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WIJK AAN ZEE, JANUARY 21: Leader Viswanathan Anand was stunned
in the sixth round by his old rival, Gata Kamsky in a major
upset at the Corus Grandmasters chess tournaments in Wijk
Aan Zee. But the Indian ace, despite the defeat continues
to have a share of the lead with Veselin Topalov, while Kamsky
shares the last place with Etienne Bacrot. Anand, the NIIT
Brand Ambassador, is in shared lead with Toplaov with both
having four points each from six rounds.
Kamsky, who has beaten Anand in the past, was in the last
place, while Anand led the tournament, when they clashed and
they stayed there even after the defeat of the Indian.
Kamsky played a clean game and did not give Anand any counterplay.
Kamsky chose 1. d4 in Queen’s Gambit Accepted and went
for a side line with 9. Ne4 to avoid a duel in any main lines.
Anand on the other hand decided to risk it and play for a
win and it included a queenside castling on tenth move.
Kamsky strengthened his centre and then Anand allowed him
to open the f file. Anand traded queens to get some play,
but in the endgame with the weak e-pawn and also White’s
control of f file, it became an uphill task for Anand. He
did get into a Bishops of opposite color but was a pawn down.
Kamsky took a full point to give himself a chance to finish
somewhere higher up in the tournament.
Shortly after Anand lost Michael Adams beat Vassily Ivanchuk
in 44 moves of a Sicilian Scheveningen. Adams got a comfortable
opening and gradually forced Ivanchuk into a passive position.
Sergei Tiviakov drew with Veselin Topalov in 61 moves of a
Sicilian Alapin, while Ivan Sokolov and Peter Leko drew in
31 moves of a Queens Indian Petrosian System.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov split points with Boris Gelfand in a
Queens Indian. Etienne Bacrot drew with Levon Aronian in 29
moves of a QGD. Loek Van Wely and Sergey Karjakin played a
marathon 80 moves in the final game for yet another draw as
five games were drawn and two produced results.
In Group B, young Magnus Carlsen is on top of group B with
an impressive five out of six. India’s Koneru, Humpy
lost to Erwin L'Ami in 62 moves of a King's Indian.
PAIRINGS FOR Round 7: Topalov v Sokolov; Gelfand v Tiviakov;
Karjakin v Mamedyarov; Aronian v van Wely; Ivanchuk v Bacrot;
Anandv Adams; Leko v Kamsky
Results of Round 6: Mamedyarov
drew with Gelfand; Sokolov drew with Leko; Bacrot drew with
Aronian; Kamsky beat Anand; Adams beat Ivanchuk; Tiviakov
drew with Topalov; Van Wely drew Karjakin
Standings after Round 6: 1.
Anand and Topalov 4.0 each; 3. Adams, Gelfand, Ivanchuk, and
Karjakin 3.5 each; 7. Mamedyarov, Aronian 3.0 each; Leko,
Tiviakov, Van Wely and Sokolov 2.5 each; 13. Kamsky and Bacrot
2.0 each
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