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Chess: Leko shocks Anand as Armenia fights back

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  • Chess: Leko shocks Anand as Armenia fights back

    Leko shocks Anand as Armenia fights back

    Sify, India
    June 15 2004

    Moscow: Former World Champion Viswanathan Anand suffered a shock defeat
    at the hands of Hungarian Grandmaster Peter Leko in the fifth and
    penultimate round of Armenia versus Rest of the World chess contest at
    Hotel Hyatt Ararat on Monday. Smbat Lputian also struck back firmly
    to help Armenia stage a remarkable recovery in the closing stages of
    this match being organised to celebrate the 75th Birth Anniversary
    of late Armenian World Champion Tigran Petrosian.

    Team Armenia eventually coasted home to a 4-2 victory, their first so
    far in the six-game match, and narrowed Worlds lead down to two points.

    With just one more round of six games remaining in the Scheveningen
    event, the World team is still the favourite to win. The scores now
    stand at 16-14 in favour of the World.

    After five straight black victories, it was the turn of the first
    player to do the damage and coming out triumphs was Leko who played
    an energy-filled end game to put it across Anand.

    Playing the white side of a Sicilian Tiamanov, Leko opted for the
    structure akin to the English attack and ensured himself a better
    end game after the queens got traded very early in the middle game.

    Anand's game plan did not succeed in the later stages even as pieces
    got exchanged at regular intervals and the players arrived at rook
    and pawns end game with equal strength.

    However, the pawn structure of the Indian was earlier dismantled by
    the Hungarian star and Anand found hard to cope.

    Knocking down one pawn by force, Leko displayed excellent technique
    to romp home in 68 moves.

    Lputian had a dubious record thus far in the event with three losses
    and a draw but the lowest rated Armenian player in the match held on
    to his own to succeed over young Spaniard Francisco Vallejo Pons who
    had to pay heavy dividends for his over ambitious play.

    It was a position akin to the Queens gambit accepted after the opening
    and Vallejo had a comfortable position on board after he won a pawn.

    The just result should have been a draw as white had more active
    pieces but trying harder, Vallejo went for an exchange and got two
    menacing passed pawns on the queen side.

    However, just as it appeared Vallejo was cruising, Lputian came up
    with some dour defence, denying further liberty to his opponent.

    As it turned out in the end, the better decision might have been a draw
    by repetition that Vallejo refused vide repetition after the exchange.

    Lputian handled the end game pretty well to score his first victory
    at a crucial moment for his team. The game lasted 76 moves.

    All the remaining four matches were drawn and the quickest of the
    day was between Adams and Gelfand who signed truce in just 20 moves
    of a Sicilian Nazdorf.
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