Anand eyes record 5th title at Corus

Vishwanathan Anand settled an account dating back to Corus Grandmasters chess tournament 2005, when he outplayed Peter Leko in the fifth round to take sole lead at the 2006 edition. The revenge also put Anand in a good position to win a record fifth title at Corus, which by his admission is favourite tournament.

Last year Leko beat Anand to gain a decisive advantage in the race for the title.

Anand's win gave him four points in five round and sole possession of the lead. Meanwhile his arch-rival, Veselin Topalov was unable to overcome the tenacious defense of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in an interesting fight and split the point. Vassily Ivanchuk crushed Gata Kamsky to join Topalov in second place.

In group B, India's Koneru Humpy drew with higher rated Brazilian GM, Giovanni Vesconi and is now in sole seventh place with three points. Arkadij Naiditsch shares the lead with young Magnus Carlsen of Norway with four points from five rounds.

Topalov tried hard against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov sacrificing the exchange for long term pressure. By the time he'd got his final rook in play Mamedyarov was a rook for bishop and three pawns down. However he found a nice combination to draw the game shortly afterwards.

Sergey Karjakin defeated Etienne Bacrot in the second game which was a closed Ruy Lopez. Vassily Ivanchuk inflicted another defeat on Gata Kamsky. Kamsky, who meets Anand in sixth round has been in very poor form with just one point in five games and is at the bottom of the table.

Pairings for Round 6: Sokolov v Leko; Kamsky v Anand; Adams v Ivanchuk; Bacrot v Aronian; Van Wely v Karjakin; Mamedyarov v Gelfand; Tiviakov v Topalov

Results of Round 5: Gelfand drew with Van Wely; Karjakin beat Bacrot; Tiviakov drew with Sokolov; Anand beat Leko; Ivanchuk beat Kamsky; Topalov drew with Mamedyarov; Aronian drew with Adams

Standings after Round 5: 1. Anand 4.0; 2. Ivanchuk and Topalov 3.5 each; 4. Gelfand and Karjakin 3.0 each; 6. Adams, Mamedyarov and Aronian 2.5 each; 9. Leko, Sokolov, Van Wely and Tiviakov 2.0; 13. Bacrot 1.5; 14. Kamsky 1.0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bc4 0-0 9.0-0 Be6 10.Bb3 Nc6 11.Bg5 Nd7 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.c3 Na5 15.Re1 Rc8 16.h3 Nb6? 17.Nxb6 Qxb6 18.Bxe6 fxe6 19.Re2 Rc6 20.Qd3 Qc7 21.Rd1 Nc4 22.b3 Nb6 23.c4 Nc8 24.Red2 h6 25.Qe2 Kh7 26.h4 Qb6 27.h5 Qc5 28.Ne1 Rc7 29.Nd3 Qc6 30.c5 30...Ne7 31.Qg4 Rf6 32.b4 d5 33.Nxe5 Qa4 34.Qg3 Rc8 35.Ng4 Rf7 36.Qd6 Rcf8 37.Qxe6 Qxb4 38.exd5 Qxc5 39.d6 Nc6 40.d7 Its all over. 40...Nd8 41.Qe4+ Qf5 42.Re2 Qxe4 43.Rxe4 b5 44.f3 a5 45.Ne5 Rf6 46.Ng6 Rg8 47.Re8 Rf7 48.Rd5 b4 49.Ne7 1-0

© Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.