| Strong points: |
Topalov is a tough fighter who earned most of his impressive amount of
Elo-points during the 1990s in the open-tournament circuit. His powers
of concentration are as unlimited as his self-confidence. Bulgaria’s
first-board player is not impressed by even the most renowned opponents,
and rightly so. In the 1994 Chess Olympiad in Moscow, he was the only
participant to defeat Gary Kasparov and one year later he held his own
with a 3-3 tie in his Varna match against Anatoly Karpov. |
| Career highlights: |
Winner of Rubinstein Memorial at Polanica Zdroj 1995, first in Elista
1995 and Amsterdam 1997. Shared first place Madrid 1993, Amsterdam and
Dos Hermanas 1996. |
| Expectations CCT 2003: |
It is not Topalov’s first appearance in Wijk aan Zee. The
Sofia-based Bulgarian, fifth in the world rankings and a long-time
number one on the list of the world’s most fashionable grandmasters,
has competed in the Corus tournament before, but that was in the years
that Gary Kasparov dominated the event. In the absence of the world’s
most feared opponent, Bulgaria’s board-one player must be considered
as one of the odds-on favourites for this year’s first prize. |
