FIDELITY ELECTRONICS (02/08/1999) http://users.skynet.be/fidelity/nieuw.html The Pearl of Wijk aan Zee During the Hoogovens Tournament 1999 in Wijk aan Zee, Holland, Kasparov and Topalov played a game that, most likely, will go down in history as the Pearl of Wijk aan Zee. The combination, lasting 20 moves (!) is of a timeless beauty and perfection because, as Kasparov said, there is not a piece too many on the board and everything falls into place. Kasparov said that he was concerned that Topalov would not accept the sacrifice, and play 24…Kb6. He explained that it took him a long time to figure out if he would be able to get an advantage, but couldn’t find it. He was therefore grateful to Topalov that he indeed took the Rook on d4 after a long think. I had the pleasure of being present when this game was played and afterwards when Kasparov explained this game in the pressroom. He was of course elated that he had seen everything. That this statement could be true can be deduced from the fact that he said that Topalov must have regretted his move 3…g6 as otherwise the combination would not have been sound and he wouldn’t have played it. Is it really possible to see all consequences of such a Rook sacrifice? With all respect, I doubt it. Nobody is that superhuman, not even Kasparov. I believe that we have a case here of superb calculation, combined with superb intuition, as Max Pam wrote. Herewith the game with analysis by IM Gert Ligterink, GM Hans Ree, Max Pam, Lex Jongsma, Rini Kuijf, Jos Willemsen. Tom Furstenberg (edit.):
Topalov, Veselin
Result: 1-0
