ANAND SLIPS AFTER LOSING TO ARONIAN IN LINARES

The Statesman
February 22, 2009 Sunday
India

Press Trust of India LINARES (Spain), Feb. 21: World champion
Viswanathan Anand frittered away a superior position as he went down
to Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian and slipped to the joint third
spot after the second round of the 22nd Magistral Ciudad de Linares
chess tournament here.

Having started with a brilliant victory against Teimour Radjabov in
the opener, Anand had a big advantage before he suddenly missed some
simple tactics and lost without further resistance.

Aronian emerged as the new leader along with Grandmaster Alexander
Grischuk of Russia, who tamed Wang Yue of China. The other two games
of the second round were drawn. Anand shares the third spot with
Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Magnus Carlson of Norway and Lenier
Dominguez of Cuba. Radjabov and Wang Yue are now at the bottom of
the tables with a half point each. Twelve rounds still remain in the
traditional tournament which is being played on a double round robin
basis between eight players.

Anand showcased his preparation against the Semi Slav defense and went
for a razor-sharp pawn sacrifice that had been played before. Aronian
accepted the pawn offer but came under tremendous pressure on the
king side.

It was a practical decision by Aronian to sacrifice a piece for a few
pawns that kept him in the game. The optical problems resulted in Anand
losing his control and his desire to exchange queens to simplify the
position proved disastrous. Aronian clinched the issue after 53 moves.

Wang Yue played the Slav defense against Grischuk but could not find
the equaliser after the latter went for complications with a pawn
sacrifice in the center. The Chinese player found some solace after
giving the pawn back and reached a slightly worse endgame wherein
Grischuk showed immaculated technique and romped home after 57 moves.

In Carlsen-Dominguez the Cuban Grandmaster demonstrated a great
preparation in the English opening and introducing a novelty in a very
sharp and relatively new theoretical variation. After some thought,
the Norwegian took a healthy practical decision to play safely and
repeat the position instead of playing wild complications analysed
by his opponent at home.

Ivanchuk came up with an opening surprise against Radjabov by opting
for the King’s Indian defense which is largely considered to the forte
of the Azerbaijani. Radjabov tried a novelty, but Ivanchuk reacted
strongly and soon Black achieved a comfortable equality. A draw was
predictable long before it was agreed.