M-Tel Masters Explained

Mtel Masters was an annual super-GM chess tournament held between 2005 and 2009 in Sofia, Bulgaria, sponsored and organized by the Bulgarian mobile network operator, M-Tel. The tournament was held as a double round-robin at the five-star Grand Hotel Sofia.

Tournament winners

M-Tel Masters Sofia! № !! Date !! Category !! Average FIDE Rating !! Winner !! Score !! TPR
1 11–22 May 2005 XX 2747 6½ / 10 2850
2 10–21 May 2006 XX 2745 6½ / 10 2842
3 9–20 May 2007 XIX 2725 5½ / 10 2751
4 8–18 May 2008 XX 2738 8 / 10 2977
5 12–23 May 2009 XXI 2755 6½ / 10 2867

Editions

2005

The first edition of the tournament took place between 11 and 22 May 2005 as part of M-Tel's tenth anniversary celebrations and with the participation of top chess players such as Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Vladimir Kramnik, Michael Adams, Judit Polgár and Ruslan Ponomariov. M-Tel Masters 2005 was classified in FIDE's Category 20 and was named the strongest tournament of 2005 according to the average Elo rating of the participants of 2744. The winner of the tournament was the Bulgarian Veselin Topalov, with the award being conferred by President Georgi Parvanov.

1st M-Tel Masters, 12–22 May 2005, Sofia, Bulgaria, Category XX (2747)[1] ! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! Points !! TPR
1 align=left 2778 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 2850
2 align=left 2785 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 2775
3 align=left 2732 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 5 2749
4 align=left 2695 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 5 2757
5 align=left 2753 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 0 0 ½ 4 2673
6 align=left 2737 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 4 2676

2006

The 2006 tournament took place between 10 May and 21 May and was attended by Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Ruslan Ponomariov, Peter Svidler, Étienne Bacrot and Gata Kamsky. Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho played the token initial move of the 2006 tournament, which was officially opened by the President of Bulgaria, Georgi Parvanov.

Topalov won the tournament for the second time after a decisive comeback from a somewhat hesitant start. He recorded four consecutive wins in the final rounds to clinch the M-Tel Masters 2006 first place with 6½ points, also defeating his main rival Gata Kamsky in the penultimate round.

2nd M-Tel Masters, 11–21 May 2006, Sofia, Bulgaria, Category XX (2745)[2]

! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! Points !! Wins !! TPR

1 align=left 2804 1 1 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 2842
2 align=left 2671 0 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 6 2831
3 align=left 2803 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 2768
4 align=left 2743 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 5 2744
5 align=left 2738 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 2635
6 align=left 2708 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 2641

2007

M-Tel Masters' 2007 edition was held between 9 May and 20 May and featured Veselin Topalov, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Gata Kamsky, Michael Adams and Krishnan Sasikiran. Topalov won the tournament for a third consecutive time in a dramatic fashion, defeating the then-current leader Sasikiran in the final round.

3rd M-Tel Masters, 10–20 May 2007, Sofia, Bulgaria, Category XIX (2725)[3] ! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! Points !! Wins !! !! SB !! !! TPR
1 align=left 2772 1 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 2751
2 align=left 2690 0 0 ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 5 3 2732
3 align=left 2757 1 ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 5 2 2 25.25 2718
4 align=left 2705 ½ ½ 0 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 5 2 2 25.00 2729
5 align=left 2693 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 5 2 2 25.00 2731
6 align=left 2734 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 2687

2008

The 2008 M-Tel Masters was held 8–18 May. Vasyl Ivanchuk won by a wide margin. Ivanchuk won his first five games, lost no games, and had a positive score against every other player. Veselin Topalov, who had won the tournament the three previous years, was second.

4th M-Tel Masters, 8–18 May 2008, Sofia, Bulgaria, Category XX (2738)[4]

! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! Points !! TPR

1 align=left 2740 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 8 2977
2 align=left 2767 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 1 1 2841
3 align=left 2751 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 2771
4 align=left 2695 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 4 2674
5 align=left 2708 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 3 2594
6 align=left 2763 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 3 2583

2009

The 2009 edition of the tournament took place from 12 to 23 May. Besides regular feature Veselin Topalov, the participating grandmasters were Magnus Carlsen, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Alexei Shirov, Wang Yue and Leinier Domínguez.

5th M-Tel Masters, 13–23 May 2009, Sofia, Bulgaria, Category XXI (2755)[5]

! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! Points !! Wins !! !! TPR

1 align=left 2745 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 2867
2 align=left 2770 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 6 3 2824
3 align=left 2812 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 6 3 ½ 2816
4 align=left 2738 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 2723
5 align=left 2721 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 4 2690
6 align=left 2746 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 3 2608

2010

The tournament was cancelled because of the World Chess Championship 2010 match in Sofia.

References

  1. Web site: The Week in Chess 550. Mark Crowther. The Week in Chess. 23 May 2005.
  2. Web site: The Week in Chess 602. Mark Crowther. The Week in Chess. 22 May 2006.
  3. Web site: The Week in Chess 654. Mark Crowther. The Week in Chess. 21 May 2007.
  4. Web site: The Week in Chess 706. Mark Crowther. The Week in Chess. 19 May 2008.
  5. Web site: The Week in Chess 759. Mark Crowther. The Week in Chess. 25 May 2009.