Story ProgressBack to home
Anand draws, Humpy registers win
Defending champion Viswanathan Anand drew his first round quarter- final match with Vladamir Malkhov of Russia in the World Cup chess tournament in Hyderabad.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 08:28 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Hyderabad:
Defending champion Viswanathan Anand drew his first round quarter- final match with Vladamir Malkhov of Russia in the World Cup chess tournament in Hyderabad. Facing a Catalan opening, Anand, who lost a pawn on the 11th move, tried to defend his position and regroup his pieces against some strong tactical play by the Russian. "I couldn't get his line properly. There were many variations which I could have tried but I am not unhappy with the draw," said Anand after settling for a draw with black pieces in 24 moves. After the initial battle of attrition, the game was heading for a clear draw. Though the defending champion was a pawn down, he had the positional advantage and this led to the Russian accepting the offer. In the absence of a white bishop and the entire flank of the Russian lying wide open, Anand could do nothing as the double rook queen combination provided an equal opportunity to both the players. The middle game saw some quick exchange of pieces which kept the board open but the king's defence in the company of heavy rooks set the trend for the draw. In tomorrow's second round, Anand would be having the advantage of playing white. In case of another draw, the match will go into a tie-breaker where the players would play two 25-minute rapid rounds followed by two 15-minute blitz rounds. If the impasse continues, white should win a six-minute game, with both the players getting a chance each. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Grandmaster Koneru Humpy scored a thrilling victory against Li Ruofan of China in her first round game in the quarter-finals. Humpy survived tremendous pressure on the queenside but took control of the 'c' file and played superbly to swing the game her way and win in 38 moves. (PTI)Topics mentioned in this article
Chess
Get the Latest IPL 2024 Updates, check out IPL 2024 schedules and IPL points table at NDTV Sports.Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more sports updates. You can also download the NDTV Cricket app for Android or iOS.