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Anand, Kramnik clash in final of rapid chess

Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand (3.5) of India qualified to meet Vladimir Kramnik (4) of Russia in the finals of the Frankfurt Chess Classic International rapid tournament.

The four game final will be played late on Friday night, India time.

The real stunner on the penultimate day of probably the strongest chess competition ever was the unceremonious exit of world champion Garry Kasparov, who failed to win a single game in the final round.

On a day of boring draws which angered the purists -- 500 of whom were paying 12 marks per seat to watch the four top-ranked players in action -- Anand concentrated on keeping his second spot behind Kramnik.

Kasparov meanwhile was pushed into the ignominous position of having to fight Vassily Ivanchuk for the thirs spot.

Anand started the day by taking out tailender Ivanchuk from the white side of a Keres attack in the Sicilian Defence. Contrary to expectations the Indian grandmaster went on a flat out attack, forcing an increasingly desperate Ivanchuk to scramble around the board.

After the queens got exchanged on the twentyfirst move, it was not so difficult for Anand to throttle back and take the draw at the end of 45 moves. At that state, Ivanchuk had all but finished his allotted 25 minutes on the clock, but Anand, who had time on his hands and could have forced a win on time by simply playing any move at all, sportingly accepted the offer of draw.

Kramnik had by then drawn comfortably with Garry Kasparov from the disadvantage of black pieces.

In the game between the two leaders, Anand did not take undue risks against Kramnik's solid Russian Defence, and though they fought hard till the end, the peaceful result was never in doubt.

Kasparov meanwhile ended up drawing again, playing black in a Nimzo Indian against Ivanchuk.

That set the stage for the Kasparov-Anand clash, a game the world champion had to win to stay in the reckoning. Since Anand has never done well with black pieces against Kasparov, the latter had a hope of winning and making the final.

Anand however sprang a surprise by opting for the ultra sharp Pelican variation of the Sicilian Defence, catching Kasparov by surprise.

Even as Kasparov attempted to take advantage of Anand's boldness, the Indian ace went one better, with an unexpected queenside pawn push on the 12th move. On the surface, it indicated that Anand was willingly taking a pawn loss.

However, when Kasparov took the bait, Anand unveiled a brilliant offensive, his queen entering deep into the white position and creating havoc. Kasparov had only one option if he was to save his blushes and not endure a second defeat at Anand's hand -- a draw.

To his credit, Kasparov did try to win a pawn in the corner of the board and attempt to consolidate material supremacy, but saw the second trap Anand was laying for him, and offered the draw on move 23.

Anand needed just 11 minutes, in contrast to Kasparov who used up 20 of his allotted 25.

Kasparov stormed out of the hall immediately thereafter.

In tonight's final, Anand will be defending the trophy he won when he humiliated Karpov 2.5-0.5 last year.