# Veselin Topalov is on Fire! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 27, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veselin-topalov-is-on-fire/341919 "2006-01-27T22:15:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Wawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Captain\_Wawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Wawa)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veselin-topalov-is-on-fire/341919/1 "2006-01-27T22:15:34Z")
He’s been creeping up the charts for years, and recently became the third chess player in history to reach an Elo rating of over 2800 (the others being Kasparov and Kramnik)! Then he blows away the field to win [San Luis 2005](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIDE_World_Chess_Championship_2005), one of the greatest chess tournaments of all-time, to become the new FIDE World Chess Champion! Now he’s tearing up [Corus 2006](http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2887)! From the link, check out the diagram of the Topalov-Aronian game (about half way down the page). 18.Rxe4! - That’s sick! He’s changed his style recently and is playing the most solid, exciting chess I’ve seen in a long time. Check out this quote from [chessbase.com](http://chessbase.com): > [@](#): > > If we’re lucky, we’ll get to see more Topalov magic. As we pointed out in our coverage of San Luis, Topalov has been playing a different game lately. It looks a lot like chess, but the rules are slightly different. In this new variant, Topachess ™, the rooks are worth slightly less than knights, which are worth slightly less than bishops. On the Lasker scale this would mean a rook is worth around two and three-quarter pawns. At least it would in normal chess, but in Topachess ™ the pawns aren’t worth much either and should be sacrificed early and often. That is, unless you can first give up a rook or two for your opponent’s bishops and knights, in which case your remaining pawns can be very handy as connected passers. Clear on the rules yet? I just wanted to give out some props for my boy **Toppy**! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veselin-topalov-is-on-fire/341919/2 "2006-01-27T22:50:07Z")
yep, he’s playing lights out right now. What will be key is how long he can keep it up. Even though there have been several folks who have gotten on hot streaks and pushed themselves for a short while (kamsky comes to mind, although I may be mistaken). Nonetheless, he is red hot at the moment and it would be great if he can maintain that 2800 rating for many years. Rxe4 is impressive, but I was more taken by 25. Nxc6!. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veselin-topalov-is-on-fire/341919/3 "2006-01-27T22:54:20Z")
Agreed, absolutely. He’s been playing at this level probably since the 2004 FIDE KO tournament, so it’s seeming more and more that he’s really put himself into a higher level, not just a hot streak of a few games. You have to feel a bit for Anand; Kasparov finally retires, but Topalov passes Anand on the rating list just as Kasparov drops off :). ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veselin-topalov-is-on-fire/341919/4 "2006-01-27T23:23:12Z")
> [@borschevsky](#): > > Agreed, absolutely. He’s been playing at this level probably since the 2004 FIDE KO tournament, so it’s seeming more and more that he’s really put himself into a higher level, not just a hot streak of a few games. You have to feel a bit for Anand; Kasparov finally retires, but Topalov passes Anand on the rating list just as Kasparov drops off :). True, but Anandis right on Topolav’s tail right now at Corus. I like the fact that they are playing decisive games and not so many draws. Seemed like a few years ago draws were going to be the death of top level chess. ---
**Author:** ![OLAP\_Cube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ba9def/32.png) [@OLAP\_Cube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OLAP_Cube)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veselin-topalov-is-on-fire/341919/5 "2006-01-30T16:40:22Z")
Yep, he’s on fire bigtime! He truly is playing some amazing chess. However, I’m still pissed at him for [turning down $1.4 million](http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2738) to play a reunification match with Kramnik! We’ve been waiting for this reunification for years. Everything was lined up to make it happen, including the money, and he turns it down!? WTF! ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veselin-topalov-is-on-fire/341919/6 "2006-01-30T19:06:29Z")
I dig it, I need to get back into chess, I’ve fallen out of it recently. Perhaps it’s time I get back on ICC or FICS… Topalov is indeed doing amazing, wasn’t it Leko who ran the table at Corus last year? Well, not ran the table, but did super well? ---
**Author:** ![OLAP\_Cube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ba9def/32.png) [@OLAP\_Cube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OLAP_Cube)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veselin-topalov-is-on-fire/341919/7 "2006-01-30T19:38:44Z")
> [@ronincyberpunk](#): > > I dig it, I need to get back into chess, I’ve fallen out of it recently. Perhaps it’s time I get back on ICC or FICS… Topalov is indeed doing amazing, wasn’t it Leko who ran the table at Corus last year? Well, not ran the table, but did super well? Leko won in 2005 with a score of 8.5/13, beating Anand by half a point. In breaking news, Anand beats Gelfand in the last round to tie Topalov! Both scored a superb 9.0/13! With this performance, Anand also moves over the 2800 Elo threshold! Congrats Vishy! I’ll tell you what, Vishy and Toppy are going to be slugging it out all year for that #1 ranking.