Anand Interview : "I think, this year it might well be one of the most exciting events of the Chess Classic"

When the Grenkeleasing Rapid World Championship will begin as part of the Chess Classic Mainz, World Champion Vishy Anand will try for the eighth time in a row to defend his rapid chess title. All in all he won the main event of the Chess Classic no less than ten times. Harry Schaack talked to the World’s number one about the peculiarities of rapid chess and the opponents he will face this year. (Translation by Johannes Fischer)

Mr. Anand, for more than ten years you have been the world’s best rapid chess player, which is also shown by your impressive series of ten wins at the Chess Classic. What are the most important qualities necessary for successful rapid chess?


Anand talking about the Rapid Chess World Championship in Mainz

Generally, there is no difference whether you play short or long games. If you play well, you usually play well in both disciplines. The difference lies in the way you have to focus. In rapid chess you have to give everything in 30 minutes, whereas you can allow yourself a 10 or 20 minute break in a seven hour game. Another difference is that you have to react very quickly when confronted with an opening novelty. This year Aronian came up with a spectacular novelty against Leko at the tournament in Morelia, and Leko thought one and a half hours about his reply – the amount of time you do have in three rapid games. With 30 minutes on the clock you have to be able to react very quickly. Apart from that, it’s simply important to play a good move (laughs). I like rapid chess because I find it easier to focus only for half an hour. And I think this way of playing chess is also very attractive to the public.

What about psychology? I would guess it’s psychologically particularly demanding, because you need to overcome defeats very quickly?

Yes, playing three games per evening means three periods of enormous emotional pressure. You have to learn to cope with the emotional ups and downs and to forget losses quickly. However, in contrast to a long game in rapid chess you do have the chance to straighten things out immediately by winning the next game.

What do you expect from this year’s Grenkeleasing Rapid World Championship?

I look really forward to play rapid chess in Mainz, because my results have not been particularly good this year.

You were out of shape at the Melody Amber...

Yes, this tournament was simply a disaster. I can’t remember ever having had such a bad result. But in the other tournaments, too, something was amiss. In Leon I had to fight a lot against Paco Vallejo and in the final against Ivanchuk I neither played particularly well. I hope things will run more smoothly in Mainz.

You do want to regain some lost ground at the Chess Classic?

Yes, during the last years I have won Leon three times and I have won the Rapid Chess Tournament at the Melody Amber four times in a row. But this year, things have not been going too well. I do have this in mind and I know that I have to work hard to be successful. All my opponents in Mainz are in excellent shape and have achieved a number of outstanding results in the last months. Both Carlsen and Morozevich have had a convincing and impressive year. And Judit Polgar is always dangerous. She takes to rapid chess like a fish to water. This is an excellent field and I think this year it will be harder than ever to defend my title.

How do you feel about the Chess Classic? Is the familiar atmosphere important for you?

There are tournaments, which I have played so often at a certain time of the year that I cannot remember ever to have done anything different at that time. In August I usually have been in Mainz and in January I am always at the tournament in Wijk aan Zee. In 2002 I did not play in Wijk and asked myself: so, what do you do with your spare time in January now? (laughs). Of course, you get used to these regular tournaments. However, each year you have to think about them anew. It would be fatal to believe things will run on their own. But of course I know exactly what I do in Mainz. Everyday I take a walk along the Rhine, I do have my favorite restaurants and I know what I will do before the game. As far as that is concerned, there are hardly any surprises anymore.


Anand with Chess Classic main organiser Hans-Walter Schmitt

Do you feel pressure because of the success you have been enjoying at the Chess Classic for such a long time now?

I try not to think too much about this. Now I can say that I have been winning eight times in a row. But each year the tournament is a new experience in “surviving” (laughs). Every time I manage to better my own record I am happy. Of course, I hope that my series will still continue for a while.

In October you will defend your title of World Champion against Vladimir Kramnik. Since months you have been preparing for this event. Could you focus on the Chess Classic as well as in the years before?

Last year, I could not prepare particularly thoroughly for Mainz either, because of the World Championship in Mexico. But these four player tournaments are easier to play. If you have to play a match as you had once had to at the Chess Classic you have to work much more to prepare. At a tournament you prepare in a much more general way and you do not have to go to that deep in your analysis. However, in rapid chess it is first of all important to play well. You have to have a clear head at the board and you have to be fresh. In rapid chess your performance depends on your play at the board not on your preparation. This is difficult to control. You have to focus to be able to react quickly and alertly – even more so than in classical chess. That is the most important.

This year you will face the new "Bobby Fischer": the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen. He might even be better than the American at 17. Do you see parallels between the two?

That is difficult to say because I know Carlsen personally and regularly play against him. Though I met Bobby Fischer once, I have never played against him – it is just not the same. He stopped playing 1972. However, you can say that both have a simple way to play, both are “classical” players. They do not strive for complications, but choose moves which later are easy to understand. That’s what I mean with “classical”, a kind of style one can also find in the games of Capablanca. Carlsen and Fischer are both brilliant in simple technical positions. This year, Magnus has often won positions, in which he had only a small or even no advantage at all. Usually you need to be older for such a mature style. Carlsen actually does not yet have the experience to play this way. It is a bit surprising to see that he is already that far with 17 years of age. That is very impressive. You could say that both Fischer and Carlsen had or have the ability to let chess look simple.

People eagerly await the battle between you and Magnus Carlsen in Mainz. You have never lost a long game against him.

That’s true, but I don’t want to talk much about that because I hope this will last for a long time (laughs). Carlsen is developing very quickly. The Magnus from August is no longer the one from January.

What do you think about Carlsen’s skill in rapid chess?

Carlsen belongs to the generation of players who often play blitz on the internet. You don’t have to explain to him why rapid or blitz chess is interesting. For him this is quite natural, he grew up with it. This is something the great players of the past could not do. These young players do have a different perspective on these things. Carlsen, too, belongs to this "computer generation". This is particularly apparent if you remember that the computer program "Fritz" is older than Carlsen. Today, everybody is used to playing rapid chess.


Anand in a simultaneous exhibition in Mainz

Currently Alexander Morozevich is number 2 – behind you – on the official FIDE ranking list.Again and again he achieves excellent results, but in top tournaments he occasionally performs not as good as one would expect. Is this due to his style, which does not work against the top players or is this a psychological problem?

I don’t know. I play at least twice a year against him, at the Melody Amber, and there he is really very dangerous. It is not for nothing that he often won the overall competition – blindfold chess and rapid chess together.

How would you characterize his style?

His way of playing is something special, and of course not as classical as Carlsen’s (laughs). He plays very, very creatively and extremely aggressively. He tries to disturb the balance on the board no matter what it takes. This exerts an enormous pressure on his opponents. This style is very difficult to emulate. In his way to play chess Morozevich is unique.

Does he not also play with enormous risks because he wants to win at all costs?

Maybe, but I believe he does not think that he takes a lot of risks. The positions he reaches are very unusual for us but not unusual for him. In hair-rising complications he feels as much as home as Ulf Andersson in an equal endgame. His way to understand chess is clearly different from most other top players. However, it is obvious that someone who again and again managed to climb to the top of the world’s ranking list is simply a top player – no more and no less. Currently he is one of the outstanding players of the world.

In 2003 you played quite an intense match against Judit Polgar at the Chess Classic. All games were decided. Your games against Judit are marked by remarkable aggressiveness: 70% of the games had a winner, which is rather unusual on your level. Even the draws, such as the one in Wijk aan Zee 2003 are fought with utmost sharpness.

Indeed, to play with Judit is really something special. In a rapid chess match in Parla, in which I won 4:2, we did not have one single draw either. Judit is particularly good in tactical positions. Of course, she also has a good positional understanding, but it is in tactical positions that she is able to display her most marked strengths. She has a very good feeling for these tactical positions. One reason for the few draws between us is certainly the choice of openings. We both like the Sicilian, and thus we often reach this kind of tactical positions. And our overall result is really strange. I think, with no other player from the world’s top I have played such a small number of draws.

So all participants are known for their extremely aggressive style..

Yes, I think, this year it’s going to be very interesting. I think, it might well be one of the most exciting events of the Chess Classic.

Fide Rankings July 2008 : Anand on Top and big suprise Carlsen on sixth !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Despite sliding five points, World Champion Viswanathan Anand continued to reign supreme in the latest world rankings issued by the International Chess Federation (FIDE).
Magnus Carlsen is only sixth on the official FIDE list, although up-to-date rating calculations put him on a history-making second place. The media (and chess fans) assumed that would be his place on the FIDE list, but a missed deadline thwarted that. Alexander Morozevich is second Vassily Ivanchuk third. Here are the FIDE and the Live Rating lists.

Anand is followed by Russian Alexander Morozevich and his upcoming world championship match contender compatriot Vladimir Kramnik, both just 10 ELO points adrift of the Indian at ELO 2788.

Another up-and-comer is roller coaster Vassily Ivanchuk, who gained 41 points (in words: forty would you believe it one) from 25 games to jump from place 11 to place 4, four points ahead of number five, Veselin Topalov, who gained ten points from ten games.

Next in line is Magnus Carlsen, who just turned 17½ and, as everyone knows, is de facto number two in the world. Magnus won the Aerosvit tournament in Foros with a stunning 2877 performance, but the tournament ended four days after a deadline set by FIDE for submission of tournaments for the rating list (the 15th of the previous month). So Magnus has landed on place six, two points behind Topalov. Fortunately we now have a "Live List" which give accurate, up-to-the-minute ratings for players over 2700.

