Veselin Topalov, slow starts and novelties

Topalov made it to the first page of FAZ

This is the second player preview for Morelia Linares 2008 and we start it with recent feedback that our attentive readers from Germany sent us. The game between Topalov and Kramnik during the Corus chess tournament amazed the chess world with Topalov's home preparation and precise play. However, mainstream media also seem to be delighted with the repercussion of the move 12. Nxf7. It was all around the world in major newspapers and maybe the best example is what we received yesterday from Germany. The game was published on the first page of the printed edition of Frankfurter Allgemaine Zeitung with a diagram! Now this is bombastic, FAZ traditionally has no or just one image on the main page, yet a chess diagram appears there!

Read the online article in FAZ

Expectations

Having all the recent events in mind, we can expect Veselin Topalov to make it to the mainstream media during Morelia Linares again. To be precise, it is probable to happen in Spain, not in Mexico. The reason is simple, Topalov is a slow starter. Last year he had a disastrous performance in Morelia where he started with 4 draws and 2 losses in the first six rounds.

Veselin Topalov plays often in the Morelia Linares chess tournament. He usually has high score, but has never been on clear first. His best performance was during the last tournament of Garry Kasparov, where he managed to finish with the same points as Garry, but worse tiebreak.

Veselin Topalov recent games and results

Corus 2008 5,5/13 (+3, =6, -4)

Morelia Linares 2007 6,0/14 (+1, =10, -3)

These are the recent games with direct opponents from the first Grand Slam tournament in Holland. 1 out of 4 points, two draws and two losses.

The Corus 2008 and Morelia Linares statistics do not favor Topalov for the upcoming Mexico and Spain. However, this is exactly the situation that motivates the Bulgarian GM. Will Morelia Linares 2008 be a comeback after a weak Corus tournament?