Ivan is an extremely accomplished GM, whose rise up the ranks is nothing short of meteoric. What’s more, betting against his further climb would be a foolish one for sure. He is most known for being Topalov’s main second and analyst, the 21-year-old Bulgarian notches impressive scores in many of the events he takes part in.

This year Cheparinov started with a 6/7 tally in a GM event in Spain, and then impressed at the European Individual championships with a sweet 8/10 result. His 7/9 score at the Siegman tournament in Sweden, snared him clear first, while leaving the rest of the field far behind, 1.5 points and more. His only par score was in China where he ended with 50% (4/8). Ivan is still ‘in it’ at the world cup knockouts in Siberia.

In 2006 he only managed an average 7/13 in Corus B – a result that clearly did not please him much. This time around, Ivan would like very much to be left with a dilemma for 2009, of playing alongside his boss, should he earn that right by winning the group.