Veselin Topalov

At a glance

Source: Wikipedia: Veselin Topalov¹

Early Career

Born in Ruse, Topalov learned chess from his father at the age of eight. He won the World Under-14 Championship in 1989 and took silver at the World Under-16 Championship in 1990. He became a grandmaster in 1992 and made his Chess Olympiad debut for Bulgaria in 1994.¹

Topalov’s results across major tournaments improved during the 1990s. In 1996 he tied for first in events in Amsterdam, Vienna and Madrid, won outright in Novgorod, and shared first place in Dos Hermanas. In 2001 he shared the Amber Melody title and won in Dortmund.¹

World Title

At the 2005 FIDE World Chess Championship in San Luis, Argentina, Topalov scored 6½ points from the first seven games. He drew all seven games in the second half and finished 1½ points ahead of the field, becoming FIDE World Champion. His performance rating for the event was 2890.¹

In 2006, Topalov played Vladimir Kramnik in a match to reunify the world championship. Kramnik won, becoming the first undisputed champion in thirteen years. The match was interrupted by a dispute over players’ bathroom arrangements and accusations from Topalov’s team. In 2007, FIDE’s Ethics Commission gave Topalov a severe reprimand over accusations he had made against Kramnik.¹

Later Career

Topalov challenged Viswanathan Anand for the world title in 2010. The match was level at 5½–5½ after eleven games, but Anand won the final game and retained the championship. Topalov also won the 2010 Linares tournament and later that year won the King’s Tournament in Romania.¹

He won the 2013 Grand Prix event in Zug and qualified for the 2014 Candidates Tournament. At the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, he won individual gold on board one. Topalov competed in nine Olympiads between 1994 and 2016. His peak rating was 2816 in July 2015. In September 2026, he had a rating of 2695 and a world ranking of No. 34.¹

In September 2026 he was rated 2695 and ranked No. 34 in the world by FIDE.¹