Anand inches closer

World number two Anand, who had drawn his earlier two encounters with Zuniga, showed his total control over the board in humbling the Peruvian in less than three hours.

Playing with white pieces, the Indian entered black8217;s castled forte with his quickfire moves for his fourth victory in the tournament.

Top seed Anand now has six points from eight games and is followed by his final-round opponent Svidler 5 points who drew Michael Adams of England in a tight middle game tussle.

Svidler, who was tied with Peter Leko of Hungary for the second spot, had registered victory in theseventh round on Tuesday to be Anand8217;s only possible contender.

Anand-Zuniga game was an one-sided affair which finished in 39 moves as the Peruvian resigned three seconds before he would have lost on time. The victory placed Anand on way to his third super category title in as many appearances this year. He has won Hoogovens title in Wijk Aan Zee, Holland and Linares crown earlier this year.

A victory in the final round will take Anand near to the 2800 Elo rating, but his ambitions of crossing the elusive mark would have to wait for a while.

Anand played his fastest game of the tournament troubling Zuniga right from the word go. The Peruvian was slowest as ever and he fell one hour behind Anand after 25 moves.

The Indian GM opted for queens Indian defence and extended his space advantage at will as Zuniga messed up a few opening ideas landing himself in too many difficulties.

Granda Zuniga was handicapped when his queen bishop got locked and white made liberal entry into his side. He had just nineminutes for as many moves, he sustained the clock pressure but resigned when he failed to prevent Anand from penetrating his queen side.

A draw against Svidler will place him on 2795 Elo rating when the rankings are announced in July. Of the current players, only chess wizard Garry Kasparov with 2815 is ahead of him.

Results Round eight

Alexander Beliavsky Slv,2.5 lost to San Segundo Spa,4.5; Michael Krasenkov Pol,4 drew Miguel Illescas Spa,4; Viswanathan Anand Ind,6 bt Granda Zuniga Peru,2; Michael Adams Eng,4 drew Peter Svidler Rus,5.

Final Round Pairing

San Segundo vs Adams; Illescas vs Beliavsky; Yermolinsky vs Leko; Granda Zuniga vs Krasenkov; Svidler vs Anand.