Teheran, December 26: Viswanathan Anand will inch towards the magical mark of 2,800 on the Elo scale after his crushing victory over Alexie Shirov of Spain in the World Chess Championship finals. Anand, who is on 2772, will pick up valuable points from his victory in Shenyang in the World Cup(about 15 points) and also another 15 from the World championship in New Delhi and Teheran. The New Delhi leg was more or less even as he beat players much below his rating and even drew the match with Alexander Khalifman of Russia, who was about 100 points below him on the scale.But his semifinal victory against the world No 5 in New Delhi will neutralise those drops and the smashing win of 3.5-0.5 in the finals (percentage of almost 90) against Shirov, who is in the top seven ranking, will help him get closer to the 2,800 mark.Only Garry Kasparov has reached the 2,800mark in chess ratings and he has remained there for the last three years. Anand was very relaxed after the match and gave interviews to all the mediamen. He spoke to his mother after the match and was asked why he did not follow a particular plan to finish off the match. Anand said whenever he called her up after a certain tournament or game, she used to question him about the game. It may be recalled that he had learnt his moves from his mother Susheela and he never said her thinking was wrong. In Teheran he told his mother her suggested knight move was also winning but ‘this one looked more safe to him.’ Anand, his wife and his seconds, Elizbar Ubilava and Sa Segundo, were invited for a dinner by Indian ambassador Paripuran Singh today. Anand said he would probably see a little bit of Teheran tomorrow but ‘long journeys to Isfahan (a tourist place) or Kish was not thought of.’ Anand will reach New Delhi on December 29 and will meet the President before leaving for Chennai for a short vacation. His next destination is Wijk aan Zee, where he will play in the Corus super category tournament with Garry Kasparov, Vladmimir Kramnik and others from January 12 onwards.
