Evans On Chess. May 3, 1996. Copyright Chesstours. All rights reserved.

                              TOPPLED BY TOPALOV

In 1957 Bobby Fischer lost a short training match to a famous veteran.
"That man is too normal," said the 14-year-old prodigy. "There must be
something wrong with him."

That man was Max Euwe (1901-1981) the only Dutch world champion. He won
the crown in 1935 and held it for two years. To honor him, the VSB bank
sponsored its 10th Euwe Memorial tournament in Amsterdam last April.

Current titleholder Gary Kasparov, 33, was upset in the first round by
Bulgarian whiz Veselin Topalov, 21. They tied for the lead at 6.5 - 2.5,
far ahead of Nigel Short and Viswanathan Anand (5-4) in a field of ten
stars. Kasparov came from behind with five wins and three draws in his
last eight games. Meanwhile Topalov drew once and lost to Short and
Vladimir Kramnik.

Topalov also toppled Kasparov at the 1994 Olympiad in Moscow. This time
around his novel 16 Bg5 coupled with an amazing knight's tour won the
day. Despite dropping a queen for two minor pieces, Kasparov almost
salvaged a draw. White missed a swifter win by 25 Qd5 Re6 26 Qd8 Re8 27
Qxa5. Later 28 Rd3 Rb6 29 Rb3 was also quicker, but why quibble?

Two rounds later Britain's Nigel Short found a formidable defense when
Topalov tried his gambit once more. Black won with 12...d5! 13 Re1 Bc5 14
Rxe4 Bxd4 15 Be3 0-0 16 Rxd4 exd4 17 Bxd4 f6! 18 Bc5 Re8. If tested again
somewhere else, can White find a vital improvement?

This opening has an interesting history. The first 15 moves followed a
wild game on a Spanish TV channel in 1991 where Kasparov had black
against viewers whose moves were chosen by majority vote. He finally
prevailed after 16 Be3 Ra6, but the last word has yet to be written.

"My idea of chess isn't looking for a novelty on move 25," groused one
grandmaster. But like it or not, pros must keep up with new wrinkles.

Theory marches on, and those who are unprepared will suffer. To throw
both players on their own resources, Fischer now urges that games start
from 960 possible positions with pieces placed on the back rank by
computer.

The official new name is "Fischer Random Chess." If you can't succeed
with the old rules, scrap 'em!

White: VESELIN TOPALOV Black: GARY KASPAROV Sicilian Defense 1996

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 0-0 Ncxe4 10 Nxe4 Nxe4 11 f5 e5 12 Qh5 Qe7?! 13 Qf3 Nc5 14 Nc6 Qc7
15 Bd5 a5 16 Bg5! Ra6 17 Nd8! f6 18 Nf7 Rg8 19 Be3 g6 20 Ng5 Rg7 21 fxg6
Rxg6 22 Bf7 Qxf7 23 Nxf7 Kxf7 24 Bxc5 dxc5 25 Rad1 Be7 26 Rd5 Bg4 27 Qe4
Kg7 28 Rfd1?! Bxd1 29 Rxd1 Re6 30 Qf5 Kf7 31 Re1 b6 32 h4 Rg7 33 Kf1 Bd6
34 Kf2 Bc7 35 Kf3 Ke7 36 Re4 Kf7 37 Rg4 Re7 38 Ke4 Rxg4 39 Qxg4 Bd8 40 a4
Kf8 41 c3 Rg7 42 Qc8 Ke8 43 Qe6 Kf8 44 g4 Rf7 45 h5 Rg7 46 h6 Rg6 47 Qd5
Be7 48 Kf5 Rxh6 49 Qb7 e4 50 Qb8 Kf7 51 Qxb6 e3 52 Qe6 Ke8 53 Qxe3 Rg6 54
Qe4 Rg5 55 Kf4 Kd7 56 Qb7 Ke6 57 Qc8 Kf7 58 Qc7 h5 59 gxh5 Rxh5 60 Qxa5
Bd6 61 Ke4 f5 62 Kd5 Be7 63 Qc7 Rh6 64 a5 Rd6 65 Ke5 Rf6 66 Qc8 Black
Resigns
