Half Hours

Garry Kimovich Kasparov – Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov

Champions Showdown Chess960 2018; rapid match game 5 (30+10); Saint Louis, September 13, 2018

brkqnbrn/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BRKQNBRN w KQkq - 0 1

Position 802

1. f4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 c5 4. b3 f6 5. Bd3 g6 6. Qe2 Nf7 7. c4 b6 8. 0-0 Nc7 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Ng3 Be7 11. b4! c4 12. Bc2 Qd7 13. Nd4. Kasparov’s got a clear advantage out of the opening — even if it couldn’t possibly be sufficient to win the game. 13. ... 0-0-0. The right castle wing, as on 13. ... 0-0?? 14. f5! is crushing. 14. a4 Kb8 15. f5 Ne5 16. b5 Rgf8 17. Rf2 Bd6 18. Rbf1 Qe7 19. Bc3 Bb7 20. Rf4 Rf7 21. Rh4 g5 22. Rh3 Bc8 23. Kh1 Re8 24. Rh6 Bb4

25. Qh5!? Bxc3 26. dxc3 Bd7 27. e4? Qa3? (27. .. Nd3!∓) 28. Rxh7? Kasparov keeps pushing hard to win something bigger than a honourable draw. Here 28. Nf3 was quite necessary. 28. .. Rxh7 29. Qxh7 Qxc3 30. Nge2 Qe3. Also strong is 30. ... Qa3! eventually followed by ... Qa3-d6. 31. Qg7 dxe4? A careless inversion of moves. Best was 31. ... Kc8! in order to answer 32. Qxf6 with 32. ... Ng4 winning the Exchange. 32. Qxf6 Kc8 33. Qg7 Nd3 34. h3 Rd8 35. Kh2 Nf4? And here comes the losing move! After 35. ... Be8 White would have had to content himself with (only) the better game by 36. Bd1! followed by Nd4-c2 and Ne2-d4. 36. Qxg5+− Nfd5 37. Qg7 Ne8 38. Qg3 Nef6 39. Qxe3 Nxe3 40. Rf4 Ned5 41. Rf2 Rh8 42. Kg1 Nb4 43. Nc3 Nd3 44. Re2 Rh4 45. Kh2 Rf4 46. g4 e3 47. Ne6 Rf1 48. Bxd3 cxd3 49. Rxe3 d2 50. Rd3 Ne4 51. Nxe4 d1=Q 52. Rxd1 Rxd1 53. N6g5 Rd4 54. h4 1 : 0.

Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov – Garry Kimovich Kasparov

Champions Showdown Chess960 2018; rapid match game 6 (30+10); Saint Louis, September 13, 2018

brkqnbrn/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BRKQNBRN w KQkq - 0 1

Position 802

1. e4 e6 2. Ng3 d5 3. e5 f6 4. Nf3 Ng6 5. Qe2 Qd7 6. 0-0-0 0-0-0 7. b3 Kb8 8. Qe3 c5 9. d4 Rc8 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Qe1 b6 12. Kb1 Bb7 13. Bd3 f5. 13. ... Rf8 14. Ne2 Nc7 was fine for Black. 14. Ne2 Nc7 15. h4 Ba6 16. h5 Ne7?? Blundering the Bishop! Simply 16. ... Bxd3 17. Rxd3 Nh8! followed by ... Nh8-f7 was perfectly playable for Black. 17. b4+− Bxf2 18. Qxf2 Qa4 19. Bb2 Qxb4 20. Ned4 Qa4 21. Qh4 Nc6 22. Nxc6+ Qxc6 23. Nd4 Qd7

24. Qe7! 1 : 0.

Garry Kimovich Kasparov (left) vs. Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov (right). Photo: Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.