Anand gets another crack at Kasparov

Kasparov, 36, arrived on Saturday in this southern Spanish town fresh after winning the prestigious Wijk Aan Zee tournament in The Netherlands, a point and a half ahead of Anand, Kramnik and Leko, who all tied for second.

A week ago, however, he lost to Dutch Grandmaster Jeroen Piket in the finals of the World’s first Grandmaster tournament played over the Internet.

Other games will see Khalifman, a replacement for Alexander Morozevich, on white facing Kramnik and Leko playing the same colour against Anand.

US Grandmaster Larry Christiansen, co-winner of the 1981 event here, sees Leko as the tournament’s second favourite, ahead of Anand.

The tournament is to be played in league form with the six competitors playing each other twice. The players have two hours to make 40 moves and then an hour and a half to make the next 20. A win garners one point while a draw receives a half point.

The matches, to be played in the town’s Hotel Anibal,begin dialy at 1930 IST. The tournament finishes on March 10, with March 2 and March 6 as rest days.