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July 6, 1998
NEWS
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Kramnik takes title, no joy for AnandBy our correspondent Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik of Russia scored a hat trick, winning the 26th Sparkassen chess meeting, which concluded in Dortmund on Sunday. This is the 3rd straight win, and his fourth overall, at the venue for the 23 year old Russian ace. Kramnik agreed to a quick draw against Hungarian teen prodigy Zoltan Almasi in the final round. Though Michael Adams of England and Peter Svidler of Russia tied with Kramnik at the top of the table, the latter was declared sole winner on the tie break. Meanwhile, there was no joy for Indian ace and world number two Vishwanathan Anand, who was held to a draw by Kasparov's latest challenger Alexy Shirov, of Spain. Ironically, Shirov finished last in the Category 18 event. For Anand, this was his first tournament in a long, long time where he went without a single win. Anand will, as a result of this performance, lose 15 rating points. This signals a dramatic loss of form for the Indian, who was fresh from the Frankfurt Chess Classic where he beat both Garri Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik on his way to the unofficial world rapid championship title. He had followed that performance up with an easy 1.5-0.5 victory over computer world champion Fritz 5, just two days before the Dortmund chess meet -- and according to experts here, the strain of those games visibly effected his performance here. Anand's next outing is a series of matches against the chess programme REBEL, between July 21-23, at Ishia near Naples, Italy. His next regular chess tournament is the Fontis tournament, at Tilburg in the Netherlands, from October 22 followed by a rapid chess tournament at Haifa, Israel, immediately thereafter. Anand will not, however, take part in the 33rd Chess Olympiad, to be held in Elista, Spain, from September 26. In his final game, against Shirov, Anand adopted the Caro Kann. Following an obscure 5th move by Shirov -- the long forgotten move played by David Brondstein -- the game entered a new path, leading to regular exchanges. The Indian, despite his phenomenal memory for quirky games, couldn't recall the correct antidote for the Brondstein variation. The players moved into a queen and pawn endgame, and following perpetual checks to Anand's king, the Indian accepted the draw offer from Shirov on move 45. "It's been a bad tournament for me, I am glad it's over," Anand said later. Meanwhile, a brilliant win from the black side of the Marshall Attack in Spanish Opening gave Svidler a win against Leko. Svidler's 29th move jolted the spectators out of their seats, as the Russian kept his piece hanging to be taken without any apparent support. The brilliant concept underlying the sacrifice broke through Leko's defences, and led to checkmate in 35 moves. Final standings: Kramnik, Adams, Svidler (6 points each); Leko (5); Ivanchuk (4.5); Anand, Yusupov, Almasi (4 apiece); Belyavsky (3); Shirov (2.5). Later, Anand was presented with the first copy of Chess Base 7, from the head of Chess Base, Hamburg. The programme is supposedly state of the art chess software, aimed at producing decisive games at the highest level. For the connoisseurs, meanwhile, we reproduce the game that led to Anand's sole defeat at the Dortmund meet:
White: Michael Adams Black: Viswanathan Anand Sicilian Defence 1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 d3 d6 6 Be3 Rb8 7 Qd2 b5 8 Nge2 Nd4 9 0-0 b4 10 Nd1 Nxe2+ 11 Qxe2 Nf6 12 a3 a5 13 axb4 cxb4 14 Bd2 Nd7 15 Ra2 0-0 16 Ne3 Nc5 17 b3 Ba6 18 Nc4 a4 19 bxa4 b3 20 Ra3 Bxc4 21 dxc4 Bb2 22 Rxb3 Nxb3 23 cxb3 Rxb3 24 Rb1 Qc7 25 Bc1 Bxc1 26 Rxb3 Rb8 27 Rxb8+ Qxb8 28 c5 dxc5 29 a5 Bb2 30 a6 Bd4 31 Bf1 c4 32 Qxc4 Qb2 33 Qe2 Qc3 34 Kg2 Bb6 35 Qa2 Qd4 36 Qc2 e6 37 Bb5 h6 38 Qe2 Qc5 39 Qb2 g5 40 Bd3 g4 41 Qf6 h5 42 Qf4 Kf8 43 e5 Qd5+ 44 Be4 Qd4 45 Qh6+ Ke7 46 Qf6+ Kf8 47 Bc6 Kg8 48 h4 gxh3+ 49 Kxh3 Qa1 50 Kg2 Qc1 51 Bf3 h4 52 gxh4 Qc5 53 Bh5 Qc6+ 54 Qf3 Qc7 55 Qb7 Qxb7+ 56 axb7 Bc7 57 f4 Black resigns
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