Anand in Euro chess final

Former World champion Vishwanathan Anand entered the final of the Eurotel knock-out chess tournament in Prague on Thursday, defeating Vassily Ivanchuk of the Ukraine 2.5-1.5 in the semi-final.

The Indian ace will face former World champion Anatoly Karpov in the final on Saturday.

Karpov ousted Alexei Shirov of Spain 3-1 in the other semi-final.

In the clash between Anand and Ivanchuk, the two classical games and the first tie-breaker were drawn. In the second tie-breaker game Anand, playing with white, overcame Ivanchuk after 63 moves to enter final.

In the first game, Ivanchuk playing with black, enjoyed a favourable rook ending with three connected passed pawns. The Ukrainian GM didn't make the best moves and started to run short of time. Anand successfully claimed a draw by repetition of moves.

The second game was correctly played by both Grandmasters for a draw.

In the first blitz game, Anand playing with black, was under severe pressure from the opening, but he managed to escape and garnered a pawn also. He offered a draw from a position of strength, which was accepted by Ivanchuk.

The second game was a sharp Sicilian with a double edged position. Anand gained the upper hand by utilizing a d5-outpost. By combining threats on the Queenside and Kingside he was able to seize the initiative. It seemed that Ivanchuk had sufficient counterplay but his hopes were dashed by the powerful move Bc8-g4. Anand won a Bishop and with it the game and the match.

The final will feature two games, played with classical time limits (each player gets 40 moves in 2 hours; 20 moves in 1 hour; rest of the game in 30 minutes).

If the final is tied after two games, two blitz games will be used to break the tie. Each participant plays both the black and white pieces.

If the final is still tied after the blitz, one sudden-death shoot-out will be used to decide the winner. Black wins if the game is a draw. The toss of the coin will decide who plays which colour. The highest-ranked player gets to call the toss.

The moves:
Semi-final, Game 1
White: Vishwanathan Anand
Black: Vassily Ivanchuk
Result: 1/2-1/2
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 8. Be3 e5 9. Qd2 Qe7 10. O-O Nf8 11. Bh6 Ne6 12. Bxg7 Nxg7 13. Ne2 f6 14. Nh2 g5 15. a3 a5 16. c3 O-O 17. Ng4 Bxg4 18. hxg4 h5 19. b4 axb4 20. axb4 cxb4 21. cxb4 hxg4 22. Ng3 Ne6 23. Nf5 Qd7 24. Qe2 Nd4 25. Qxg4 Nxf5 26. exf5 Rad8 27. Ra3 Kg7 28. d4 exd4 29. f4 d3 30. fxg5 Qd4+ 31. Qxd4 Rxd4 32. g6 Rfd8 33. Rd1 R8d5 34. Ra5 Rxa5 35. bxa5 c5 36. Kf2 c4 37. Ke3 Rd5 38. g4 Rxa5 39. Kd4 b5 40. Rh1 Ra8 41. Rh7+ Kg8 42. Rd7 Rf8 43. Kc3 Rc8 44. g5 Rf8 45. gxf6 Rxf6 46. Rd5 Rb6 47. Rd8+ Kg7 48. Rd7+ Kg8 49. Rd8+ Kg7 50. Rd7+

Semi-final, Game 2
White: Vassily Ivanchuk
Black: Vishwanathan Anand
Result: 1/2-1/2
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bxc4 e6 5. Qe2 c5 6. Nf3 cxd4 7. exd4 Bb4+ 8. Nc3 O-O 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Bb3 b6 11. Bf4 Bb7 12. Rac1 a6 13. a3 Bxc3 14. Rxc3 Rc8 15. Rfc1 Rxc3 16. Rxc3 b5 17. Ne5 Ne4 18. Rc1 Ndf6 19. Rd1 Nd6 20. Nd3 Bd5 21. Bc2 Be4 22. Nc5 Bxc2 23. Qxc2 Nd5 24. Bg3 a5 25. Bxd6 Qxd6 26. g3 Rc8 27. Qd2

Semi-final, Tie-Breaker Game 1
White: Vassily Ivanchuk
Black: Vishwanathan Anand
Result: 1/2-1/2
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bxc4 e6 5. Nf3 c5 6. Qe2 a6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. O-O b5 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Nb3 Bd6 12. e4 Qc7 13. h3 Bb7 14. Bg5 Rac8 15. Rac1 Qb8 16. Rfd1 Ne5 17. Nxe5 Bxe5 18. Nc5 h6 19. Be3 Rfd8 20. b4 Nd7 21. Nxb7 Qxb7 22. Rxc8 Rxc8 23. a4 Rb8 24. axb5 axb5 25. Rc1 Bd6 26. Qd2 Ne5 27. Be2 Rd8 28. Kh1 Qxe4 29. Bxb5 Qxb4 30. Qxb4 Bxb4 31. Be2 Ng6 32. Rd1 Rxd1+ 33. Bxd1 Ne7 34. g3 Nd5

Semi-final, Tie-Breaker Game 2
White: Vishwanathan Anand
Black: Vassily Ivanchuk
Result: 1-0
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O h6 9. Be3 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 b5 11. f3 Qa5 12. a3 Be7 13. Kb1 e5 14. Bf2 Be6 15. Be1 Qc7 16. Bh4 Rd8 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. Qxd5 Bg5 20. c3 Be3 21. Bd3 O-O 22. Bc2 Bc5 23. Bb3 a5 24. h4 g6 25. g4 Kg7 26. Rhf1 Rde8 27. g5 hxg5 28. hxg5 Be3 29. Qxd6 Qxd6 30. Rxd6 Bxg5 31. Rd5 b4 32. cxb4 axb4 33. axb4 Be3 34. b5 Re7 35. Rfd1 Rb8 36. Bc4 Rbb7 37. Kc2 Kf6 38. Rd6+ Kg7 39. Rc6 Kh6 40. Kb3 Kg5 41. Rdd6 Kf4 42. Rf6+ Kg3 43. b6 Bf4 44. Ba6 Rb8 45. Rc8 Rxc8 46. Bxc8 Be3 47. b7 Ba7 48. Ra6 Bb8 49. Ra8 Bc7 50. Bg4 f5 51. exf5 gxf5 52. Bxf5 Kxf3 53. b8=Q Bxb8 54. Rxb8 e4 55. Rf8 e3 56. Bd3+ Kg2 57. Be2 Rd7 58. Rf3 Rb7+ 59. Kc2 Rc7+ 60. Kb1 Re7 61. b3 Re8 62. Kb2 Re7 63. b4

Earlier reports:
Anand in semis; Kasparov shocked
Anand beats Khalifman to move into quarters
Kramnik, Karpov cruise into second round
Anand in round 2 of Eurotel championship