Indian ace Viswanathan Anand scored a thumping victory over Peter Leko of Hungary to emerge joint leader along with world No. 2 Vladimir Kramnik after the sixth round in the Super Grandmasters Chess tournament in Linares.
Kramnik proved his mettle as he handed Azerbaijani sensation Teimour Radjabov his second defeat in the tournament.
Both Kramnik and Anand shared the lead with 3.5 points each from their five games played so far. They are followed by Leko, who has three points.
The world's highest rated player Garry Kasparov was half a point behind on 2.5 along with Radjabov, who has played an extra game and has a bye in the final round of the first leg later today in the seven-player double round-robin tournament.
Anand was in his element right from the start and displayed remarkable technique in crushing Leko, who played black.
Embarking on yet another anti-Sicilian Sveshnikov, Anand chose the same move order of the Rossolimo attack that failed to yield anything against Kramnik in the third round.
This time, however, he had an ace up his sleeve that gave the Indian Supergrandmaster a commanding position right after the opening.
Leko probably got a hunch of what was coming on the 15th move when Anand sacrificed a pawn to open lines rather than go for some counter active measures to confine himself to defend an inferior position.
Anand gobbled the pawn back on the 18th move and secured a lasting advantage by virtue of queen side pawn majority.
Playing energetically and quickly thereafter, the Indian ace traded the queens and exerted pressure on the queen side with his rooks. It turned out to be a complete domination once Anand sacrificed the exchange to get two menacing passed pawns on the queen side and the rest was child's play.
Leko surrendered his lead and the game on the 72nd move.
Just at the time when Anand was tightening the noose on Leko, Kramnik crashed through the defences of Radjabov, who might have to work on some other opening than the French defence if he has to make a greater impact in the tournament.
The same opening had given Radjabov a full point against Kasparov in the second round but his position was not so good then also.
Kramnik cashed in on a middle game inaccuracy to launch an offence against a vulnerable black king and uncorked a brilliant checkmating web that left Radjaboiv defenceless. The game lasted just 36 moves.
The other encounter of the day between Kasparov and local lad Francisco Vallejo was also an intense battle that petered into a draw.
Kasparov employed the Slav defence with black and appeared to be in difficulty after the opening but exchanges at regular intervals helped him maintain the balance in the ensuing opposite colour Bishops endgame. The peace treaty was signed after 41 moves.
The moves:
Viswanthan Anand v/s Peter Leko: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Qc7 5. O-O Nd4 6. Nxd4 c xd4 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Qc5 9. c4 dxc3 10. Qb3 a6 11. Be2 c2 12. d4 Qd6 1 3. Bf3 g6 14. Bd2 Qf6 15. d6 Qxd6 16. Rfe1 a5 17. Qxc2 Bg7 18. Bxa5 O-O 19. Bc3 Re8 20. Qb3 Qc7 21. a4 d6 22. a5 Rb8 23. Rec1 Bf5 24. Bd2 Qd7 25. Be3 e5 26. dxe5 dxe5 27. Bd5 Be6 28. Bxe6 Qxe6 29. Qxe6 Rxe6 30. b4 e4 31. Ra2 Be5 32. g3 Kf8 33. Rc4 f5 34. Rd2 Ke8 35. Rd5 Rd8 36. Rb5 Rd7 37. Rcc5 Bf 6 38. Rc8+ Kf7 39. Kg2 Re8 40. Rc4 Be5 41. h4 Bf6 42. Rbc5 Bd8 43. Rc8 Re 5 44. Rxd8 Rxd8 45. Rc7+ Ke6 46. Rxb7 Red5 47. Rxh7 Rb5 48. Bc5 Rd2 49. K f1 Ra2 50. Rc7 f4 51. Re7+ Kf6 52. Rxe4 fxg3 53. fxg3 g5 54. h5 Kf5 55. R e2 Ra3 56. Kg2 Kg4 57. h6 Rxg3+ 58.Kf2 Rh3 59. Re6 Rb7 60. Ke2 Kf5 61. a6 Rh2+ 62. Ke3 Rd7 63. Rd6 Rxd6 64. Bxd6 Rxh6 65. a7 Rh3+ 66. Kd4 Ra3 67. Bc5 g4 68. Kd5 g3 69. Kc6 g2 70. Kb7 Ke6 71. Bg1 Kd5 72. b5 Black resigned.
Vladimir Kramnik v/s Teimour Radjabov:
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 N c6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bc5 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O a6 11. Qf2 Nxd 4 12. Bxd4 Qc7 13. Bd3 b5 14. Qh4 h6 15. Ne2 f6 16. Qg4 Bxd4 17. Nxd4 Nc5 18. Qg6 Nxd3+ 19. Rxd3 Qc4 20. Rhd1 Ra7 21. Kb1 Qc7 22. f5 Qb6 23. Rh3 fxe5 24. Rxh6 Rf6 25. Qe8+ Rf8 26. Rh8+ Kxh8 27. Qxf8+ Kh7 28. Nf3 Qc7 29. fxe6 e4 30. Ng5+ Kh6 3 1. h4 Kh5 32. Qf5 g6 33. g4+ Kxh4 34. Rh1+ Kg3 35. Rg1+ Kh4 36. Qf6 Black resigned.
Francisco Vallejo v/s Garry Kasparov:
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Nb6 8. Ne5 a5 9. f3 Nfd7 10. e4 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Qxd1+ 12. Kxd1 Be6 1 3. Kc2 f6 14. Rb1 fxe5 15. b4 Nc4 16. Bxc4 Bxc4 17. bxa5 O-O-O 18. Rd1 Rxd1 19. Nxd1 e6 20. Ne3 Ba6 21. Ng4 Bd6 22. Bb2 Rd8 23. Rd1 h5 24. Nxe5 Bxe5 2 5. Bxe5 Rxd1 26. Kxd1 g6 27. Kd2 Bf1 28. g4 Bg2 29. Ke3 c5 30. Bd6 c4 31. B b4 Kd7 32. gxh5 gxh5 33. f4 Ke8 34. Kd4 Kf7 35. Ke5 Bf3 36. h4 Bd1 37. Kd 6 Bxa4 38. Kc7 Bc2 39. Kxb7 Bxe4+ 40. Kb6 Kg6 41. Kc5 Kf5 Draw agreed.