Links :

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4738

http://ratings.fide.com/toplist.phtml

http://chess.liverating.org/

Notable Changes

The list above includes all relevant events played. In the top of the list, we see that Morozevich has caught up with Kramnik, who hasn't played any games in this rating period. The reason for Morozevich being ranked ahead of Kramnik despite them having the exact same rating, is FIDE's tie-break criteria, which is number of games played. Moro won the big majority of his 14 point gain by winning Bosna Sarajevo in style, while snatching the final points needed in the Bosnia Herzegovina league competition. Ivanchuk has made a huge leap upwards after several strong events, mainly his break-out win in MTel, with a TPR of 2977 after an undefeated 8/10. The same event was miserable for Aronian, who ended up dropping out of top 10 for the first since time since April 2005. Topalov and Carlsen gained around 10 points each, but both were pushed one place down due to Ivanchuk's big leap.

In the lower half of the list, we can welcome several players to the 2700 club, most of them for the first time: Since the April list, Movsesian (2723), Gashimov (2717), Eljanov (2716), Dominguez (2708), Milov (2705) and Wang Yue (2704) have crossed the somewhat less magical 2700-border - the lesser magic explained by a record-breaking 29 players above 2700.

Fide Rankings : Anand leads April 2008 FIDE ratings, Carlsen fifth , Aronian Sixth

The World Champion gained four points to cross the 2800 mark and top the rankings alone. Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov shed points to move to second and fourth; Alexander Morozevich gained points to move to third place. But the sensation is of course Magnus Carlsen, who at 17 years and four months is in place five, just 38 points below the leader. Is this a record?

World Champion Viswanathan Anand has gained four points to cross the magic 2800 line and top the April 2008 alone (in the previous list he was equal first with Kramnik). Vladimir Kramnik shed eleven points to move to second place at 2788. Third is Alexander Morozevich who gained nine to reach 2774; fourth Veselin Topalov who lost 13 to sink to 2767.

The sensation of the list, of course, is the Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen (above), who at the age of 17 years and four months has climbed to place five in the world rankings, having gained a resounding 32 points to bring his Elo rating to 2765. Statisticians and historians need to get to work: is it the first time ever for a 17-year-old? Has anyone at that age ever approached the top rating by 38 points? Is there anything to stop this lad from becoming world champion? We for our part can only say: congrats Magnus, keep it up! You are one of the most intriguing personalities in current-day chess.

Going down the list a bit we find that Levon Aronian has gained 24 points to install himself firmly in place six. It is interesting to note that the Armenian is just two points behind Carlsen and four shy of Topalov. Other notables in the April 2008 list:

• 21-year-old Teimour Radjabov has gained 16 points to move from place 12 to place eight.
• Peter Svidler lost 17 points to drop from place five to nine (but hey, he's still in the top ten).
• Peter Leko, who is having a bad spell, dropped 12 points and two ranks to end at tenth and 2741.
• Vassily Ivanchuk, who in October 2007 was second in the world, is now number 11 at 2740.
• Alexei Shirov lost fifteen points to drop from seventh to 12th at 2740.
• Big winners are Chinese GMs Bu Xiangzhi and Ni Hua, who gained 17 and 23 points respectively to come in at 21st and 23rd in the world. GM Wang Hao gained 19 points to move from 48th to 34th.
• There are no women in the top 100 list – Judit Polgar has dropped out, perhaps due to inactivity (but see women's list below)?!

FIDE April 2008 Rating List

Top 53 Women April 2008

Here is where we find Judit Polgar, at the top of the Women's list. She has gained two points from 13 games played in the rating period, so we really do not understand why she is not in the main list. Probably just a glitch in the generation of the list.

In second place is the second female player in history to cross the 2600 mark, Koneru Humpy. In third, snapping at her heels, is the Chinese chess phenomenon Hou Yifan, who turned 14 just a month ago. Like Carlsen all we can say is: who is to stop this lass from becoming world champion?

Top 20 Girls April 2008

We can only repeat ourselves: guess who is the strongest girl in the world. Yifan, the chess marvel, who is 63 points ahead of Anna Muzychuk in second. Our friend Katya Lahno is closing in in third, with another favourite, Harika, in fourth place.

FIDE

Viswanathan Anand was voted DNA sportsperson of 2007

A day after Viswanathan Anand was voted DNA sportsperson of 2007, the world chess champion says he wants to win the honour in 2008 again. Here is a tete-e-tete:

Q:You have been chosen DNA sportsperson ahead of players like MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Sania Mirza, Jeev Milkha Singh, Narain Karthikeyan...
A:It feels very nice to win a poll where people support you. I would like to thank your readers and wish them all the best in 2008.

Q:What is your chosen moment of Indian sport in 2007?
A:Winning Mexico.

Q:How do you look forward to 2008?
A:It will be a tough year. Some tournaments in the first half and the match with Vladimir Kramnik in the second half.

Q:It will be yet another World championship year. Your thoughts?
A:Yes. I will first concentrate on my events till March and then start work on Kramnik.

Q:Finally, any thing you think you need to conquer?
A:To win DNA sportsperson of the year in 2008 by winning in October would be nice.

Maker of the best moves

Winning the World championship in Mexico ahead of Russia's Vladimir Kramnik has been a crowning glory in chess wizard V Anand's career. But that's not the only qualification for being Times Sport's Sportsperson of the Year.

It has been a stunning year for the 38-year-old. After an utterly forgettable Olympiad last year, Anand has bounced back in superb fashion. He began by winning the Wimbledon of chess - Linares. The Super GM event is not known for strawberry and cream but for the creamy layer of players it provides on the chess board. That performance took Anand to World No 1 for the first time in his career.

This was followed by superb wins over former World champion Veselin Topalov and the ever-improving Levon Aronian in Leon and Mainz, respectively. And then an unbeaten run in Mexico which gave him the undisputed World title.

Along the way, he didn't forget the contributions made by National champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Sandipan Chanda and V Saravanan in his preparation. That adds to his greatness because he understands unsung heroes and significance of small contributions.

With the advent of internet, chess is now a game for youngsters. So, what makes Anand tick after all these years - nearly two decades at top-level competition? It's his adaptability to various formats, his feel for the game, the great mix of a genius and hard worker in him and his endeavour to enjoy the struggle and ambition of finding ideas to succeed.

An achievement in the game of chess, which will remain a non-spectator sport, should get a bit more weightage for a variety of reasons.

First of all, in an individual sport there is no place to hide. Moreover, a great performance is not possible in a losing cause. Then, the luck element is at its minimum. In all super tournaments, chess players get equal number of blacks and whites. So advantage of the toss is thrown out of the window. Weather, playing surface, umpiring decisions don't influence the game of chess.

One mistake costs you a game in this 64-square sport. The chance to regroup and comeback is minimum because one game is one process (not a series of the same process like tennis, cricket or other sports).

In other words, no bluff (positive body language and aura) will give you results in chess as this is a complete knowledge sport where the emphasis is more on chess pieces than physical action of the players. The intent and results in other sports can vary. Being a square-specific sport, intent matches with results for almost 100 per cent.

The most demanding aspect of other sports is that you have to take the decision in split second (for example, whether to race the car in the same gear, whether to make bowling changes). The classical variety of chess (three and a half hours per player) don't force you to take split decisions. Rather it encourages you to give off your best. A player can take his own good time, study the position deeply, before making his move.

Anand has found the best possible moves for the large part of year. And that makes him, simply put, a cut above the rest.

The next year would start with a bit of bad news for Anand. For, Kramnik is likely to grab the World No 1 spot in the latest rankings on New Year's Day. But Anand will get plenty of chances to set the record straight when he meets the Russian at Wijk aan Zee and the World Championship return match in Bonn, Germany, this November.

And if Anand manages to retain his title, it would need a miracle to stop him from becoming Times Sport's Sportsperson of the Year for the second year in a row.

Courtesy - indiatimes.com @
http://sports.indiatimes.com/Sections/2007_The_Year_of_Young_Turks/Maker_of_the_best_moves/articleshow/2663093.cms

INDIA - Year End Chess 2007 profile

Mixed bag For Indian Chess





Even as Viswanathan Anand continued to strive harder to take his game to the next level, most of the other Indian names did not have a great year.

Twenty years ago, a teenager by the name of Viswanathan Anand redefined excellence for Indian chess players. He combined speed with skill, imaginative ideas with intuition and reeled off results that did not go unnoticed by some of the best brains in the game. With the passage of time, his phenomenally consistent performances put him among the elite of this cerebral sport. His tireless work paid off this year and realised two of his long cherished goals. He captured the Wo rld number spot in April and went on to regain the World title, which he won in 2000.

Seldom has an individual made such a lasting impact on the future of any sporting discipline in India. His talent apart, what caught the nation’s imagination was his pleasing ways. His smile, wit and the ability to simplify the complexities of the game made him an instant hit. From becoming the World junior champion in August 1987 to becoming the game’s latest World Champion in September 2007, Anand has contributed more than any other Indian sportsperson for his or her chosen discipline.

He became the country’s first Grandmaster in December 1987 and since then only 16 more have joined the list, including two in the last two months. Interestingly, the last three Grandmasters — Parimarjan Negi, G. N. Gopal and Abhijeet Gupta — were born after Anand founded the country’s ‘GM Club’.

“I don’t want to leave behind some kind of legacy. I don’t think about it. I still have some more chess left in me,” is the reply from Anand when one touches the subject of his contribution to Indian chess or how he would like to be remembered. Indeed, Anand has kept his sights firmly on his goals and achieved them like few others in the world of sports. Delightfully, he has not finished yet.

