Anand

Leon (Spain): Viswanathan Anand once again asserted his supremacy in rapid chess as he thrashed world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in an almost lop-sided affair to lift the 19th Magistral Ciudad De Leon title here.

Anand, the world No.2, won second of the four games in the final and drew the remaining matches to successfully defend his title by 2.5-1.5 margin and win it for an overall sixth time as Topalov struggled to keep pace with him.

The first game was a draw, while in the next Anand proved better and in rest of the games Topalov’s attacking bid was thwarted in style by Anand. Victory margin for Anand could have been more had the Indian ace converted a near winning position in the final round game, but the fact that a draw was enough for him to win the title, led to the drawn result.

In the last edition of the event, Anand come from behind to beat Rustam Kasimdzhanov in the finals but this time around he had a smooth sailing which did a world of good to his confidence as the Indian stalwart was clearly seen struggling in the last two events he played - MTEL Masters and Chess Olympiad.

As a matter of fact, Anand survived an ouster threat here also in the semi-finals as he lost the first tiebreak game against Lazaro Bruzon of Cuba. However, subsequent strikes led Anand to the finals.

It was the second game of the match that turned the tide in Anand’s favour. Playing black, Topalov employed the Berlin Defense but never achieved a level position as Anand deployed his pieces in perfect fashion in the typical queen-less endgame.

The exchange of minor pieces also failed to bring much relief for Topalov as Anand’s rooks created havoc and knocked down pawns in a heap. In the final position after 50 moves, Anand had three extra pawns to cheer about.