Leko keeps Anand at the bottom

Linares, March 6: Viswanathan Anand's search for his first win remained elusive as he was held to a draw by Peter Leko while joint leaders...

int(3)

Linares, March 6: Viswanathan Anand’s search for his first win remained elusive as he was held to a draw by Peter Leko while joint leaders Garry Kasparov and fellow Russian Vladimir Kramnik were also forced to split point in the sixth round of the Linares Super Grandmasters chess tournament on Sunday.

World number two Anand was held to a 32-move draw by Hungarian Leko to remain at the bottom of the six-player field with two points after four draws and two defeats with four rounds to go.

Kasparov signed the peace treaty with black pieces against Latvia-born Spanish GM Alexei Shirov while Kramnik and Russia’s FIDE world champion Alexander Khalifman ended with honours even after 49 moves on a day of draws.

Story continues below this ad

Leko was lying behind leaders with three points, Khalifman and Shirov following with 2.5 points apiece.

Anand, whose defeats against Shirov and Kasparov had come with white pieces, opted for the queen pawn opening for the first time here and faced Leko’s Grunfeld Indian defence.

He entered a sharp battle by improving upon a game between Russian GM Alexander Chernin and Leko in 1997 on his 14th move in the pawn sacrifice variation. Leko was saddled with development problems on the queenside in the middlegame when the battle suddenly turned wild.

In tactical strokes and counter moves, pieces got exchanged in a flurry and Anand was forced to sacrifice his queen to maintain his two rooks on the seventh rank. A draw was agreed upon as perpetual checks were to follow.

Story continues below this ad

Kasparov, employing black pieces, was held to a draw by Shirov in a Sicilian Najdorf defence game. The Spaniard chose the English attack but deviated from modern lines as the Russian opted for a move order in which he has tremendous success.

A theoretical battle followed and Shirov’s position looked threatening in the middlegame. Kasparov showed his superior understanding and coordinated his pieces well on the King side rather than go for a queenside attack on the white king.

The position was repeated thrice on the 36th move and a draw was agreed to. Khalifman drew his fifth successive game, holding world number three Kramnik for the second time in the tournament.

Kramnik, playing white, was up against the Tartakower variation of the queen’s gambit decline and obtained a miniscule advantage in the middlegame. Pieces got exchanged at regular intervals and the players arrived at a rooks and pawns endgame where Kramnik’s extra pawn proved ineffective. With correct technical moves, Khalifman drew the game after 49 moves.

Story continues below this ad

After a rest day on Monday, the final four rounds will begin on Tuesday.

Standings (Round VI): 1-2. Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik 4 pts, 3. Peter Leko 3, 4-5. Alexander Khalifman and Alexei Shirov 2.5, 6. Viswanathan Anand 2.

The moves
Anand vs. Leko

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6.c4 Nxc3 7. Bxc3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. 0-0 Nd7 13. Re1 Nb6 14. Ra1 Qb2 15. h3 f5 16. Rb1 Qa2 17. Qc1 Kh8 18. Ra1 Qg8 19. Ba5 fxe4 20. Bxb6 exf3 21. Bxf3 Bxh3 22. Rxa7 Bxg2 23. Kxg2 Qb3 24. Qd1 Qxb6 25. Rxb7 Qf6 26. Rexe7 Ra1 27. Rxg7 Rxd1 28. Rxh7+ Kg8 29. Bd5+ Rf7 30. Rbxf7 Qg5+ 31. Kh3 Qxd5 32. Rhg7+ Draw agreed.