The Hindu : Leko promises to go all the way

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2004

Sport

Sport - Chess

Leko promises to go all the way

NEW DELHI, MARCH 2. Peter Leko will have to maintain his consistency in the remaining four rounds to retain the title in the Linares chess tournament. After the second and last rest day, action resumes with 11th round bringing Leko face to face with second seed Vladimir Kramnik. Though Leko has five points, same as Gary Kasparov and Kramnik, but has played a game less than the two top ranked contenders.

Surprisingly, the percentage of decisive matches so far in the event has remained very low, with 24 out of 30 encounters ending in draws. Should the trend continue, Leko might not be required to work too hard to keep the title. So far, Leko has never trailed or looked in trouble.

After Kramnik, Leko faces Veselin Topalov, Francisco Vallejo and Alexei Shirov, in that order, in the remaining rounds.

Apart from Kasparov and Kramnik, a late charge can be expected from Alexei Shirov, who is capable of taking more risks than any other player in the field. Topalov is the only other player who holds the promise of getting any closer.

11th round pairings: Peter Leko (5/8) v Vladimir Kramnik (5/9); Teimour Radjabov (3.5/9) v Veselin Topalov (4/8); Alexei Shirov (4/9) v Francisco Vallejo (3.5/8); Garry Kasparov (5/9) bye.

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