Anand just a draw away from Teheran

By Rakesh Rao

NEW DELHI, DEC. 14. If desperate situations demand desperate measures, then Michael Adams tried everything he possibly could. After grappling with Viswanathan Anand for nearly six hours, Adams exasperation was understandable. Following a disappointing draw, he knows only too well that a similar result on Thursday and Anand advances to the final of the World chess championship.

Anand now has an easier task of just drawing with white pieces to ensure a seat on a flight to Teheran where the six-match final begins on December 20. From the other semifinal, Alexei Shirov expectedly went into the lead for the second time in three days and now needs only a draw against Alexander Grischuk to make the final. Like on Tuesday, when Anand was made to struggle with black pieces, Adams failed to enlarge his advantage gained in the middle-game of this battle in Petroff Defence. Trailing by a point in this best-of-four games duel, Adams knew his best chance to level the match-score was by winning with white today.

The first 14 moves followed the same sequence as the one on Tuesday before Adams deviated with an interesting `Ra2, passingly suggested by Artur Yusupov in one of his annotations. Adams doubled his rook on the `e file by the 18th move and raised visions of some danger for Anand. Sensing Adams' plans, Anand opted for a series of defensive moves. Soon the rooks were off the board and Anand managed to negate Adams' double-bishop advantage by the 31st move.

Once the queens were exchanged on the 53rd move, the eventual opposite colour bishop ending headed for an expected draw. Still, Anand had to find the right continuation. Adams tested Anand's drawish plan for a while and eventually settled for a draw when he was convinced that there was no way that he could queen his pawn on `d7.

The Shirov-Grischuk battle, in Tchigorin variation of Ruy Lopez, once again produced a result. Shirov, stung by Gruschuk's stunning match-levelling victory on Wednesday, played aggressively and looked keen to notch another triumph with white. He sacrificed a bishop for two pawns in the middle game and got an attacking position by the 24th move. This also allowed him to establish advanced pawns on the two central files.

Grischuk, reeling under the onslaught, gave up a rook on the 32nd move and slowly managed some counterplay from the kingside. However, just when a draw looked a possible result, Grischuk blundered on the 44th move by pushing `f3 that allowed Shirov to regain the initiative. Five moves later, Grischuk gave up when faced with an unavoidable loss.

Like Adams, Grischuk, too, finds himself in a must-win situation. For Anand and Shirov, a draw is as good as a victory.

The results (semifinals, game three): Michael Adams (Eng, 2755) 1 drew with Viswanathan Anand (Ind, 2762) 2; Alexei Shirov (Esp, 2746) 2 bt Alexander Grischuk (Rus, 2606) 1.

The moves: White, Alexei Shirov (Esp) vs Black, Alexander Grischuk (Russia): 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O- O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Bb7 12. d5 Nc4 13. a4 Nb6 14. Qe2 Nxa4 15. Bxa4 ba 16. c4 Nd7 17. Rxa4 Nb6 18. Ra3 a5 19. Nc3 a4 20. Be3 Bc8 21. b3 ab 22. Rxb3 Ra6 23. Reb1 f5 24. Bxc5 dc 25. Nxe5 Na4 26. Nxa4 Rxa4 27. Nc6 Qc7 28. e5 Ra6 29. Qf3 f4 30. Re1 Bf5 31. Rb5 Bc2 32. Rb2 Bg6 33. Rd2 Be8 34. Nxe7 Qxe7 35. d6 Qe6 36. Qb7 Bc6 37. Qxa6 Bxg2 38. f3 Bxf3 39. Kh2 Bg4 40. Qb7 Qh6 41. Qd5 Rf7 42. Kg1 Qxh3 43. Qg2 Qh4 44. Rf2 f3 45. e6 Rf8 46. e7 Re8 47. d7 Bxd7 48. Qxf3 Qg5 49. Kf1 1-0

White, Michael Adams (Eng) vs Black, Viswanathan Anand (India): 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4 Nb4 9. Be2 O-O 10. Nc3 Bf5 11. a3 Nxc3 12. bc Nc6 13. Re1 dc 14. Bxc4 Bd615. Ra2 Qd7 16. Ng5 Bg6 17. Ne4 Rfe8 18. Rae2 Bxe4 19. Rxe4 Rxe4 20. Rxe4 Re8 21. f3 Nd8 22. Bb3 c6 23. a4 Ne6 24. g3 Nc7 25. Kg2 b6 26. Qd3 Nd5 27. Bg5 Bf8 28. h4 g6 29. Qd2 h6 30. Bf4 Rxe4 31. fe Nxf4 32. Qxf4 Kg7 33. h5 gh 34. e5 Kg8 35. Qf3 Bg7 36. Qxh5 c5 37. Qf3 cd 38. cd Qe7 39. Qc6 Bf8 40. Qg6 Bg7 41. Qf5 Qe8 42. Kh2 Qe7 43. Kg1 Qe8 44. Kf2 Kf8 45. Ke3 Kg8 46. Kd3 Qe7 47. g4 Bf8 48. Bd5 Qa3 49. Ke4 Qe7 50. Qg6 Bg7 51. Qc6 Bf8 52. Qb7 Qxb7 53. Bxb7 Bb4 54. d5 Kf8 55. Kf5 Be7 56. Ba6 Bg5 57. d6 Bh4 58. Bb5 Bg3 59. Ke4 Bh2 60. Kf5 Bg3 61. Bc4 Bh4 62. Bd5 Ke8 63. Bc4 Kf8 64. Bb5 Bg3 65. Bc6 Bh4 66. Ke4 Bg5 67. Bb5 Bh4 68. Kd5 Bg3 69. e6 fe 70. Kxe6 Bf4 71. d7 Bc7 72. Kf6 0.5-0.5.

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