Anand beats Polgar, moves to third place

San Luis:

After a debacle against Russian Alexander Morozevich, Viswanathan Anand came back strongly to beat Judit Polgar of Hungary in the 8th round of the World Chess Championship here. The Indian ace, came back on a plus score after the victory and moved to sole third position on 4.5 points with six rounds still remaining in the million dollar championship. However not much change at the top as Bulgarian Veselin Topalov maintained his two points lead over nearest rival Peter Svidler of Russia after taking an easy draw with fourth placed Peter Leko of Hungary. As things stand, Topalov with 7 points in his kitty is still way ahead in the 8-players double round robin contest and Svidler is a distant second with 5 points.

Leko on 4 points Anand is followed by Leko on 4 points while defending champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov (3 pts) is next in line and is now without any chance of retaining the crown he won last year at Tripoli in Libya. Placed seventh is Brit Michael Adams and Judit Polgar is at the bottom of the tables with just 2 points in her kitty. The day produced just two decisive games and Anand stole the limelight from everyone else with a thumping victory over Polgar who stood no chances against the wily Indian in a Siclian defense game. (PTI)

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