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Chess: Anand blunders against Aronian in Morelia-Linares chess

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  • Chess: Anand blunders against Aronian in Morelia-Linares chess

    Mangalorean.com, India
    Feb 18 2008


    Anand blunders against Aronian in Morelia-Linares chess


    Morelia (Mexico), Feb 18 (IANS) After a winning start in first round,
    India's Viswanathan Anand has blundered in the second round to lose
    to Lev Aronian of Armenia in the first leg of the Morelia-Linares
    Grandmasters chess tournament.

    Defending champion and World No. 1 Anand Saturday fell to a terrible
    blunder on the 30th move in his game against Aronian, the man he
    termed as favourite before the tournament.

    Anand now has one point from two games and is tied for third place,
    half a point behind joint leaders, Vassily Ivanchuk and Vesselin
    Topalov.

    In other games, Peter Leko also blundered and lost against Vassily
    Ivanchuk to hand over the full point and Teimour Radjabov spoilt a
    promising game against Veselin Topalov to a draw, while Alexei Shirov
    and Magnus Carlsen also shared points.

    Aronian, who has been one of the most consistent players on the
    circuit, chose his favourite Marshall's attack, getting some
    compensation for two pawns. Anand's position was still preferable
    until he played the incorrect 29.Nd2 and then again blundered on the
    next move (30.Nf3). The game, essentially, was decided there as it
    left the Indian's king vulnerable and resigned soon after on the 34th
    move.

    Ukranian Ivanchuk proved his great strategical understanding as he
    chose a line which till now was considered innocuous. While many feel
    that black will gain with the queen exchange for two rooks in mid
    game, Ivanchuk proved that it was white, which was better off as
    Leko, with black, was struggling.

    Leko added to his problems with an error on the 38th move and lost
    the game.

    Meanwhile, Topalov, with black, decided to change his favourite
    Sicilian Najdorf defense for the Berlin's Wall of the Spanish
    Opening. Just when Radjabov seemed ready to pressurise the black
    position, he made a big mistake that overlooked Black (Topalov's)
    possibilities of winning a pawn. Topalov had a winning chance but
    Radjabov hung in to get a draw by repetition.

    In the third round, Anand will have black pieces against Carlsen.

    The tournament is played in two legs with the first leg being held at
    Morelia, Mexico and the second leg in Linares, Spain.

    Results of Round 2:
    Anand lost to Aronian
    Radjabov drew with Topalov
    Ivanchuk beat Leko
    Shirov drew with Carlsen

    Pairings for Round 3:
    Carlsen vs. Anand
    Leko vs. Shirov
    Topalov vs. Ivanchuk
    Aronian vs. Radjabov

    Points after Round 2:
    1. Ivanchuk and Topalov (1.5 each)
    3. Aronian, Carlsen, Anand and Leko (1 each)
    7. Radjabov and Shirov (0.5 each).

    IANS
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