Kasparov triumphs; Anand joint third

Former World champion Vishwanathan Anand had to be content with a joint third placing while top seed Garry Kasparov outsmarted GM Alexei Shirov of Spain to emerge a clear winner -- by a 1.5 point margin -- in the Linares Super Grandmasters' chess tournament, which concluded on Sunday.

Kasparov finished with eight points, out of a possible 12, and was the only undefeated player in the tournament.

It is his seventh sole victory at Linares. In 2000, he tied for first place with compatriot and Braingames champion Vladimir Kramnik.

Amazingly enough, Kasparov has won the tournament whenever he took part in it, the only exception being in 1994, when he finished second to former World champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia.

The second place went to youngest ever World champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine, who finished with 6.5 points. Anand, GM Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and GM Michael Adams of England shared the third place with 6 points each. The sixth place went to Francisco Pons Vallejo of Spain, who had five points while his compatriot Alexei Shirov, 4.5 points, was relegated to the last spot following defeats in the last two rounds.

The last round was another exciting day, which witnessed Kasparov at his tactical best and Anand showing his prowess in the Marshall gambit against Ponomariov.

Anand surprised Ponomariov with his choice of the opening and it appeared that everything was well analysed in his home preparation in one of the popular variations.

Ponomariov could not get much after blitzing out the opening moves and in the end Anand sacrificed a rook to get perpetual checks after the trade of queens. The game was the first one to end in the last round.

Anand finished the tournament with one victory, one loss and 10 draws for a 50 per cent result.

Speaking about too few decisive games, Anand said, "It is a tough tournament you don't always get decisive results, though I must say in the beginning of the tournament I really had problems playing."

About a rather subdued start, Anand said: "In the first five rounds I had suffered a lot. I had a problem concentrating; I had the positions but was not able to deliver. After that I played much better, but then it was too late. Hopefully, in the next tournament I will do much better."

Ponomariov, quite happy with his performance at Linares, told reporters: "I could not prepare very well as I was not sure of my participation in the tournament, but then I guess I fared alright, I am happy."

About his loss to Kasparov in the penultimate round, the 18-year-old was quick to admit that he is still young and had a lot to learn. He cited his first round victory over World Championship challenger Ivanchuk as his best in the tournament.