If Viswanathan Anand comes through to the last round of the third Fide knock-out world chess championships, starting in New Delhi tomorrow, he may need to travel to Teheran, to try and win his first world title. The Indian earlier this year won a World Cup in China, but a Fide world title in classical chess is something that has eluded him.
Playing at home has an advantage but also means a lot of pressure. Though the first stage is scheduled to be held in India and the title match in Iran, there is a possibility that the final itself may be played here. But that will happen only if one of the finalists is from Israel.
The reason being Iran does not issue visas to Israelis and that could create a piquant situation. In such a case, the Fide has kept an option of having the title match in New Delhi itself. Though Iran is supporting the event, the Fide is putting up the prize fund and hence it does not want a political problem in the event of an Israeli in the final. As things stand, there is Boris Gelfand, a former Russian who is now an Israeli. He could well make the final. He and Anand are placed in different halves.

Apart from Gelfand, who has played in India in 1994, the other Israelis in the fray include Lev Psakhis, Emil Sutovsky and Ilia Smirin.
Bureau Report