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It's time for the weekly Q&As! Feel free to send me new ones:
Q1: Who was the first female player to become GM?
A1: Nona Gaprindashvili, the legendary Women World Champion, received that title in 1978 for her achievements. Another Women World Champion, Maia Chiburdanidze, met the official requirements for becoming a GM in 1988.
Q2: Anand or Topalov - who will win? A2: Topalov is now in a close to desperate situation. He'll be playing 2 games with black being a point down. If Anand wins one of them and draws the other, it will be very tough for Veselin to come back.
Q3: How would you fare against a male grandmaster?
A3: I have been playing male grandmasters, the results are about the same as expected (according to ratings). Will try to play more of them in the future.
Q4: What are your handles at ICC and PlayChess? A4: At ICC it's Bagira, at PlayChess - simply Pogonina. I don't play under official handles that often.
Q5: Will you play a re-match against the World with Black? A5: I will consider doing it.
Q6: Who are the strongest opponents you have faced? A6: A couple of FIDE 2750+ players in blitz.
Q7: Have you ever experienced a blackout like in Topalov-Anand game 5? A7: Yes, at the Russian Club Cup in Dagomys. We ended up playing with candles next to our clocks, a very romantic atmosphere.
Viswanathan Anand - Veselin Topalov, MTel 2006
Black to move
Since we have already published both a win by Anand over Topalov and vice versa, now it's the time to support Topalov's fans (since he is a point down). Can you see how he won this game?
Thanks to our friends from Europe Echecs for the videos!
In game 4 Anand came up with an interesting novelty in the Catalan. He offered Topalov a pawn for positional compensation, developed a dangerous initiative on the kingside and went on to win the game in great style after Veselin underestimated a typical knight sacrifice on h6.
So far things seem to be going in Anand's favor: he is clearly dominating in the opening and playing in a more practical and balanced way. Leading 2,5-1,5 he managed to win right before the rest day again, which is always nice. However, with 8 rounds to go Topalov has all the chances to catch up with Vishy or even emerge victorious.
Thanks to our friends from Europe Echecs for the videos!
When the most heavily discussed issue after the game is that Anand and Topalov didn't shake hands, it's easy to conclude that the game itself hasn't been very exciting. Indeed, Anand managed to equalize rather comfortably in the Slav Defense. The players have reached a 4 vs 4 pawns on the same side rook endgame, repeated some moves, and only then called for the arbiter to adjudicate a draw.
The lack of a handshake - is it a first sign of an upcoming scandal, or just a consequence of Topalov's tiredness and irriation with not obtaining any real advantage as White? We'll find out soon, meanwhile the score is 1,5-1,5 with 9 rounds to go.
