Viswanathan Anand demolished home favourite Veselin Topalov with black pieces in the second round to take sole lead after two rounds in the Mtel Masters International chess tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Anand is just one elo point behind Topalov in ratings has won both his games and with black pieces. He beat Etienne Bacrot in another fine effort in the first round.
It was an exciting round with all three games being decisive. In the other games Peter Svidler beat Ruslan Ponomariov and Gata Kamsky beat Bacrot, who has now lost both his games.
The much anticipated heavyweight clash between Topalov and Anand was an exciting affair. It was sweet revenge for Anand after being beaten by Topalov in the last year's edition of the tournament, which was won by the home star.
The Indian ace was in brilliant form on the black side of the Ruy Lopez, anti-Marshall. It was a quiet opening and it was fairly balanced even into the middle game and then it exploded into action.
By the 19th move, Anand had equalized very easily and his 27th move began putting pressure on Topalov. His 31st move Rxe5 was probably the final nail in the coffin as the game ended on the 36th move.
White (Topalov) didn't get anything out of the opening. But around the 25th Anand seemed to have the better placed pieces. His 27.Ng5 with a pseudo sacrifice of the queen won a pawn and set up an opening for further gains. Topalov started crumbling thereafter and Anand made no concessions as he wrapped up the proceedings. With two wins with black in the first two rounds, Anand is set for a great tournament and it could well be the beginning of his ascent to No. 1 place in the world.
Svidler, who has begun the tournament with two whites ensured he got a full point from one of them as he beat Ruslan Ponomariov.
Kamsky won a pawn out of the Spanish opening against Bacrot. He did not make it better and theoretically there was a draw. Bacrot did not defend accurately and in the Rook vs Knight ending, Kamsky managed to snatch a win.
In the first round Anand was off to a winning start crushing Frenchman Bacrot in the only win of the opening day. Anand played on the black side of the Queens Indian game and the Indian let Bacrot trade his queen for two rooks following a kingside offensive. Anand's active captured a couple of pawns and finally won in 54 moves.
In the third round, Anand will play Gata Kamsky.
Results Round 2: Topalov lost to Anand; Svidler beat Ponomariov; Kamsky beat Bacrot.
First round results: Etienne lost to Anand; Ponomariov drew with Kamsky; Svidler drew with Topalov
Standings after 2 rounds: 1. Anand 2.0; 2. Svidler and Kamsky 1.5; 4. Topalov and Ponomariov 0.5; 6. Bacrot 0.0;
Pairings for third round: Anand v Kamsky, Bacrot v Svidler, Ponomariov v Topalov
The moves (Anand vs Topalov)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 Re8 10.c3 h6 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.a3 d6 13.Ba2 Nb8 14.b4 c5 15.Nb3 Nc6 16.Rb1 Bc8 17.Be3 Be6 18.Qc2 Rc8 19.Qb2 c4 20.dxc4 Bxc4 21.Nbd2 Bxa2 22.Qxa2 d5 23.Rbd1 d4 24.cxd4 exd4 25.Nb3 Nxe4 26.Bxd4 Nxd4 27.Rxd4 Ng5 28.Ne5 Nxh3 29.gxh3 Qg5+ 30.Kh2 Qf5 31.Rde4 Rxe5 32.Rxe5 Bd6 33.Nc5 Bxe5+ 34.Kg2 Rc6 35.Qb3 Rg6+ 36.Kf1 Bg3 0-1