Anand emerges joint leader after win over Radjabov

Viswanathan Anand emerged joint leader after registering a fine win against teenage sensation Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan in the 12th round of the Linares Super Grandmaster Chess tournament in Linares, Spain.

With two more rounds remaining in this seven-player category 20 tournament, both Anand and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia have amassed six points from their ten games and the battle for the crown is likely to be between these two.

The third place is jointly held by top rated Garry Kasparov of Russia and Hungarian Peter Leko on 5.5 points apiece and these two are the only ones in with a chance for top place.

The earlier two encounters between Anand and Radjabov - one here and one in the last Corus Chess tournament – had ended in draws.

The opening choice by Radjabov, a Sicilian Labourdonnais, did not come as a major surprise especially after his consistent mauling in the French earlier in the tournament.

Anand took the game move by move and got a slight but lasting advantage in form of a central bind as the game entered the middle game stage.

Radjabov went berserk looking for a good plan and ended up getting his rook trapped in the mid of the board after a rather uncharacteristic blunder on the 31st move.

Anand wrapped the issue just two moves later.

"I was pressing in the end. When the position was getting better, he (Radjabov) blundered. He got his rook trapped in the centre of the board, that was obviously a pleasant surprise for me," Anand said after the game.

Commenting on his general performance in the event so far the Indian ace said, "It has been a topsy turvy tournament. I played some good games especially all my wins but I must say it was quite disappointing to lose against Kasparov. I guess I was just very tired and somehow I just blundered but I feel I defended that game quite well."

In a major upset of round 12, local Star Francisco Vallejo Pons finally proved his mettle by defeating highly regarded Peter Leko.

Playing white, Vallejo got a big plus in the middle game as Leko went for unwarranted complications resulting in his losing two pieces at the cost of a rook.

The rest required a lot of precise technical display but Vallejo made it look quite easy with some fine moves.

Earlier, the two had fought in an English opening where the Spaniard played white.

Kasparov could not do much with his black pieces against World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine and had to settle for a draw in 34 moves of a Nimzo Indian defense game.

The stage is set for a photo finish here and the next round will be crucial in final standings. Anand will have his last black against a wounded Leko who is likely to take a wild shot after the disastrous result in the 12th round.

Kasparov with white will definitely go all out against Vallejo while Kramnik will meet Radjabov looking to get back the sole lead.

Results round 12:

V Anand beat Teimour Radjabov (Aze); Francisco Vallejo Pons (Esp) beat Peter Leko (Hun); Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukr) drew Garry Kasparov (Rus); Vladimir Kramnik (Rus) had a bye.

Standings:

1-2: Anand, Kramnik 6/10; 3-4: Kasparov, Leko 5.5/10; 5: Vallejo Pons 4.5/10; 6: Ponomariov 4.5/11; Radjabov 4/11.

The moves:

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. N1c3 a6 7. Na3 Nf6 8. Nc4 b5 9. Ne3 Be7 10. g3 h5 11. Bg2 h4 12. O-O Nd4 13. Ncd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 Be6 15. Ne3 hxg3 16. hxg3 Qd7 17. c3 Nc6 18. Re1 Rb8 19.  a4 g6 20. axb5 axb5 21. Nd5 Bd8 22. Be3 Kf8 23. b4 Kg7 24. Qd2 Bxd5 25. Qxd5 Ne7 26. Qd2 Bb6 27. Red1 Rhc8 28. Bh6+ Kh7 29. Bg5 Ng8 30. Kh2 Rc4 31. Bf1 Rxe4 32. f3 Nf6 33. Bxf6 Re3 black resigned.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. d5 Ne7 8. e4 d6 9. Bd2 exd5 10. exd5 Bf5 11. Qc2 Qd7 12. O-O Bxd3 13. Qx d3 Qf5 14. Qxf5 Nxf5 15. Rfe1 Rfe8 16. Rac1 h5 17. Kf1 a6 18. h3 b5 19. b3 Kf8 20. Ng5 h4 21. Re2 Rab8 22. Rce1 Rxe2 23. Kxe2 Nd7 24. f4 g6 25. Kd3 Ba5 26. Nge4 bxc4+ 27. bxc4 Bd8 28. Rb1 Rxb1 29. Nxb1 Nf6 30. Nbc3 Ke8 31. Be1 Nh5 32. Ne2 Kd7 33. Bc3 Be7 34. Kd2 draw agreed.

Vallejo Pons vs Leko:

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb4 6. Bc4 Nd 3+ 7. Ke2 Nf4+ 8. Kf1 Ne6 9. b4 g6 10. bxc5 Bg7 11. Bxe6 Bxe6 12. d4 Nc6 13. Be3 Bc4+ 14. Kg1 Qa5 15. Rc1 O-O-O 16. Nb1 Qa6 17. d5 f5 18. Rxc4 Qxc4 19. Nbd2 Qxa2 20. dxc6 bxc6 21. g3 Rd3 22. Kg2 fxe4 23. Ng5 Rf8 24. Ngxe4 Be5 25. Re1 h5 26. h4 Rfd8 27. Qb1 Qxb1 28. Rxb1 Bc7 29. Nc4 R8d5 30. Ra1 Kb7 31. Ra4 Rd7 32. Ng5 R3d5 33. Ne6 Rf5 34. Nd4 Rf6 35. Rb4+ Ka6 36. Rb1 Rd5 37. Nc2 Rd7 38. Nb4+ Kb5 39. Nd2 Ka4 40. Ne4 Re6 41. Nc3+ Ka5 42. Nc2 Ka6 43. Nd4 black resigned.