Anand climbs to second position

DORTMUND, July 1: Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand of India overtook Vladimir Kramnik of Russia to claim the second spot in the latest international rating lists published by both World Chess Federation Fide and Garry Kasparov8217;s rebel World Chess Council WCC here today.

Tuesday was the rest day for Dortmund Chess Meeting.

Garry Kasparov continues to head both the rating lists despite losing rating points due to his poor show at Linares, Spain this year. Incidentally, Anand has won all the tournaments, he participated this year. Kramnik was pushed to the third place after maintaining his second place behind mentor Kasparov for more than two years. Anand8217;s superlative performances this year were marred by only one failure when he lost to Anatoly Karpov in the finals of World Chess championship at Lausanne, Switzerland in January, 1998. However, Anand was not given enough time to rest and prepare by Fide as he had to play Karpov within two days of qualifying through a rigorous cycle, felt many experts. BothKasparov and Karpov failed to win a single tournament this year. On the other hand, Anand has already pocketed three first prizes staking his claim for both the coveted crowns of Fide and WCC.