Topalov Kramnik 2006 World Chess Championship: On the Edge in Elista [Kindle Edition]

publishing a book to claim that kramnik was cheating (without solid evidence) is an unethical thing to do. topalov's team should have had the courage to accept defeat even though topalov played better chess than kramnik in this match but he blundered in critical moments. the quality of the games is above average and there are many exciting positions throughout the games. topalov's annotating is excellent; describing how he felt in various moments and revealing secrets of his preparation strategies. his analysis of the games are simple yet creative, but above all they were objective. however, the feeling of bitterness of topalov's team is sensed throughout the whole book which isn't pleasant at all for the reader. UPDATE: I recently changed the rating from 2 stars to 3 stars because I read the book again and the game annotations by Topalov proved to be a delight even when reading the second time. Still, the rest of the book (written by Ginchev) wasn't pleasant at all.

This is the story of the 2006 WCC match from the (unsuccessful) challenger's point of view. Topalov annotates each game played brilliantly - and yes, subjectively - but that is what makes this so good.

The narrative about the entire match puts everything into perspective. And again, it is from the challenger's point of view. The discussion about the defaulted fifth game is an eye-opener. My guess is that most people, after reading Topalov and Danailov's version, will have their doubts.

Still and all, quite a good book. Not quite Tal-Botvinnik 1960 by Tal, but still worthwhile.

Parker Rose

This is a unique book about the "Unified" World Chess Championship in 2006 between Kramnik and Topalov.

First, it is one of those rare World Chess Championship books which is annotated by one of the contestants (Topalov) itself. This was last done by Kasparov 20 years ago. But unlike Kasparov who spent sometimes 20 pages on deeply analysing all possible variations of just one single game, Topalovs analysis is different, very much like Mikhail Tals' in his famous book on the 1960 Chess Championship against Botvinnik. Tal-Botvinnik, 1960
Like Tal, Topalov doesn't give really a whole lot of variations but instead simply explains why he made this or that move, why he chose an opening line, which plan he followed, what he was thinking during the game and where his opponent (Kramnik) surprised him or not. This gives the reader the feel of sitting at the chess-board right beside Topalov. You really don't have to be a chess-grandmaster to be able to read this book. Players of all strenghts can follow and enjoy the annotations. The match itself proved to be exciting till the end. The championship had to be decided - for the first time ever - in a tie-break.

And there is something else that makes the book unique and it has nothing to do with the chessgames itself.
The match produced quite a big "scandal" outside the chessboard. Both players could claim to be Chess Champion at the time of the match, so tensions were understandably high, as one player would loose his title.
Topalovs Team - obviously unnerved by an unexpected 2-point lead by the opponent Kramnik after the first two games! - came up with cheating accusations against Kramnik and produced a scandal reminiscent of the famous chess matches Fischer-Spassky 1972 or Karpov-Korchnoi 1978. (The original title of the bulgarian edition of this book is "The Toilet War".)
This story outside the chessboard is not told by Topalov himself but by his co-author Ginchev, who was a member of the Topalov Team on-site in Elista.
Although Ginchev fails miserably in convincing the reader about the "facts" he and his Topalov team is providing - I personally sympathize with Kramniks' cause after reading the book - the whole story is a highly enjoyable read and a rare insiders' view of events.

Already a modern classic IMO.
Better get yourself a copy before the book gets out of print. These kind of chess championship books rarely see a second edition. (The book by Tal on the 1960 match for example was out of print for 16 years; and Kasparovs books on the 1985/86 matches are ......still out of print.)