Oh so close!

This morning, Topalov came close to winning against Anand. Or, at least, that's what most kibitzers on ICC thought, armed with all their forms of silicon aid. But even to non-master eyes it was an exciting game. With a black pawn on b2, white had absolutely no margin for error.

After 59...Bf6, the following position arose.

Anand

Topalov

In response, Topalov now played 60. Bd4. Could this have been the move that lost the game? Courtesy of krechet(FM) who was kibitzing on ICC, the chesspro.ru site gave the following variation in their running commentary: 60.g5 Qe7 61.Qxe7 Bxe7 62.Bd4+ Kh7 63.Bxb2 Bxg5 64.Bg7+-.

All other games ended in draws. I only got one prediction right, in Leko - Morozevich. For the next round, here are my tips.

A. Morozevich-Veselin Topalov, 0-1
Peter Svidler-Peter Leko, 0-1
Judit Polgar-R. Kasimdzhanov, 1-0
Vishy Anand-Michael Adams, .5-.5

Observing the games on ICC is quite interesting. With the likes of McShane, Kotronias and Yermolinsky freely giving away their rapid analyses - that alone is worth the subscription fee!