Anand back to winning ways, downs Khalifmann

Top-rated Garry Kasparov and his Russian compatriot Vladimir Kramnik continued to lead the six-player field with 5.5 points each to their credit and will be taking on Anand and Hungarian Peter Leko respectively in the last round.

The other four players — Anand, Khalifmann, Leko and Spaniard Alexei Shirov — share the third spot with four points each.

Kasparov was held to a draw by Leko while Kramnik had to share the point with Shirov in the ninth round.

Playing with white pieces, the Indian employed his favourite opening — the King Pawn to which Khalifmann adopted the French Defence and the game took a shape in the Lillinthal Variation.

A well-armed Anand produced a theoretical novelty on the 16th move and entered into wild complications. Khalifmann, fresh from his first big win on Wednesday against Leko, tried to launch an attack against Anand’s king and sacrificed two queenside pawns to open up the position.

The ensuing position required deep and precise play and Khalifmann fell in time pressure. Showing his defensive prowess, Anand marched his centralised king in the rival camp after which Khalifmann had no counterplay for lost material and resigned after 42 moves.

The game between Leko and Kasparov generated a lot of interest as the latter played a new move in his pet Najdorf Defence on the 13th turn and then himself went into a long thought a couple of moves later.

On the 20th move, the position became unclear and Kasparov sacrificed a pawn to simplify the situation and the game petered out to a draw after 37 moves.

With black pieces, Kramnik opted for a home prepared pawn sacrifice in a Sicilian Sveshnikov game against Shirov and got a dynamically balanced position. Shirov’s kingside remained under pressure by Kramnik’s pieces and the counterplay, that he generated on the other side, was only sufficient in getting an equal position. The players signed the peace treaty after 33 moves in an equal rook-knight versus rook-bishop endgame.

Standings (round 9): 1-2 Kasparov, Kramnik (both Russia) 5.5 points each; 3-6 Khalifmann (Rus), Leko (Hun), Shirov (Esp), Anand (Ind) 4 each

The Moves
Anand vs Khalifmann

1. e4 e6, 2. d4 d5, 3. Nc3 Bb4, 4. e5 c5, 5. a3 Ba5, 6. B4cxd4, 7. Qg4 Ne7, 8. Bxa5 dxc3, 9. Qxg7 rg8, 10. Qxh7 Nbc6, 11. f4 Qxa5, 12. Nf3 Bd7, 13. rb1 0-0-0, 14. Qd3 Nf5, 15. rg1 d4, 16. g4 Nfe7, 17. rg3 Be8, 18. h4 Nf5, 19. rg1 Ne3, 20. Bxe3 dxe3, 21. Qxe3 Ne7, 22. Bc4 Bc6, 23. rb3 Kb8, 24. Qxc3 Qc7, 25. Be2 Nd5, 26. Qc4 Qa5+, 27. Kf2 Ba4, 28. rb2 rc8, 29. Qd4 rc3, 30. Bd3 rgc8, 31. rc1 rd8, 32. rcb1 bc6, 33. rb3 rxb3, 34. rxb3 Nf6, 35. Qb4 Nxg4+, 36. Kg3 Qd5, 37. Bh7 Qd1, 38. Kxg4 rd2, 39. Kg5 Bxf3, 40. Bd3 rg2+, 41. Kf6 a6, 42. Rb1 black resigned.