Touzane shocks Anand

By Arvind Aaron

MOSCOW, NOV. 27. Internet qualifier, Olivier Touzane of France shocked the World chess champion Viswanathan Anand in Game One for an unexpected start to round one of the FIDE World chess championship, which began here on Tuesday.

Anand is in a `must win' situation with the black pieces in the reverse game on Wednesday, a new situation for him in a knockout tournament. But he should be able to win and tie the scores and force a play-off to enter the second round.

Touzane plays for the French club of Montpellier and has had a one-time high rating of 2550. Today he is rated 2382 and is the bottom-seeded player in the 128-player field. Touzane needs a draw with white to complete what will be the major upset of the championship.

The 39-move victory by Touzane showed that Anand was a bit nervous at the end in the Petroff's defence. Touzane's 14th move was new and he improved on existing theory and ventured into tactics. Anand sacrificed his rook for a bishop and pawn and appeared to have compensation.

After black found a nice way to return the extra material, white was in trouble in the queen ending with a pawn less. Just when most people thought Touzane was making a draw, Anand moved too quickly and blundered a second pawn uncharacteristically to resign for the day's biggest surprise.

The day had plenty of other upsets as well. Third and fourth seeded Alexander Morozevich of Russia and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine were held to draws by unknown Nugzar Zeliakov of Russia and Shovunov Baatr of Russia. Boris Gelfand of Israel was also one of the seeds who was held to a draw.

On the defeated list of favourites were Anand, Nigel Short and Kiril Georgiev, making it a unique first round competition in chess ever.

The two Indian teenagers did excellently well to hold fancied stars. Pentyala Harikrishna held Alexander Beliavsky of Slovenia to a creditable 33-move draw, while Surya Sekhar Ganguly did even better.

The first Indian game to conclude was Ganguly's 22- move draw with the white pieces against former World champion Alexander Khalifman of Russia. In the Scotch opening, Ganguly kept the position even without seeking adventure with the white pieces.

Krishnan Sasikiran ceded his advantage of playing white after making a solid 25-move draw from a Bogo-Indian defence against Vereslav Eingorn of Ukraine. Just one pawn and one bishop pair was exchanged from the board.

Upset win for Nisha

Meanwhile in the women's section, Nisha Mohota was the only Indian to win amongst four players. The other three - Aarthie Ramaswamy, Pallavi Shah and Vijayalakshmi lost after long battles. Nisha shocked 13th seeded Tatiana Stepovaia-Diachenko of Russia in 55 moves with the white pieces from a Dutch defence. Pallavi Shah was beaten by Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria in 28 moves, Vijayalakshmi lost to Joanna Dworakowska of Poland and Aarthie was beaten by former World junior girls champion Nino Khurtsidze of Georgia.

The results (round one, game one):

