WIJK AAN ZEE (NETHERLANDS), JAN 17: Defending joint winner Viswanathan Anand of India opened his campaign with a fluent win, but World champion Garry Kasparov was held to a draw in the first round of the 61st Hoogovens International Chess Tournament here today.Anand, who has twice figured among the toppers here, easily overcame Jan Reinderman to indicate he still retains last year's golden touch when he emerged the most successful player by winning all but one regular tournament he played in. But 35-year-old Kasparov from Russia, a last-minute entry after British Grandmaster Nigel Short withdrew abruptly, had to settle for a draw against Bulgarian Vassily Ivanchuk in the 13-round tournament conducted on an all-play-all format.Ramesh nears GM normLINARES: India's RB Ramesh brightened his chances of a Grandmaster norm but fellow IM D V Prasad missed his when he lost in the ninth and penultimate round in the Linares chess tournament here yesterday. Grandmaster A Minasian of Armenia beat jointovernight leader A Kharlov of Russia to grab sole lead with 7.5 points. Ramesh beat compatriot P Konguvel by cashing in on a blunder by Konguvel under time pressure. A win today will ensure him the GM norm. Abhijit Kunte (5.5), K Sasikiran (6), S Vijayalaxmi (5), Mrunalini Kunte and Pallavi Shah (4) drew their games.
