Anand dazzles in Grandmasters contest
The Grandmasters at Wijk Aan Zee in The Netherlands
are convinced that there are few players more attractive to watch
than Vishwanathan Anand when he is in full flow.
The Indian Grandmaster proved it once again through his demolition of Bulgarian Vesselin
Topalov in the fifth round of the Hoogovens Grandmasters
chess tournament.
The draw against lowly rated Jeroen Piket may have led many to
believe that a tired Anand was content with a few draws here and
there, some easy points. But his game against Topalov, a very strong
player and the third highest rated GM in this tournament,
must end all debate on whether the Indian is tired. The
Madras Magician won the game in just 29 moves following a Spanish
opening.
Vladimir Kramnik, who made everyone sit up with four
out of four wins, crashed to a 52-move defeat in the fifth round against
the unfancied Alexy Shirov.
Anand and Kramnik now share the lead with four points in five
rounds. Kramnik will play white against Dutchman Jan
Timman, while Anand plays black against Judit Polgar.
Anand played his favourite Ruy Lopez opening and handled well the Archangel variation on move 12
from the Bulgarian. Anand defended his central pawns well and then
attacked his opponent's knight.
As the game progressed the Indian tightened his grip and slowly
Topalov crumbled. Then came a minor piece sacrifice and within a
few moves the Bulgarian -- who has a rating of 2740 -- had his
knight tied down and in a hopeless position.
Topalov, who was upset in the early rounds of the world championships in The
Netherlands last month, resigned after 29 moves and in just under
three hours of play.
UNI
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