World No. 2 Viswanathan Anand staged a superb rally to score a comprehensive 2.5-1.5 victory over FIDE champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan to win the 18th Magistral Ciudad de Leon Chess tournament in Leon, Spain, on Sunday.
In what was a great comeback, Anand, trailing 0-1 after losing the first game, won the second and the fourth game and drew the third to attest his superiority once again in the rapid version of the game.
Having earlier beaten prodigious Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen in the semis, it turned out to be another memorable outing for Anand after he had won the Advance chess title on three previous occasions on Leon soil.
The victory in the fourth game for the Indian ace was a treasured one as he accomplished a fine task in the final game with a piece sacrifice that resulted in a winning endgame almost instantly.
Starting off with the Anti Marshall opening setup, Anand could only get a miniscule advantage out of the opening but once Kasimdzhanov erroneously embarked on the exchange of queens, Anand was quick to spot a brilliant knight sacrifice that forced the swap of all black queen side pawns and instantly white's own pawns had a telling effect.
With hapless knights doing nothing to salvage the position, Kasimdzhanov found nothing to counter menacing white forces and called it day on the 39th move when Anand's threats became irresistible.
Earlier in the day, the third game of the match had ended in a draw albeit after giving another scare to Anand.
Playing the white side of a Sicilian Taimanov with the scores tied, Kasimdzhanov first sacrificed a pawn and later won two to arrive at a rook and minor piece ending with clearly the better prospects.
However, Anand's defensive skills were yet again on display as he slowly got counterplay and eventually liquidated to a drawn rook and pawns endgame. The longest game in the match, it lasted 69 moves.
"I fell in to a trap where I lost a pawn and then it already became somewhat difficult. Probably there was better ways to defend but I was just getting steadily outplayed till I saw one trap and he fell for it," Anand said about the game.
The second game had given Anand the much needed equalizer after a rather unexpected loss. The English attack once again remained faithful to Anand in this game as he simply crushed Kasimdzhanov in the middle game with a picturesque piece sacrifice to rip open the kingside. It took just 33 moves for the Indian to finish matters.
However Kasimdzhanov had made his presence felt in the first game itself that was a sharp Sicilian defence giving the Uzbek an unexpected victory.
Playing white, Kasimdzhanov went for Anand's king in all possible ways and even though it was an extremely complicated game, the Uzbek did not falter in capitalising on his advantage when he finally got it.
Wild manoeuvres in the middle game wherein Anand's King went for a long walk, and a well-utilised endgame skill had helped Kasimdzhanov get an early lead after 63 moves.
