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Anand wins the Linares Grandmasters tournament

Vishwanathan Anand added another feather to his cap by clinching the Linares category 21 Super Grandmasters tournament.

The 28-year-old Indian drew his final round game against Vladimir Kramnik last night to win the title outright.

His nearest rival, Alexei Shirov, whose only chance of getting to the title hinged on his beating Gary Kasparov, managed only a draw, and had to be content with the second place. Anand totalled 7.5 points out of 12, while Shirov had 7. Kasparov and Kramnik shared the third place with 6.5 points each.

This is Anand's best showing in Linares. His previous best there was a joint second place in 1993.

It was a tense last round, but Anand held his own and came through a draw against Kramnik, who played white against the Indian Grandmaster. Anand slowly gained equality in the Nimzo Indian defence and soon it was apparent that white had little hope of forcing a win. In fact, Anand even tried to put some life into the game by taking the initiative. Ultimately Kramnik offered a draw after 34 moves. Anand accepted, and with it came the title.

On the adjacent board, Shirov and Kasparov played a Sicilian game, which lasted a mere 17 moves. The draw was reached through perpetual checks. It also ended Shirov's hopes of achieving his biggest triumph. But there have been murmurs that Shirov has often choked up at crucial points in the past. That's what seemed to have happened against Peter Svidler in the previous round. At this tournament, Shirov had interestingly bounced back with a win after every loss. But this was one occasion he was unable to do that.

Tailenders Vesselin Topalov and Vassily lvanchuk drew their last round game in another Sicilian game which went on for 41 moves.

In this tournament Anand achieved four wins, once each against Shirov, Svidler, Ivanchuk and Topalov. He had one loss against Kasparov, which, Anand admitted later, did affect his play a little. What has particularly been impressive has been the way Anand surged ahead in the final stages. His last three rounds saw him notch up two wins and round off with an equally impressive draw. The tournament also saw Anand come up with some new preparations, which indicates how strong he is now.

The first place in Linares, which follows his equal first place in the Hoogovens tournament in Wijk Aan Zee now amply indicates that Anand's loss to Anatoly Karpov could have much to do with the non-stop chess he was forced to play under the format of the World Championship. Under equal conditions, it is clear that Anand is possibly equal to Kasparov and is now the best man to challenge him for the position of the strongest player in the world.

Anand's current rating of 2,770 could go up by about 10-15 Elo points and the next list may well see him overtake Kramnik who is currently at 2,790 but stands to lose a few after this tournament. Kasparov could also lose a few points but, at 2,825, he is way ahead of the competition.

Final points tally:
1 Anand (India) 7.5 points,
2 Shirov (Spain) 7 points,
3 Kasparov (Russia) and Kramnik (Russia) both 6.5 points,
5 Svidler (Russia) 5.5 points,
6 Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 5 points,
7 Topalov (Bulgaria) 4 points.