Vishwanathan Anand may well retain his Corus Grandmasters title with lots to spare, as he registered his fifth win of the tournament with a 29-move demolition of Jan Timman in the 11th round. With two more rounds to go, Anand has eight points and his nearest rival is Peter Leko with seven.
The Indian Mind Champion, Anand, was merciless against the seniormost player in this event, Timman. The Dutchman did not handle his opening well in the Sicilian Richter-Rauzer and paid the price for it in 29 moves.
In the 12th round, Anand plays the Bulgarian, Veselin Topalov with black pieces and this is his last hurdle for Topalov can be dangerous. But Anand is likely to play safely and opt for a draw if possible early with black pieces. In the last round his opponent will be Ivan Sokolov, currently last in the standings.
Anand said, "I approach each game as a different one and will see how things go on the board. Right now I am happy with my form." And why would he not be with five wins and six draws for eight points.
Of all others, only Peter Leko kept himself somewhere close to Anand with a win over China's Zhang Zhong. Leko had black in a closed Sicilian which went in his favour in 56 moves. Kramnik was held to a draw by Veselin Topalov in 23 moves of a Sicilian Najdorf, while Peter Svidler and Loek Van Wely were engaged in another Sicilian Sveshnikov which was drawn in 46 moves. Viktor Bologan put a brake on Michael Adams' chances with a draw in Queen's Indian in 40 moves, where the Englishman had black pieces.
Alexey Shirov drew with Vladimir Akopian in 53 moves in a Ruy Lopez and Evegeny Bareev handed Ivan Sokolov a defeat in 40 moves following a Slav defence.
Leko outwitted Zhang to take his total to seven while Adams, trailing Anand by a point before this round, just about managed a draw from a tight position against Bologan to be in third spot with 6.5 points. Kramnik is fourth with six after a draw with Topalov.
Timman played the Sicilian and Anand went in for Richter-Rauzer and the Indian star castled on the queenside. Soon after his pawns were looking very menacing. Timman found he situation very difficult and was soon on the run against Anand's pieces.
Timman's King was under severe threat and then Anand turned in a rook sacrifice on the 25th move and won Timman's queen. The game was finally concluded then on the 29th move.
Results of Round 11: Anand beat Timman, Kramnik drew with Topalov, Bologan drew with Adams, Svidler drew with Van Wely, Shirov drew with Akopian, Bareev beat Sokolov, Zhang lost to Leko.
Standings after Round 11: 1. Anand 8.0 points; 2. Leko 7.0; 3. Adams 6.5; 4. Kramnik 6.0; 5. Van Wely, Topalov, Bologan, Svidler, Akopian and Shirov 5.5 each; 11. Bareev 5.0; 12. Timman and Zhang 4.0 each; 14. Sokolov 3.5.
Pairings for Round 12: Topalov v Anand, Adams v Timman, Leko v Bareev, Akopian v Zhang, Van Wely v Shirov, Sokolov v Kramnik, Bologan v Svidler.
Anand v Timman
Wijk Aan Zee Round 11
ECO B67
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f3 Be7 10.Be3 Rc8 11.g4 Na5 12.Kb1 b5 13.Bd3 Nc4 14.Bxc4 Rxc4 15.Nce2 0-0 16.g5 Ne8 17.h4 Qc8 18.b3 Rc7 19.Nf4 Rc3 20.Rdg1 b4 21.h5 Nc7 22.g6 Bf6 23.h6 fxg6 24.hxg7 Rf7 25.Rxh7 Kxh7 26.Qh2+ Kg7 27.Nxg6 Rxe3 28.Ne7+ Kf8 29.Nxc8 Black resigns, white wins
