Mainz: World champion Viswanathan
Anand continued to struggle with his form and settled for a
tied third place finish in the Grenkeleasing world rapid chess
championship here.
After being eliminated in the prelims of the annual event
that he had won 11 times earlier, Anand did not quite motivate
himself to play well for the third place and all the four
games against German Arkadiz Naiditsch ended in draws leaving
the third place to be shared by both of them.
Meanwhile, Armenian Levon Aronian won his maiden title on
Mainz soil with a clinical performance against Ian
Nepomniatchchi of Russia in the finals.
The former world junior champion from Armenia scored
victories in the first two games itself and then sealed the
event and the winner's jacket in his favour with a draw in the
third game of the four-games final.
Nepomniachtchi also drew the fourth game, leaving the
scoreline to read 3-1 in favour of Aronian.
Anand failed to overcome his poor form and his play in
the match for the third place against Naiditsch was strangely
uninspired and lacked punch.
"Well, as there is not that much at stake in the match
for third place, it is very difficult to motivate oneself,"
Anand said later at the press conference.
The first game showed how difficult both Anand and
Naiditsch, who had also played in the Ordix Open where he
finished second to Mamedyarov, found to motivate themselves.
Anand had White and chose a quiet Italian game, which ended in
a listless 26-move draw.
In contrast, Aronian lived up to his role of favorite in
his first game against Nepomniachtchi. From the white side of
an English Opening he managed to convert positional pressure
into something tangible when winning two pawns.
Yesterday, the Russian had overcomed a two-pawn-deficit
against Anand, but against Aronian, Nepomniachtchi was not
that lucky. In fact, his only hope was the clock.
Aronian had only seconds on the clock but the five second
increment per move proved to be enough for the Armenian to
seal his first win in the finals.
In the second round, Naiditsch and Anand went into a
well-known line of the Ruy Lopez and did not mind a draw when
all rooks were swapped on the a-file.
Nepomniachtchi did everything one tells beginners not to
do. He neglected his development, left his king in the centre
and advanced both his a- and his h-pawn in an effort to put
pressure on Black.
Aronian developed quietly and when all his pieces were
ready and his king had castled, he countered in the center and
suddenly things were critical for White. With little time on
the clock, Nepomniachtchi went astray and fell victim to an
assault on his king that was stuck in the centre.
With two clear wins from the first two games Aronian was
on the brink of winning the match and had no problems to
clinch the title in the third game.
With Black, Nepomniachtchi put his hopes on the Grünfeld
Defense but Aronian always had things under control and in an
ending where Nepomniachtchi had no winning chances at all, the
Russian finally agreed to a draw and Aronian won the title
with a game to spare.
Anand and Naiditsch shunned all excitement and after 23
moves the game was over.
The fourth game between Nepomniatchchi and Aronian was a
mere formality. Nepomniachtchi played an unusual opening,
which inspired Aronian to an unusual rook maneuver.
After this rook had done his duty, Aronian decided to
sacrifice it. Black had a serious material disadvantage but
the computer still liked Black's chances better. However,
Aronian decided not to tempt fate and opted for a draw through
perpetual check to win the match by a convincing 3-1 margin.
Anand and Naiditsch again didn't harm each other much and
played the fourth draw to share the third place.
Anand will have to wait for next year's Chess Classic to
get "his" title back on one of his favourite hunting grounds.
"It's fun to play against someone who is tough. And Anand
is really tough," Aronian said.
Organiser Hans-Walter Schmitt later promised Anand a wild
card and he won't be the only one who is happy to return.
"This is such a wonderful tournament, everybody likes to
play here," Aronian said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, August 03, 2009, 10:43