Topalov solos in Argentina

The development of events at the World Chess Championship in Argentina resembles a one-man show. Veselin Topalov mainly wins, the rest make up the tournament crowd and assist the leader. In the sixth round, the Bulgarian won his fifth victory, this time over the Hungarian Judit Polgar. The remaining three matches ended in a draw, thanks to which Topalov increased his lead over his closest pursuers to two points.

In the Spanish game, Veselin built the so-called “Berlin Wall” with black, which was never broken by Garry Kasparov in the 2000 match with Vladimir Kramnik. Judith also failed. And when she inadvertently weakened the kingside and was left without a pawn, the technique of implementing the leader was truly champion. In the game Viswanathan Anand - Peter Svidler, the Indian grandmaster failed to shake the draw reputation of Marshall's attack. Moreover, a Russian with an extra quality could count on more than a draw. Our other chess player, Alexander Morozevich, made incredible efforts for 76 moves to get out of the crisis. He provoked the British Michael Adams into sacrificing a queen for two rooks, outplayed him, methodically increasing his material advantage, but the matter came down to a theoretically drawn endgame. Hungarian Peter Leko, in a game with Rustam Kasimzhanov (Uzbekistan), managed to confirm his reputation as a specialist in the Chelyabinsk variation, but nothing more. After six rounds, Topalov has 5.5 points, Anand and Svidler have 3.5 each, Kasimzhanov has three, and Leko and Polgar are still half a point behind. Morozevich and Adams are in the positions of outsiders with two points. Oleg STETSKO

Sushinsky entered the “Club 500”

HOCKEY. Super League. 12th round. "Neftekhimik" - "Avangard" - 1:2, "Lokomotiv" - "Vityaz" - 5:2, "Molot-Prikamye" - Dynamo - 2:4, CSKA - "Metallurg" ( Mg) -- 4:3, "Spartak" -- HC MVD -- 1:1, "AK Bars" -- "Khimik" -- 4:2, "Lada" -- "Metallurg" (NK) -- 4 :2, “Salavat Yulaev” - “Siberia” - 1:3. Leading: Dynamo - 28 points (12 games), Metallurg (MG) - 25 (12), Ak Bars - 23 (12), Avangard - 23 (11), Lokomotiv " -- 22 (11).

Thanks to Magnitogorsk's defeat in Moscow from the army team and their own victory in Perm, the current champions of the capital's Dynamo became the sole leaders of the tournament. In a meeting with one of the outsiders - "Molot-Prikamye" - the team of head coach Vladimir Krikunov had a difficult time - the "blue and white" had to win back twice during the match. When the score was 1:2, visiting striker Maxim Sushinsky equalized the score, this goal became historic. SU-33, as fans call the scorer, scored his 500th point using the “goal plus pass” system in the national championships.

Ilya Kovalchuk played his last match for Khimik this season. After all, if Ilya intends to sign a contract with the NHL club Atlanta Thrashers, then after yesterday’s start of the NHL championship he has no right to play in the Super League. Ilya celebrated his farewell with two assists in Kazan, but this did not save the Moscow Region team from defeat. Avangard defender Alexander Guskov entered the symbolic club of Vyacheslav Fetisov, scoring his 50th goal in the national championship. The unexpected victory of “Sibir” in Ufa, where Vladimir Yurzinov Jr.’s team scored three goals within four minutes of the final period, marked a quite significant distance between the teams in the playoff zone and the two outsiders. Perm are now six points from the cherished line, and Vityaz are eight. While within the range of six points difference, the clubs occupying places from 6th to 16th are densely located. Ilya TRISVIATSKY

Kapranova became a two-time world champion

On the first day of the finals at the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, Russian Olga Kapranova won two gold medals in individual exercises - with the ball and the rope. In both cases, the silver medal was won by Ukrainian Anna Bessonova, the daughter of Vladimir Bessonov, a famous former football player of Dynamo Kyiv and the USSR national team. For the exercise with the ball in the finals of the competition in this discipline, Kapranova received a score of 17.375 points from the referees, and the Ukrainian lost 0.475 points to the champion. The third place was taken by the representative of Belarus Inna Zhukova - 16.675. For the composition with a jump rope, the judges gave Kapranova a score of 16.925, Bessonova - 16.350, and the third prize-winner, Russian Irina Chashchina - 16.300. The main surprise of the tournament was the not very convincing performance of the nominal leader of our team. So, in the exercises with the ball, Irina did not get on the podium at all, taking fourth place - 16,600 points.

True, with the jump rope, Chashchina showed the best result in the preliminary competitions, which counted towards the team and individual all-around. Vladimir ILYIN

WBC tightens requirements for boxers

The president of one of the most influential organizations in the world of professional boxing, Jose Suleiman, said that in the coming days the WBC Congress will consider the issue of additional weight requirements for boxers in preparation for title fights. If previously the only control weigh-in took place the day before the fight and boxers had to quickly cut weight, now they are deprived of this opportunity. It is assumed that from now on, 30 days before the date of the fight, a boxer’s weight can exceed the limit established for a particular category by no more than 10%, and a week before the fight - by no more than five percent. Vladimir ILYIN

Our water polo clubs recognized their opponents

The European Swimming League (LENS), under whose auspices continental club tournaments are held, held the draw for the main group stage of the LENA Trophy Cup. Four Russian clubs will perform at this stage - the capital's Dynamo and CSK VMF, as well as the losers of the Euroleague qualification, Lukoil-Spartak Volgograd and Sintez Kazan. The blue and white's opponents in Group I, the match of which will take place in Nice (France), are the local Olympic, Medvezcak (Croatia) and Hag (Holland). The sailors in Kranje (Slovenia) will play with the host of the Quartet “A” tournament “Triglav”, the Hungarian “Szeged” and the Italian “Cremona”. In Group “H” in Eger (Hungary), Sintez will compete with the local club Brandon, ASV (Austria) and the Serbian Vojvodina. And finally, the Volga team in Istanbul will face Turkish “Galatasaray”, “Sabadell” (Spain) and “Primorye” (Croatia). The matches will take place on October 21-23. The two best teams from each group advance to the 1/8 finals of the draw. The draw for the playoffs of this tournament and the group round of the Euroleague will take place on October 30 in Budapest. Ilya TRISVIATSKY