Tata Steel Masters: Adhiban holds Anand

By Our Chess Correspondent

Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands), Jan 17 (PTI) Indian Grandmaster B Adhiban held five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand to a creditable draw in the fourth round of Tata Steel Masters Chess tournament now underway here.

With two white wins and two draws with black, Anand is now sitting pretty on three points out of a possible four and the Indian ace seems poised for more looking for his sixth victory in this 80th edition of the event.

Adhiban went for the reverse Volga Gambit with white pieces and Anand had little troubles equalising. Adhiban tried to stir things up with some lively play but that boomeranged as Anand seized the initiative for a short while.

Adhiban realised well in time that to play for a win was futile and decided to enter a force sequence of moves that resulted in an opposite coloured Bishops endgame. The pieces changed hands quickly thereafter and the draw was a just result.

Anand's co-leader after third round, Anish Giri played out an easy draw as white against top ranked Magnus Carlsen of Norway and the Dutchman remains in sole lead with the Indian star.

With nine rounds still to come in what is often called the Wimbledon of chess, Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan hare the third spot on 2.5 points apiece.

The day belonged to Kramnik who put it across compatriot Peter Svidler in a mere 24 moves while Chinese sensation We Yei finally scored his first victory at the expense of Gawain Jones of England.

In the challengers section being held simultaneously, Vidit Gujrathi defeated compatriot D Harika in a keenly contested game and remained in joint lead with Anton Korobov of Ukraine on 3.5 points out of four games played thus far. Korobov defeated Olga Girya of Russia.

Results round 3 Masters: Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 2.5) beat Peter Svidler (Rus, 1.5); Yifan Hou (Chn, 0.5) lost to Maxim Matlakov (Rus, 2); Anish Giri (Ned, 3) drew with Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 2.5); Wei Yi (Chn, 2) beat Gawain Jones (Eng, 2); B Adhiban (Ind, 1) drew with V Anand (Ind, 3); Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 1.5) drew with Wesley So (Usa, 2); Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 2) drew with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Aze, 2.5).

Challengers: Anton Korobov (Ukr, 2.5) beat Olga Girya (Rus, 1.5); Jeffery Xiong (Usa, 2) drew with Jorden Van Foreest (Ned, 2); Matthias Bluebaum (Ger, 1.5) drew with Aryan Tari (Nor, 2); Dmitry Gordievsky (Rus, 2.5) drew with Michal Krasenkow (Pol, 1.5); Lucas Van Foreest (Ned, 2.5) beat Amin Bassem (Egy, 1); Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (Ind, 3.5) beat D Harika (Ind, 1.5); : Bejamin Bok (Ned, 1.5 drew with Erwin L'Ami (Ned, 2)