Anand Beats Piket, In Sole Lead
By Arvind Aaron
World champion Viswanathan Anand maintained his winning consistency effecting a 1.5-0.5 victory over Jeroen Piket. He won the blindfold game after picking up a pawn on the queen side with his bishop. The rapid game was a draw with Anand doing the defensive act for which he has become now known for after speed.
The other overnight leaders, Kramnik and Topalov were locked in hard battles scoring 1-1. Karpov held Kramnik to a 1-1 draw while Topalov was even lucky not to lose to Gelfand in the second encounter. Draws dominated this sixth round of the $193,250 event. Only three games were decisive out of the 12 that were played.
The results
Rapid
Blindfold
Kramnik-Karpov
Draw Karpov-Kramnik
Draw
Topalov-Gelfand
Draw Topalov-Gelfand
Draw
Shirov-Ivanchuk
Draw Ivanchuk-Shirov
Draw
Almasi-Ljubojevic
0-1 Ljubojevic-Almasi
0-1
Van Wely-Leko
Draw Leko-Van Wely
Draw
Piket-Anand
Draw Anand-Piket
1-0
Standings: 1 Anand 8.5/12, 2-3 Kramnik, Topalov 8, 4 Leko 7, 5-9 Gelfand, Karpov, Ljubojevic, Piket, Shirov 5.5, 10-11 Almasi, Ivanchuk 4.5, 12 Van Wely 4.