Topalov Veselin (15.03.1975)

Bulgarian outstanding Grandmaster (1992).  World Champion in 2005, World U14 Champion in 1989, Silver medalist in the World U16 in 1990. Winner of the Chess Oscar of the best player of the year in 2005. He is living in Spain since the early 1990s.

Best results: winner or shared first at Amsterdam and Madrid in 1994, Polanica Zdroj 1995, VSB Amsterdam together with Kasparov in 1996, Madrid finishing first with Illescas in 1996, Dos Hermanas 1996, Novgorod 1996, Madrid 1997 and Antwerp 1997, Amber 2001, Dortmund 2001, Benidorm 2003, Mtel Sofia 2005, Corus 2006, Mtel Sofia 2006, Bilbao 2008, Nanjin 2008, Linares 2010, London 2012, Bucharest 2012, Zug 2012 and Norway 2015

After winning the title of World Champion in San Luis, Argentina, in 2005, Veselin lost his crown after tie-break games one year later in Elista in a ‘Match of Reunification’ vs. Vladimir Kramnik.

Peak rating: 2816 in 2015. He was ranked world’s number one in 2006.