Odds against Barua at Vegas

Barua is well known for his fighting qualities. He was 13 when he defeated then world No 2 Victor Korchnoi to hog the limelight during the Lloyds Bank International Chess Tournament in London in 1983. Last year he went out in the first round of the World Chess Championship but not before giving Czech GM Hrasek a scare.

Yesterday afternoon, during the players’ meeting held in the Emperor’s Ballroom, the final pairing were announced. Earlier reports that GM Anatoly Karpov, GM Alexander Morozevich, GM and women’s world champion Zsuzsa Polgar and GM Draguljob Velimirovic would not show up were confirmed. Under the rules, anybody who withdraws after the pairing were initiallyannounced (around a month ago) will be defaulted and their opponents advanced to the next round.

According to International Chess Federation (Fide) general secretary Emmanuel Omuku, the Presidential Board in an emergency meeting decided a few days ago to invite GM Vadim Milov (for Karpov), GM Alexey Dreev (for Morozevich), GM Joel Lautier (for Velimirovic) and GM Ulf Andersson (for Polgar).

This led to another predicament, since GMs Karpov and Morozevich were seeded directly into the second round, and therefore their substitutes (Milov and Dreev) suddenly found themselves in Round 2. GMs Krasenkow of Poland and Fedorov of Russia (who both have to start from the first round) now registered their complaints, since they were higher-rated than the two replacement players.

In another emergency meeting held an hour before the players’ meeting the Presidential Board decided to elevate Krasenkow and Fedorov to the second round, and pull back Milov and Dreev to the starting block. During the opening ceremonyyesterday evening, messages from US President Bill Clinton and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Juan Antonio Samaranch, both of whom are also avid chess players, were read, praising Fide for organising the Championships. The next World Championships will be held in Hong Kong in November 2000.

In the absence of Karpov and Viswanathan Anand, a new World champion will emerge from the cerebral duels at Las Vegas. GM Vladimir Kramnik and GM Alexei Shirov are seen as the favourites, with GM Michael Adams as the dark horse.

Milov wins at BIEL, but FIDE queers the deck

BIEL: Top Seeded Grandmaster Vadim Milov of Switzerland annexed the Biel International Open Chess Tournament title beating GM Yehudo Grunfeld of Israel in the final here yesterday.

Milov, who along with fellow GMs Grunfeld, Rufat Bagirov of Azerbijan and Rashkovsky of Russia made it to the semi-finals after the ninth round as per the new format, scored an impressive win over his Israeli opponent.

But an unexpected developmentthreatens to upset Milov’s best plans. After protests by two GMs, his first round bye in the World Chess Championships, where he is a replacement for Anatoly Karpov, was revoked, and his match with opponent Alexey Dreev starts today. Milov may have to air-dash in quick time, or concede the opener. Rashkovsky finished third in the overall standings while Bagirov came fourth. Their was a tie for the fifth to seventh place between GM Volkov, IMs Cheriev and Tyomkin all with 7.5 points.

Indian players did not have a very good day as none of them was able to register a win in the 11th and final round with S Kidambi’s 10-game IM norm being the only silver lining. Sasikiran, Prasad and Kunte finished with 6.5 points while Thipsay, Saravanan and Kidambi had six. Anupama finished with a poor tally of 3.5 points.

The Indian contingent, except Prasad, will now travel to England for the British Open and other tournaments. Prasad will return to India.

Agencies