Anand did have a glorious year during which he added the prestigious Moralia-Linares title in March and the rapid title in Monaco. He went on to retain rapid titles at Leon and Mainz. He has won the Chess Classic title 10 times including all the seven occasions since the event moved from Frankfurt to Mainz. In November, Anand braved indifferent health to finish runner-up to champion Vassily Ivanchuk in the World blitz championship in Moscow. Interestingly, Ivanchuk was considered the favourite when Anand won the world junior title in 1987. What more, Anand and Ivanchuk finished the year 2007 as the top two ranked players in the game. Surely, the duo, along with World Cup champion Gata Kamsky, showed that experience still was a handy weapon against the exuberance of youth.

Even as Anand continued to strive harder to take his game to the next level, most of the other Indian names did not have a great year. K. Sasikiran had his moments in the premier Mtel Masters where he let go of a golden opportunity to win the title ahead of the eventual winner, the 2005 World Champion, Veselin Topalov. Again, in the World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk, in Russia, Sasikiran moved to the last-16 stage. He did pick up three gold medals from the Asian Indoor Games where the Indians gave an impressive performance.

Surya Shekhar Ganguly won the Asian zonal title where the Indian entries formed a major part of the field. Otherwise, it wasn’t a happy year for Ganguly who again failed to breach the 2600-point mark. For P. Hari Krishna, it was a forgettable year during which he could take heart from his third place finish in the Montreal International. Even the Arjuna Award did not please him much since it came a wee bit late considering his consistent showings in the past years. His Andhra-mate K. Humpy did well to win two back-to-back events in the middle of the year and went on to cross the 2600-point mark in ratings. She also added an individual blitz gold from Macau.

Another Andhra girl, D. Harika won the Asian zonal title, collected five medals, including two gold, in Macau and went on to retain her Commonwealth title. R. B. Ramesh became the Commonwealth champion as the Indians expectedly dominated the event in New Delhi. Earlier in the year, S. Vijayalakshmi attained her third and final GM norm on way to the Curto Open title.

One of the finest moments for Indian chess this year came when National champion Tania Sachdev won the Asian ladies title in Teheran. Since she had picked up a GM norm earlier in the year, she was eligible to become an International Master from the 20-game IM norm that came her way on winning the Asian title. What more, she returned from Macau and retained her National title before picking up the silver medal for the ladies in the Commonwealth championship.

Among the men, Abhijit Kunte came third in the Asian championship while Gopal finished in the top-10 to qualify for the World Cup. Gopal gave an excellent account of himself by holding the former World champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov four times before surrendering in the blitz games in the World Cup opener.

Usually, the Indian age-group challenge is considered a formidable one at the World and Asian levels. The trend continued this year but not in the same way as last year. Ivana Furtado retained her World under-8 title but the Indians failed to hold on to four other world titles won in 2006. B. Adhiban won the Asian under-16 title to become the nation’s youngest International Master in July. The Indian boys claimed the World Youth (under-16) Olympiad in Singapore where leading nations like Russia, Armenia, Ukraine and China were missing from the line-up. In the Asian youth championship, India won 10 medals including five titles. The winners were Ivana Furtado (girls’ under-8), G. V. Revanth Reddy (boys’ under-8), Shardul Gagare (boys’ under-10), B. Pratyusha (girls’ under-10) and Priyanka Kumari (girls’ under-12).

Looking back, Anand and Ivana ended the year as world champions at the highest and the youngest levels of the game. The number of GMs increased but most members of this select group failed to show much motivation to move to the next level. The youngsters looked good but unless there is organised coaching in place in the country, they will not be able to reach their goals. With Anand atop the world rankings, it remains to be seen how the All India Chess Federation manages to bring in the much needed corporate patronage for the game in the country. Sadly, the Indians got only two norm-making opportunities this year in New Delhi. The need of the hour is to provide systematic and quality training for the talented youngsters besides many more opportunities at home to attain norms leading to the GM, IM, Woman GM and Woman IM titles.

Most chess champions in India remain products of the sacrifices made by their parents and individual coaches. Sadly, in that respect, not much has changed since Anand put India on the world chess map 20 years ago.

Courtesy Hindu @ http://www.sportstaronnet.com/stories/20071229500600700.htm

FIDE RATINGS: Kramnik, Anand Tie for Top Spot in Jan 2008

Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik caught up with World Champion Viswanathan Anand to tie for the top position both with ratings of 2799 in the January 2008 FIDE Rating List. In the juniors, Magnus Carlsen edged out Sergey Karjakin for the top spot.

See calculations of Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand, and of Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin.

The tie between Anand and Kramnik is a precursor to their exciting World Championship Match this October in Bonn, Germany.

Another interesting points in FIDE rating list jan 2008 are

• Alexei Shirov gained 16 points to move from 10th to 7th;
• Magnus Carlsen gained 19 points to move from 16 to place 13;
• Sergey Karjakin gained 38 points to move from 24 to 14;
• Gata Kamsky gained 12 to move from 17 to 15;
• Ivan Cheparinov gained 43 (!) to move from place 42 to place 19.

Fide rankings : http://www.fide.com/ratings/toplist.phtml

Courtesy: Fide Article @ http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1556

Ivanchuk wins World Blitz Championship, Anand second

What a game!!!!!!! Real Thanks giving party was held at Mascow. If you are enjoying the thanks giving party without seeing the World Blitz championship games... then you missed a great oppurtunity...... Anand and Ivanchuk fought like a worriers in the final of world blitz chamiponship match. But atlast its IVANCHUK, who lift the CUP.

The first half of the Blitz Final had seen Vassily Ivanchuk in the lead, with Vishy Anand trailing two points behind in fifth place. The reigning World Champion, who said he had had a "bad day", came to the second half with new spirits, winning his first four games (against Carlsen, Morozevich, Shirov and Leko – the last as a revenge for a first-round loss). By round 29 Anand had caught Ivanchuk, and one round before the end both were still leading the field, each with 24.5 points, a point and a half adhead of the others. Everything was to be decided on the final game, in which the world's highest ranked player had white, against the world's second highest player (how much more exciting can it get?). Here is what transpired:

Anand,V (2801) - Ivanchuk,V (2787) [B42]
World Blitz Moscow RUS (38), 22.11.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Ba7 7.Qe2 Nc6 8.Be3 d6 9.N1d2 Nf6 10.f4 0-0 11.Bxa7 Rxa7 12.g4 b5 13.0-0-0 Rc7 14.Rhg1 Qe7 15.Kb1 Nd7 16.g5 Bb7 17.Rg3 Nb4 18.Rh3 g6 19.Qg4 Rfc8 20.Qh4 Nf8 21.a3 Nxd3 22.cxd3 h5 23.gxh6 Qxh4 24.Rxh4 Nh7 25.Nd4 Nf6 26.N2f3 Re8 27.Ng5 e5 28.fxe5 dxe5

Anand was at this point sensationally winning the world blitz championship. He was two pawns up and only needed to push the h-pawn to clinch it. Unfortunately he played: 29.Ndf3? Nh5 30.Rg1 Kh8 31.Nh3 Bc8 32.Nf2 Nf4 33.Nxe5 Ne2 34.Re1 Nd4

35.Neg4?? This is going to haunt Anand's dreams for a while.35...Nf3 36.Nf6 Rd8 37.Nd5 Rb7 0-1.

The Real game was went betwen Ivanchuk and Peter Leko, which lost 217 moves. Can you imagine 217 moves with in 8 min.(4 min Each)....The suprising point thing is the game went to draw!!!!!!!

Importnat Games

Carlsen,M vs. Anand,V

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Ne5 Bd6 7. f4 O-O 8.
Bd3 c5 9. O-O cxd4 10. exd4 dxc4 11. Bxc4 Nb6 12. Bb3 Bd7 13. Qf3 Rc8 14.
f5 exf5 15. Nxd7 Qxd7 16. Qxf5 Bb4 17. Qxd7 Nbxd7 18. Ne2 Nb6 19. Ng3 Nfd5
20. a3 Be7 21. Ne4 Rfd8 22. Bd2 Nc4 23. Rac1 Nxd2 24. Rxc8 Nxb3 25. Rxd8+
Bxd8 26. Rf5 Nc7 27. d5 Nd4 28. Rf1 Nxd5 29. Rd1 Bb6 30. Kh1 Ne3 31. Rc1 h6
32. Nd6 Ng4 33. g3 f5 34. Nxb7 g5 35. b4 Kf7 36. a4 Ne6 37. a5 Be3 38. Nd6+
Kf6 39. Rc6 f4 40. gxf4 gxf4 41. Nb5 Ke5 42. h3 Nf2+ 43. Kg2 Ne4 44. h4 Nd2
45. Rc1 f3+ 46. Kg3 Ne4+ 47. Kxf3 Bxc1 48. Nxa7 Nd4+ 49. Kg4 Nf6+ 50. Kh3
Bd2 51. a6 Bxb4 52. Nc8 Ne6 53. a7 Nc7 54. Nb6 Kf5 55. a8=Q Nxa8 56. Nxa8
Ba5 57. Kg3 h5 0-1

Kramnik,V vs. Gelfand,B

1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 c5 3. e3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. c3 e6 6. Qb3 Qc8 7. Nbd2 Nf6 8.
Ne5 Be7 9. Nxg4 Nxg4 10. Be2 Nf6 11. O-O O-O 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. Bg5 Nd7 14.
Rac1 Qc7 15. Rfd1 Bd6 16. Nf3 Nde5 17. Nd4 Na5 18. Qc2 a6 19. e4 Ng6 20. g3
Be7 21. Bxe7 Nxe7 22. exd5 Nxd5 23. c4 Nb4 24. Qa4 Nac6 25. Nf3 Qa5 1-0

