Another draw for Anand

Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand squandered a minor advantage against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and settled for yet another draw in the eighth round of the Corus Grandmaster Group A chess tournament in Wijk Ann Zee, on Monday.

Anand, who has drawn all his games except for a second round win over Sergei Tiviakov, is placed joint fourth at 4.5 points.

Alexei Shirov of Spain took his tally to 6.5 points with a fluent win over Tiviakov and now leads his nearest rivals Russians Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik, both of whom drew their eighth round matches, by one full point.

Playing black, Anand faced the Ruy Lopez and surprised Topalov with a well prepared exchange sacrifice in the opening. The resulting position, despite the material deficit, had no problems for Anand.

Topalov sank in long thought and went for the exchange of queens soon after. He was prepared to suffer in the endgame because the middlegame looked extremely dangerous.

Routine juggling of pieces followed and Anand exerted little pressure on the weak king side pawns of Topalov. However, precise play helped the Bulgarian to check the momentum from tilting in Anand's favour.

At this point of time Anand's exhaustion showed up and he missed a simple tactical stroke and allowed Topalov to return his extra material and subsequently achieve a level endgame. The peace was signed after 34 moves.

Shirov has looked in his best form in this tournament and Tiviakov was another hurdle who he dimissed with impunity. The Spaniard surprisingly opted for a Queen pawn opening and faced the usual Nimzo Indian from Tiviakov.

Tiviakov got a balanced middlegame but went for unwarranted complications after sacrificing a piece.

Shirov then started a series of brilliant manoeuvres from the 16th move and thwarted black's attack in copybook fashion to gain an upper hand.

The ensuing endgame was child's play and the match was over in 41 moves.

Kasparov tried a lot to complicate his game against Peter Leko of Hungary. However Leko had no such desires owing to his dismal form here. From the white pieces the recently married Hungarian let the game drift to a draw from the Reti opening in just 28 moves.

Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine handed Alexander Morozevich of Russia his second defeat with white pieces. In the Vienna opening Morozevich failed to get his desired complications despite gaining a miniscule advantage.

In an apparently harmless middlegame, Morozevich went for some illusionary attack and had to suffer long agony in the resulting endgame as his pawns were scattered. Ivanchuk played the endgame energetically to pocket the full point.

Jeroen Piket of Netherlands played a hard fought draw with Michael Adams of England in the Rubenstien variation of the Nimzo Indian defence with white pieces.

Piket boldly sacrificed a pawn in an equal position while trying to search for an attack. White's pieces looked menacing, but due to Adam's stubborn defence, there did not seem much for the sacrificed material.

Piket kept his head and also organised a tenacious defence when required and prevented Adams from converting an extra pawn. The final knight sacrifice crowned this beautiful draw.

The games between Alexei Federov of Belarus and Vladimir Kramink (Russia), and Jan Timman (Netherlands) and Loek Van Wely of The Netherlands were drawn after fierce battles.

Results of Round 8

A Shirov 6.5 beat S Tiviakov 1.5;
P Leko 3.5 drew G Kasparov 5.5;
A Federov 3 drew V Kramnik 5.5;
V Topalov 3.5 drew V Anand 4.5;
J Piket 2.5 drew M Adams 4.5;
A Morozevich 4.5 lost to V Ivanchuk 4.5;
J Timman 3.5 drew Loek Van Wely 3.5.

Topalov – Anand
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bb5 a6
4.Ba4 Nf6
5.0-0 Bc5
6.c3 b5
7.Bc2 d5
8.d4 dxe4
9.Nbd2 exf3
10.Qxf3 Be7
11.Qxc6+ Bd7
12.Qf3 exd4
13.cxd4 0-0
14.Ne4 Be6
15.Nxf6+ Bxf6
16.Be4 Bxd4
17.Rd1 c5
18.Bxa8 Qxa8
19.Be3 Qxf3
20.gxf3 Bxb2
21.Bxc5 Rc8
22.Rab1 h6
23.Bb4 Be5
24.a3 Rc6
25.Rbc1 Bc4
26.Rd8+ Kh7
27.Re1 Bc7
28.Rd7 Be6
29.Rd3 Bf5
30.Rd5 Bh3
31.Kh1 Rf6
32.Rd3 Be6
33.Bc3 Rf5
34.Rxe6 1/2-1/2

PTI