Anand slips to third spot at Linares

Linares:

Viswanathan Anand today slipped to the third place after a draw with Russian Garry Kasparov in the 13th and penultimate round of the Linares Super Grandmasters chess tournament. Kasparov assured himself of at least a shared first place in after the draw as he took his tally to an unassailable 8 points out of a possible 11 in the seven players double round-robin event being played under classical time control. As things stand with just one round come to come in this Euros 297000 prize money tournament, Kasparov with 8/11 is almost assured of title provided he does not lose to Topalov in the final round game. Anand on 6.5 points is certain for a third place finish come what may in his game against Brit Mi chael Adams in the final round. Corus champion Peter Leko of Hungary is almost certain to finish fourth after his game with FIDE World champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov ended in a draw. Adams in all likelihood is likely to finish fifth while Vallejo will try to finish ahead of Kasimdzhanov after the last round tomorrow. Anand's game against Kasparov lasted just about half an hour as the game was still in the stage of infancy when the point was shared. It was a Petroff defence that got Anand an easy half point as black. (PTI)