Anand back to winning ways

Anand opened with a queen pawn and came up against the Grunfeld defence from Svidler. He attacked from early stages and after his 14thmove novelty, Svidler too replied with a new one on the 16th.

Giving up castling Anand went in for a king side attack. Using his knight to the maximum, Anand first got Svidler’s rooks and then placed his powerful knight in the centre to take a strangehold of the game.

When the end came, Anand had his rook in F1, the queen on H8 and a knight on G7 to completely dominate the board a mate was eminent.

Kasparov was engaged in a rook and opposite colour bishop ending with Peter Leko. Kasparov, famous for wearing down opponents by sheer determination, tried hard to force win but Leko did not buckle under pressure and was more than equal to the task. In a Sicilian defence game, players split the point after 48 moves.

Results of 6th round: Anand bt Svidler; Kramnik bt Adams; Kasparov drew with Leko; Ivanchuk drew with Topalov.

Standings: Kasparov (4); Anand, Kramnik (3.5 each); Adams, Svidler, Topalov (3 each); Leko (2.5); Ivanchuk (1.5).