Much to ponder for Anand

Anand lost three games, drew as many and could win only five as he ended up fifth overall at the ninth Amber blindfold and rapid Chess tournament — an unsatisfying showing for a GM of his calibre.

The Indian, who won the rapid event last year here, failed to defend his title and despite leading the blindfold till the eighth of the 11-round tournament. Spainiard Alexei Shirov, who led the 12-player 22-game field right from the start, was the worth winner.

Employing uncompromising and attacking chess, the Latvia-born Spaniard finished on 15 points – a remarkable achievement considering he left his nearest rivals 1.5 points behind. Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik, Vesselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk were joint second (13.5).

Anand’s biggest problem was his inability to convert superiority into victories. His lack of sharpness was typified by the way he messed up a clearly won position in the rapid game in the third round against Shirov.

After outplaying Shirov in all departments of the game, Anand suddenly lost control and eventually blundered a piece to lose the game. Towards the end of the tournament, Anand desperately tried to improve his standing and ended up losing the ninth and tenth round matches to World No 3 Kramnik and Ivanchuk respectively by 0.5-1.5 margins.

Anand faced a major difficulty in proving his stature as the best rapid chess player in the world. Victories became so elusive he had to wait till the fifth round to record his first win. Later with some enterprising chess, Anand managed to finish with a 50 percent score.

The blindfold, however, was much better for him. His superior concentration helped him a great deal and despite the setbacks in the rapid he scored well in this region. The only loss in the blindfold came against Kramnik where Anand surrendered a pawn in a position that offered resources.

Topalov was the only player who threatened Shirov in the title race. After a near four month long rest, the Bulgarian appeared hungry for points all through.

His opening preparation had everybody gasping for breath as he almost blitzed the first 20-odd moves in less than two minutes on his clock.

Topalov put almost everybody into time trouble and his 2-0 victory over former Fide World champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia stood out.

The last-round debacle against Yugoslavia’s Ljubomir Ljubojevic, where he lost the rapid game trying to force a win that pushed him down the table. He could otherwise have taken clear second position.