Shortest Game of the Tournament
Kasimdzhanov,R vs. Shirov,A

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. b3 f6 6. d3 e5 7. O-O 0-1


Bacrot,E vs. Ivanchuk,V

1. d4 c6 2. e4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nbd7 6. Nf3 h6 7. Nxf6+
exf6 8. Bh4 c5 9. Bc4 cxd4 10. O-O Bc5 1-0


Morozevich,A vs. Rublevsky,S

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. Bg2 Nd7 4. d3 c6 5. h3 Bh5 6. g4 Bg6 7. Nh4 e6 8.
Nxg6 hxg6 9. e3 Bd6 10. Qe2 Ne7 11. Nd2 g5 12. Nf3 Ng6 13. Bd2 Nde5 14.
O-O-O Qf6 15. Bc3 Nxf3 16. Bxf6 1-0


Carlsen,M vs. Bacrot,E

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. g3 d5 7. e5 Ng4 8.
Bg2 c6 9. f4 Nh6 10. O-O Qc7 11. f5 Qxe5 12. Bxh6 O-O 13. Bf4 Qf6 14. g4
Bc5 15. Nce2 Nd7 16. Kh1 h6 17. c3 Ne5 18. Ng3 Nc4 19. b3 Nb6 20. Nh5 Qh4
21. Bg3 Qg5 22. h4 Qd8 23. Qd2 Bd6 24. Bxd6 Qxd6 25. f6 Bxg4 26. fxg7 Bxh5
27. Nf5 1-0



Carlsen,M vs. Karpov,Ana

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Nd7 7. Bf4
Be7 8. Qd2 O-O 9. O-O-O Nc5 10. h4 Re8 11. Bc4 Be6 12. Bxe6 Nxe6 13. Be3 c6
14. c4 a6 15. Ng5 b5 16. Qd3 Nf8 17. Qf5 f6 18. Ne6 Qc8 19. Nd4 bxc4 20.
Qf3 d5 21. Nf5 Rb8 22. h5 Qb7 23. Bd4 Ne6 24. Qg4 Bf8 25. Bxf6 c5 26. Rhe1
d4 27. b3 Qd7 28. Bxg7 Bxg7 29. h6 Rb7 30. hxg7 Nxg7 31. Qxg7+ Qxg7 32.
Rxe8+ Qf8 33. Rxf8+ Kxf8 34. bxc4 Rf7 35. g4 h5 36. Rh1 1-0


Rublevsky,S vs. Anand,V

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. f3 Nc6 6. c4 e6 7. Nc3 Be7 8.
Be3 O-O 9. Be2 d5 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Nxd5 cxd5
14. O-O Bf6 15. Bd4 Rb8 16. b3 Be6 17. Qd2 Bxd4+ 18. Qxd4 a5 19. Rfd1 Rb4
20. Qc5 Qb6 21. Qxb6 Rxb6 22. Rac1 Ra8 23. Rd4 Rb4 24. Rcd1 Kf8 25. Kf2
Rxd4 26. Rxd4 Ke7 27. Ra4 Bd7 28. Rd4 Kd6 29. Ke3 Kc5 30. a3 Re8+ 0-1


Adams,Mi vs. Kamsky,G

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 Be7 6. O-O b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.
c3 Bg4 9. d3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Nbd2 Nd7 12. h3 Bh5 13. Rd1 O-O 14. Nf1
Bxf3 15. Qxf3 Bg5 16. Ne3 g6 17. Bd2 Kh8 18. a4 b4 19. Re1 bxc3 20. Bxc3
Nc6 21. Bb3 Rb8 22. Bc4 a5 23. Qg3 Nd4 24. Rad1 Bf4 25. Qg4 h5 26. Qxf4
exf4 27. Nd5 f3 28. g3 Ne5 0-1


Kasimdzhanov,R vs. Rublevsky,S

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Bd3 Nf6 7. Qe2 Bd6
8. Ndb5 axb5 9. Nxb5 Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Bb4 11. Bxb4 Qxb4+ 12. c3 Qc5 13. e5 Nd5
14. Nd6+ Kf8 15. Qh5 g6 16. Qh6+ Kg8 17. h4 Nc6 18. h5 Nxe5 0-1

Carlsen,M vs. Shirov,A

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8.
d3 O-O 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Bg4 12. Nbd2 Nh5 13. Re1 Nxg3 14. hxg3
Ne7 15. Nf1 Ng6 16. d4 Bb6 17. Ne3 Bxf3 18. gxf3 exd4 19. cxd4 Qf6 20. Ng4
Qg7 21. e5 Kh8 22. Kg2 dxe5 23. Rh1 Bxd4 24. Rxh6+ Kg8 25. Qd3 e4 26. Qxe4
1-0

The REAL BIG GAME OF THE TOURNAMENT
Ivanchuk,V vs. Leko,P

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 c6 8.
Bc3 d5 9. Ne5 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. O-O Rc8 13. e4 c5 14. exd5
exd5 15. dxc5 dxc4 16. cxb6 Nxb6 17. Re1 cxb3 18. Qxb3 Nd7 19. Nf3 Bc4 20.
Qb2 Nc5 21. Bxg7 Nd3 22. Bxf8 Nxb2 23. Bxe7 Qb6 24. Ne5 Be6 25. Re2 Nc4 26.
Rae1 Nxe5 27. Rxe5 h6 28. R5e2 Qd4 29. h4 Rc4 30. Ba3 Qd3 31. Bb2 Rc2 32.
Bf1 Rxe2 33. Rxe2 Qb1 34. Bc3 Qc1 35. Bb4 Bc4 36. Re1 Qb2 37. Re8+ Kh7 38.
Bxc4 Qxb4 39. Bd3+ Kg7 40. Re4 Qb6 41. Bc2 Qc6 42. Rg4+ Kf8 43. Bb3 a5 44.
Rf4 f6 45. Rc4 Qb7 46. Kh2 Kg7 47. Rg4+ Kh7 48. Rd4 Qc7 49. Rf4 Qe5 50. Kg2
Kg7 51. Rg4+ Kf8 52. Rf4 Kg7 53. Kf3 Kf8 54. Re4 Qf5+ 55. Ke3 Qc5+ 56. Kf3
Qf5+ 57. Rf4 Qe5 58. Kg2 Kg7 59. Ra4 Qc5 60. Rg4+ Kf8 61. Rg6 Qf5 62. Rg8+
Ke7 63. Rg7+ Kf8 64. Rf7+ Ke8 65. Rc7 Qe4+ 66. Kh2 Qf5 67. Rc2 Kf8 68. Re2
Qf3 69. Rd2 Kg7 70. Bd5 Qc3 71. Re2 Qc5 72. Bb3 Qb4 73. Rc2 Qd4 74. Bc4 Qe4
75. Bb3 a4 76. Rc7+ Kf8 77. Rc4 Qe2 78. Rxa4 Qxf2+ 79. Kh3 h5 80. Rf4 Qg1
81. Bd5 Kg7 82. Bg2 Qc5 83. a4 Qa5 84. Rd4 Kg6 85. Rf4 Kg7 86. Bf1 Kg6 87.
Kh2 Qd2+ 88. Bg2 Kg7 89. Rf5 Kg6 90. Rd5 Qa2 91. a5 Kg7 92. Kh3 Kg6 93. Rc5
Kh6 94. Rb5 Qe6+ 95. Kh2 Qa2 96. Rd5 Kg6 97. Kh3 Kh6 98. Rc5 Qe6+ 99. Kh2
Qa2 100. Rc6 Qxa5 101. Rxf6+ Kg7 102. Rf4 Qe5 103. Bf3 Kg6 104. Kh3 Qe6+
105. Kg2 Qa2+ 106. Kg1 Qb1+ 107. Kh2 Qc2+ 108. Kh3 Qc8+ 109. Kh2 Qc2+ 110.
Bg2 Qd2 111. Kg1 Qe1+ 112. Kh2 Qd2 113. Rf3 Qb2 114. Kg1 Qc1+ 115. Bf1 Qa1
116. Kg2 Qb2+ 117. Rf2 Qb7+ 118. Kh2 Qd5 119. Bh3 Qd4 120. Rf4 Qb2+ 121.
Bg2 Qd2 122. Rc4 Qf2 123. Rc6+ Kg7 124. Ra6 Qd2 125. Rb6 Qe2 126. Rd6 Qf2
127. Rd5 Kg6 128. Rg5+ Kh6 129. Kh3 Qf6 130. Rd5 Qe6+ 131. Kh2 Qe2 132. Rd4
Kg6 133. Rf4 Qd2 134. Rf3 Qb2 135. Kg1 Qc1+ 136. Bf1 Qd2 137. Bd3+ Kg7 138.
Kf1 Qb2 139. Be2 Qd2 140. Rf5 Qe3 141. Rg5+ Kf6 142. Bxh5 Qc1+ 143. Kg2
Qd2+ 144. Kh3 Qd3 145. Rg6+ Ke7 146. Rg7+ Ke6 147. Rf7 Qd5 148. Bg6 Qh1+
149. Kg4 Qd1+ 150. Rf3 Qd4+ 151. Kh3 Qg7 152. Bh5 Qh6 153. Bg4+ Ke7 154.
Rf4 Qc6 155. Bf3 Qe6+ 156. Rg4 Kf6 157. Be4 Qd7 158. Bf3 Qf5 159. Kh2 Qc2+
160. Bg2 Qe2 161. Rf4+ Kg7 162. Rf3 Qe5 163. Kh3 Qe6+ 164. g4 Qd7 165. h5
Qe7 166. Rf5 Qe3+ 167. Bf3 Qe6 168. Kh4 Qe1+ 169. Kh3 Qf1+ 170. Bg2 Qd3+
171. Kh4 Qd2 172. Bd5 Qe1+ 173. Kh3 Qe3+ 174. Rf3 Qd4 175. Bc6 Qc5 176. Bb7
Qe5 177. Rf5 Qe3+ 178. Bf3 Kh6 179. Rf6+ Kg7 180. Rf5 Kh6 181. Kg2 Qd2+
182. Kg3 Qe1+ 183. Kh3 Qf1+ 184. Bg2 Qd3+ 185. Kh4 Qd4 186. Bd5 Kg7 187.
Rg5+ Kh6 188. Rg6+ Kh7 189. Bg8+ Kh8 190. Be6 Qf2+ 191. Kg5 Qe3+ 192. Kf6
Qd4+ 193. Kf7 Qa7+ 194. Ke8 Qb8+ 195. Ke7 Qc7+ 196. Bd7 Qe5+ 197. Re6 Qg5+
198. Kd6 Kh7 199. Re4 Qf6+ 200. Be6 Qg5 201. Bf5+ Kg7 202. Re7+ Kh8 203.
Re6 Qd2+ 204. Ke7 Qg5+ 205. Ke8 Qg8+ 206. Kd7 Qg5 207. h6 Qd2+ 208. Ke8 Qa5
209. Kf7 Qd5 210. Kf6 Qd4+ 211. Kg6 Qd8 212. Kh5 Qd7 213. g5 Qd1+ 214. Kg6
Qd7 215. Re4 Qf7+ 1/2-1/2


