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Anand beats Polgar, moves to third place October 07, 2005 15:51 IST After a debacle against Russian Alexander Morozevich, Viswanathan Anand came back strongly to beat Judit Polgar of Hungary in the eighth round of the World Chess Championship in San Luis, Argentina. The Indian ace, came back on a plus score after the victory and moved to sole third position on 4.5 points with six rounds still remaining in the million dollar championship. However, there was not much change at the top as Bulgarian Veselin Topalov maintained a two-points lead over nearest rival Peter Svidler of Russia after taking an easy draw with fourth-placed Peter Leko of Hungary. As things stand, Topalov, with 7 points in his kitty, is still way ahead in the eight-player double round-robin contest and Svidler is a distant second with 5 points. Anand is followed by Leko, on 4 points, while defending champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov (3) is next in line and now without any chance of retaining the crown he won last year at Tripoli, in Libya. Placed seventh is Brit Michael Adams while Judit Polgar is at the bottom of the table with just 2 points in her kitty. The day produced just two decisive games and Anand stole the limelight from everyone else with a thumping victory over Polgar who stood no chance against the wily Indian in a Siclian defense game. Playing white, Anand was up against the Taimanov variation and went for a set up akin to the English attack wherein Judit faltered early in the opening and was down a pawn in the early middle game itself. Anand handled the remaining technicalities in exemplary fashion sweeping black's queen side pawns one after the other and romped home after 62 moves. This was Anand's second victory in the event over Judit after he had successfully beaten the lone woman player of the event in the first round game. Morozevich defeated Kasimdzhanov in the only other decisive game of the day. It was a keenly contested battle arising out of a Sicilian Scheveningen wherein Kasimdzhanov, white, failed o get the desired compensation after an optically promising exchange sacrifice in the middle game. Morozevich displayed profound technique to win in the endgame by marching his king to a safe haven in the mid of the board. The game lasted 53 moves. Topalov's juggernaut was finally halted by Leko who came up with some solid play in the opening to get an easy half point with black pieces. The Bulgarian faced the Queen's Indian defense by Leko and for once could not do much as the pieces got traded at regular intervals and the peace was signed in just 24 moves. Michael Adams and Peter Svidler played an interesting game that also ended in a draw. Playing white, the English opted for the English attack in the opening but could not quite maintain a hold on the position for long as Svidler displayed fine counterattacking skills. In the middle game Adams lost a pawn but recovered it soon to transpose to a level rook and pawns endgame wherein the draw was agreed to after 40 moves. Results round 8: Michael Adams (Eng, 2.5) drew with Peter Svidler (Rus, 5); Veselin Topalov (Bul, 7) drew with Peter Leko (Hun, 4); Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzb, 3) lost to Alexander Morozevich (Rus, 4); Viswanathan Anand (Ind, 4.5) beat Judit Polgar (Hun, 2). Standings after round 8: 1. Topalov 7; 2. Svidler 5; 3. Anand 4.5; 4-5. Leko, Morozevich 4 each; 6. Kasimdzhanov 3.0; 7. Adams 2.5; 8. Polgar 2.0. Pairing round 9 (To be played on Saturday): Anand - Topalov; Morozevich - Leko; Polgar - Adams; Svidler – Kasimdzhanov. V Anand v/s Judit Polgar R Kasimdzhanov v/s Alexander Morozevich Michael Adams v/s Peter Svidler Veselin Topalov v/s Peter Leko
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