|
||
HOME | SPORTS | NEWS |
November 30, 2001
news
|
Anand enters third roundVishwanathan Anand troubled himself only as much as he needed to move into the third round, the last 32 stage of the World chess championships, as he opted for a no-risk draw quickly in the second game of the second round. It was most apparent that the NIIT-sponsored World champion had come prepared for a quick draw against Dane Peter Heine Nielsen. The defending champion had won the first game on Thursday with black pieces and with white he had little trouble. He quickly went in for exchanges and in his own words made the game lifeless and only worthy of a draw. That was just what he needed to enter the third round. He will now meet Vladislav Tkachiev of France, who beat Vietnamese player Bguyen nh Dung 1.5- 0.5. Tkachiev, who had won the first game quickly, drew the second and advanced to a meeting with Anand. Playing with white pieces, Anand drew his second game and totalled 1.5-0.5. "It is nice to move ahead without any tie-breaks," said Anand. He was taken to the tie-breaker in the first round by Frenchman Olivier Touzane. Nielsen, like Touzane, was an Internet qualifier. A total of eight Internet qualifiers were given berths for the first time in the World championships. Anand, whose sponsors have opened a special page where his fans can send him best wishes, added a draw to the crushing win he achieved in the first game of the second round on Thursday and became the first player to make the last 32 stage in the 128-player field. As Anand was cruising into the third round, the only other two Indians left in the championships were eliminated. Krishnan Sasikiran and Nisha Mohota lost their second games in the second round and went out of the championships. Sasikiran was outplayed by Alexander Morozevich in the second game after having drawn the first on Thursday. It was the second time in as many World championships that Sasikiran had lost in the second round. Nisha Mohota, the only Indian woman to advance to the second round, lost to Romania's Cristina Foisor. She had drawn the first and lost the second. China's Zhang Zhong (2667) moved past Alexander Lastin of Russia (2628). Zhong had drawn the first game black pieces and today he won with white to complete a 1.5-0.5 win. A big surprise in the second round was Alexander Grischuk, who had stunned all by entering the semi-finals at the last World championships. Grischuk lost to Russian champion Alexander Motylev of Russia. Motylev, playing with white, scored the crucial win in second game and moved up into third round. Vassily Ivanchuk was taken to the tie-breaker by Poland Bartlomej Macieja. Ivanchuk won the first game but lost the second. Others making the third round included Israel's Emil Sutovsky, who beat Spain’s Paco Vallejo 2-0, Israel's Boris Gelfand who beat Cuba's Lenier Dominiguez 1.5-0.5 and Israel's Ilia Smirin who beat Thomas Luther of Germany 1.5-0.5. Among the women, Alisa Galliamova shut out Natalia Kiseleva of Ukraine 2-0, but Almia Lautier Skripchenko was taken to the tie-breaker by Marta Zielnksa of Poland. China's Xu Yuhua entered the third round with 1.5-0.5 verdict over Elina Danielian of Armenia and Joanna Dworakowska of Poland beat Georgian Nana Ioseliani 1.5-0.5.
The moves:
Game 2, Round 2
Game 2, Round 2
Earlier reports:
|
|
|||||
Mail Sports Editor
|
|||||||
ASTROLOGY | CONTESTS | E-CARDS | NEWSLINKS | ROMANCE | WOMEN SHOPPING | BOOKS | MUSIC | HOMEPAGES | FREE EMAIL| MESSENGER | FEEDBACK |