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Anand, Ivanchuk clash in Leon final
Vassily Ivanchuk set up a summit clash with world champion Viswanathan Anand in the Magistral Ciudad De Leon chess tournament.
Leon (Spain):
Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk set up a summit clash with world champion Viswanathan Anand in the Magistral Ciudad De Leon chess tournament after demolishing Alexei Shirov of Spain 3-1 in the second semifinal here.
Ivanchuk, who recently won the Mtel Masters in Bulgaria, will now meet Anand in a four-game rapid final slated this evening.
Anand had beaten Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain in the first semifinal on Friday.
It turned out to be an easier than expected outing for Ivanchuk as Shirov was comprehensively outplayed in the first two games and failed to spot a recovery chance in the third game that finally ended in a draw. The inconsequential fourth game was also drawn.
Shirov mishandled a dynamically balanced middle game in the first outing against Ivanchuk and could not quite recover from the avalanche that followed.
It was a Closed Sicilian wherein Ivanchuk found some excellent attacking moves and reached a won queen against double rook endgame. Shirov resigned on the 45th turn when white's central pawns rolled decisively.
Ivanchuk, who recently won the Mtel Masters in Bulgaria, will now meet Anand in a four-game rapid final slated this evening.
Anand had beaten Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain in the first semifinal on Friday.
It turned out to be an easier than expected outing for Ivanchuk as Shirov was comprehensively outplayed in the first two games and failed to spot a recovery chance in the third game that finally ended in a draw. The inconsequential fourth game was also drawn.
Shirov mishandled a dynamically balanced middle game in the first outing against Ivanchuk and could not quite recover from the avalanche that followed.
It was a Closed Sicilian wherein Ivanchuk found some excellent attacking moves and reached a won queen against double rook endgame. Shirov resigned on the 45th turn when white's central pawns rolled decisively.
Topics mentioned in this article
Chess
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