2/28/2005
Worlds collide when Mr. Number-1 and Mr. Number-2 go toe to toe. That is exactly what happened in
Linares round 6. Kasparov takes a ride on the Indian Express. It was the
Beast of Baku vs. the Indian Tiger. From the white side of the board,
Anand, the 2nd rated player in the world, took on Garry Kasparov, the
number one player. Unfortunately these players have not met too many times
in recent years. This encounter did not disappoint.
Kasparov, who
has not lost to Anand since 1998, played the Sveshnikov. It proved to be a
very risky strategy against Anand. As he so often does, Anand
got a nice game and what appeared to be a winning position. However
Kasparov proved to be up to the defensive task. He showed he had nerves of
steel and came up with an ingenious perpetual check defense in time
trouble. You got to be a cool customer to fight off Anand, who was one
move away from queening a pawn. After 6 rounds of fighting chess, Kasparov
leads Linares by half a point over Anand.
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