Sofia, 28 April 2010. Defending champion Viswanathan Anand, on Topalov's home turf, borrowed a page from Kramnik and rolled out the Catalan. A deep opening idea (10.Na3) left Topalov's pieces snarled on the queenside, far from his king. Anand needed no second invitation: he sacrificed a knight on h6, dragged the black king's cover away, and finished with a precise mating attack. Anand went on to retain his title.
Development and king safety are not abstractions — when your opponent's pieces are stranded on the wrong side of the board, the king they left behind becomes a target. Anand's 23.Nxh6+ works only because every Topalov piece is committed to the queenside. Look for sacrifices when the defenders are too far away to come back in time.
Topalov had struggled against the Catalan in his 2006 match with Kramnik, and Anand had prepared deep new ideas in it. Choosing it was both a practical and a psychological decision — it pointed Topalov toward a structure where he had previously suffered.
Yes. After this win, the match swung back and forth, but Anand won the final classical game in Sofia to retain the World Championship 6½–5½. It was one of his finest match performances.
Yes — take the board as Anand with Black's pieces stranded on the queenside and try to find the knight sacrifice on h6, or replay the entire game move by move, no sign-up.
BetterChess is a practice tool — we make no guarantee you'll reach 1800 or any rating. This is a historical game; the analysis is our own.