Anand agrees to quick draw against Gelfand

NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Viswanathan Anand, just a couple of steps away from having a shot at the world title, drew the first of the two games ag...

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NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Viswanathan Anand, just a couple of steps away from having a shot at the world title, drew the first of the two games against Boris Gelfand of Belarus in sixth round of the FIDE World chess championships in Groningen according to reports reaching here. Anand started cautiously and drew game one in just 15 moves of Slav Defence.

Anand, rated 70 Elo points above Gelfand played it safe from the black side and reached a deadlock in the well-analysed Slav. Anand, who will have white in the second game, will hope to strike in the second. Maybe Anand also feels that Gelfand may be a little nervous about taking him on in the rapid games in the tie-breakers, though Gelfand did come through one against Alexy Dreev in the fifth round.

Michael Adams got the better of countryman Nigel Short in an exciting clash in the Sicilian Defence in 41 moves.

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Adams built a strong position and won an exchange on move 31 for a pawn. Short had his chances on the Queenside where he had three connected pawns. But in time pressure Short, having to make five moves in one minute before the first control, allowed a central break 36.fxe5 which virtually sealed his fate.

With his rooks and Queen combining well, Adams promoted his central pawn.

FIFTH ROUND PLAY-OFFS: Earlier in the fifth round play-offs favourites Gelfand and Adams won tense matches with identical 1.5-0.5 scores.

Gelfand defeated Alexey Dreev, who had a lot of problems with time. In the first game, Gelfand play beautifully for the first 25 moves but with less than a minute left on the clock (plus of course 10 seconds for each move played) Gelfand showed signs of getting nervous. He repeated moves to gain time but spent about 9 seconds on each move so picked up only a couple of seconds. He found the winning combination and then instead of winning actually blundered a black rook for bishop and landed in trouble. But Dreev too found it difficult under time pressure and at one stage Gelfand was within two seconds of losing the game around move 60. But he hung and on move 92 he offered a darw that was accepted.

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In second game, comparatively staid, Gelfand offered draw on the 26th move, but Dreev despite being behind on the clock declined. After a sedate game for 25 moves more, Dreev blundered on 53rd move and Gelfand found a winning line and moved ahead into the semis.

After the win, Gelfand repeated his criticism of the tournament format. “I have said all along that the system is stupid because you can become World Champion without winning a game.” When asked if he would mind becoming Champion without winning a regular time-limit game Gelfand, who has so far tied all his matches 1-1, replied with a grin, “I certainly hope so.”

The home fans had their hopes dashed when Loek van Wely went down 1.5-0.5 to Michael Adams in their two rapid games. After a curious first game, which finally ended in a draw, Adams won the next.

MOVES

Boris Gelfand (Belarus – 2695) v V Anand (India – 2765)Round 6, Game 1
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 a6 10. Rd1 b5 11. Bf1 c5 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Nf6 15. Rxd8 1/2-1/2 Round 7, Game 1
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 a6 10. Rd1 b5 11. Bf1 c5 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Nf6 15. Rxd8 1/2-1/2