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Anand held again, ratings in danger

This must surely be the worst form Indian chess ace Vishwanathan Anand has run into in recent memory. That it comes just when he has eased himself up the rankings ladder, into the number two slot, is one of those ironies of fate.

In Dortmund without his personal trainer, Anand's nightmare continued today when he was held to a draw by Hungarian teenager Zoltan Almasi, despite having the upper hand for most of the game.

Both Anand and Almasi are now on 3.5 points. Tournament leaders Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Michael Adams of England meanwhile hung on grimly, salvaging draws out of what looked like certain defeats, in the 26th Sparkassen chess meeting at Dortmund late on Saturday.

Thanks to a stream of draws, Anand was out of contention for the title even at the halfway stage. But now, the real danger for the Indian ace is that he has to win his final game, against Alexi Shirov, to save his ratings points and hang on to his number two slot.

Shirov is shortly slated to take on Garri Kasparov in an 18-game face-off for the World Chess Council title. However, the silver lining for Anand is that Shirov's form if anything has been worse than Anand's own.

At the bottom of the table with a miserable two points, the Spanish grandmaster has been trapped in a bind here. Unable to play his normal game -- Shirov will be well aware that Kasparov is keeping an eagle eye on his tactics here, in a bid to get a clue into his thinking -- the grandmaster has been playing some bizarre openings in course of this tournament.

For an off form Anand further hampered by the absence of his trainer, this could prove the sole consolation as he goes into the final round today with his ranking, and ratings, at stake.

July 5, 17.30 IST. Detailed story on July 6.