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Anand takes Fontys title

It took just about an hour for Vishwanathan Anand to install himself as the new champion at the Fontys-Tilburg international grandmasters chess tournament last night.

The Indian grandmaster, who has been in brilliant form throughout the year, logged 7.5 points from 11 rounds and emerged as the clear winner.

In the final round, Anand drew with Peter Svidler, who with Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik had finished joint first here last year.

This was Anand's first appearance at the tourney, now into its third year. The game between Svidler and Anand lasted just 17 moves, after Anand with black opted for the solid Caro-Kann Defence. Anand just needed a draw to ensure the top place, and he got that as Svidler realised he could not cause any upset. Svidler has never beaten Anand before, and the two players had agreed to a similar last round draw in Madrid, where also Anand won the tournament.

Anand remained unbeaten in the 12-player category 18 tournament. The win was a confirmation of Anand's position as the top player in the world, though many would still reckon Kasparov is a notch above. Anand has played five Super GM tournaments this year and won four of them. His tournaments wins have come from Wijk Aan Zee, Madrid, Linares and now, Tilburg. He also won a rapid tournament in Frankfurt and a match against Miguel Illescas in Spain.

Vladimir Kramnik, who last year was rated above Anand, had a rough time for most of the tournament, and came up a late flourish to finish tied for third spot. In the last round against Sadler, he played a quick, boring draw in 19 moves from a Queen's Gambit Declined. Sadler, one of the three unbeaten players in the championship along with anand and Peter Leko, ended with six points in the joint third spot.

Peter Leko had the theoretical chance of catching up with Anand as he was doing well with black, but for doing that he had to beat Loek van Wely in the last round. The game was a Gruenfeld Defence and Leko ended up sharing points. Anand thus finished up as the first sole winner of the tournament -- the title having been shared in the two previous editions.

Viktor Korchnoi and Vesslin Toplov played out a long draw as the veteran attempted some attack but Toplov didn't budge. It was a 43-move draw from a Nimzo Indian in which Toplov of Blgaria had black.

The game between Adams and Lautier looked promising with a sharp Sicilian but after the queens got exchanged, the outcome was peaceful.

Anand as the winner got a purse of 25,000 guilders (approximately Rs 500,000) while Leko in second place took home 15,000 guilders.

Final positions: 1. Anand (7.5), 2. Leko (7), 3-5. Kramnik, Sadler and Zviaginsev (6 each), 6-7: Adams and Piket (5.5), 8-9. Svidler and Van Wely (5 each), 10-11: Lautier and Toplov (4.5 each), 12. Korchnoi (3.5).