Translated material
Intermediate dead end
Since the match has crossed its equator, it’s time to take some stock. Let us note that the fight takes place only on the fields of closed openings, which suits both opponents, since it corresponds to the logic of the match strategy: play for a win with white, for a draw with black. It is no coincidence that Topalov does not dare to start the game with the move e2-e4, where the number of forced drawing variations is a dime a dozen. As for Anand, who chose the Catalan principle in all four of his white games, he had no reason to change his repertoire: it would be stupid to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. It was here that he won his two victories.
The masterpiece was especially successful in the fourth game of the match, which Anand played according to all the canons of the Catalan gambit. While Topalov was preoccupied with preserving the gambit pawn, he made a breakthrough in the center, and it turned out that the king was without piece cover. The attack was merciless. The game is so good that commentators on well-known chess sites never emphasized the point where the challenger made a mistake. The shock of the blow he received and the realization that he couldn’t handle a game of this class is not easy to overcome. Moreover, the next two “catalans” in the sixth and seventh games (the color changed as the match equator passed) could decide the outcome of the match. Topalov's team understood this and, undoubtedly, worked on the problematic opening, figuratively speaking, day and night. This bore fruit - Topalov held his ground in both games.
In the sixth game, Anand was true to himself. He skillfully varied the options, avoiding the preparation of his opponent, and managed to maintain a pattern of struggle that was unpleasant for Topalov, who had to conduct a tedious defense. Even the endgame with two knights against two bishops took place under the sign of Anand's initiative. He showed miracles of vaulting knights, launching a 13-move raid, forced his opponent to exchange one of his bishops, and even won a pawn. And yet Topalov managed to escape.
In the seventh game, Topalov was able to retain his queens, and the game was characterized by a fantastically difficult fight. The Bulgarian did not take the gambit pawn and sacrificed an exchange, managing to change the pattern of the fight. And when the challenger sacrificed another pawn, and then a knight, it became clear that Anand had fallen for the homework. Nevertheless, Anand managed to neutralize it, he neutralized Veselin’s powerful pawn fist in the center of the board and even seemed to have a chance of winning - after all, he had an extra knight. However, this time too, Topalov managed to create a threat to the enemy king and save the party.
As for the black games of the world champion, they followed a similar scenario. In the third and fifth games of the match, Anand used the Slavic Defense - the most reliable opening, where Black competes on equal terms for space in the center. He followed in the footsteps of Vladimir Kramnik: his predecessor on the throne used it against Topalov in the 2006 match in Elista and successfully implemented the strategy of exchanging queens and then other active pieces, while avoiding weakening the pawn structure and skillfully “landing” the opponent.
Despite the fact that the last three games of the match ended in a draw, Anand still looks stronger than Topalov. But Topalov also seems to have come to life! He was especially good in his last black game. The gap in the score is still minimal, but at the same time it seems that both opponents have reached a kind of opening impasse. It looks like they will have to demonstrate something new from their homemade preparations. Especially Topalov. Isn’t it time for him to “change his pitch” - his efforts in the Slavic defense look too hopeless.