| LINARES,
march 11: Viswanathan
Anand capped a wonderful fortnight with not just the title
at he Morelia-Linares Super Grandmasters chess tournament
but also ensured that he would be World NO. 1 in the list
of ratings to be released in April. It marked the first time
in a decade that Anand, who has been in world’s top-3
for last 15 years that he will officially be rated as No.
1 in the world. He did win the Wrld Championships in 2000
but then Garry Kasparov was No.1 in the world.
In the final round, Anand eschewed
all risks and played a draw as Vassily Ivanchuk, too, was
satisfied with the result. That took his tally to 8.5 points
and what made the Indian star’s task easier was that
Magnus Carlsen his closest rival lost his final round to Peter
Leko.
Anand won by a full point at
8.5 points and Topalov ended shared last with Leko with six
points.
In another surprise result
Alexander Morozevich beat Peter Svidler, so in the end Morozevich
shared second with Magnus Carlsen.
Anand's performance was 2816,
while Topalov ended at a dismal 2691 giving the NIIT sponsored
Anand the number one rating on FIDE's April 1st list.
Carlsen's shared second and
his sterling 2778 performance is truly remarkable for a 16-year-old
who was the tournament's underdog. At the start some writers
were bemoaning the decision of the organisers to include a
"rabbit" in such a great event. The young players
was superb and just half of his games were drawn, producing
four wins and three losses on his score card.
Exactly the same result was
achieved by the mercurial Morozevich, though while Magnus
was first or second on the table during the entire tournament,
Moro started by firmly occupying last in the first half of
the event.
Peter Svidler had a constant
tournament of sorts, drawing all his games in Morelia and
winning one and losing one in Linares. His 50% score is twenty
points better than his nominal 2728 rating. Aronian's 50%
was almost exactly what you would expect from a 2744 player.
The big disappointment, apart
from Veselin Topalov, was Peter Leko, who played 53 points
worse than his 2749 rating – and was saved from an even
more dismal result by his final round victory over Magnus
Carlsen.
Anand and Ivanchuk with white
was involved in a Queen’s Indian game that ended in
a draw in 31 moves. With Carlsen losing, it was fine for Anand,
who won by a full point for one of his best results.
Svidler lost to Moro in French
defence over 28 moves, while Topalov and Aronian,the only
one to beat Anand in this tournament, drew in Queen’s
Indian in 20 moes and Leko beat Carlsen in 53 moves of another
Queen’s Indian.
Anand last won in Linares in
1998.
Results of Round 14:
Svidler lost to Morozevich; Ivanchuk
drew with Anand; Topalov drew with Aronian;
Leko beat Carlsen
Final Round 14 Standings: 1. Anand,
Viswanathan IND 2779 8.5; 2. Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2690 7.5;
3. Morozevich, Alexander RUS 2741 7.5; 4. Aronian, Levon ARM
2744 7.0; 5. Svidler, Peter RUS 2728 7.0; 6. Ivanchuk, Vassily
UKR 2750 6.5; 7. Topalov, Veselin BUL 2783 6.0; 8. Leko, Peter
HUN 2749 6.0;
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