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 in Leon, Spain.
Anand, the world number two chess player, 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.
The 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 had 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.
Earlier in the day, the first game was the only one in which Topalov pressed for some advantage. Playing the white side of a Queen pawn game the Bulgarian appeared in good touch and maintained a better position for the major part of the game.
Anand had to work hard in a pawn less endgame to make sure that white did not get a decisive advantage and the draw was agreed to after 67 moves.
In the third game, Topalov could not do much with his white pieces in a closed Ruy Lopez game and the players quickly reached a level endgame that lasted only 36 moves.
In the final game, Topalov expectedly went for the Sicilian Nazdorf and Anand was quite close to winning after a tactical skirmish that led to a clear better position for the Indian.
However, reacting according to the demand of the situation Anand played it safe and drew after 61 moves.
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