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Chess
Hungary's Peter Leko, who won the Candidates' chess tournament in Dortmund on Sunday.
The draw gives Leko a 2.5-1.5 victory in the match and the right to play Einstein World champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in title match early next year. Topalov had to win to stay alive and had an opportunity, but missed a chance for a blistering attack after which his advantage soon petered out. With the white pieces, Topalov switched to 1. d4 and Leko responded with the Nimzo-Indian Defence. Instead of the current main lines, Topalov played the Saemisch Variation. Leko played a relatively obscure sideline and the players followed an old game, Najdorf-Benes, from the 1950 Olympiad, until Topalov varied on move 12. After the game, Leko told reporters, ``I was quite happy with the opening. It was very sharp and I didn't have to think about a draw.'' German grandmaster Helmut Pfleger said of the resulting position, ``I prefer White; he has more space and threats against h7.'' Indeed, on move 14, Topalov missed a chance to launch a fierce attack, which in some lines involved sacrificing a piece against h7. Expert observers were unable to find a satisfactory defence for Leko. Afterward, Leko conceded, ``I made a mess of the middlegame.'' After this, White's advantage dissipated and, on move 22, French grandmaster Joel Lautier commented, ``Black is actually slightly better.'' Topalov had little choice but to play on and hope that Leko would go astray. But Leko held the course and went from a slightly better middle game to a slightly better endgame. On move 47, Pfleger said that Leko had ``at least a draw.'' It was now Leko's turn to let his advantage pass to his opponent. Afterward, he said, ``I went crazy.'' Still, German international master Stefan Loeffler declared that the position was ``a dead draw.'' Topalov won a pawn but the resulting rook-and-pawn endgame, like all rook-and-pawn endings according to an old chess adage, was drawn. After 61 moves, Topalov conceded the inevitable and shook hands with his opponent. Leko will now face Kramnik, one of two current World champions, in a match for his title next spring, probably running from early April to mid-May. Steve Timmins, CEO of Einstein Group plc, the championship's sponsor, has said the company is in talks with various cities and expects to announce a decision by October. Among the possible venues for the championship are Bahrain, Dortmund and Paris. In a live interview from the stage, Leko told the audience after the match, ``I haven't thought about what my chances against Kramnik are.'' Leko said that he was happy to win in Dortmund since it is his `second home.' He's been a regular feature at the tournament since 1991, when he was only 11. He met his wife Sophie here. Under a reunification agreement reached in Prague in May, the winner of the Einstein Group match will play the winner of a match between current FIDE champion Ruslan Ponomariov and Garry Kasparov next fall. That match will unify the World championship for the first time since 1993 when then-champion Kasparov broke with FIDE. Kramnik defeated Kasparov in 2000 in a match organised by Braingames.net In a press conference during Sunday's game, Timmins reaffirmed his support for the Prague agreement. ``We want to see unity in chess,'' he said. Einstein Group plc, a British company that bought the rights to the champions from Braingames.net, is sponsoring this tournament, next year's championship match between Kramnik and the winner here, as well as match between Kramnik and a top computer programme scheduled for October in Bahrain with a million-dollar prize fund. Leko's victory at Dortmund marks a breakthrough in his career. He is immensely talented, becoming the youngest grandmaster ever at 15, although that record has subsequently been broken. He has often been criticised, however, as not being ambitious enough and too willing to take the draw. Indeed, players had begun unkindly referring to draws as ``Lekos.'' But, as he pointed out today, he has won more games this year than in the previous three years. ``I've put a lot work into changing my style.''
The moves: 1. d4 Nf6, 2. c4 e6, 3. Nc3 Bb4, 4. f3 0-0, 5. a3 Bxc3+, 6. bxc3 Ne8, 7. e4 b6, 8. Bd3 Ba6, 9. Nh3 Nc6, 10. e5 Na5, 11. Qe2 f6, 12. 0-0 c5, 13. Be3 Rc8, 14. Rac1 d5, 15. Nf4 Nc7 16. exf6 Qxf6, 17. cxd5 Bxd3, 18. Qxd3 cxd4, 19. cxd4 Nxd5, 20. Nxd5 exd5, 21. Bf2 Nc4, 22. Rfe1 Rfe8, 23. Bg3 Qg6, 24. Qb3 h6, 25. Qb5 Qf7, 26. a4 Kh7, 27. h3 Ra8, 28. Be5 a6, 29. Qb3 Qg6, 30. f4 Rf8, 31. Rc3 Ra7, 32. Rg3 Qf5, 33. Kh2 Raf7, 34. Rg4 Rd7, 35. Rc1 Rff7, 36. Rc3 Rb7, 37. Qd1 Qe4, 38. Rgg3 Qf5, 39. Rb3 b5, 40. axb5 Rxb5, 41. Rxb5 axb5, 42. Rb3 Rb7, 43. Qe1 Qe4, 44. Qxe4+ dxe4, 45. d5 g5, 46. g4 e3, 47. Kg3 e2, 48. Kf2 Re7, 49. Ke1 Nxe5, 50. d6 Re6, 51. fxe5 Rxe5, 52. Rb2 Re8, 53. Rxb5 Kg7, 54. Rb6 Re3, 55.d7 Rd3, 56. Rb7 Kf8, 57. Kxe2 Rd6, 58. Ke3 Ke7, 59. Ke4 Re6+, 60. Kf3 Rd6, 61. Ke4 Re6+ draw. — AP
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