M-Tel Chess Master Awarded by Bulgarian President

Sports | May 23, 2005, Monday // 00:00
M-Tel Chess Master Awarded by Bulgarian President President Georgi Parvanov (L) awarded world chess No.1 Vesselin Topalov (R) with a Bulgaria-made copy of the icon "Entering Jerusalem" from the Nessebar School. Topalov won the M-Tel Masters Tournament in Sofia. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (SNA)

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov handed an icon painted on wood with a 23-carat gold cover to the world No. 1 in chess Vesselin Topalov, after the Bulgarian won the M-Tel Masters Tournament held in Sofia.

Apart from the copy of the famous painting "Entering Jerusalem" from the Nessebar School, Topalov received hefty prizes and the cream of the tournament's fund of EUR 300,000.

The Bulgarian won the title after defeating Russia's Vladimir Kramnik in his last game on Sunday and thus gathering 6,5 points to top the six best in world chess.

The first-ever Category-20 M-Tel Masters chess tournament in Bulgaria attracted a lot of attention with the world's top six stars playing - barring Garry Kasparov who announced his retirement in March.

The tournament belongs to the 20th Category of FIDE. According to average ELO this is the toughest tournament in the world for the current year.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Sports » Be a reporter: Write and send your article

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria