Anand posts second win in Tata chess tourney

Wijk Aan Zee: World Champion Viswanathan Anand crashed through the defences of Wang Hao of China in the fourth round of the 73rd Tata Steel Chess tournament here on Tuesday.

With his second win in the championship, Anand took his tally to three points out of a possible four and is likely to be among leaders after other games of this 14-players round robin tournament end.

The day also witnessed a quick-fire victory by Levon Aronian of Armenia who outwitted Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia with white pieces. Apparently it was a brilliant opening idea in the Grunfeld Indian defence that gave Aronian his first win in the tournament after three draws.

Anand was class apart from Wang Hao in one of the extensively analysed variations in the Nimzo Indian defence. Playing black, Wang Hao faced a piece sacrifice from the Indian ace for just a pawn in the early middle game but consistent pressure ensued.

Anand cast the dye in his favour by creating threats on the queen side and central files that forced Wang Hao to part with two pieces for a rook. There were no troubles thereafter for Anand as his menacing pawns along with the Bishop pair created irresistible threats. Wang Hao resigned in just 33 moves.

"This was part of preparation for the World Championship match against Kramnik at Bonn," said Anand after the game.

"We (his team) had looked at this piece sacrifice finding it to be very pleasant for white and had moved onto the next problem. On the board today, I liked it even more," he added.

Earlier in the day, Anand was held to a draw by local hopeful Erwin L'Ami in the third round of Group 'A'.

Aronian won after a queen sacrifice in the middle game that gave him a handful of pieces. Nepomniachtchi could not really put up best resistance on under pressure and collapsed to lend himself in a lost position. It was all over in a mere 26 moves.

The remaining five games of the category-20 super tournament were still in progress. The event is being played under Classical time control with 100 minutes at the start for first 40 moves, 50 minutes for next 20 and finally 15 minutes to end the game with a 30-second increment after every move is played.