The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Topalov in top form

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 02, 2004

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Sport - Chess

Topalov in top form

TRIPOLI (LIBYA), JULY 1. Top seed Grandmaster Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria starts as top favourite against Uzbekistan GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov in the four-game semifinal of the World Chess Championship.

GM Michael Adams of England will take on teenager Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan in the other semifinal.

Topalov has won all his games and his last victory against Andrei Kharlov of Russia is probably the best of the championship so far. Not only the victories, but also how they come are important. And Topalov's case can be anyone's dream. Uncompromising chess right from the word go, hammer hard if a tactical opportunity arises and stay poised if the position demands it has been the finer points of his performance so far.

Not lagging far behind is Adams who, like Topalov, is yet to play a tiebreaker. The Englishman, however, will have to keep Radjabov's stamina in mind. The Azerbaijan player is content playing the tiebreaker and has not missed even one opportunity to play the faster version since round two.

Kasimdzhanov is Topalov's opponent and the person who has been constantly aided by the luck factor. — PTI

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