Kasparov tames Anand with black

LINARES, MARCH 6: Russia's Garry Kasparov beat India's Vishwanathan Anand for an amazing fifth straight win with black pieces to take a t...

LINARES, MARCH 6: Russia’s Garry Kasparov beat India’s Vishwanathan Anand for an amazing fifth straight win with black pieces to take a two-point lead over nearest rival Vladimir Kramnik in the tenth round of the city of Linares Chess Tournament here today.

Kramnik, after a draw against Vassily Ivanchuk, is placed second on six points with Anand third on five points.

Again employing Sicilian defence, in which he has clearly done excellent homework, Kasparov was in an advantageous position when he came out of the opening.

All through the middle game the computer showed a clear win for the Russian, but Anand hung on tenaciously and at one stage seemed close to pulling off an unexpected draw, which itself would have been creditable considering Kasparov’s remarkable success with black pieces and Sicilian defence in this tournament.

At the end of 50 moves, with a minor piece down, Anand threw in the towel, his first loss here, with which his hopes of catching up with Kasparov have virually ended.

In the11th round, Anand plays with black pieces against Topalov with Kasparov meeting Kramnik, again with black pieces.

Results: Kasparov (8) bt Anand (5), Topalov (4.5) drew with Leko (4.5), Svidler (4) bt Adams (4.5), Ivanchuk (3.5) drew with Kramnik (6).