Anand signs peace with Svidler
23 March 2014 5:07 AM IST
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand signed peace with Peter Svidler of Russia in the seventh round to play out his fourth consecutive draw at the Candidates Chess tournament.
At the half way stage Anand took his tally to 4.5 points out of a possible seven and will have an easier second half wherein he has four white games lined up out of seven.
In other games, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria was outdone by Dmitry Andreikin in the big upset of the day while Russian Vladimir Kramnik was trying to find his way out against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
While Aronian has an excellent chance to catch up with Anand should he win, the other main contenders do not seem close enough.
Svidler was a bit tentative in the closed Ruy Lopez after Anand went for the Berlin defense - the flavour of the season. The Indian got in to the groove pretty fast with his knights moving to the King side for some rapid action in the early stages of the middle game. Svidler felt the heat but did not give much away.
The critical moment was when Anand could win a pawn which was also suggested by all chess engines albeit hard to judge for a human mind. Anand in the end concluded that it was all a bit “messy”, a sentiment echoed by Svidler.
The Indian ace conceded that he was not at his best. “I needed a lot of time and calm moves before I can threaten ‘f3’, I can’t do it,” he said in the post-match conference.
At the half way stage Anand took his tally to 4.5 points out of a possible seven and will have an easier second half wherein he has four white games lined up out of seven.
In other games, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria was outdone by Dmitry Andreikin in the big upset of the day while Russian Vladimir Kramnik was trying to find his way out against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
While Aronian has an excellent chance to catch up with Anand should he win, the other main contenders do not seem close enough.
Svidler was a bit tentative in the closed Ruy Lopez after Anand went for the Berlin defense - the flavour of the season. The Indian got in to the groove pretty fast with his knights moving to the King side for some rapid action in the early stages of the middle game. Svidler felt the heat but did not give much away.
The critical moment was when Anand could win a pawn which was also suggested by all chess engines albeit hard to judge for a human mind. Anand in the end concluded that it was all a bit “messy”, a sentiment echoed by Svidler.
The Indian ace conceded that he was not at his best. “I needed a lot of time and calm moves before I can threaten ‘f3’, I can’t do it,” he said in the post-match conference.
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