Anand in semis; Kasparov shocked

Former World champion, Vishwanathan Anand continued his great form to oust GM Ivan Sokolov of Bosnian in the quarter-finals of the Eurotel knock-out chess tournament in Prague on Wednesday.

The Indian ace will face Vassily Ivanchuk of the Ukraine in the semi-final. Ivanchuk created a major upset, beating the world's highest rated player Garry Kasparov of Russia 3-2, after a final sudden-death game.

In other surprise results from the day, another former World champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia defeated Alexander Morozevich of Russia 1.5-0.5 to earn a meeting with Alexei Shirov of Spain in the other semi-final. Shirov ousted Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria 1.5-0.5 in his quarter-final match.

Anand proved too good for Sokolov, winning 1.5-0.5. In the first game, playing black, both players agreed for a draw after 34 moves. But in the second game, Anand, playing with white demolished Sokolov after 76 moves.

In the clash between Kasparov and Ivanchuk, the normal and tie-breakers games were drawn. In the sudden-death game Ivanchuk, playing with black, stunned Kasparov in 36 moves.

After the match, Anand said, "We both had chances. He was almost certainly winning in the first game so when I saved the first game that was the most important part of the match. In the second game I was much better. In the endgame I committed some small mistakes but then I fought back and won it."

Kasparov did not show his best form nor his body language indicated his usual killing spree. In the first game played under the Rapid chess rules Kasparov, white, did not get anything from the favourable colour as the game transposed into a Sicilian Accelerated Dragon defence.

It was a series of exchanges in the middlegand pawns endgame where the draw was agreed to after 36 moves.

Ivanchuk managed to take an upper hand in the next game with white pieces but the advantage slipped out of his hands as Kasparov was sound in his defence.

In the final stages it was yet another endgame where both settled for truce after 64 moves.

The next two games were played under Blitz rules and Kasparov missed his chances in the first game itself. The game petered out to a draw and so did the next, setting the stage for a shoot-out in the Sudden Death game.

In the shoot-out, Ivanchuk won the toss and he had the right to choose his colour. The Ukrainian chose black forcing Kasparov to go all out for a win, as a draw would have ensured Ivanchuk's entry to the final.

Kasparov took his chances in the Ruy Lopez this time but Ivanchuk was well armed in the middle game to get a devastating counter attack on both flanks. Kasparov fumbled under growing pressure and called it a day after 36 moves.

Karpov, the oldest competitor left in the fray, defeated Morozevich, the youngest, when lady luck smiled on him in a clearly worse position. With effective piece-play, Morozevich obtained an extra pawn and should have won but for his erroneous 32nd move. Karpov seized the opportunity to win a long queen-and-pawn endgame after 97 moves.

The moves:
Round 3, Game 1
White: Ivan Sokolov
Black: Vishwanathan Anand
Result: 1/2-1/2
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 e6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. a4 cxd4 8. exd4 Nc6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Bg5 O-O 11. Re1 h6 12. Bh4 Qb6 13. Qd2 Rd8 14. Rad1 Qa5 15. d5 Qc5 16. Qe2 exd5 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Rxd5 Qf8 19. Rxd8 Bxd8 20. Qe8 g5 21. Bxf7+ Kg7 22. Qxf8+ Kxf8 23. Bd5 Bd7 24. Ne4 Be7 25. g3 Rd8 26. h4 Bg4 27. Bxc6 Bxf3 28. Bxb7 gxh4 29. Bxa6 Rd4 30. Nc3 hxg3 31. fxg3 Rd2 32. Be2 Bc5+ 33. Kh2 Bc6 34. Kh3

Round 3, Game 2
White: Vishwanathan Anand
Black: Ivan Sokolov
Result: 1-0
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 d6 7. c3 O-O 8. h3 b5 9. Bc2 Bb7 10. d4 exd4 11. cxd4 Nb4 12. Bb3 c5 13. a3 Nc6 14. Nc3 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 cxd4 16. Qxd4 Nd7 17. Nd5 Nc5 18. Ba2 Bxd5 19. Qxd5 Rc8 20. Bf4 Ne6 21. Bg3 Rc2 22. Rab1 Qb6 23. Qd1 Nd4 24. Bb3 Rcc8 25. Bd5 Bf6 26. Bf4 Qc7 27. Qd2 Be5 28. Be3 Qc2 29. Red1 Qxd2 30. Rxd2 Ne6 31. Rbd1 Nc5 32. b3 Rfe8 33. Rc2 g6 34. Rdc1 Rb8 35. b4 Nd3 36. Rd1 Nf4 37. Bxf4 Bxf4 38. Rc7 Rf8 39. g3 Be5 40. Ra7 h5 41. Rxa6 h4 42. gxh4 Kg7 43. Rd3 f5 44. Rf3 fxe4 45. Bxe4 Rxf3 46. Bxf3 Rf8 47. Kg2 Rf4 48. h5 gxh5 49. Bxh5 Kf6 50. Be2 Bd4 51. f3 Ke5 52. Ra5 Rf7 53. Rxb5+ Kf4 54. h4 Ra7 55. Ra5 Rg7+ 56. Rg5 Rxg5+ 57. hxg5 Kxg5 58. Kg3 Be5+ 59. Kf2 Bd4+ 60. Ke1 Bb2 61. a4 Bc3+ 62. Kd1 Bxb4 63. Kc2 Kf6 64. Kb3 Bd2 65. Kc4 Ke6 66. Kb5 Kd7 67. Bc4 Kc7 68. Bd5 Be3 69. a5 Bd2 70. a6 Be3 71. f4 Kb8 72. f5 Bd4 73. Kc6 Ka7 74. Bc4 Be5 75. Bd3 Kb8 76. Kd7

Earlier reports:
Anand beats Khalifman to move into quarters
Kramnik, Karpov cruise into second round
Anand in round 2 of Eurotel championship