Anand performs a 'trick' in
Advance chess

World champion Vishwanathan Anand crashed through the defences of Grandmaster Alexei Shirov of Spain to register a rare hat-trick of triumphs in the Advance chess tournament in Leon, Spain.

The Indian Grandmaster had defeated former world champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia 5-1 in a six-game match for the title in 1999 while last year he beat Shirov in the final.

It was a 2.5-0.5 rout in the four-game final match before Shirov regained some lost glory by winning the inconsequential fourth game to make it a face-saving 2.5-1.5 score.

Anand had the white pieces in the first game and the players continued their battle in the Winawer variation of the French defence, in which Anand has a stupendous winning record.

The middlegame was fought fiercely and the ensuing endgame offered Anand a clear advantage as his Rooks penetrated the opposition camp.

Shirov's resourceful play gave him a breather as Anand fumbled in the dying stages of the match to finally agree to a draw after 68 moves.

It was the second game that gave the Indian a full point cushion with resourceful play in a nearly balanced endgame.

The opening was a Caro Kann Advance variation and Anand came up with a rare fourth move to steer the game on less trodden paths. The pieces got exchanged at regular intervals and Shirov was saddled with a bad Bishop in the Rook and minor piece endgame. Displaying precise technique, Anand won a pawn and steadily cruised through.

The third game was another attestation of Anand's superior understanding of the endgame and Shirov did not get a chance to come out of blues for a Sicilian Nazdorf defence game with black pieces. The Queens got traded early in the middlegame and Shirov's pawns on the kingside were more advanced.

However, with his Knight and Rook tucked to contain white from making headway on the other flank, Shirov had to part with a couple of pawns and the rest was all Anand's show.

After getting an unassailable lead, the fourth game was only of academic interest and Shirov won a long drawn technical battle that arose from a Sicilian Nazdorf which lasted 57 moves.