Anand,V vs. Gelfand,B

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 Rb8 8.
e3 b5 9. Qe2 Be7 10. Rd1 Nd5 11. e4 Nxc3 12. bxc3 O-O 13. h4 Qe8 14. Bf4
Bd8 15. h5 f6 16. h6 e5 17. hxg7 Kxg7 18. Be3 Bg4 19. a4 Ne7 20. axb5 axb5
21. Ra6 Ng6 22. Qd2 Kh8 23. Rda1 exd4 24. Bxd4 Ne5 25. Qf4 Bxf3 26. Bxf3
Nxf3+ 27. Qxf3 c6 28. e5 Rc8 29. exf6 Rf7 30. Ra8 Qe6 31. R1a7 Rxa8 32.
Rxa8 Qd7 33. Qxc6 Kg8 34. Qxd7 Rxd7 35. Bb6 1-0

Final Standings (38 rounds)

Place	SNo.	Name	Fed.	FIDE	Total	S.B.	Wins
1	16	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2787	25.5	480	19
2	4	Anand, Viswanathan	IND	2801	24.5	437	18
3	3	Grischuk, Alexander	RUS	2715	23.5	430.5	14
4	7	Kamsky, Gata	USA	2714	23.5	429	16
5	8	Kramnik, Vladimir	RUS	2785	21.5	393.75	13
6	1	Leko, Peter	HUN	2755	21.5	392.5	13
7	9	Rublevsky, Sergei	RUS	2676	21.5	385.75	16
8	18	Morozevich, Alexander	RUS	2755	21	378.5	16
9	17	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	2714	20.5	352	15
10	13	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	2752	18.5	344.75	13
11	20	Adams, Michael	ENG	2729	18.5	337.25	13
12	11	Ponomariov, Ruslan	UKR	2705	18	339.5	15
13	5	Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	UZB	2690	17.5	319.75	11
14	2	Dreev, Alexey	RUS	2607	17	313.5	12
15	14	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2736	17	310.75	10
16	6	Savchenko, Boris	RUS	2583	17	291.5	13
17	19	Shirov, Alexei	ESP	2739	16	298.75	11
18	12	Karpov, Anatoly	RUS	2670	14	252	8
19	10	Bacrot, Etienne	FRA	2695	12	235	9
20	15	Korotylev, Alexey	RUS	2600	11.5	205.25	7

Ivanchuk leads in World Blitz Championship, Grischuk second

The amazing Vassily Ivanchuk is doing it again: on the first day of the World Blitz in Moscow the Ukrainian veteran scored 13.5 points out of the 19 games, beating the likes of Kamsky, Kramnik, Karpov, Gelfand, Adams, Carlsen, Shirov and Grischuk. Half a point behind is Alexander Grischuk, who scored wins over Anand, Kasimdzhanov, Kramnik, Gelfand and Carlsen. Report with pictures and videos.

The final tournament is a double round robin with 20 participants playing each other with white and black pieces (the original number was 18, but the organisers decided to increase this to include the finalists of the 2006 World Blitz Championship in Israel, Alexander Grischuk Peter Svidler). The finals will be held on November 21 and 22, the venue is the GUM department store, Red Square 2.

The rate of play is 4 minutes per game for each player, plus 2 seconds per move starting from move one. The prizes are US $25,000 for the winner, $15,000 for the runner up, $10,000 for third place and further prizes ranging from $7,250 for fourth to $2,500 each for 11th-14th places and $1,500 each for 15th-18th places. If there are ties in the final standing order, then all respective prizes, excepting the first one, are equally shared between the players who tied. The players who are the first, second and third in the final standing order will be awarded, respectively, with gold, silver and bronze medals.

First day

The first half of the World Blitz Championship ended in a triumph for Vassily Ivanchuk, who scored 13.5 points out of the 19 games played. Ivanchuk beat amongst others Kamsky, Kramnik, Karpov, Gelfand, Adams, Carlsen, Shirov and Grischuk. In second place we find Alexander Grischuk, who scored wins over Anand, Kasimdzhanov, Kramnik, Gelfand and Carlsen.

Vishy Anand vs Alexander Morozevich in round two (Anand won)

Vassily Ivanchuk vs Vladimir Kramnik in round four (Ivanchuk won)

Games

Anand,V vs. Carlsen,M



1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5 5. Nxe5 c6 6. Be2 Bf5 7. g4 Be6 8.
c4 Nc7 9. Rg1 Nd7 10. Nf3 g6 11. Nc3 Bg7 12. Be3 O-O 13. Qd2 b5 14. cxb5
cxb5 15. Nxb5 Nxb5 16. Bxb5 Bd5 17. Be2 Rc8 18. b3 Nf6 19. Ne5 Ne4 20. Qb2
e6 21. g5 Qd6 22. h4 Nc3 23. Rg3 Nxe2 24. Kxe2 Rc7 25. Rc1 Qa6+ 26. Ke1
Rfc8 27. Rxc7 Rxc7 28. Bf4 Bf8 29. Ng4 Bb4+ 30. Bd2 Bd6 31. Rc3 Bg2 32. Ne3
Bf3 33. Nc4 Bd5 34. Nxd6 Qxd6 35. Rxc7 Qxc7 36. Qa3 Qh2 37. Be3 Qh1+ 38.
Kd2 Qb1 39. Qxa7 Qb2+ 40. Kd3 Qb1+ 41. Kc3 Qe1+ 42. Kb2 Qe2+ 43. Ka3 Kg7
44. Bf4 Qb5 45. Be5+ Kf8 46. Qc5+ 1-0

Kramnik,V vs. Mamedyarov,S


1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. e4 d6 4. Nc3 e5 5. Nge2 exd4 6. Nxd4 Nc6 7. Be3 Nge7
8. Qd2 f5 9. exf5 Nxf5 10. Nxf5 Bxf5 11. Be2 O-O 12. O-O Qh4 13. Nd5 Rf7
14. g3 Qd8 15. Rad1 Qf8 16. f4 Re8 17. Bf3 Be4 18. Bxe4 Rxe4 19. b3 Qe8 20.
Rfe1 g5 21. Bf2 gxf4 22. Nxc7 Qe5 23. Rxe4 Qxe4 24. Re1 Qf5 25. Re8+ Bf8
26. Ne6 Ne5 27. Nd4 Qb1+ 28. Qe1 Qg6 29. Rxe5 dxe5 30. Qxe5 fxg3 31. hxg3
h5 32. Kg2 Bg7 33. Qd5 Kh7 34. Nf3 Rf5 35. Qe4 Qg4 36. Qd3 Qg6 37. Kg1 Ra5
38. Qe2 Qg4 39. a4 Rf5 40. Kg2 h4 41. Be1 h3+ 42. Kf2 h2 43. Kg2 Qxf3+ 44.
Qxf3 Rxf3 0-1

Leko,P vs. Adams,Mi


1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8.
a4 b4 9. d3 d6 10. Nbd2 Na5 11. Ba2 c5 12. h3 Rb8 13. Nc4 Be6 14. Nxa5 Qxa5
15. Bxe6 fxe6 16. Ng5 h6 17. Nxe6 Rf7 18. f4 exf4 19. Bxf4 Re8 20. Bg3 Qb6
21. Kh2 Qc6 22. Rf1 Qd7 23. Nf4 Bf8 24. Qd2 d5 25. exd5 Nxd5 26. Ng6 Bd6
27. Rxf7 Bxg3+ 28. Kxg3 Qxf7 29. Nh4 Re3+ 0-1


