Viswanathan Anand bags 10th Leon Masters title
Viswanathan Anand, five-time world champion, proved his worth once again as he handed Spaniard Jaime Santos Latasa a 3-1 defeat in the Leon Masters final for the 10th time.
Living in Spain for a number of years before shifting his base back the Chennai, 54-year-old Viswanathan Anand showed why this was one of his favorite hunting grounds once again. 28 years ago in 1996, Anand won his maiden title here.
The format featured four players - his compatriot Arjun Erigaise, the world number four, as the fourth seed, and Bulgarian Veselin Topalov being the two other players in the tournament.
Four games of 20 minutes each were played in each round with a 10-second increment after every move. Arjun had lost the second semi-final to Santos Latasa by a 1.5-2.5 score, which was later considered a scintillating victory for the latter looking at the major difference in the ratings.
Earlier in the first semi-final, the legendary battle between Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov went in favor of the Indian, who managed to win the third game before the other three remained drawn.
Anand conceded that it wasn't as easy, although the scoreline suggested otherwise.
Technical genius Viswanathan Anand gave Santos Latasa a tough time
Santos pushed hard in the opening game, as well as the second one, where he had an extra pawn in a complicated game that eventually ended in a draw. The third game was won by Viswanathan Anand with black pieces out of an Italian opening.
Anand was pleasantly surprised, as in a game that was balanced, the Spaniard made a wrong trade that cost him two pieces for a rook and a couple of pawns as well.
A technical genius that he is, the 54-year-old was on song, as he created problems one after the other for his opponent, which kept getting increasingly difficult to crack down. The game lasted 45 moves.
Anand managed to get a fine position after he traded the Queens early out of a Rossolimo opening, displaying his skills of making even the best in the world feel uncomfortable.
While Latasa kept looking for complications throughout, a determined Anand wrapped up the proceedings in 37 moves.
Results:
Semi-finals: V Anand beat Veselin Topalov 2.5-1.5; Arjun Erigaise lost to Jaime Santos Latasa 1.5-2.5.
Final: V Anand beat Jaime Santos Latasa 3-1.