Surprisingly, this was Anand's first loss ever against Kasimdzhanov whom he had beaten mercilessly in the final of the last World Cup at Hyderabad in 2002. Their last mini match during the Linares chess tournament earlier this year had ended in a 1.5-0.5 victory for Anand.
The moves:
Game 1: Rustam Kasimdzhanov v/s Viswanathan Anand
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. f3 b5 8. Qd2 Nbd7 9. g4 Nb6 10. a4 Nc4 11. Bxc4 bxc4 12. a5 Bb7 13. Na4 Rc8 14. Qc3 Bxe4 15. fxe4 Nxe4 16. Qb4 Qh4+ 17. Kd1 Qxg4+ 18. Kc1 e5 19. Nb6 exd4 20. Rg1 Qe6 21. Nxc8 dxe3 22. Qb8 f5 23. Nxd6+ Ke7 24. Qc7+ Kf6 25. Qd8+ Ke5 26. Nxe4 Kxe4 27. Ra4 Qd5 28. Qe8+ Kf4 29. Rf1+ Kg5 30. Qxe3+ Kg6 31. Qb6+ Kh5 32. Qxa6 c3 33. Qe2+ Kg6 34. b3 Bc5 35. Rd1 Qc6 36. Qd3 Be7 37. Rc4 Qg2 38. Qxc3 Qxh2 39. Rc6+ Bf6 40. a6 Ra8 41. Rdd6 Qh4 42. b4 f4 43. Qd3+ Kh6 44. Qe4 Ra7 45. b5 Qg5 46. Qh1+ Kg6 47. Rd5 Qg4 48. Qe4+ Kh6 49. Qh1+ Kg6 50. Rd1 Qf5 51. Qg1+ Qg5 52. Qxg5+ Kxg5 53. c4 f3 54. Kc2 Be5 55. Rc8 Kg4 56. Re8 Bf4 57. Rg1+ Bg3 58. b6 Rxa6 59. b7 Rb6 60. b8=Q Rxb8 61. Rxb8 f2 62. Rxg3+ Kxg3 63. Rf8 black resigned
Game 2: Anand v/s Kasimdzhanov
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. f3 b5 8. Qd2 Nbd7 9. g4 h6 10. O-O-O Bb7 11. h4 b4 12. Na4 Qa5 13. b3 Nc5 14. a3 Rc8 15. Qxb4 Qc7 16. Kb1 Nfd7 17. Nb2 d5 18. Qd2 dxe4 19. f4 Nf6 20. Be2 Nd5 21. Nc4 Nd7 22. g5 Nxe3 23. Qxe3 Bd5 24. Rhf1 Bc5 25. Qc3 hxg5 26. Nf5 Bxc4 27. Nxg7+ Ke7 28. Bxc4 Rhg8 29. hxg5 e3 30. f5 Ne5 31. fxe6 Rxg7 32. Rd7+ Nxd7 33. Qxg7 black resigned.
Game 3: Kasimdzhanov v/s Anand
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 Qc7 7. O-O Nf6 8. Be3 Bb4 9. Na4 Bd6 10. g3 Be7 11. c4 Nxe4 12. Bf3 Nf6 13. c5 O-O 14. Rc1 Ne5 15. Bg2 d6 16. Nb6 Rb8 17. cxd6 Qxd6 18. Nb3 Nd5 19. Nxd5 exd5 20. Ba7 Ra8 21. Bc5 Qf6 22. Bxe7 Qxe7 23. Qxd5 Qf6 24. Nc5 Nc6 25. Rc3 Rd8 26. Ne4 Qxc3 27. Nxc3 Rxd5 28. Bxd5 Bd7 29. Ne4 Rd8 30. Ng5 Be8 31. Re1 Kf8 32. Nxh7+ Kg8 33. Ng5 Kf8 34. Bf3 Nb4 35. a3 Nc2 36. Rd1 Nd4 37. Bg4 Bc6 38. h4 Rd5 39. Re1 f6 40. Nf3 Bd7 41. Nxd4 Bxg4 42. Re4 Bd7 43. f3 Kf7 44. Kf2 f5 45. Rf4 Kf6 46. Ke3 Ke5 47. Ne2 Bc6 48. Rd4 Rb5 49. b4 Kf6 50. Rd6+ Ke7 51. Rd2 Kf6 52. Kf4 Rb6 53. Rd6+ Ke7 54. Rg6 Kf7 55. h5 a5 56. bxa5 Rb3 57. Nd4 Rxa3 58. Nxf5 Rxf3+ 59. Kg5 Kf8 60. g4 Be4 61. Nd4 Ra3 62. Re6 Rxa5+ 63. Kf4 Bc6 64. Nxc6 bxc6 65. Rxc6 Ra8 66. Kf5 Kg8 67. Kg6 Rb8 68. Rc7 draw agreed
Game 4: Anand v/s Kasimdzhanov
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3 Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. a3 Na5 11. Ba2 c5 12. Nbd2 Nc6 13. Nf1 Bc8 14. Bg5 Ne8 15. Bxe7 Nxe7 16. Ne3 Nf6 17. c3 Qc7 18. Nh2 Be6 19. Nhg4 Nd7 20. Qf3 c4 21. Nf5 Bxf5 22. exf5 f6 23. a4 d5 24. Ne3 Qc6 25. dxc4 dxc4 26. Qxc6 Nxc6 27. b4 Nb6 28. a5 Nd7 29. Rad1 Rad8 30. Nxc4 bxc4 31. Bxc4+ Kh8 32. Bxa6 Ne7 33. Bb7 Nxf5 34. g4 Ne7 35. c4 Nb8 36. a6 Nbc6 37. Rxd8 Rxd8 38. b5 Na5 39. Ra1 black resigned.
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