Anand moves closer to title with a win

By Our Chess Correspondent

CHENNAI, DEC. 22. Showing massive depth in his preparation and choosing an opening with a high degree of surprise value, Viswanathan Anand moved a big step closer to winning the FIDE World chess title when he defeated Alexei Shirov in game three to wrest a 2.5-0.5 lead at the half-way mark in Teheran on Friday.

Anand, 31, the Chennai-born chess professional now requires a win or two draws from the remaining three games to wrap up the event and join a club which only 15 others have accomplished in the history of the sport which dates from 1886.

Two point lead in a six match game in normal terms should be over. Only a miracle can save 28-year-old Alexei Shirov who represents Spain. Game four will resume on Sunday after a free day on Saturday.

The seeds of having played on and pressurised Shirov on Thursday had its rewards as the tall Latvian born basked on a dubious sacrifice and failed in his attempt. Anand, who played fast, defended accurately and had covered the sacrifice well in his analysis. The game was over in three hours. Anand and his trainer, the 50-year old Georgian trainer Elizbar Ubilava had worked hard since the Dortmund tournament in July and had polished his opening with surprise and depth to the existing power.

A game down, Shirov opened with the king pawn on Friday and must have come prepared to face the French defence which Anand played on Wednesday in game one of the match. Anand varied and chose the Sicilian Paulsen, a popular opening which he seldom played, ranging a game a year on average from 1984.

After reaching a familiar position, Shirov chose a new variant on move 16, a pawn capture attempting to create a passed pawn on the queen side at the earliest at the cost of doubling a central pawn.

In the same position, Russian Grandmaster Sergey Dolmatov has tried 16.Qd3 with success last year and Alexey Suetin has tried 16.Bxc5 also with success in the pioneering game of this line way back in 1968 against Mark Taimanov in the Soviet championship long before both these present players were born. Perhaps that's why St. Petersburg Grandmaster commentator Peter Svidler did not like Shirov's 16th move, saying, ``here I am telling everyone axb5 is bad because it spoils the pawn structure.''

The latest verdict in that line was that black was able to hold on to a weakness and make a draw. So, Shirov's decision to play for a victory only reflected on the match score, not necessarily the position on the board. He paid for it. Shirov bubbles with attack from nothing, but Anand's defensive technique was too much for him to pierce through. The rook for knight sacrifice on move 19 by white was precipitated by Shirov's eagerness to level the match scores.

One man under the name Fischer Jr said, ``I wouldn't be surprised if Anand prepared all this!'' The rapid speed at which Anand played 20...Ra8 sent signs that he was too well prepared for this competition. It is not intimidation but putting the white player under greater time pressure. Also, Anand normally calculates electric speed when the opponent is thinking.

It was hard to point out a serious mistake in this game by white. It was a failure of a concept that led the game into black's lap after early in the opening. Avoiding the sacrifice, white could have played for equality, perhaps even with ease.

Accepting the rook, Anand swung his queen into a defensive role and once he exchanged queens, white's attacking potent was quelled. Black's two rooks wrecked white's position and Anand's accuracy and speedy technique finished Shirov off. Anand got his rooks into active position to win one of white's two passed pawns. Before Shirov could build any fortress, Anand used one rook to defend and the other to attack.

Shirov resigned on the 41st move when he could not avert black's second rook moving to join the offensively posted one to deliver mate on his king. It was a brilliant display by Anand who is blending his match experience and technique together with his preparation to play this match against Shirov.

The free day is timely for Anand to cool his excitement and Shirov to forget the last two games and come fresh for the last half of the match. Anand will have white on Sunday and if he scores another victory it will make it the shortest World title match in history.

lThe moves: GM A.Shirov-GM V.Anand, match game three, Sicilian Paulsen, B49: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qc7 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be2 a6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Be3 Bb4 9.Na4 Bd6 10.g3 b5 11.Nb6 Rb8 12.Nxc8 Rxc8 13.a4 Nxd4 14.Bxd4 e5 15.Be3 Bc5 16.axb5 Bxe3 17.fxe3 axb5 18.Bxb5 0-0 19.Rxf6 gxf6 20.Bxd7 Ra8 21.Qg4+ Kh8 22.Rf1 Rg8 23. Qh3 Qc5 24.Bf5 Qxe3+ 25.Kg2 h6 26.Qh5 Kg7 27.Qg4+ Qg5 28.Qf3 Rgd8 29.h4 Qd2+ 30.Kh3 Rd6 31.Rf2 Qd1 32.Kg4 Ra2 33.Qxd1 Rxd1 34.c4 Rb1 35.Rd2 Raxb2 36.Rd7 Rb7 37.Rd6 Rc7 38.Kh5 Rc1 39.g4 R7xc4 40.Rd7 Rc7 41.Rd8 Rh1 0-1.

Anand keeps winning rhythm

Earlier on Thursday, Viswanathan Anand kept his winning rhythm with white pieces intact by inflicting a 64-move defeat on Alexei Shirov of Spain in game two to take a 1.5-0.5 lead.

Anand, 31, introduced a theoretical novelty in the opening but had to use his skills in the endgame and technique to overpower the 28-year-old Shirov in a long game in the sixth hour of play.

Game two moves: GM V. Anand-GM A. Shirov, match game two, Ruy Lopez, C78: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bc2 d5 8.a4 dxe4 9.axb5 Bg4 10.Bxe4 Nxe4 11.bxc6 0-0 12.d4 exd4 13.cxd4 Bb6 14.Nc3 Re8 15.Be3 Qd6 16.d5 Bxe3 17.fxe3 Rad8 18.Rxa6 Nxc3 19.bxc3 Qxd5 20.Qxd5 Rxd5 21.Nd4 g6 22.Rf4 Bf5 23.Ra7 Rxe3 24.c4 Rc5 25.Rxc7 Re4 26.Rxe4 Bxe4 27.Re7 Bf5 28.c7 Kf8 29.Nxf5 gxf5 30.Rd7 Kg7 31.Rd4 Rxc7 32.Kf2 Kf6 33.Ke3 Ke6 34.g3 f6 35.Kd3 Ra7 36.Kc3 Ke5 37.Rh4 Rb7 38.Rf4 Rb1 39.Rf2 Rc1+ 40.Kb4 Ke6 41.Kb5 Kd6 42.Rxf5 Rb1+ 43.Ka4 Rb2 44.Rxf6+ Kc5 45.Rh6 Kxc4 46.Rh4+ Kd5 47.Rxh7 Ke5 48.Ka3 Rb8 49.Rh5+ Kf6 50.Rh4 Kg5 51.Rb4 Rh8 52.h4+ Kh5 53.Rb5+ Kh6 54.g4 Re8 55.Rb4 Kg6 56.Rb6+ Kf7 57.Rb7+ Ke6 58.Rh7 Rb8 59.g5 Kf5 60.Rh6 Ke5 61.h5 Kf5 62.g6 Kf6 63.Rh7 Rg8 64.Kb3. 1-0.

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