Viswanathan Anand will take on Russian Grandmaster Peter Svidler in the fifth round of Group 'A' in the Corus International chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands, on Thursday.
Having done reasonably well so far, Anand starts his toughest leg in the event later in the day after the first rest day of the event. The next four rounds -- till the next rest day will be most crucial for the Indian ace as he takes on the toughest players in the tournament.
After Svidler, Anand will meet world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan and top seed Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.
As things stand in this category-19 14-player round-robin tournament, Radjabov, with three victories in the first four rounds, leads the table with 3.5 points. Topalov is just a half point behind.
Anand, Kramnik, Svidler, Levon Aronian of Armenia and David Navara of the Czech Republic are in joint third place, with 2.5 points apiece.
In Group 'C', being held simultaneously, the world's youngest Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi is in joint second spot on 2.5 points and will meet top seed Michal Krasenkow of Poland in the next round.
Negi, who had lost to Krasenkow in their previous encounter on Dutch soil, will look forward to a better result this time.
This group is led by young International Master Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia.
Anand has had little to do so far in the tournament. The first round was an easy draw as black against Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine while the next one was a fine victory over Russian Alexander Motylev. The last two rounds before the rest day were again drawn by Anand, against Aronian and Carlsen respectively.
Parimarjan Negi had been in lead till the start of the fourth round but a loss against Kosintseva proved disastrous.
Currently, the Delhi-based lad is a full point behind the leader.
Pairings round 5 'A' group: Sergey Karjakin (Ukr) vs Alexander Motylev (Rus); Alexei Shirov (Esp) vs Loek van Wely (Ned); Sergei Tiviakov (Ned) vs Veselin Topalov (Bul); David Navara vs Teimour Radjabov (Aze); Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukr) vs Vladimir Kramnik (Rus); V Anand (Ind) vs Peter Svidler (Rus); Levon Aronian (Arm) vs Magnus Carlsen (Nor).
Standings after round 4 (Group A): 1. Radjabov 3.5; 2. Topalov 3; 3-7. Aronian, Navara, Anand, Svidler, Kramnik 2.5 each; 8-9. Karjakin, Ponomariov 2 each; 10. Motylev 1.5; 11-13. Tiviakov, Carlsen, Van Wely 1 each; 14. Shirov 0.5; Nadezhda Kosintseva (Rus) vs Thomas Willemze (Ned); Michal Krasenkow (Pol) vs Parimarjan Negi (Ind); John van der Wiel (Ned) vs Stellan Brynell (Swe); Emanuel Berg (Swe) vs Wouter Spoelman (Ned); Manuel Bosboom (Ned) vs Hou Yifan (Chn); Harmen Jonkman (Ned) vs Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus); Edwin van Haastert (Ned) vs Zhaoqin Peng (Ned).
Standings after round 4:
(Group C): 1. Nepomniachtchi 3.5; 2-6. Berg, Bosboom, Krasenkow, Yifan, Negi, 2.5 each; 7-9. Kosintseva, Peng, Van Haastert 2 each; 10-12. Brynell, Spoelman, Jonkman 1.5 each; 13. Van der Wiel 1; 14. Willemze 0.5.
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