Anand back in contention

Former world champion Viswanathan Anand jumped back into contention for the knockout stage with a superb win over Kasimdzhanov Rustam of Uzbekistan in a Group 'C' contest at the World Cup Chess in Hyderabad on Sunday.

The defending champion came back strongly, after a shocking loss to K Sasikiran in game two on Friday, to defeat Rustam, who was comfortably placed after the second game with 1.5 points.

Koneru Humpy collected three points from three matches to virtually ensure her place in the quarter-final.

The teenager defeated the highly rated Russian Alexandra Kosteniuk and became the first player at the second edition of the World Cup to win three consecutive games.

While Humpy, the youngest player at the meet, has been unstoppable, Dronavalli Harika created a flutter by beating former women's world champion Maya Chiburdanidze in a Group 'A' contest.

Indian GM, K Sasikiran, inched closer to a place in the top two from Group C, drawing his third game with GM Hamdouch Hichem. With this result, he has 2.5 points from three matches.

In another notable performance, Polish GM Macieja Bartilimiej surprised strong contender Vassily Ivanchuk in a Group 'A' tie to take his points tally to two after three games. Ivanchuk drew his first two games and has one point with two games to go.

In other matches, Slovakian GM Alexander Beliavsky split the point with talented Russian Alexander Morozovich and Indian GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly earned the same result with Ehlvest Jann while local lad Pentyala Harikrishna suffered his third defeat in a row, losing to British veteran Nigel Short, in Group 'D'.

Indian women S Vijayalaxmi and Bhagyashri Thipsay joined Harikrishna at the bottom of the points tally. Both of them have failed to open their account even after three games.

Vijayalaxmi went down to defending champion Xu Yuhua of China while Thipsay was beaten by Stepovia Dianchenko.

The women's champion registered her first win of the tournament, after losing one and drawing the second, when she tamed Peng Zhaoqin.

Following are the moves of the defending champion Viswanathan Anand and Kasimdzhanov Rustam (Uzb) and Macieja Bartilomiej (Pol).

Anand-Kasmidzhanov (Game 3)

1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 e5
6. Ndb5 d6
7. Bg5 a6
8. Na3 b5
9. Bxf6 gxf6
10. Nd5 Bg7
11. Bd3 Ne7
12. Nxe7 Qxe7
13. O-O O-O
14. c4 f5
15. Qf3 bxc4
16. Nxc4 d5
17. exd5 e4
18. Qe3 Bb7
19. d6 Qf6
20. Bc2 f4
21. Qh3 Rac8
22. b3 Qg5
23. d7 Rc6
24. Bxe4 Rh6
25. Qf5 Qh4
26. h3 Rf6
27. d8Q Rxd8
28. Qa5 Bxe4
29. Qxd8+ Bf8
30. f3 Bf5
1-0