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Anand, Shirov set for showdown

The battle lines are drawn for the final of the third edition of the FIDE World chess championship. India’s Vishwanathan Anand and Spain's Alexei Shirov have arrived in the historical city of Tehran for the match that will fetch the winner US $ 660,000.

The two, who came through a gruelling qualifying tournament that saw them wade through five opponents each, will clash in a six-game final that begins on Wednesday and continues through for a week.

Before he left Indian shores, Anand was given a warm send off by his sponsors, NIIT Limited, who have used him as brand amabassador for the past year. Hundreds of people signed their 'Best Wishes' message for Anand on a giant board.

If wishes could win matches, there is no way Anand can lose, for there are more than a billion Indians across the world almost praying for him to win and bring the world title to the land where the game originated.

Although the concept of the World championship is more than half a century old, the new knock-out format, started by the FIDE, the governing body for world chess, has been a big hit.

Though the first two editions raised questions over the format and the players who reached the final of these championships; this time around there can be no controversy on that account.

Anand, without doubt, was the best player on view in the first leg of the World championships in Delhi, and Shirov is one of the leading players in the world. Both stars came into these championships with a record that would do any champion proud. If Anand was the second ranked player in the world, Shirov came into the match with a tremendous match victory over Vladimir Kramnik at the start of the year.

Anand has won the World Blitz and World Cup this year and if he adds the World championship to those two titles, it would surely amount to an amazing collection which can be compared with a Grand Slam in any other sport.

As Grandmaster Valery Salov pointed out, Anand also won the World Rapidplay in Frankfurt this year. That event was however held by a private sponsor and was not one of the events on the FIDE calendar, but nobody could doubt the quality of play in that event.

Comparisons between the two are hard to avoid. If Anand hails from the land that gave the world the game, Shirov comes from the land produced Mikhail Tal, one of Anand’s heroes and one of the most attacking players ever. If Anand has made Spain his home away from home, Shirov has also moved from his place of birth, Latvia and made Spain his home. And they are both big heroes in Spain, where chess is a hugely popular sport.

The two also played two rapid games in an exhibition at the Sydney Olympics. The match ended 1-1 after two draws.

Talking of their record this year, Anand has been in splendid form. He won the World Blitz Cup in Poland, the Siemens Rapid Play in Frankfurt, the World Cup in Shenyang. He shared the top spot with Vladimir Kramnik in Dortmund and was second at Wijk Aan Zee and Linares. It has been an incredible year for him, which he hopes to cap with the World Championships. As if a reminder to his greatness was needed, he was presented with the Chess Oscar for 1998 at the closing ceremony in New Delhi two days ago.

Shirov may not have won any major events this year, but his match play win over Kramnik in Cazorla about two years back is fresh in memory. Now that Kramnik has beaten Kasparov, Shirov’s credentials cannot be doubted.

Shirov has shown that he is a tenacious customer, having played all his matches in Delhi till the tie-breaker. Only in his semi-final against Grischuk did he win in regulation games. He has also played a lot this year and he represented Spain in Istanbul Olympiad. Anand did not play the Olympiad.

Before his departure for Tehran, Anand had said, "There is no pressure. I am not carrying any baggage (of 1995 and 1998) with me. Now the final is the big one. Both of us know it is the big shot and a six-game match is always tough."

Shirov, not one to be intimidated, has however been very generous in his praise of Anand. He said, "Anand seems to be very fresh and has also prepared very hard for these championships."

It promises to be thriller that can go up to the wire and is bound to keep the hearts of a billion Indians in their mouth.

VISHWANATHAN ANAND

Born in: India
Lives in: Spain & Madras, India
Age: 30
Elo rating: 2774
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS: Won titles in World Blitz Cup in Warsaw, Poland; Siemens Giants Rapid Title in Frankfurt; World Cup in Shenyang, China; shared title in Dortmund; Second in Wikj Aan Zee and Linares.
PATH TO FINAL:
Beat Viktor Bologan 1.5-0.5
beat Smbat Lputian 1.5-0.5
beat Batlomiej Macieja 1.5-0.5
beat Alexander Khalifman.5-2.5 in the the-breaker
beat Michael Adams 2.5-1.5 in the semi-finals

ALEXEI SHIROV

Country: Born in Latvia
Lives in: Spain
Age: 28
Elo Rating: 2746
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS: Beat Vladimir Kramnik in a match in Cazorla about a year and a half ago; Beat Anand at Linares this year; Beat Anand at Amber Rapid and Blindfold tournament this year.
PATH TO FINAL:
beat Alexander Onischuk 2.5-1.5 via the tie-breaker
beat Mikhail Gurevich 3.5-2.5 via the tie-breaker
beat Boris Gelfand 2.5-1.5 in the tie-breaker
beat Evegeny Bareev 2.5-1.5 via the tie-breaker
beat Alexander Grischuk 2.5-1.5