Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Chess

William Hartston
Monday 02 June 1997 23:02 BST
Comments

Veselin Topalov won first prize in Madrid after a nail-biting play-off with Alexei Shirov. The two had ended the tournament level on 61/2 points from nine games, then played two 20-minute games for the trophy. When both were drawn, they moved on to a six-minutes-for-White, five-minutes- for-Black decider, with Topalov declared winner after he had drawn the game with Black. Other scores: Belyavsky and Shirov 51/2; Illescas, Short and Polgar 41/2; Salov 31/2; Piket 21/2; San Segundo 11/2.

The diagram sets the scene for the biggest disaster of the event. Salov, playing White against Polgar, was pushing hard for a win. There followed: 1.Kf3 Re5 2.Rb8+ Kf7 3.Rb7+ Ke6 4.Be3 Rf5+ 5.Ke4 Re5+ 6.Kd3 Rd1+ 7.Kc4 Re4+ 8.Kb5 Rd7 9.Rb6+ Kd5 10.b4 Ree7 11.Ra6 Rb6+ 12.Ka5 Rec7 13.Ra8 Kc4 14.Bc5 Rc6!

Suddenly, the tables are turned. The threat is 15...Rb5+ 16.Ka4 Rcxc5! 17.bxc5 Rb1 and Black wins! Salov played 15.Bf8 but after 15...Rb5+ 16.Ka4 Rb8! he resigned: 17.Rxb8 Ra6 is mate.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in