Anand draws with Ivanchuk

Kochi, Feb 27: For the second consecutive day, the Ciudad de Linares witnessed drawn encounters in the fifth round today which is in sharp c...

Kochi, Feb 27: For the second consecutive day, the Ciudad de Linares witnessed drawn encounters in the fifth round today which is in sharp contrast to the tradition of the tournament. Viswanathan Anand drew with Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in 25 moves, Garry Kasparov of Russia was content with a draw in 22 moves with Veselin Topalov of Spain and Peter Svidler of Russia split the point with compatriot Vladimir Kramnik in 30 moves, all games having been played in the Sicilian Defence, according to reports reaching here.

The players must have been preparing for the major battles ahead after tomorrow’s rest day.

Anand, with white pieces, was not all that comfortable against Ivanchuk, who kept the bishop pair though he was still to castle when the draw was agreed upon.

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The Kasparov-Topalov game looked too early for any result when it was drawn while the Svidler-Kramnik game was the most natural of all draws with a diluted double rook and opposite coloured bishop ending. Pairings for the sixth round onSaturday: Topalov-Anand, Kramnik-Kasparov, Shirov-Svidler (Ivanchuk bye).

MOVES (Round 5)

Svidler-Kramnik

1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. c3 Bg7 12. exf5 Bxf5 13. Nc2 0-0 14. Nce3 Be6 15. Bd3 f5 16. 0-0 Ra7 17. Qh5 Raf7 18. g4 e4 19. Bc2 fxg4 20. Bxe4 Be5 21. Qh6 Kh8 22. Kh1 Bxd5 23. Nxd5 Ne7 24. Qh4 Nxd5 25. Qxd8 Rxd8 26. Bxd5 Rf5 27. Rad1 Rdf8 28. Kg2 Rh5 29. Rh1 Rf6 30. Rd3 Rhf5 (0.5-0.5)

Anand-Ivanchuk

1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. dxc5 Nxe4 5. cxd6 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Nxd6 7. Nc4 e5 8. c3 f6 9. Qb3 Qc7 10. Be3 Bd7 11. Be2 Nf5 12. 0-0 Be6 13. Qa4 Rb8 14. Qb5 Bd7 15. Qd5 b5 16. Ncd2 Nce7 17. Qd3 Bc6 18. c4 bxc4 19. Qxc4 Nxe3 20. fxe3 Qb6 21. Kh1 Rc8 22. e4 Bd7 23. Qd3 Ng6 24. g3 Bc5 25. Rfd1 (0.5-0.5)

Kasparov-Topalov

1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. g3 e5 7. Nde2 Nbd7 8. a4 b6 9. Bg2 Bb7 10. h3 Be7 11. g4 Nc5 12. Ng3 g6 13. Bh6 Ne6 14. Qd2 Rc8 15. 0-0-0 Rc4 16. Kb1 Qc7 17.Rhe1 Rd4 18. Qc1 Rb4 19. Bd2 Rd4 20. Bh6 Rb4 21. Bd2 Rd4 22. Bh6 (0.5-0.5)

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