| FEBRUARY
20: VISWANATHAN Anand handed young Magnus Carlsen a useful
lesson in chess as he outplayed the young Norwegian Grandmasters
in the third round of the Linares-Morelia 2007 Super Grandmasters
tournament. The Indian star, ranked No. 2 in the world took
a share of the lead after three rounds and before the first
rest day of the tournament that is held in two legs in Linares,
Spain and Morelia, Mexico. The first leg of the eight-man
tournament is in Morelia.
Anand, who drew his first two rounds with Vassily Ivanchuk
and Veselin Topalov shares he lead with Ivanchuk, who came
in as a late replacement in the tournament.
NIIT-sponsored Anand’s win over Carlsen was the only
decisive game of the day and it came from black pieces, following
a Queen’s Gambit Meran. Anand played beautifully and
turned the contest around after a seemingly equal middle game.
With Carlsen falling into Anand’s trap, the Indian chess
whiz squeezed him in the endgame.
The two opened in Queen’s Gambit Meran, made famous
by Rubinstein. Initially white (Carlsen) did not put much
pressure on Black (Anand) and allowed him a free hand. In
the middle game, both seemed equal, more so with opposite
coloured bishops.
But slowly Anand pulled away creating an edge for himself
as Carlsen made small but costly errors as he tried to make
a fight of it. Anand steadily began squeezing his young opponent
and then with a passed pawn, he hammered home and Carlsen
resigned on the 40th.
Anand had twice beaten Carlsen at Leon in 2005 and in four
other clashes, the two had split points, the last time being
in Corus in January this year.
In the fourth round which will be held on Wednesday, Anand
has white pieces against Morozevich.
In the other games, Topalov drew with Leko in a Queen’s
Indian game lasting39 moves, while Svidler drew with Ivanchuk
in a Petroff after 53 moves and Morozevich and Aronian played
a draw in 43 moves from Queen’s Gambit declined in Ragozin.
Results of Round 3: Topalov drew with Leko; Carlsen lost to
Anand; Svidler drew with Ivanchuk; Morozevich drew with Aronian
Standings after Round 3: 1. Anand and Ivanchuk 2.0 points;
3. Svidler, Leko, Aronian and Carlsen 1.5; 7. Topalov and
Morozevich 1.0;
Pairings for Round 4: Leko v Aronian; Anand – Morozevich;
Ivanchuk – Carlsen; Topalov – Svidler
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