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World
rapid champion Viswanathan Anand won
the chess classic 'duel of the world
champions' for the fourth time on
the trot after successive draws on
the final day against Spaniard Alexei
Shirov at the Rheingoldhalle here.
Anand won with a 5-3 margin, same
as he scored last year against Hungarian
Judit Polgar and was never in trouble
throughout the match after taking
the lead on day one itself. With this
win, Anand stamped his authority on
Mainz where this is Anand's seventh
title victory in all and fifth in
a row. In 2000, Anand had won it in
Frankfurt. This is Anand's second
title in the rapid chess this year
after he won the rapid section of
Amber tournament earlier at Monaco.
The 2003 Oscar winner had also won
the Corus Super Grandmasters tournament
at Wijk Ann Zee, Netherlands, in January
this year and just a week before he
had cruised to an emphatic victory
in the Dortmund Sparkassen chess meeting.
Courtesy:
The Indian Express, August 10, 2004
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"You
know what it means to beat Kramnik.
This guy hardly ever loses.'' The
words from Viswanathan Anand aptly
reflect what it means to him to score
over the second strongest Russian
in world chess. On Sunday, Anand did
precisely that to win the elite Dortmund
Chess Meeting title and reinforce
the belief that he is indeed the strongest
in tournament play. A quick recap
of Anand's performances in the year
so far gives a fair idea of his remarkable
consistency. After retaining the crown
at Wijk aan Zee (where Kramnik tied
for the sixth spot), Anand skipped
the `big' one at Linares and went
on to win the rapid title in the Amber
Melody tournament in Monaco. In June,
Anand spearheaded the Rest of the
World team to an 18.5-17.5 victory
over Gary Kasparov-led Armenia. After
his undefeated display in the classical
form of the game as well as playoffs
in rapid and blitz at Dortmund, Anand
is surely in the middle of another
glorious year of his glittering career.
Anand is undoubtedly the strongest
in the world. Quite significantly,
Kramnik who won the prestigious Linares
tournament, ahead of Kasparov, had
this to say minutes after claiming
the title. "For me, it is much more
difficult to play Anand or Peter Leko
than Kasparov. If Kasparov played
so many matches as we did, his Elo
(world ranking points) would not be
so high." While Anand continues the
form that saw him win his third Chess
Oscar, for last year's performance,
Kasparov's lone outing in Linares
was hugely disappointing by his own
lofty standards. He came joint second,
with Leko, but won just one match
in the event that too, with white
pieces against lastman Francisco Vallejo.
Experts all over the world acknowledge
Anand's all-round skills. Whether
in tournaments, matches, rapid or
blitz, Anand comes across as a complete
player. At Dortmund, where for the
first time a league-cum-knock out
format was adopted, Anand was at ease.
It is important to note that Anand
scored over three other potential
champions in the fray. He took care
of Peter Svidler in their classical
clash in the league, beat Peter Leko
in the blitz playoff and overpowered
Kramnik in the final rapid face-off.
World title-holder in 2000, twice
winner of the World Cup and the reigning
World rapid champion, Anand has proved
superior to every challenge thrown
at him. In fact, he was the first
to state that computers could be beaten
and proved his point in 1997 by winning
against six computers 4-2, that too,
in a simultaneous display. Following
year, Anand defeated Fritz5, the World
open computer champion, 1.5-0.5 and
silenced those who swore by the capabilities
of the machine when pitted against
human brain.
Courtesy:
The Hindu, August 03, 2004
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