New Kerala, India
June 11 2004
Anand wins as World team takes lead
Moscow, June 11 (IANS) :
Viswanathan Anand registered a fine win and carried his World team to
a encouraging one-point lead on the opening day of the Petrosyan
Memorial chess match against an Armenian team.
The match is being played to mark the 75th birth anniversary of late
Armenian world chess champion Tigran Petrosian.
Petrosian, who was born in 1929, died in 1984.
The win Thursday did not come easily, as Armenian Smbat Lputian
stretched him to 61 moves in the first round.
“It is always nice to start with a win. The competition is bound to
get more intense as the match progresses,” said Anand, who last year
had led the World team to a fine win over a Russian team which also
had Garry Kasparov.
While Anand and Peter Svidler scored wins for the World team,
Kasparov was the lone winner for Armenia.
Svidler beat Boris Gelfand, an Israeli, who is turning out for the
Armenian team because he is the master’s most famous pupil.
The match continues till July 15. With six members on either side,
the match is a six-round Scheveningen event.
Anand (2774) had white pieces in his clash against Lputian (2634),
who is rated well below the Indian star. The game was a French
Winawer, in which at one stage, the Armenian seemed to have a chance
to escape with a draw. But Anand did not allow that and managed to
find a winning route as the game stretched to 61 moves.
Kasparov opened the match with a win over Dutchman, Loek Van Wely in
33 moves of an English Symmetrical game. The remaining three games
ended in draws.
Svidler beat Gelfand in a 52-move Sicilian Najdorf Variation game.
Besides Anand, the other members of the World team are Michael Adams,
Peter Svidler, Loek Van Wely, Etienne Bacrot and Francisco Vallejo
Pons. The Armenian team comprises Vladimir Akopian, Smbat Lputian and
Rafael Vaganian plus Kasparov whose mother is Armenian, Peter Leko
whose wife is Armenian and Boris Gelfand.
Results of Round 1:
Kasparov (ARM) beat Van Wely (ROW); Anand (ROW) beat Lputian (Arm);
Leko (ARM) drew Adams (ROW); Svidler (ROW) beat Gelfand (Arm);
Akopian (ARM) drew with Vallejo Pons (ROW); Bacrot (ROW) drew with
Vaganian (Arm).
Moves of Anand’s game:
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4
O-O 8. Bd3 Nbc6 9. Qh5 Ng6 10. Nf3 Qc7 11. Be3 Nce7 12. h4 Nf5 13. g4
Nxe3 14. fxe3 cxd4 15. cxd4 Qc3+ 16. Ke2 Bd7 17. Rab1 Be8 18. Ng5 h6
19. Rxb7 Qc8 20. Rhb1 Nxe5 21. dxe5 f5 22. exf6 Rxf6 23. Nf7 Rxf7 24.
Rxf7 Bxf7 25. Qe5 Qd8 26. Rb7 Qf8 27. g5 hxg5 28. hxg5 g6 29. e4 a5
30. Qf6 Rb8 31. Ra7 Ra8 32. Rd7 Be8 33. Qxe6+ Bf7 34. Qe7 Re8 35.
Qxf8+ Kxf8 36. Kf3 dxe4+ 37. Bxe4 Re5 38. Kf4 Rc5 39. Ra7 Be8 40. Ra6
Ke7 41. Bxg6 Bxg6 42. Rxg6 Rxc2 43. Ra6 Rc4+ 44. Kf5 Ra4 45. Ra7+ Kf8
46. Kf6 Rf4+ 47. Kg6 Ra4 48. Rf7+ Kg8 49. Rf3 Rc4 50. Rb3 Rc6+ 51.
Kh5 Ra6 52. a4 Ra7 53. Rb5 Kg7 54. Kg4 Kg6 55. Kf4 Ra6 56. Ke4 Ra8
57. Kd4 Rd8+ 58. Kc4 Rd1 59. Rxa5 Ra1 60. Kb3 Rb1+ 61. Ka3 1-0