Men: V. Anand (Ind) lost to Olivier Touzane (Fra); Gaetan Sarthao (Fra) lost to M. Adams (Eng); A. Morozevich (Rus) drew with Nugzar Zeliakov (Rus); S. Baatr (Rus) drew with V. Ivanchuk (Ukr); Peter Leko (Hun) Watu bt Kobese (RSA); Michael Gluzman (Aus) lost to Evgeny Bareev (Rus); Boris Gelfand (Isr) drew with Alexis Cabrera (Cub); Facundo Pierrot (Arg) lost to Veselin Topalov (Bul); Alexei Shirov (Esp) bt Aimen Rizouk (Alg); Nikolai Vlassov (Rus) drew with Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzb); Ilia Smirin (Isr) bt Amon Simutowe (Zam); Surya Sekhar Ganguly (Ind) drew with Alexander Khalifman (Rus); Loek van Wely (Ned) bt Ruben Felgaer (Arg); Fouad El Taher (Egy) bt Kiril Georgiev (Bul); Peter Svidler (Rus) bt Alejandro Hoffman (Arg); Peng Xiang Zhang (Chn) drew with Anatoly Karpov (Rus); Alexey Dreev (Rus) drew with Khvicha Supatashvili (Geo); Mohamad Al-Modiahki (Qat) lost to Judit Polgar (Hun); Ruslan Ponomariov (Rus) bt Li Wenliang (Chn); Alexei Barsov (Uzb) drew with Ye Jiangchuan (Chn); Joel Lautier (Fra) bt Dibyendu Barua (Ind); Daniel Campora (Arg) bt Nigel Short (Eng); Zurab Azmaiparashvili (Geo) bt Saidali Iuldachev (Uzb); Ghaem Maghami (Iri) drew with Alexander Grischuk (Rus); Zhang Zhong (Chn) lost to Yu Shaoteng (Chn); Pentyala Harikrishna (Ind) drew with Alexander Beliavsky (Slv); Viktor Bologan (Mda) drew with Igor Nataf (Fra); Shukhrat Safin (Uzb) drew with Predrag Nikolic (Bih); Emil Sutovsky (Isr) bt Alonso Zapata (Col); Slim Belkhodja (Tun) lost to Rafael Vaganian (Arm); Xu Jun (Chn) bt Suat Atalik (Bih); Hicham Hamdouchi (Mar) drew with V. Tkachiev (Fra); Sergey Rublevsky (Rus) drew with Nguyen Anh Dung (Vie); Jacek Gdanski (Pol) drew with Vadim Zviaginsev (Rus); Mikhail Gurevich (Bel) bt Dorian Rogozenko (Rom); Stanislav Savchenko (Ukr) bt Francisco Vallejo Pons (Esp); Rustem Dautov (Ger) bt Dmitry Gurevich (USA); Andrei Volokitin (Ukr) drew with K. Sakaev (Rus); A. Delchev (Bul) bt G. Timoshenko (Ukr); Ognjen Cvitan (Cro) drew with Alexander Lastin (Rus); Alexander Motylev (Rus) bt Chong Liang (Chn); Vadim Malakhatko (Ukr) drew with Sergei Movsesian (Cze); Jaan Ehlvest (Est) drew with Teimour Radjabov (Aze); Alexandre Lesiege (Can) drew with Sergey Shipov (Rus); Viktor Korchnoi (Swz) drew with Lev Psakhis (Isr); Larry Christiansen (USA) drew with S. Tiviakov (Ned); Vadim Milov (Swz) lost to Alex Yermolinsky (USA); Evgeny Pigusov (Rus) bt Alexander Ivanov (USA); Sarunas Sulskis (Ltu) bt Alexander Graf (Ger); Liviu-Dieter Nisipianu (Rom) drew with Lazaro Bruzon (Cub); Michal Krasenkow (Pol) lost to Smbat Lputian (Arm); Gregory Kaidanov (USA) lost to Alexander Shabalov (USA); Sergey Volkov (Rus) bt Thomas Luther (Ger); Karen Asrian (Arm) drew with Igor Khenkin (Ger); Stuart Conquest (Eng) drew with Zoltan Gyimesi (Hun); Boris Gulko (USA) drew with G. Vescovi (Bra); Lernier Dominguez (Cub) drew with Pavel Kotsur (Kaz); V. Baklan (Ukr) drew with J. Benjamin (USA); Ashot Anastasian (Arm) bt A. Fedorov (Blr); Boris Avrukh (Isr) lost to Bartlomiej Macieja (Pol); Krishnan Sasikiran (Ind) drew with Vereslav Eingorn (Ukr); Mikhail Kobalija (Rus) drew with K. Aseev (Rus); Peter Hiene Nielsen (Den) bt Alexander Goldin (USA).

Women: Wissam Toubai (Alg) lost to Alisa Galliamova (Rus), Maya Chiburdanidze (Geo) bt Asma Houli (Alg), Shadi Paridar (Iri) drew E.Kovalevskaya (Rus), Wang Pin (Chn) bt Joarra Chaves (Bra), Farida Arouche (Alg) lost to Xu Yuhua (Chn), Zhu Chen (Chn) bt Elisa Maggiolo (Arg), Elina Groberman (USA) lost to Nana Ioseliani (Geo), Almira Skripchenko (Mda) bt Ngan Phan (Aus), Nava Starr (Can) lost to Corina Peptan (Rom), Antoaneta Stefanova (Bul) bt Pallavi Shah (Ind), Elena Levushkina (Uzb) lost to Alisa Maric (Yug), Natasa Bojkovic (Yug) drew Maria Kouvatsou (Gre), Nisha Mohota (Ind) bt Tatiana Stepovaia (Rus), Nino Khurtsidze (Geo) bt Aarthie Ramaswamy (Ind), Dagne Ciuksyte (Ltu) lost to Ketevan Arakhamia (Geo), Hoang Thanh Trang (Vie) drew Huang Qian (Chn), Jennifer Shahade (USA) lost to Alexandre Kosteniuk (Rus), Xu Yuanyuan (Chn) bt Sulennis Pina (Cub), Li Ruofan (Chn) lost to Anna Zatonskih (Ukr), Cristina Foisor (Rom) bt Gu Xiaobing (Chn), Camilla Baginskaite (USA) bt Svetlana Prudnikova (Yug), Inna Gaponenko (Ukr) bt Genrieta Lagvilava (Blr), Maritza Arribas (Cub) lost to Zhaoqin Peng (Chn), Tatiana Grabuzova (Rus) bt Julia Galianina (Rus), Nona Gaprindashvili (Geo) bt Marta Zielinska (Pol), Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman (Ind) lost to Joanna Dworakowska (Pol), Svetlana Petrenko (Mda) bt Tatiana Kononenko (Ukr), Elina Danielian (Arm) bt Tatiana Shuiakina (Rus), Iweta Radziewicz (Pol) drew Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger), Monika Socko (Pol) lost to Lilit Mkrtchian (Arm), Elena Sedina (Ita) bt Olga Alexandrova (Ukr), Natalia Kiseleva (Ukr) bt Wang Yu (Chn).

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : 2001 British & UK championship from today
Next     : South Africa completes humiliation