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Topalov-Kamsky: third game drawn

PeterDoggers
| 0 | Chess Event Coverage
Topalov-Kamsky Game 3The third game in the Challenger's Match between Veselin Topalov and Gata Kamsky has ended in a draw. Against Kamsky's Gr?ºnfeld, Topalov went for the Russian Variation (4.Qb3) this time, but again the American grandmaster had no trouble reaching a comfortable position out of the opening.

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 3 In what was probably his first 4.Qb3 ever, Topalov went for the topical 7.Be2 move-order (letting the knight on g1 for a while), as was played in a number of recent top games, the latest being Carlsen-Dominguez, Wijk aan Zee 2009. Kamsky's 7...a6 is relatively new there, but the idea isn't, of course.

After the queens went off the board, the position became a tactical slugfest where every move contained a threat, but this time Kamsky had enough time on the clock to calculate accurately, and so he easily found his way in all the variations. In the resulting ending Topalov tried it for a while, but soon he had to admit that it was a dead draw.



On the official website, below the photos, each day a video of the press conference is posted. Probably (partly) because of the arrival of American journalist (and occasional ChessVibes editor) Macauley Peterson, who will report on the match for ICC until the end, it's now done in English as well.

But beware - it's still quite disappointing to watch, although at the same time also fascinating. The thing is: the players don't want to say anything. Really. Asked to describe the game, Topalov simply answered: "Very complicated, but after some time we reached an equal ending so it was a normal result." To which Kamsky added: "The ending was very interesting but the endgame was equal."

Macauley asked the question whether there were any draw offers prior to the end of the game and indeed, at the start of the repetition of moves, Kamsky offered a draw, but Topalov made two more moves before offering his hand anyway.

Then, Macauley again: "In the previous game we have seen the importance of clock management. Did you make some adjustments on the rest day?" Kamsky's answer: "Yes, some adjustments."

On the question by (probably a Bulgarian journalist) how he feels after three games in Bulgaria, Kamsky smiled and said: "I feel great." The journalist then made clear that he didn't understand why Kamsky kept on answering so briefly. "They're logical answers, they just happen to be very short."

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
Topalov BUL 2796
¬?
1 ¬? 2



Photo © Ivan Stoimenov - courtesy of the official website

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PeterDoggers
Peter Doggers

Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms.

Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools.

Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013.

As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”

In October, Peter's first book The Chess Revolution will be published!


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