Bacrot,E vs. Ponomariov,R

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 a6 5. b3 c5 6. Be2 Nc6 7. O-O cxd4 8.
exd4 dxc4 9. bxc4 Be7 10. Bb2 O-O 11. Nc3 Qa5 12. Qb3 Rd8 13. Rfd1 Qb4 14.
Qc2 Bd7 15. a3 Qb6 16. Rab1 Rac8 17. d5 Na5 18. Ne5 exd5 19. Nxd5 Nxd5 20.
Rxd5 Be6 21. Bc3 Qa7 22. Rxa5 b6 23. Ra4 Bc5 24. Bf3 Rd6 25. h3 a5 26. Be4
h6 27. Nd3 Qc7 28. Rb5 Bd7 29. Rxc5 bxc5 30. Rxa5 Qb6 31. Qb2 Qxb2 32. Nxb2
Be6 33. Rb5 Re8 34. Bf3 Bd7 35. Rxc5 Ra6 36. a4 Bxa4 37. Nxa4 Rxa4 38. Bc6
Rc8 39. Bxa4 Rxc5 40. Bb5 1-0


Morozevich,A vs. Anand,V


1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. Bg2 c6 6. d4 d5 7. Qb3 dxc4 8.
Qxc4 Bf5 9. O-O Nbd7 10. e3 Ne4 11. Rd1 Rc8 12. Qe2 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Be4 14.
Bh3 c5 15. Bb2 e6 16. Nd2 Bc6 17. Nb3 Re8 18. Ba3 cxd4 19. cxd4 Nb6 20.
Rac1 Qd5 21. Rxc6 Qxc6 22. Bg2 Qc2 23. Rd2 Qb1+ 24. Rd1 Rc2 25. Rxb1 Rxe2
26. Bxb7 Rxa2 27. Bc5 Rb8 28. Nc1 Ra5 29. Nb3 Ra2 30. Nc1 Ra4 31. Bc6 Rc4
32. Nd3 Rc3 33. Nf4 Nd7 34. Rxb8+ Nxb8 35. Bb5 a5 36. Bd6 Rb3 37. Ba4 Rb1+
38. Kg2 Bf8 39. Bc7 Na6 40. Bd8 Ra1 41. Bb5 Nb4 42. e4 a4 43. d5 exd5 44.
exd5 a3 45. Bf6 Rd1 46. Be2 Rb1 0-1

Karpov,Ana vs. Bacrot,E


1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5 3. Nc3 Nd7 4. Nf3 Ngf6 5. e4 Be7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8.
Re1 exd4 9. Nxd4 Nc5 10. Bf1 Re8 11. f3 a5 12. Be3 a4 13. b4 axb3 14. axb3
Bf8 15. b4 Ncd7 16. b5 Rxa1 17. Qxa1 Qc7 18. Qa7 Qd8 19. Rd1 Re6 20. Nf5
Re8 21. Bb6 Ne5 1-0

Kamsky,G vs. Ivanchuk,V

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. c3 Qb6 6. Qb3 c4 7. Qc2 Bf5 8.
Qc1 e6 9. h3 h6 10. Nbd2 Qd8 11. Be2 b5 12. a3 Be7 13. O-O O-O 14. Re1 Qd7
15. Bd1 Rfe8 16. Bc2 Rad8 17. e4 dxe4 18. Nxe4 Nxe4 19. Bxe4 Bxe4 20. Rxe4
Qd5 21. Qe3 Qf5 22. Re1 Rd5 23. g4 Qg6 24. Kh2 Bf8 25. Rg1 a6 26. Nh4 Qh7
27. Bg3 h5 28. Kg2 Be7 29. Nf3 Qg6 30. Kf1 Bd8 31. Ne5 Nxe5 32. Bxe5 f6 33.
Bh2 Qf7 34. Kg2 hxg4 35. hxg4 f5 36. gxf5 Rxf5 37. Bg3 Qd7 38. Re1 Qd5 39.
Kg1 Kf7 40. Qe2 Bf6 41. Qg4 Rh8 42. Kf1 Rh1+ 43. Ke2 Rfh5 44. Kd2 Rxe1 45.
Rxe1 Rg5 46. Qf4 Rf5 47. Qc7+ Kg6 48. Qc8 Bg5+ 49. Kc2 Rxf2+ 50. Kb1 Rf6
51. Qe8+ Kh7 52. Be5 Rh6 53. Qf7 Bf6 54. Bxf6 Rxf6 55. Rh1+ Qxh1+ 0-1


Ivanchuk,V vs. Kramnik,V

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7
8. Nbd2 Nxd2 9. Bxd2 Bg4 10. c3 O-O 11. Bf4 Bd6 12. Bxd6 Qxd6 13. Re1 g6
14. h3 Rae8 15. Bc2 Nb8 16. Re3 Rxe3 17. fxe3 c6 18. e4 dxe4 1-0


Grischuk,A vs. Anand,V


1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. Nc3 Ne4 7. Bd2 f5 8.
d5 Bf6 9. Qc2 Qe7 10. Nxe4 fxe4 11. Qxe4 Bxb2 12. Rd1 Na6 13. O-O exd5 14.
Qxe7+ Kxe7 15. cxd5 Nc5 16. Bf4 d6 17. Nd4 Ba6 18. Bf3 Rhe8 19. Be3 Kf7 20.
Rd2 Bc3 21. Rc2 Bxd4 22. Bxd4 Re7 23. Rd1 Rae8 24. e3 Bd3 25. Rc3 Bg6 26.
Be2 Kg8 27. f3 Rf8 28. e4 Bh5 29. g4 Be8 30. h4 a5 31. h5 Bd7 32. Kg2 Rfe8
33. Bf1 Rf8 34. Rdc1 Ref7 35. Re3 Re7 36. Be2 Rfe8 37. Kg3 h6 38. Rcc3 Kf8
39. Bf1 Kg8 40. Bg2 Kf8 41. Rc1 Kg8 42. Rce1 c6 43. dxc6 Bxc6 44. Rb1 Rb7
45. Rc3 Bd7 46. Bxc5 dxc5 47. Rxc5 a4 48. a3 bxc5 49. Rxb7 Be6 50. Rc7 Rb8
51. Rxc5 Rb3 52. Rc6 Kf7 53. Bf1 Rxa3 54. Bc4 Bxc4 55. Rxc4 Ra1 56. Kf4 a3
57. Ra4 a2 58. e5 Ke6 59. Ra6+ Kf7 60. Kf5 Rf1 61. Ra7+ Kf8 62. Rxa2 Rxf3+
63. Ke6 Kg8 64. Ra4 Rb3 65. Rd4 Rb6+ 66. Ke7 Rb7+ 67. Ke6 Rb6+ 68. Kf5 Kf7
69. Rd7+ Kf8 70. Rc7 Ra6 71. Rd7 Rb6 72. Rd6 Rb4 73. Ra6 Kf7 74. e6+ Kf8
75. Ra8+ Ke7 76. Ra7+ Kf8 77. Rf7+ Kg8 78. Rd7 Kf8 79. Rd5 Ke7 80. g5 Rb7
81. gxh6 gxh6 82. Rc5 Ra7 83. Rb5 Rc7 84. Rd5 Ra7 85. Rb5 Rc7 86. Ra5 Rb7
87. Ra6 Rb5+ 88. Kg6 Rg5+ 89. Kxh6 Rg1 90. Kh7 Kf6 91. h6 Rg2 92. Kh8 Rg1
93. h7 Rg2 94. Rb6 Rg1 95. Rb8 Kxe6 96. Rg8 Rh1 97. Kg7 Rg1+ 98. Kf8 Rf1+
99. Ke8 Ra1 100. Rg6+ Kf5 101. Rf6+ Kg5 102. Rf8 1-0


Morozevich,A vs. Kramnik,V


1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Bg4 4. d3 Nd7 5. Nbd2 Ngf6 6. h3 Bh5 7. g4 Bg6 8.
Nh4 e6 9. e3 Bd6 10. Qe2 Qc7 11. O-O O-O-O 12. f4 h6 13. Nxg6 fxg6 14. Nf3
e5 15. Nh4 exf4 16. exf4 Rhe8 17. Qf2 Bc5 18. d4 Bb6 19. b4 Ne4 20. Bxe4
Rxe4 21. c3 Rde8 22. Nxg6 c5 23. bxc5 Nxc5 24. Qf3 Na4 25. Bd2 Nxc3 26.
Bxc3 Re3 27. Qxd5 Rxc3 28. Rae1 Rd8 29. Qf5+ Kb8 30. Kh2 Bxd4 31. Re2 a6
32. Rfe1 Ka7 33. Qe4 Bb6 34. Ne5 Rd4 35. Qf5 g5 36. fxg5 Rdd3 37. Kg2 Rg3+
38. Kf1 Rg1+ 0-1

Bacrot,E vs. Carlsen,M

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 b5 6. cxb5 Bxb5 7. Bg2 d5 8.
O-O Nbd7 9. Nc3 Ba6 10. a3 Bd6 11. b4 O-O 12. Re1 Bb7 13. Na4 a5 14. Nc5
Bc6 15. Rb1 axb4 16. axb4 Bb5 17. Bf4 Bxf4 18. gxf4 Ra2 19. Ne5 Nxe5 20.
dxe5 Nd7 21. Nb3 Qh4 22. Nc1 Ra3 23. Qd2 g5 24. fxg5 Nxe5 25. Rb3 Rfa8 26.
Qe3 Rxb3 27. Nxb3 Qxb4 28. Rc1 Nc4 29. Qg3 Ra3 30. Rc3 Ba4 31. Qxc7 Rxb3
32. Qd8+ Qf8 0-1


