Much of 2006 was a direct follow up to the previous 2 years: His rating surpassed Kasparov’s to become the man at the top of the charts. Next came a first place (shared with Anand) in Corus with a cool 9/13, and a tie for second in Linares-Morelia. After a ‘no-slowing-down’ 3-1 match win versus strong GM Nisipeanu, came the now customary homeland victory in Sofia’s M-Tel event, with the emulated score from last year of 6.5/10.

It seemed that nothing could stand in his way to now winning the reunification match with Kramnik, and reach a new high and another glorious year. Losing the now infamous match after a 6-6 tie and a tiebreaker, Topalov is now without title, and missing some credence points, quickly returned to action in Essent, and once again experienced his signature first half of the tournament blues, followed by a comeback. Unfortunately for him unlike other tournaments the event was too short, and he finished 3rd out of 4.

In Corus 2007 Veselin will be under the microscope, to see if he can regain what he lost in the match – on and off the chessboard, especially with the presence of his rival Kramnik. No doubt their individual game will be the main event of group A.