Humpy scores; Anand
settles for a draw

Defending champion Vishwanathan Anand drew with Vladimir Malakhov of Russia while 16-year-old Grandmaster Koneru Humpy scored a thrilling win over Li Ruofan of China in first round games in the quarter-finals of the second chess World Cup in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

Anand, playing black, could not capitalize on the positional advantage in his reply to the Catalan opening and was down by a pawn by the 11th move. With the material being equal, the two players settled for a draw after 24 moves.

Humpy survived tremendous pressure on the queenside but took control of the 'c' file and played superbly to swing the game her way and win in 38 moves.

"In Wednesday's final round I would look for a draw while my opponent will like to play for a win," said Humpy after her game.

Humpy, who is in excellent form, has won five of the six matches she played in the tournament thus far; her only draw came game against China's Pin Wang.

Giant-killer S Meenakshi, playing the English opening, held defending champion Xu Yuhua of China to a draw after a marathon game that lasted 58 moves.

In the other first round matches, Irina Krush of the United States lost to Svetlana Matveeva of Russia, while Pin Wang drew with Antoneta Stefanova of Bulgaria.

In the men's section, Ye Jiangchuan (China) lost to Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan) while Nigel Short (England) drew with Alexei Dreev (Russia) and Alexander Beliavsky (Slovakia) beat Sergei Rublevsky (Russia).

In a queen pawn opening, Humpy decided to give up a chance to castle in order to gain positional advantage. She brought out her king and took complete control of the 'c' file to baffle her Chinese opponent.

Despite having a protected king, Ruofan could not take advantage of the double bishop combination as Humpy had a more powerful knight-bishop combination.

Slowly, Humpy penetrated into the rival fort and played a masterly 32nd move, which fetched her victory.

Anand's game oscillated from one extreme to the other as the two players appeared to have misread the other's game plan. Anand later said he was preparing for a Grunfield defence but Malakhov played something else.

"I am not very unhappy about the draw," Anand said after the game.

He was down by a pawn and tried to take positional advantage in a game where both had equal chances.

Though the Russian's flank was wide open, Anand had no white bishop and the game was heading towards nowhere when the two called for a truce.

Results
(Quarter-finals - 1st round):
Men: Vladimir Maslkhov (Rus) drew with Vishwanathan Anand (Ind); Ye Jiangchuan (Chi) lost to Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzb); Nigel Short (Eng) drew Alexi Dreev (Rus); Alexander Beliavsky (Slo) bt Sergei Rublevsky (Rus).

Women: Irina Krush (USA) lost to Svetlana Matveeva (Rus); Koneru Humpy (Ind) bt Li Ruofan (Chi); Pin Wang (Chi) drew with Antoanota Stefanova (Bul); S Meenakshi (Ind) drew Xu Yuhua (Chi).

Earlier reports
Day 5 Anand squeezes into last eight
Day 4 Anand, Humpy win easily
Day 3 Anand back in contention
Day 2: Sasikiran shocks Anand
Day 1: Meenakshi beats world champ; Anand splits point