Another trophy to Anand's collection

By Arvind Aaron

MERIDA (MEXICO), MAY 23. World chess champion Viswanathan Anand coasted to one of his easiest super category tournament titles when he won the second Torneo Magistral of Chess by a one point difference after the sixth and final round here on Tuesday.

Needing a draw to clinch the title, Anand got it safely in 28 moves when his final round opponent Nigel David Short of England proposed a peace treaty within 80 minutes of play.

For the 31-year-old Chennai-born Anand, this was perhaps the second simplest super category win since taking the crown at Biel in 1997. This victory, should also pump his Elo higher from 2794 and it is hoped he would cross the 2800-mark.

``The tournament was very strong and I had to work hard for these points,'' said a satisfied Anand. He said one should not get carried away by the difference but see the risk he took to achieve this result.

After Tuesday's draw, Anand made a 1.5-0.5 score against Short, a 2-0 sweep over Hernandez and 1-1 against Khalifman.

This triumph was Anand's first in classical chess after winning the World title. He finished second in his previous classical tournament at Wijk aan Zee. Anand's next classical engagement is at Dortmund from July 12 to 22 where he and Kramnik will be competing in the same event. Prior to that he plays Advanced Chess (Human+Computer versus Human+Computer) at Leon from June 7 to 12 and a rapid match at Mainz against Vladimir Kramnik from June 23 to July 1.

Surprise opening

A lot was expected from Short in the final round as he had a chance to share the title by recording an upset win. But the early signs for him were discouraging and he expressed shock after Anand made his first move.

As a draw was enough, Anand came up with a mild surprise, opting to play the Caro-Kann defence. Short deliberated for a long time for his second move, clearly showing that he was shocked by black's response. He, however, repeated the same two knights variation he tried against Khalifman in round two here. Anand varied on the fourth move itself, deciding to surrender his bishop for a knight. By the 14th move, black had dynamic equality and a decisive result was unlikely unless there was some serious error which is uncommon at this level.

Soon, material from queen, one pair of rooks were exchanged off and the players were left with a rook and one minor piece left when Short opted for a draw and Anand accepted it on move 28. ``I am disappointed by this draw,'' Short said at the press conference, adding, ``it was not my intention to make it so short.'' Short confessed that it was difficult to prepare against Anand who has plenty of openings up his sleeve.

The results (round six): N. Short drew with V. Anand, G. Hernandez drew with A. Khalifman.

Final placings: 1 V. Anand (Ind) 4.5/6, 2 N. Short (Eng) 3.5, 3 A. Khalifman (Rus) 3, 4 G. Hernandez (Mex) 1.

The moves:

GM N. Short-GM V. Anand, round six, Caro- Kann defence, B11: 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.Be2 Nf6 7.0-0 dxe4 8.Nxe4 Nxe4 9.Qxe4 Nd7 10.d4 Nf6 11.Qe3 Bd6 12.c4 0-0 13.b3 Qe7 14.a3 e5 15.Bb2 Rfe8 16.dxe5 Bxe5 17.Bxe5 Qxe5 18.Qxe5 Rxe5 19.Bf3 Kf8 20.Rfd1 Rae8 21.b4 Ke7 22.Kf1 Rd8 23.c5 Rd7 24.h4 h6 25.Rxd7+ Kxd7 26.Rd1+ Kc7 27.Rd4 a5 28.g3 Draw.

GM G. Hernandez-GM A. Khalifman, round six, Pirc defence, B09: 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.Bxd7+ Nfxd7 8.d5 b5 9.Qe2 b4 10.Nd1 Nb6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Nf2 Qc8 13.f5 Qa6 14.Qe1 N8d7 15.Ng4 Nf6 16.Nh6+ Bxh6 17.Bxh6 Rfe8 18.fxg6 hxg6 19.Ng5 Nbd7 20.Rf4 Qc4 21.Qh4 Qxc2 22.Raf1 Qxb2 23.Qh3 Qc3 24.g3 Ne5 25.Rh4 Qe3+ 26.Kh1 Qe2 27.Kg1 Qe3+ 28.Kh1 Qe2 29.Kg1 Qe3+ Draw.

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