Ponomariov-Anand Play Draw
By Arvind Aaron
In the game between two former world chess champions, Viswanathan Anand was required to demonstrate his endgame skills in ample measure to hold leader Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine to a draw in the eighth round of the MTel Masters Chess Tournament being played at Grand Hotel Sofia in Bulgaria on Friday.
The standings remained status quo as all fought draws returned to this round after making a few appearances in this event. Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria drew Judit Polgar of Hungary to a draw after a marathon 68-move encounter to join Ponomariov in the lead with 4.5 points. Anand and Judit Polgar are in joint third place with four points.
In the first game to conclude, Anand faced the English opening with the black pieces from Ponomariov. On the 26th move he could have traded bishops and headed towards a level ending. His choice also gave him a draw but after some extra sweat and excitement.
This is the third time in the tournament that Anand and his opponent came down to king versus king before the game was declared a draw. Anand still has title chances if he wins both his remaining games. Anand takes on Judit Polgar with white and then Adams with the black pieces in the last two rounds.
In the another game, Kramnik and Adams drew in 53 moves by repetition of the position. Both continue to be at the bottom of the table. The most exciting game was the Topalov versus Polgar game where the former was a rook down in the end but found a draw by checks.
The results (round eight): Veselin Topalov (Bul) 4.5 drew Judit Polgar (Hun) 4, Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukr) 4.5 drew Viswanathan Anand (Ind) 4, Vladimir Kramnik (Rus) 3.5 drew Michael Adams (Eng) 3.5.
The moves:
White: Ruslan Ponomariov - Black: Viswanathan Anand, round eight, English opening, A05: 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 e6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Re1 Ne4 8.Nxe4 Bxe4 9.d3 Bb7 10.e4 Nc6 11.d4 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 0-0 14.b3 Bc5 15.Qc3 Qe7 16.Re2 a5 17.a4 f5 18.e5 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Rad8 20.Qf3 d6 21.exd6 Qxd6 22.Bg5 Rd7 23.Rae1 Qd3 24.Qxd3 Rxd3 25.Rxe6 Rxb3 26.Be7 Re8 27.Bxc5 Rxe6 28.Rxe6 bxc5 29.Re8+ Kf7 30.Re5 Rb4 31.Rxf5+ Kg6 32.Rxc5 Rxa4 33.Kf3 Ra2 34.h4 a4 35.Ra5 a3 36.Ke4 Re2+ 37.Kd4 a2 38.f4 Kf6 39.g4 g6 40.c5 Rd2+ 41.Ke4 Re2+ 42.Kd3 Rh2 43.Ra6+ Ke7 44.Ke4 Rxh4 45.Rxa2 Rxg4 46.Ke5 Kd7 47.Ra7+ Kc6 48.Rxh7 Kxc5 49.Rc7+ Kb4 50.Rc1 Kb5 51.Ke4 g5 52.Rf1 Rxf4+ 53.Rxf4 gxf4 54.Kxf4 Draw.