Viswanathan Anand proved too good for teenaged Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen of Norway and scored a thumping 3-1 victory in the second semi-final of the 18th Magistral Ciudad de Leon chess tournament in Leon, Spain.
It turned out to be a one-sided affair as Anand gave little hope but no chance to his 14-year-old opponent and squeezed out victories in the first and third games while drawing the remaining two in the four-game match.
In the final slated later on Sunday, the Indian ace will face FIDE champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan, who beat Spaniard Alexei Shirov in the other semi-final.
Interestingly enough, both finalists scored victories in near identical fashion.
On Friday, Kasimdzhanov had given a similar treatment to Shirov who went down in the first and third game and drew the remaining like Carlsen.
However, Kasimdzhanov had won his games with black pieces while Anand scored splendidly with his white.
Carlsen had backed the Petroff defence in the first game and was in for a surprise as Anand did not employ the in-vogue variation. Anand played the opening like a book, exchanged pieces at will after Carlsen sacrificed a pawn and reached a won endgame almost in a jiffy. The final position was a picturesque site as Anand sacrificed his rook for a knight to march his pawn to glory. The game lasted just 30 moves.
The second game also lasted the same number of moves and Carlsen got his first draw against Anand in that. Continuing with his rhythm, Anand played fast once again after opting for the Marshall gambit and always had sufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn in the opening along with his usual lead in time.
It was the decisive third game that gave Anand an unassailable 2.5-0.5 lead.
Carlsen restored faith in his new found love for Petroff and was simply outplayed from an innocuous looking position.
Anand first pocketed a pawn in the rook and minor piece endgame and later another to force matters after trading the rooks. The only grace for Carlsen was that this time he could last 71 moves.
The fourth game was inconsequential but was nevertheless played and this time Carlsen came up with his best show in the match.
The Sicilian Taimanov by Anand prompted the Norwegian to go for a setup akin to the English attack and after established theoretical manoeuvres the players arrived at another balanced rook and minor piece endgame where the draw was a just result in 39 moves.
After the match, Anand praised Carlsen for his talent but pointed out that he still needed a lot of experience.
He said the start of the match was the turning point.
"Once you win the first game than it is very difficult for your rival to come back. The first game set the tone for the match," Anand said.
The moves:
V Anand v/s Magnus Carlsen
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Bf4 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nc5 10. h4 Bg4 11. h5 Re8 12. Bc4 c6 13. Bxd6 Bxd6 14. Qxd6 Qxd6 15. Rxd6 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Rad8 17. Rd4 b5 18. Rhd1 Rxd4 19. cxd4 Nd7 20. Bd3 Nf6 21. d5 cxd5 22. Bxb5 Re5 23. c4 Kf8 24. c5 d4 25. b4 a5 26 . a3 axb4 27. axb4 Nd5 28. Rxd4 Rxh5 29. c6 Ke7 30. Rxd5 black resigned
Carlsen v/s Anand
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d3 Bd6 13. Re1 Bf5 14. Qf3 Qh4 15. g3 Qh3 16. Bxd5 cxd5 17. Be3 Bxd3 18. Qxd5 Rad8 19. Qf3 Rfe8 20. Nd2 Qf5 21. Qxf5 Bxf5 22. Bd4 f6 23. f3 b4 24. Ne4 Bc7 25. Kf2 bxc3 26. bx c3 Rb8 27. Re2 Kf7 28. Rd1 h5 29. Bc5 Kg6 30. Bd4 draw agreed.
Anand v/s Carlsen
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1 Re8 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Rxe1+ 11. Qxe1 h6 12. c4 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Nc6 14. Bb2 Bg4 15. Qe4 Bxf3 16. Qxf3 Qe7 17. g3 Re8 18. Bc3 Nd8 19. a4 Qe4 20. Qxe4 Rxe4 21. a5 Re8 22. Kg2 Ne6 23. h4 Kf8 24. Bb2 b6 25. h5 Rb8 26. axb6 axb6 27. Bb5 Rd8 28. Bc6 Be7 29. c3 b5 30. Ra7 Rb8 31. d5 Bc5 32. Ra5 Nd8 33. Bd7 Bd6 34. Bxb5 c6 35. dxc6 Nxc6 36. Bxc6 Rxb2 37. Bd5 Rd2 38. c4 Be5 39. Ra8+ Ke7 40. Ra7+ Kd6 41. Rxf7 Bd4 42. Rf5 Rc2 43. g4 Bc5 44. Bf7 Rd2 45. Kg3 Rd3+ 46. f3 Rd2 47. Rd5+ Rxd5 48. Bxd5 Ke5 49. f4+ Kf6 50. Kf3 Bd6 51. Ke4 Bc5 52. Bg8 Bd6 53. Bh7 Ke6 54. g5 Ke7 55. Bg8 Kf8 56. Be6 Ke7 57. Bg4 Kf7 58. gxh6 gxh6 59. f5 Kf6 60. Kd5 Bg3 61. c5 Ke7 62. c6 Bh2 63. Bf3 Bg3 64. Kc5 Bc7 65. Kb5 Kd8 66. Ka6 Kc8 67. f6 Bd6 68. Kb6 Bc7+ 69. Kc5 Be5 70. f7 Bg7 71. Kd5 black resigned.
Carlsen v/s Anand
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Qd2 Bb4 8. f3 d5 9. a3 Qa5 10. Nb3 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Qc7 12. Bf4 e5 13. exd5 exf4 14. dxc6 O-O 15. O-O-O Qxc6 16. c4 Be6 17. Qxf4 Rac8 18. Qd6 Qa4 19. Qb4 Qxb4 20. axb4 Bxc4 21. Nc5 Bxf1 22. Rhxf1 a5 23. Nxb7 axb4 24. Kb2 Rc7 25. N d6 g6 26. Rd4 Rb8 27. Rfd1 Rb6 28. R1d2 h5 29. Rf4 Nh7 30. Re4 Nf8 31. Nc4 Rb8 32. Ne3 Ne6 33. Rc4 Rcb7 34. Rd3 Kg7 35. Nd5 Rb5 36. Nc7 Nxc7 37. Rxc7 Re8 38. Rd2 Re3 39. Rc4 Rb7 draw agreed.
More from rediff