Anand keeps lead

WIJK AAN ZEE (NETHERLANDS), JAN 30: Viswanathan Anand retained his half-point lead over the field with a quick draw with English Grandmaster...

WIJK AAN ZEE (NETHERLANDS), JAN 30: Viswanathan Anand retained his half-point lead over the field with a quick draw with English Grandmaster Michael Adams in the 11th round of Hoogovens Grandmaster Chess tournament. The draw gives Anand 7.5 points out of 11, while his nearest rival Alexy Shirov has seven after his draw with Loek Van Wely of The Netherlands.

The change in standings at the top half came in the form of Vladimir Kramnik, who after slipping to third position, came back to join Shirov in the second place, beating Judit Polgar of Hungary. Anand and Adams, who fought a tense clash in the final round of the qualifiers at the World Championships to decide the challenger to Karpov, played quickly. Adams played black and the Queen’s Indian Defence and the position was equal after about 19 moves and with no chance likely, Anand offered a draw and Adams took it.

The pairings for the last two rounds show that Anand will meet Shirov in the final round on Sunday. Anand will have white pieces.

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AnatolyKarpov notched his second straight win beating Paul Van Der Sterren of the Netherlands. Kaprov won in 26 moves following the Nimzo Indian, where Karpov had black pieces. Karpov meets Kramnik in the 13th round. Karpov will have white pieces.

Valery Salov beat Boris Gelfand in a long game lasting 63 moves from a Sicilian Defence played by the Belarussian Gelfand.

Timman, who used the Ruy Lopez opening against Piket, missed the chance of getting closer to the leaders with a draw and is at six points. Another one who was pitted against a relatively weak opponent but could not gain a win was Topalov, who played Nijboer. Nijboer, black, drew in a Kings Indian main line after 43 moves. Topalov has six points, the same as Timman and Adams. Topalov and Adams clash in 12th round.

Results (11th round)

Anand (India) drew with Adams (England); Timman (Netherlands) drew with Jeroen Piket (Netherlands); Polgar (Hungary) lost to Kramnik (Rus); Valery Salov (Rus) beat Boris Gelfand (Belarus); Loek Van Wely(Netherlands) lost to Shirov (Spain); Paul Van Der Sterren (Netherlands) lost to Anatoly Karpov (Rus); Vaselin Topalov (Bulgaria) drew with F Nijboer (Netherlands).Points (after 11 rounds)

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Anand 7.5; Kramnik, Shirov 7 each; Timman, Adams, Topalov 6 each; Karpov, Gelfand, Polgar 5.5 each; Picket 5, Salov 4.5; Nijboer, Van Aely 4 each; Van Der Sterren 3.5.

Pairings for 12th round

Jeroen Piket-Anatoly Karpov, Vladimir Kramnik-Paul Van Der Sterren, Friso Nijboer-Judit Polgar, Michael Adams-Veselin Topalov, Boris Gelfand-Viswanathan Anand, Alexei Shirov-Valery Salov, Jan Timman-Loek Van Wely.

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