Anand in sole lead after win with Black

Peter Svidler, Peter Leko and Veselin Topalov were all clubbed in the 4-point bracket followed by Vladimir Akopian and Loek van Wely on 3.5. At almost half-way stage in this category-19 13-round tournament, things look bright for Anand who scored his first victory in the tournament with Black pieces.

Zhong, the only other Asian in the fray, seems to be having a tough time after coming up with some encouraging results in the first few rounds. The winner of group ‘B’ event here last year is clearly finding it hard to tackle heavyweights.

While Kramnik drubbed him in a long drawn battle in the previous round, Anand crushed him from a dynamically balanced position in 40 moves.