Anand, Kramnik enter semis

Cap d'Agde, France:

Viswanathan Anand defeated world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine 1.5-0.5 to march into the semifinals of the World Rapid Chess Championship. Braingames Champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia also entered the last four with a similar victory over world's best woman player Judit Polgar of Hungary. The other two semifinalists will be known only after the end of the remaining two semifinal matches, wherein local hope Etienne Bacrot will play against Alexander Grischuk of Russia, while Russian champion Peter Svidler will take on Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria. The next two days will witness the semis and finals of the 16-player competition to decide the best player of Rapid Chess. (PTI)