After the fourth round (there are four more) the match between Gata Kamsky and Veselin Topalov is currently drawn. As an American I'm proud to see Kamsky fighting back and making this match as 'bloody' as possible.


The most recent update and game commentary can be found at Chessbase and Chessdom.

The second round of the Championship Challenger Match has ended with Topalov on the top. Not only that but he had the Black pieces. It seems the prediction in my recent post was slightly unfounded and Topalov manages to not only hold on in game two but push forward to win it!

Congratulations Topalov!

From Chessbase:

In the first game of the special FIDE Candidates Qualifier for the World Championship Veselin Topalov uncorked a novelty on move 17, and launched a sharp attack against Kamsky's king. However the Brooklyn Boy remained unperturbed, defended well and in fact gained a slight advantage.

I think in some respects Kamsky has won a moral victory here. Topalov comes out strong bringing a new weapon to the table and Kamsky not only defends but gains a strong position and all Topalov can do is draw.

Here is the events schedule:

Monday February 16: 18:00h Opening
Tuesday February 17: 15:00h Game 1
Wednesday February 18: 15:00h Game 2
Thursday February 19 Rest day
Friday February 20: 15:00h Game 3
Saturday February 21: 15:00h Game 4
Sunday February 22 Rest day

Monday
February 23: 15:00h Game 5
Tuesday February 24: 15:00h Game 6
Wednesday February 25 Rest day
Thursday February 26: 15:00h Game 7
Friday February 27: 15:00h Game 8
Saturday February 28 Tiebreaks

I'll be out of town part of this time but I'll try to spread the news as the event unfolds.

According to several sources GM Georgiev will be making a Guiness World Record attempt during the Kamsky-Topalov match (on Feb. 21, 2009). The attempt involves playing 450 players in chess simultaneously and maintaining a very high win percentage.

GM Susan Polgar holds the previous record from July 2005 ... 326 simultaneous Games Played (309 wins, 14 draws, 3 losses) in 16 hours and 30 minutes.

Susan's best advice for Georgiev ... "wear comfortable shoes"

FIDE just recently issued a press release claiming that an agreement between FIDE and the players has put the match in Sofia. However, after reading the interview with Kamsky's new manager we find:

"the contracts are not signed yet, but it seems that we finally have an agreement on all the important points." - GM Emil Sutovsky

That's right, FIDE has issued yet another press release without having signed contracts. That's just a good idea.