Anand in trouble

Kochi, January 2: Viswanathan Anand of India and Anatoly Karpov of Russia renewed their battle in the Slav Defence after a long time in Game One of the World Chess Championship final at Lausanne today, according to reports reaching here.

Anand, playing black, took recourse to a safety-first tactic as he employed the Slav Defence, the opening which he consistently used against Karpov when they first met in a match under the Fide umbrella in Brussels six years ago.

This suggested there will be almost a repeat of the same opening struggles in Lausanne too as Karpov with black might just depend on the Caro-Kann, which had stood him in good stead in Brussels, though he lived dangerously there in some games. In this game at Lausanne, Karpov revealed a part of his preparation when he sacrificed his knight for three pawns on the Queenside between moves 17 and 21.