Topalov Kramnik 2006 Match

Authors: Topalov & Ginchev
Russell Enterprises, Inc. (2007)
220 pages,
$28.95

Reviewed by John Donaldson

TOPALOV-KRAMNIK, 2006 WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP is two books in one with Topalov responsible for the annotations and Ginchev the background material -- principally "toiletgate."

The former FIDE World Champion is not known as a writer -- in fact, Topalov writes in the introduction, "I don't like annotating chess games very much." Maybe he doesn't, but Topalov is a brilliant annotator! The eleven match games and subsequent playoffs are all analyzed in depth with detailed variations and lots of prose. Topalov is frank and doesn't hide what he is thinking. In his notes to game 4 after Black's 22nd move he writes:

"Here my opponent offered a draw, the second surprise in two moves! After the game he said the position was dead even, so he did not want to waste time, as he wanted to watch a Champions' League soccer match. According to Bareev's evaluation White has a pleasant advantage and this is also the opinion of all the computer engines I consulted. And now that we know that even Fritz10, by no means the best computer program, is clearly better than Kramnik, I would say my opponent's assessment of the position as a dead draw is quite wrong. And there is another ethical question: whether it is right to offer a draw with the black pieces when leading +2 in the score and in an inferior position. But I guess we should not look for moral values in people that do not have them." Touché! It would be very interesting to have Kramnik's take on this.

While I found Topalov's notes to be worthy of a World Champion and of interest to all chess players, I'm not so sure about Ginchev's contribution. If you like alleged conspiracies and intrigues you will likely enjoy his writing, but I for one have had enough of "toiletgate."

Click HERE to see Silman's review of this same book.

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