The Statesman, India
Monday, 24 September 2007
Anand close to another title
Press Trust of India
Mexico City, Sept. 23: Viswanathan Anand would be
aiming for a complete rout when he takes on Levon
Aronian of Armenia in the ninth round of the World
Chess Championship here.
The Indian ace has displayed fine technique so far,
and it looks he is set to regain the world crown he
won last in 2000.
According to experts, Anand will just need a couple of
victories more to win the championship and he looks in
fine fettle to achieve them if the games thus far are
any indication.
The `Tiger from Madras’, as he is fondly referred to,
will look forward to his second triumph over Aronian
here, having beaten him earlier in the third-round
clash. The championship is being played in a double
round robin format among eight players.
After the first eight rounds, Anand is on 5.5 points,
half-a-point ahead of nearest contender Boris Gelfand
of Israel. Interestingly, both these players happen to
be the oldest players in the championship at 37 and 39
years respectively.
While the experts rule out a Gelfand victory,
defending champion Vladimir Kramnik remains the
biggest threat for Anand in their opinion, despite
being a full point behind the Indian with only six
games to come. `It depends, Kramnik will have to win
some games and with a little luck he can be right
there, also he is known to peak towards the end only,’
opined a GM.
While Kramnik is alone at the third position, the
choices to pick a winner other than him, Gelfand and
Anand, are almost non existent at this point.