Karpov,Ana vs. Carlsen,M

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. d4 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 b5 6. cxb5 Bxb5 7. Bg2 d5 8.
Nc3 Ba6 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Ne5 Bd6 11. Bf4 O-O 12. Rc1 Bxe5 13. dxe5 Ng4 14.
Nxd5 exd5 15. Qxd5 Nb6 16. Qa5 Bxe2 17. Rfe1 Bd3 18. Red1 Qd4 19. Rd2 Rad8
20. h3 Nxf2 21. Rxf2 Be4 22. Qxa7 Bxg2 23. Kxg2 Qe4+ 24. Kh2 Nd5 25. Rc4
Qb1 26. Rd4 h5 27. Bg5 Rd7 28. Qc5 Qe1 29. Rg2 Qxe5 30. Bf4 Qe6 31. Rgd2
Nxf4 32. gxf4 Rxd4 33. Qxd4 Re8 34. b4 Qf5 35. Rf2 h4 36. a4 Re4 37. Qd8+
Kh7 38. Qxh4+ Kg8 39. Qg5 Qd7 40. a5 Rxb4 41. Rg2 Qd4 42. a6 Ra4 43. Qg4
Qf6 44. Qg5 Rxa6 45. Qxf6 Rxf6 46. Rc2 c6 47. Kg3 Kf8 48. Kf3 Ke7 49. Ke4
g6 50. h4 Kd6 51. Ra2 Rf5 52. Ra7 c5 53. Ra8 Rh5 54. Ra6+ Ke7 55. Ra7+ Kf6
56. Ra6+ Kg7 57. Rc6 Rf5 58. Rc8 Rh5 59. Rc6 Kf8 60. Rc7 Ke8 61. Kf3 Rf5
62. Ke4 Kd8 63. Ra7 Ke8 64. Rc7 Kf8 65. Ra7 Rh5 66. Rc7 f6 67. Kf3 Ke8 68.
Rg7 Kf8 69. Rxg6 Kf7 70. Rg1 Rxh4 71. Ra1 Ke6 72. Ra5 Kd5 73. Ra6 Rh6 74.
Ra8 Kd4 75. Rd8+ Kc3 76. Ke4 c4 77. Rc8 Rh5 78. Rc6 Rh6 79. Kf5 Kd3 80.
Rd6+ Kc2 81. Rc6 c3 82. Rc8 Kd2 83. Rd8+ Kc1 84. Rc8 c2 85. Rc7 Rh4 86. Rc8
Kd2 87. Rd8+ Ke3 88. Re8+ Kf3 89. Rc8 Rxf4+ 90. Kg6 Rg4+ 91. Kxf6 Rg2 92.
Ke5 Rd2 0-1


Anand,V vs. Kamsky,G

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Ba7 7. Nc3 Nc6
8. Qe2 Nge7 9. Be3 b5 10. Bxa7 Rxa7 11. a4 b4 12. Nd1 d5 13. O-O dxe4 14.
Bxe4 Nd4 15. Qc4 Nxb3 16. cxb3 a5 17. Qb5+ Bd7 18. Qc5 Qc7 19. Rc1 Qxc5 20.
Rxc5 Nc8 21. Ne3 Nd6 22. Bf3 Ke7 23. Re1 Rc8 24. Rh5 h6 25. Nd5+ Kd8 26.
Ne3 f6 27. Rh4 Rac7 28. Rd4 Rc1 29. Kf1 Rxe1+ 30. Kxe1 Ke7 31. Kd2 g5 32.
h4 f5 33. hxg5 hxg5 34. g3 Rc5 35. Bg2 g4 36. Bh1 Be8 37. Bg2 Bf7 38. Nc4
Nxc4+ 39. Rxc4 Kd6 40. Rxc5 Kxc5 41. Bb7 Kd4 42. Bc8 Bg8 43. Bd7 Ke4 44.
Bc6+ Ke5 45. Bd7 Kd6 46. Bc8 Kd5 47. Ke3 Ke5 48. Ba6 Bf7 49. Bb5 Bg6 50.
Bc4 Be8 51. Bb5 Bf7 52. Bc4 Kd6 53. Kf4 Be8 54. Ke3 Bc6 55. Kd4 e5+ 56. Ke3
Be4 57. Bf7 Bd5 58. Bg6 Ke6 59. Bh7 Kf6 0-1


Grischuk,A VS Kramnik,V

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 b6 8.
Be2 Bb7 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. cxd5 exd5 11. b4 c6 12. O-O Re8 13. Qb3 Qd6 14. a4
Nd7 15. a5 b5 16. Ne1 Bd8 17. Nd3 Bc7 18. g3 Bc8 19. Rac1 a6 20. Bf3 Qg6
21. Nxd5 Bxg3 22. fxg3 cxd5 23. Bxd5 Nf6 24. Nf4 1-0


Kramnik,V vs. Anand,V

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. d4 Nc6 6. Bf4 a6 7. Rc1 Bf5
8. e3 Rc8 9. Be2 e6 10. O-O Be7 11. Qb3 Na5 12. Qa4+ Nc6 13. Bxa6 Ra8 14.
Bxb7 Rxa4 15. Bxc6+ Kf8 16. Nxa4 Ne4 17. Bb7 Nd6 18. Bxd6 Qxd6 19. Rc6 Qd7
20. Rc8+ Bd8 21. Ne5 1-0


Ivanchuk,V vs. Carlsen,M

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 exd6 6. Nc3 Be7 7. Bd3 Nc6
8. Nge2 Bf6 9. Be3 O-O 10. b3 Re8 11. O-O Bg4 12. Qd2 d5 13. c5 Bxe2 14.
Bxe2 Nc8 15. Rfe1 N8e7 16. Bg4 g6 17. Re2 Bg7 18. Rae1 Nf5 19. Bxf5 gxf5
20. Bh6 Rxe2 21. Nxe2 Qf6 22. Bxg7 Qxg7 23. Rd1 Re8 24. f3 Ne7 25. Ng3 Qf6
26. Re1 Kf8 27. Re5 c6 28. Nh5 Qg6 29. Nf4 Qf6 30. Qe3 h6 31. g3 Rc8 32.
Kf2 b6 33. h4 Rd8 34. Nh5 Qg6 35. Rxe7 Qxh5 36. Rxa7 Re8 37. Qxe8+ Kxe8 38.
cxb6 f4 39. b7 fxg3+ 40. Kg2 1-0



Karpov,Ana vs. Anand,V

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Be3 e5 7. d5 Qe8 8. g4
a5 9. Nge2 Na6 10. Ng3 c6 11. g5 Nd7 12. dxc6 bxc6 13. Qxd6 f5 14. gxf6
Rxf6 15. Qd2 Nf8 16. Na4 Ne6 17. Nb6 Rb8 18. Qxa5 Nd4 19. O-O-O c5 20. Nd5
Rf7 21. Ne2 Nb4 22. Nec3 Nbc6 23. Qa3 Ra7 24. Qxc5 Rxa2 25. Bxd4 Nxd4 26.
Rxd4 Ra1+ 27. Nb1 exd4 28. Bd3 Be6 29. f4 Kh8 30. e5 Rd8 0-1


Ivanchuk,V vs. Shirov,A

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. e3 d6 5. h3 c5 6. c3 Qb6 7. Qc1 cxd4 8.
exd4 Nd5 9. Bh2 Bh6 10. Qxh6 Qxb2 11. Bc4 Qxa1 12. O-O Be6 13. Qd2 b5 14.
Bxb5+ Nd7 15. c4 Rb8 16. cxd5 Rxb5 17. Nc3 1-0


Gelfand,B vs. Anand,V

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 5. Nc3 b5 6. c5 Bg4 7. h3 Bxf3 8.
gxf3 Nbd7 9. f4 g6 10. Bd3 e6 11. Bd2 Be7 12. b4 O-O 13. a4 Nh5 14. Qe2 a5
15. axb5 axb4 16. Na4 Bxc5 17. dxc5 Nxc5 18. Bxb4 Nxa4 19. Bxf8 Qxf8 20.
bxc6 Nc3 21. Qb2 Rxa1+ 22. Qxa1 Qc5 23. Qa8+ Kg7 24. O-O d4 25. Qb7 dxe3
26. c7 exf2+ 27. Kh1 Qe3 28. Qg2 Qxd3 29. Rxf2 Qc4 30. Qb7 Nd1 31. c8=Q
Nxf2+ 32. Kg2 Qd4 33. Qcc7 Nxf4+ 34. Kf1 N2xh3 35. Qxf7+ Kh6 36. Qxh7+ Kg5
37. Qbe7+ Kf5 38. Qef7+ Ke5 0-1



