Five-time world champion Viswanathan
Anand started his campaign at the Bilbao Final Masters with a crushing win
over former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine.
Playing his last tournament ahead of the
World Championship re-match against Magnus Carlsen in November, Anand
showed that he was in top form and outclassed Ponomariov in all
departments of the game.
The four players double round robin tournament
saw the other game between Levon Aronian of Armenia and
Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain ending in a draw which also made Anand the
early leader in the tournament.
The Indian ace got three points for his win in
the Soccer-like scoring system in place here that gives three points
for a win and one for a draw. Pons and Aronian share the second spot on
one point while Ponomariov is at the bottom now.
Anand played the white side of a King’s Indian
defense and his unique approach to the opening left Ponomariov at
sea pretty early in the middle game. The Ukrainian struggled to find
the right defence and counter-play while Anand controlled the board with
some deft manoeuvres.
Anand decided to keep his king in the centre
and opened the King side for his advantage. When the Indian
ace eventually castled on his 19th move, Ponomariov was
already staring at a huge challenge to find his way back in the game.
The Ukrainian sacrificed a pawn to look for
counter-play but Anand was in remorseless mood as he not only digested
the extra material but also exchanged pieces at regular intervals to
reach a winning queen and minor piece endgame. Ponomariov fought on till
move 61, but the fate of the game was decided much earlier.
In the other game of the day, Levon Aronian
created complexities but Vallejo Pons remained on his guard with
his white pieces. For the record, it was Nimzo Indian wherein Aronian
went for an early king side expansion with his pawns and Vallejo was left
to tackle the task of equalising.
The Spaniard, however, was never in any
serious troubles as the pieces changed hands at regular intervals and a rook
and pawns endgame was reached in quick time.
Aronian finally signed peace after 46 moves
when he found no way to continue in a theoretically drawn ending.
Results round 1: V
Anand (Ind) beat Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukr); Francisco Vallejo Pons (Esp)
drew with Levon Aronian (Arm).
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