NEWS
MATCH REPORTS
STAT SHEET
DIARY
SLIDE SHOW
PEOPLE
DEAR REDIFF

Anand blitzes Kramnik, wins rapid chess title

The format called for the two players to play four games, with each player getting 25 minutes per game to complete his moves.

Four such blitz games later, the two players were still in deadlock, having drawn them all. This pushed the excitement levels up in the 500-seater auditorium, and the final into tie-breaker mode.

Here, again, the first two games were drawn, each successive result raising the ante for the next game.

Finally, in game three of the tie-break, Anand struck, forcing Kramnik to concede defeat and, in the process, retaining the trophy he won last year with a thunderous performance that totally humiliated then world number two Anatoly Karpov.

On another board, world champion and tournament top seed Garri Kasparov defeated Vassily Ivanchuk 2.5-1.5 to win the third spot.

In the penultimate round, Anand had shown rare sportsmanship -- applauded, at the time, by the audience, when he let Ivanchuk escape with a draw at a time when the Ukrainian had hardly a few seconds left on his clock. In contrast, in their own encounter, Kramnik had exploited Ivanchuk's time shortage without any mercy to take the lead.

Interestingly, Anand's sportsmanship at the time endangered his chances of qualifying for the final. If he had exploited Ivanchuk's time trouble to win, he would have been sure of his final spot irrespective of his last league game against Kasparov. Having settled for a draw against Ivanchuk, the Indian ace was forced to put it all on the line when he sat down opposite the world champion -- but as it happened, a scintillating display of attacking chess forced Kasparov to scramble and settle for a draw.

Anand has, over time, become the most liked player on the professional chess circuit, among both fans and commentators. In fact, 300 chess critics recently voted him for the chess Oscar, taking the title away from no less than Kasparov and acknowledging the Indian as the most exciting chess talent on the planet.

This popularity, further enhanced by his sporting gesture against Ivanchuk, gave Anand the support of the assembled cognoscenti when he sat down to play the final.

In the first game, Anand adopted an old line which he had used to defeat former world champion Mikhail Tal a few years ago, but ended up getting the draw after 33 moves in an English Opening, with just bishops of opposite colours remaining to either player when they agreed to split points.

The trend of draws continued, forcing the sudden death tie break with faster time controls. The grandmasters playing in the concurrent Masters tournament left their own games to watch the lightning duel between the world's number two- and three-ranked players.

The first game was bitterly fought, and Kramnik, not particularly comfortable in speed games, just about managed to stave off defeat. Anand, meanwhile, seemed even more relaxed as the time controls got tighter, which meant the contest had entered his forte -- electric play, at mind-boggling speeds.

Game two followed the same pattern, with Kramnik visibly squirming before getting off with a draw.

The crucial third game had the usual Anand touch, as he played at speeds not seen even from him, before. A measure of the pace this last game was played at is afforded by the fact that Kramnik surrendered before the spectators -- all chess experts, of varying levels -- had quite understood the run of play.

Interestingly, when Garry Kasparov arrived in Frankfurt four days ago, he remarked in course of a typically flamboyant media interview that he considered the Frankfurt Speed Chess Classic as the unofficial world championship in speed chess.

By winning it twice on the trot -- this time against the strongest field it is possible to assemble in chess just now -- Anand has wiped out all doubts about his big match temperament and, in the process, staked a claim to be hailed the best player in lightning chess, perhaps of all time.

Results- finals: Anand beat Kramnik 3.5-2.5.