The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Kasparov sitting pretty with victory over Kasimdzhanov

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Sunday, Mar 06, 2005

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Sport - Chess

Kasparov sitting pretty with victory over Kasimdzhanov

LINARES, MARCH 5. Favourite Garry Kasparov scored over World champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov to take a huge leap towards winning the City of Linares chess tournament.

Kasparov's victory with black pieces in a ninth-round encounter took his tally to 5.5 points. The 69-move draw between close contenders Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov, ranked two and three in the world, also helped Kasparov's cause. Topalov has 4.5 points from eight outings, while Anand has four from seven games.

It took a fine novelty from Kasparov to fox Kasimdzhanov. He sacrificed a rook for a minor piece and gained sizeable compensation in the form of dynamic play in Queen's Gambit.

With Kasimdzhanov fighting to save the position, Kasparov exposed his rival's castled king and forced resignation after 36 moves.

The game between two contenders, who were due to play for the unified World title, has aroused a lot of interest. The result gave Kasparov a 1.5-0.5 triumph in the double round-robin event.

With Kasparov slated to play last-man Francisco Pons Vallejo in the next round, another victory for the Russian cannot be ruled out.

Meanwhile, Topalov was looking to avenge the loss suffered to Anand in the second round. After adopting Petroff Defence, Anand faced a difficult situation after the 26th move. But he came up with the right continuation to frustrate Topalov. Although the Bulgarian had a slight advantage but it was not enough to force a win.

Earlier, Leko and Adams had drawn their Petroff game in just 29 moves. Adams created some interest by sacrificing his knight. But after some complications, Adams drew through perpetual checks.

The results: Ninth round: Veselin Topalov (Bul) (4.5/8) drew with Viswanathan Anand (4/7); Peter Leko (Hun) (4/8) drew with Michael Adams (Eng) (3.5/8); Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzb) (3/8) lost to Garry Kasparov (Rus) (5.5/8); Free day: Francisco Pons Vallejo (Esp) (2.5/7).

10th round pairings: Anand-Leko; Adams-Kasimdzhanov; Kasparov-Vallejo; Free day: Topalov.

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