Veselin Topalov
Veselin Topalov · Stefan64, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Person

Veselin Topalov

b. 1975

Bulgarian chess grandmaster

Born
15 Mar 1975 · Ruse

Life timeline

Their life from birth to death. On the timeline, world events of the time are shown faintly.

Showing 59 years
  1. 15 Mar 1975BornBorn in Ruse
  2. 2005AwardChess Oscar
  3. 2005AwardWorld chess champion

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Meanwhile in the world

Major world events during their lifetime (1975 – today).

  1. 19781978 FIFA World Cup
  2. 1978 – 1979Iranian Revolution
  3. 1979 – 1989Soviet–Afghan War
  4. 1980 – 1988Iran–Iraq War
  5. 19841984 Summer Olympics
  6. 1985Schengen Agreement
  7. 19891989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
  8. 1989Fall of the Berlin Wall
  9. 19901990 FIFA World Cup
  10. 1991Dissolution of the Soviet Union
  11. 19941994 FIFA World Cup
  12. 1994 – 1996First Chechen War
  13. 19981998 FIFA World Cup
  14. 2001 – 2021War in Afghanistan
  15. 2003 – 2011Iraq War
  16. 20042004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
  17. 20062006 FIFA World Cup
  18. 20082008 Summer Olympics
  19. 2008Russo-Georgian War
  20. 20102010 Haiti earthquake
  21. 2010 – 2012Arab Spring
  22. 20112011 Norway attacks
  23. 2011Libyan civil war
  24. 2011 – 2024Syrian civil war
  25. 20122012 Summer Olympics
  26. 20142014 FIFA World Cup
  27. 2014Russo-Ukrainian war
  28. 2015Paris Agreement
  29. 20182018 FIFA World Cup
  30. 2020COVID-19 pandemic
  31. 20212020 Summer Olympics
  32. 2022Russo-Ukrainian war
  33. 2023Gaza war
  34. 20242024 Summer Olympics
  35. 20262026 Iran war

Biography

Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov (Bulgarian: Весели́н Алексáндров Топа́лов, pronounced [vɛsɛˈlin toˈpalof]; born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Chess Champion.

Topalov became FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005. He lost his title in the World Chess Championship 2006 against Vladimir Kramnik. He challenged Viswanathan Anand at the World Chess Championship 2010, losing 6½–5½. He won the 2005 Chess Oscar.

He was ranked world number one from April 2006 to January 2007. He regained the top ranking in October 2008 until January 2010. His peak rating was 2816 in July 2015, placing him joint-tenth on the list of highest FIDE-rated players of all time.

Topalov has competed at nine Chess Olympiads (1994–2000, 2008–2016), winning board one gold in 2014 and scoring best overall performance in 1994. He also won in Linares, Corus, Dortmund, Stavanger and Pearl Spring tournaments.

Topalov is married and has two daughters. Now he lives in Salamanca, Spain.

Text from the Wikipedia article Veselin Topalov, CC BY-SA 4.0

About this information

Dates and life events come from this person’s Wikidata entry.

We only show events that the sources give a date for. Anything without a date is left out rather than guessed.