Mangalorean.com, India
Feb 18 2008

Anand blunders against Aronian in Morelia-Linares chess

Morelia (Mexico), Feb 18 (IANS) After a winning start in first round,
India’s Viswanathan Anand has blundered in the second round to lose
to Lev Aronian of Armenia in the first leg of the Morelia-Linares
Grandmasters chess tournament.

Defending champion and World No. 1 Anand Saturday fell to a terrible
blunder on the 30th move in his game against Aronian, the man he
termed as favourite before the tournament.

Anand now has one point from two games and is tied for third place,
half a point behind joint leaders, Vassily Ivanchuk and Vesselin
Topalov.

In other games, Peter Leko also blundered and lost against Vassily
Ivanchuk to hand over the full point and Teimour Radjabov spoilt a
promising game against Veselin Topalov to a draw, while Alexei Shirov
and Magnus Carlsen also shared points.

Aronian, who has been one of the most consistent players on the
circuit, chose his favourite Marshall’s attack, getting some
compensation for two pawns. Anand’s position was still preferable
until he played the incorrect 29.Nd2 and then again blundered on the
next move (30.Nf3). The game, essentially, was decided there as it
left the Indian’s king vulnerable and resigned soon after on the 34th
move.

Ukranian Ivanchuk proved his great strategical understanding as he
chose a line which till now was considered innocuous. While many feel
that black will gain with the queen exchange for two rooks in mid
game, Ivanchuk proved that it was white, which was better off as
Leko, with black, was struggling.

Leko added to his problems with an error on the 38th move and lost
the game.

Meanwhile, Topalov, with black, decided to change his favourite
Sicilian Najdorf defense for the Berlin’s Wall of the Spanish
Opening. Just when Radjabov seemed ready to pressurise the black
position, he made a big mistake that overlooked Black (Topalov’s)
possibilities of winning a pawn. Topalov had a winning chance but
Radjabov hung in to get a draw by repetition.

In the third round, Anand will have black pieces against Carlsen.

The tournament is played in two legs with the first leg being held at
Morelia, Mexico and the second leg in Linares, Spain.

Results of Round 2:
Anand lost to Aronian
Radjabov drew with Topalov
Ivanchuk beat Leko
Shirov drew with Carlsen

Pairings for Round 3:
Carlsen vs. Anand
Leko vs. Shirov
Topalov vs. Ivanchuk
Aronian vs. Radjabov

Points after Round 2:
1. Ivanchuk and Topalov (1.5 each)
3. Aronian, Carlsen, Anand and Leko (1 each)
7. Radjabov and Shirov (0.5 each).

IANS