Anand takes on Leko

By Arvind Aaron

LINARES, FEB. 28. The 17th City of Linares Super Category chess tournament was inaugurated on Sunday afternoon at the Town Council and the founder of the tournament, Mr. Luis Rentero Suarez was honoured with a gold medal.

Mr. Luis Rentero, 67, founded this tournament in 1978 when it was held on a small level. The event grew in status and is now an Elo category 21 event. Still convalescing from an accident he suffered in late 1998, this chess lover is famous for forcing players to sign contracts that they would not offer draws before move 40. The opening ceremony was turned into a thanksgiving for Mr Rentero.

Draw numbers are not important with each player facing the others twice, once with black and then with white. Alexander Khalifman is back in the Linares closed tournament after six years.

He was referred as `FIDE World champion' and Kasparov `World champion' in the opening ceremony. Khalifman is here with two Seconds, one of them Gennady Nesis who was with him at Las Vegas last summer when he won the FIDE world title. Garry Kasparov has brought his second GM Yuri Dokhoian and mother Klara Kasparova.

Defeat in the online tournament last week to Jeroen Piket had broken his winning rhythm since mid 1998. Peter Leko, the fast rising Szeged player from Hungary had been training for this event specifically with Artur Yusupov in Germany for the black side and is accompanied by Cuban GM Amador Rodriguez who largely takes care of the white side.

Vladimir Kramnik arrived in Madrid on Friday night along with Kasparov and team but stayed back to adjust to the local time. He arrived on Saturday with his Barcelonian trainer GM Miguel Illescas. Alexei Shirov has the strongest line up of seconds, Valery Salov and Rhysthagov.

He feels he is the challenger to Kasparov and gets a chance to prove it on Monday when he faces the World No.1 ranked player with the black pieces. The arbiter as always will be Juan Vargas.

Viswanathan Anand looked tougher on the physical side should be gearing for a repeat of the 1998 event which he won. ``I am very motivated,'' he said while enjoying a large plate of boiled potatoes for lunch in the official opening ceremony this afternoon. He is accompanied by trainer GM Elizbar Ubilava, wife Aruna and Spanish friends Mauricio Perea and Nieves Perea.

Kasparov's recent observation of placing `unambitious' Anand and Kramnik along with the rest of the other players could spark a reaction from these two potent rivals in this event and in games against him.

Anand starts with the black pieces against Leko and in another pairing Khalifman plays Kramnik with the white pieces. Anand is playing in Linares for the tenth time. He won two matches against Ivanchuk in 1992 and Adams in 1994. It will be his eighth tournament but Kasparov is a veteran here having come for his ninth tournament. There are two free days on March 2 and 6.

``It will be a make or break tournament for Anand as other players are catching up on his second ranking,'' GM Rodriguez said. Another trainer Illescas said draws was inevitable and they can be sometimes `forced' and rarely on account of `fear'.

Anand said he did not sign any contract which inhibits him from offering draws before move 40. Illescas said FIDE should universally take the decision and force players not to offer draws before 40 moves and exempt draws by three-fold repetition.

Kasparov won the previous event with two rounds to spare. It is almost certain that will not happen this time. If he raises his risk level to what was seen at Wijk aan Zee last month, decisive games including losses are bound to happen which will add interest. If there is no challenge offered, he could win with a low margin as he did at Las Palmas in 1996.

Nevertheless, class games, best quality, decent fighting spirit is what is expected from this edition, the first of the new millennium. Linares has witnessed release of new big ideas which set fashion and trend across the chess world. This industrial town which makes Suzuki Motor cars is more famous in the chess world than any other Spanish city.

There will be ten rounds and the last round will be on March 10 and the prize giving will be on the same day.

The draw: 1. A. Khalifman (Rus), 2. G. Kasparov (Rus), 3. P. Leko (Hun), 4. V. Anand (Ind), 5. A. Shirov (ESP), 6. V. Kramnik (Rus).

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