Anand held yet again; Khalifmann moves up

The Anand-Shirov encounter in Petroff Defence, an opening that has got tremendous mileage from this event, had the Latvian-born Spanish playing with white pieces.

The Indian played solidly by repeating the moves of one of his earlier games and reached a middlegame where the weak `a’ pawn of Shirov compensated for the backward queenside pawns of black.

In an equal position Shirov proposed a draw after his 23rd move that was accepted by Anand.

Garry Kasparov of Russia and his compatriot Vladimir Kramnik played out a hard-fought draw to remain at the top with five points each.

In the English Opening that took shape in a position akin to Catalan Variation, Kramnik avoided repetition of moves in the opening and went for the `kill’.

In the ensuing middlegame, a highly complex position arose after Kramnik sacrificed a pawn to initiate an attack against the rival king and it was a big scare for Kasparov.

Kasparov sensed the danger and sacrificed a piece for counterplay but skated on thin ice for major part of the game.

Further tactics witnessed Kramnik giving up his queen for overwhelming material advantage but the vulnerability of his king helped Kasparov to wriggle out with a draw by perpetual checks after 41 moves.

FIDE World champion Alexander Khalifmann of Russia proved his mettle by outplaying Hungarian Peter Leko in a game that was of theoritical importance.

Leko employed his favourite Grunfeld Indian Defence with black pieces and faced the Classical Variation where white sacrificed a pawn.

In the middlegame, Khalifmann capitalised on a minor error by Leko and entered an endgame in which his passed queen pawn marched dangerously. Leko had to part with an exchange but Khalifmann returned the favour a few moves later to win the king and pawns ending after 47 moves.

With only two rounds remaining, the Kasparov-Anand encounter in the next round could prove decisive in the tournament standings.

Standings (after Round VIII): 1-2 Kasparov, Kramnik (5); 3 Khalifmann (4); 4-5 Leko, Shrov (3.5); Anand 3.