Championship Semi-Final Match takes place February 16th to 28th in the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Challenger’s Match consists of eight games and possible tie-breaks and has a prize find of US $250,000 which will be shared equally by the players. The winner qualifies for a World Championship Match against Viswanathan Anand.

Game 4 Again, Topalov went for 1...e5 and this time it was the Zaitsev Variation he had prepared. With 12.Ng5 (a move sometimes played back in the seventies) Kamsky avoided the topical lines and then came up with a very creative pawn sacrifice (26.b3) to untangle his queenside. The American had judged correctly: his pressure on the c- and d-files meant more than enough compensation. After a few inaccuracies by Topalov, Kamsky won his pawn back and then another one, and eventually this decided the game. (Don't miss Ian Rogers' great first piece on the events in Sofia!)

Name	Nat.	Rtg	G01 17/2	G02 18/2	G03 20/2	G04 21/2	G05 23/2	G06 24/2	G07 26/2	G08 27/2	Score
Kamsky	USA	2725	¬?	0	¬?	1					2
Topalov	BUL	2796	¬?	1	¬?	0					2

Photos © Ivan Stoimenov - courtesy of the official website

Links:

• More background info
• Report of game 1
• Report of game 2
• Report of game 3
• Official website
• Games in PGN
• Chess.FM blog
• Chess Life Online with Ian Rogers blogging