Anand, Xu retain world crowns

Anand was pleasantly surprised to have won the title without entering the tie-break. He said, ‘‘This is just the mirror image of Shenyang (the venue of the first World Cup). Xu also won there.’’ Anand was also very happy to win in India. ‘‘I might win anywhere, but winning at home is very satisfying,’’ he said. He dedicated his victory to everyone who had helped him to reach this level.

Xu was delighted with the win over the highest rated player in this championship. She overcame Stefanova. ‘‘I am very happy, especially to defeat a strong player. India is very nice and I like the people, food and everything here. I wish to come back and play more tournaments here,’’ said Xu.

Anand faced a well-prepared Kasimdzhanov in the Petroff Defence game. Kasimdzhanov, who came 10 minutes early to the hall, was seen roaming around after the opening moves. He tied Anand to his seat with his excellent opening tactics. According to Kasimdzhanov, the first 13 moves were sheer theory. Anand said, ‘‘I didn’t expect this opening though he had played few times and his h6 was a very good move. A waiting move.’’

Kasimdzhanov agreed it was a special opening preparation. ‘‘I prepared this line myself and was very confident,’’ he said. ‘‘I was looking at a positive result. Anand’s Bd2 was new to me. My Ba5 was the blunder.’’

After Bd5, Kasimdzhanov tried to activate his pieces but got stuck in the centre. The position was clearly in favour of Anand and all it needed was some finishing touches. At one stage Kasimdzhanov had two options: to retreat his pieces and land in a clear minus position or sacrifice a piece for three pawns and try for some compensation. He chose the second option but Anand was too good to allow any further complication. He romped home in 29 moves.