Veselin Topalov

Compiled by my student, Shivsagar P

He was born on 15th March 1975 in Rousse, Bulgaria. Topalov became the FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005. He lost his title in the World Chess Championship 2006 match against Vladimir Kramnik. He won the 2005 Chess Oscar.

He has been ranked number one a total of 27 months in his career, fifth all-time since the inception of the FIDE ranking lists in 1971. He was ranked No. 1 in the world from April 2006 to January 2007, during which his Elo rating was 2813, which had been surpassed only by Garry Kasparov, and subsequently by Magnus Carlsen, Anand and Levon Aronian. He regained the world No. 1 ranking again in October 2008, and officially remained No. 1 until January 2010, when he fell to No. 2 behind Carlsen. In December 2012 he was ranked number 8. In the World Chess Championship 2010, he was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand, losing the match 6½–5½.

His father taught him to play chess at the age of eight. Topalov had a difficult childhood, but he quickly established himself as a chess prodigy. At age 12, Topalov began working with Silvio Danailov, in a training/mentoring relationship that continues today. Danailov himself was a master who nurtured ambitions as a player. Once he saw Topalov, however, he sacrificed his own career. Canadian Grandmaster Kevin Spraggett wrote: “Danailov took Topalov to his apartment and told him 'From now on, you live here and this will become your new home. I am not just your trainer, but I am also your mother and your father. I am your cook. I am the one who will wash your clothes. I am the one who will pay your bills and expenses to tournaments. All I want from you is to think only about chess!”

In 1989 he won the World Under-14 Championship in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and in 1990 won the silver medal at the World Under-16 Championship in Singapore. He became a Grandmaster in 1992. Topalov has been the leader of the Bulgarian national team since 1994. At the 1994 Chess Olympiad in Moscow he led the Bulgarians to a fourth-place finish.

Notable tournament victories

• Terrassa 1992
• Budapest zt-B 1993
• Polanica Zdroj 1995
• Elenite 1995
• Madrid 1996
• Dos Hermanas 1996 (joint first with Kramnik)
• Amsterdam 1996
• Vienna 1996 (joint first with Gelfand and Karpov)
• Novgorod 1996
• Leon 1996
• Antwerp 1997
• Madrid 1997
• Monaco 2001
• Dortmund 2001 (joint first with Kramnik)
• NAO Chess Masters Cannes 2002 (joint first with Gelfand)
• Benidorm 2003
• Linares 2005 (joint first with Kasparov)
• M-Tel Masters 2005 (a point ahead of Anand)
• Corus 2006 (joint first with Anand)
• M-Tel Masters 2006 (half a point ahead of Gata Kamsky)
• Corus 2007 (joint first with Aronian and Radjabov)
• M-Tel Masters 2007 (half a point ahead of Krishnan Sasikiran)
• Champions League Vitoria Gasteiz 2007 (a point and a half ahead of Ponomariov)
• Dos Hermanas 2008 (Rapid)
• Villarrobledo 2008 (Rapid)
• Bilbao 2008 (a point and a half ahead of Aronian, Ivanchuk, and Carlsen)
• Pearl Spring 2008 (a point and a half ahead of Aronian)
• Linares 2010 (a half point ahead of Grischuk)
• London FIDE Grand Prix 2012–2013 (joint first with Gelfand and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov)
• 6th Kings Tournament 2012, Bucharest (joint first with Ivanchuk)
• Zug FIDE Grand Prix 2012–2013 (one and a half points ahead of Nakamura)