Grischuk,A vs. Ivanchuk,V

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 dxc4 4. d5 e6 5. Nc3 exd5 6. Qxd5 Qxd5 7. Nxd5 Bd6
8. Nd2 Nc6 9. Nxc4 Bb8 10. Be3 Be6 11. O-O-O Nge7 12. Nxe7 Nxe7 13. b3 b6
14. g3 Bc7 15. Bg2 Rc8 16. Bf4 Nf5 17. e3 Ke7 18. g4 Bxf4 19. gxf5 Bxc4 20.
exf4 Bb5 21. Rhe1+ Kf8 22. a4 Be8 23. Bb7 Rb8 24. Ba6 h5 25. Rd6 h4 26. Re5
h3 27. Kd2 Rh4 28. Ke3 Rg4 29. Bf1 Rg1 30. Bxh3 f6 31. Red5 Rb1 32. Rd3 Bf7
33. Rd7 a5 34. Bg2 Bxb3 35. Bd5 Bxd5 36. R3xd5 Rb3+ 37. Kd2 Rf3 38. Rc7
Rxf4 39. Rdd7 Rg4 40. h3 Rg1 41. Ke3 Re8+ 42. Kf3 Kg8 43. Rb7 Re5 44. Rxb6
Rxf5+ 45. Ke2 Rg2 46. Rb5 Rgxf2+ 47. Ke3 c4 48. Rdd5 R2f3+ 49. Ke2 Rxd5 50.
Rxd5 Rxh3 51. Rxa5 Ra3 52. Kd2 g5 53. Ra7 g4 54. a5 g3 55. Ke2 f5 56. Rc7
f4 57. Rxc4 f3+ 58. Kd2 g2 59. Rg4+ Kh7 60. a6 Rxa6 61. Ke3 Ra1 62. Kf2
Rf1+ 63. Ke3 g1=Q+ 0-1


Standings after after 19 of 38 rounds

1.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2787	13.5	2864
2.	Grischuk, Alexander	RUS	2715	13.0	2843
3.	Kamsky, Gata	USA	2714	12.5	2827
4.	Lékó, Peter	HUN	2755	12.0	2803
5.	Anand, Viswanathan	IND	2801	11.5	2785
6.	Kramnik, Vladimir	RUS	2785	10.5	2742
7.	Morozevich, Alexander	RUS	2755	10.5	2744
8.	Rublevsky, Sergei	RUS	2676	10.5	2748
9.	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	2752	10.0	2729
10.	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	2714	9.5	2710
11.	Adams, Michael	ENG	2729	9.0	2688
12.	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2736	9.0	2688
13.	Shirov, Alexei	ESP	2739	8.5	2672
14.	Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	UZB	2690	8.5	2675
15.	Savchenko, Boris	RUS	2583	8.0	2660
16.	Ponomariov, Ruslan	UKR	2705	7.5	2630
17.	Bacrot, Etienne	FRA	2695	7.5	2631
18.	Korotylev, Alexey	RUS	2600	6.5	2599
19.	Dreev, Alexey	RUS	2607	6.5	2598
20.	Karpov, Anatoly	RUS	2670	5.5	2554

Cross table (after 19 rounds)

Anand blasts FIDE's 'political patronage' of Kramnik

06.11.2007 – Gentlemen, let the hostilities begin. After Vladimir Kramnik passed some disparaging remarks about Vishy Anand's world championship win ("I have lent Anand the crown") in an Izvestia interview, the Indian star strikes back in a national newspaper, saying Kramnik's arguments were based on mere technicalities. Anand also reveals that he may soon move back to India. Hindustan Times stories.

Kramnik says he has lent Anand the crown; champ laughs it off

Long after the bitter days of rivalry between Kasparov and Karpov, another chess star war seems to be in the offing. Vladimir Kramnik, dethroned as the FIDE world chess champion by Viswanathan Anand, has passed disparaging comments against the Indian star, who has retaliated strongly.

In a recent interview to the Russian newspaper Izvestia, Kramnik said that he has "lent the title temporarily to Anand". He added that he would accept Anand as the champion only if Anand wins their rematch next year. "OK, on paper Anand may be world champion, but from my point of view, there is a difference in significance between a title won in a match and in a tournament," Kramnik said. "For me, the forthcoming match with Anand is more important. If I lose that, I will accept completely the fact that I have lost the title."

Kramnik's comments re-ignite the debate over the best format for the event, apart from showing Kramnik in a poor light, for he had acknowledged Anand as the champion soon after the World Championship in Mexico in late September. Anand has suggested that Kramnik's argument was based on mere technicalities. He reacted strongly to Kramnik's comment and told HT: "He is trying to make the most of the political patronage he enjoys from the FIDE. Kramnik's position seems like a legal explanation of a situation arising from the political patronage."

"Who the best player in the world is decided on the board," Anand said over the phone from Chennai. Kramnik also claimed that his rematch with Anand – a gift guaranteed to the Russian by the FIDE even before the Mexico event – would be played in September 2008 in Germany. Kramnik told Izvestia that sponsors and organisers were already in place and contracts would be signed within a month. Anand refuted these claims and said nothing had been decided as yet.

Viswanathan Anand

Viswanathan Anand (born December 11, 1969) , is an Indian chess grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion. Anand is one of four players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list and he has been among the top three ranked players in classical time control chess in the world continuously since 1997.

By 14 he was the “Boy Wonder” in Indian chess and his assets, lightning speed, ability to see and read the game far ahead besides on-board intuition saw him emerge as the Youngest Indian National Champion at age of 16.


In the April 2007 FIDE Elo rating list, Anand was ranked first in the world for the first time, and he retained the number one spot in the July 2007 list with a rating of 2792, a lead of 23 points. He heads the current October 2007 list with an Elo rating of 2801. He is the sixth person to head the rating list since its inception in 1970; the other five being Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik and Topalov. Anand became, for the first time, the undisputed World Chess Champion on September 29, 2007, after winning the 2007 World Chess Championship Tournament held in Mexico City.Anand finished the tournament with a score of 9/14 (+4=10-0).



Chess career


Anand's rise in the Indian chess world was meteoric. National level success came early for him when he won the National Sub-Junior Chess Championship with a score of 9/9 in 1983 at the age of fourteen. He became the youngest Indian to win the International Master Title at the age of fifteen, in 1984. At the age of sixteen he became the National Champion and won that title two more times. He played games at blitz speed. In 1987, he became the first Indian to win the World Junior Chess Championship. In 1988, at the age of eighteen, he became India's first Grandmaster.

"Vishy", as he is sometimes called by his friends, burst upon the upper echelons of the chess scene in the early 1990s, winning such tournaments as Reggio Emilia 1991 (ahead of Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov). Playing at such a high level did not slow him down either, and he continued to play games at blitz speed. In 1991, he made the quarter finals of the FIDE Candidates Tournament, before losing narrowly to Anatoly Karpov.

Anand qualified for the Professional Chess Association World Chess Championship final by winning the candidates matches against Michael Adams and Gata Kamsky. In 1995, he played a title match against Kasparov in New York City's World Trade Center. After an opening run of eight draws (a record for the opening of a world championship match), Anand won game nine with a powerful exchange sacrifice, but then lost four of the next five. He lost the match 10.5 - 7.5.

Anand won three consecutive Advanced Chess tournaments in Leon, Spain after Garry Kasparov introduced this form of chess in 1998, and is widely recognized as the world's best Advanced Chess player, where humans may consult a computer to aid in their calculation of variations.

Anand has won the Chess Oscar in 1997, 1998, 2003, and 2004, becoming the third non-Russian player, after Bent Larsen of Denmark and Bobby Fischer of USA, to win the Oscar. The Chess Oscar is awarded to the year's best player according to a world-wide poll of leading chess critics, writers, and journalists conducted by the Russian chess magazine 64.

His game collection, My Best Games of Chess, was published in the year 1998 and was updated in 2001.

Anand's recent tournament successes include the Corus chess tournament in 2006 (tied with Veselin Topalov), Dortmund in 2004, and Linares in 2007. He has won the annually held Monaco Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Championships in years 1994, 1997, 2003, 2005 and 2006. He is the only player to have won five titles of the Corus chess tournament. He is also the only player to win the blind and rapid sections of the Amber tournament in the same year (and he did this twice – in 1997 and 2005). He is the first player to have achieved victories in each of the three big chess supertournaments: Corus (1998, 2003, 2004, 2006), Linares (1998, 2007), Dortmund (1996, 2000, 2004).

In 2007 he won the Grenkeleasing Rapid championship, which he won for the tenth time defeating Armenian GM Levon Aronian. Incidentally, just a few days before Aronian had defeated Anand in the Chess960 final. In March 2007, Anand won the Linares chess tournament and it was widely believed that he would be ranked world No.1 in the FIDE Elo rating list for April 2007. However, Anand was placed No.2 in the initial list released because the Linares result was not included. FIDE subsequently announced that the Linares results would be included after all, making Anand number one in the April 2007 list.

World Chess Champion



After several near misses, Anand won the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000 for the first time after defeating Alexei Shirov 3.5 - 0.5 in the final match held at Tehran, thereby becoming the first Indian to win that title. He lost the title when Ruslan Ponomariov won the FIDE knockout tournament in 2002.

He tied for second with Peter Svidler in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 with 8.5 points out of 14 games, 1.5 points behind the winner, Veselin Topalov.

In September 2007 Anand became World Champion again by winning that year's FIDE World Championship Tournament held in Mexico City. He won the double round-robin tournament with a final score of 9 out of 14 points, a full point ahead of joint second place finishers Vladimir Kramnik and Boris Gelfand.

In 2000, when Anand won the FIDE World Championship, there was also the rival "Classical" World Championship, held by Kramnik. By 2007, the world championship had been reunified, so Anand's victory in Mexico City made him, for the first time, undisputed World Chess Champion.

Anand is scheduled to defend the title against Kramnik in a match in 2008. In October 2007, Anand said he liked the double round robin championship format, and that the right of Kramnik to automatically challenge for the title was "ridiculous".

Chess titles

• 1983 National Sub-Junior Chess Champion - age 14
• 1984 International Master - age 15
• 1985 Indian National Champion - age 16
• 1987 World Junior Chess Champion,
• 1988 Grandmaster
• 2000 FIDE World Chess Champion
• 2003 FIDE World Rapid Chess Champion
• 2007 FIDE World Chess Champion (Undisputed)