The award will be bestowed at the super chess tournament M-Tel Masters in May

(Sofia, April 18, 2006) The World Chess Champion Veselin Topalov leads in the voting for the chess Oscar for 2005. In the inquiry organized by the Russian magazine «64-Shahmatnoe obozrenie» so far behind the Bulgarian Grandmaster are the Indian Viswanathan Anand, the Armenian Levon Aronian and Gary Kasparov.

The inquiry for best chess player of the year is executed by the International Association of Chess Press since 1968. The first winner was the Russian Grandmaster Boris Spasky. Since 1995 the contest has been organized by the magazine «64-Shahmatnoe obozrenie». Winners of the biggest number of Oscars so far are Gary Kasparov (11) and Anatoly Karpov (9).

The statue Enchanted Wanderer will be bestowed to the winner at a special ceremony in Grand Hotel Sofia during the second edition of the super tournament M-Tel Masters in May. For the awarding ceremony in Sofia will arrive the editor-in-chief of the magazine «64-Shahmatnoe obozrenie» Alexander Roshal. As special guests of the ceremony are expected the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexander Zhukov, who is also the president of the Russian Chess Federation, and the President of FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.