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Anand loses to Kasparov

World Champion Garry Kasparov, playing his first event this year, scored a significant victory over Indian Grandmasteer Vishwanathan Anand in the third round of the 15th Linares Super Grandmasters chess tournament here yesterday.

Despite the loss, Anand leads the table with two points, along with A Shirov (Spain), who beat Bulgarian V Topalov.

In the first of the big clashes yesterday, Anand, playing with black pieces, went in for the Caro Kann defence which had helped him beat Shirov in the opening round. Kasparov, who admittedly feels comfortable when faced with or using the Sicilian defence, was prepared for this line from the Indian grandmaster.

Kasparov, who has once before beaten Anand in the Caro Kann two years ago, took advantage of Anand's weak pawn structure in the middle. Both players castled queenside, and Kasparov attacked on the kingside, willing to sacrifice a minor piece, a bishop. Technically, Anand lost on time, as he had made only 34 moves in the allotted two hours.

Though Anand was in a losing position from the middle game, it was one of those rare occasions when the flag went down on him. When the clock showed two hours, Anand had made only 34 moves and was about to make his 35th move. But it mattered little as the Indian had been beaten by then. Anand gets a much-needed rest today.

In the third game of the day, Peter Svidler of Russia, who lost to Anand in the second round, bounced back with a win over Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine). Ivanchuk too played the Sicilian defence against Svidler, who was getting into fine form. The Ukranian fought hard for 49 moves before giving in.

All the three games of the day provided interesting results, compared to the second round, which produced results in all games. So far, seven of the nine games have been decisive. Ivanchuk, who had a terrible tournament thus far, salvaging just one draw in three games, today meets Kasparov, who will play black.

Topalov, who is yet to score, meets Svidler, while Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) with white pieces takes on Shirov.

Results (third round):
Gary Kasparov (Russia) beat Vishwanathan Anand (India), Peter Svidler (Russia) beat Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), A Shirov (Spain) beat V Topalov (Bulgaria).

Points (after three rounds):
Anand and Shirov (two each of three games), Kasparov and Kramnik (1.5/two games), Svidler (1.5 in three games), Ivanchuk (0.5 in three games) and Topalov (zero points in two games).