Leko shocks Anand in Linares

Viswanathan Anand's bid to win the 20th Linares Super Grandmasters chess tournament suffered a jolt when he suffered a shock defeat to Hungarian Peter Leko in the 13th and penultimate round.

Anand's loss almost put him out of the race for first place as Leko replaced him as the joint leader alongwith Braingames Champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia.

Both Leko and Kramnik have 6.5 points from their 11 games and will clash against each other in the final round.

Anand, who was in joint lead after the 12th round win over Teimour Radjabov, slipped to joint third position with top rated Garry Kasparov of Russia and the two are pitted to meet in a crucial last round game.

Anand has not beaten Kasparov in classical chess for over six years but if he can achieve it here the Indian still has a chance to become a joint winner in the event of a draw between Kramnik and Leko.

Anand went for the Petroff defence with black pieces but the 'rock solid' tag of the opening did not live up to expectations. Leko masterminded a new idea that guaranteed him space advantage in the middle-game and exerted pressure on the queenside to get a passed pawn in the centre.

Despite having only a queen, rook and pawns on board, Leko maintained his stranglehold. Though Anand gave up a pawn to enter a rook and pawns endgame the Hungarian displayed excellent technique and won with some precise play.

Anand conceded his second loss in the tournament after 65 moves. He had lost to Kasparov of Russia in the seventh round. Kramnik tried hard but failed to break the defence of  Radjabov. The Russian is the only unbeaten player in the competition and considering the fact that he plays with white against Leko, the record is likely to remain intact.

Playing black against Radjabov of Azerbaijan, Kramnik employed the Queen's Indian defence and initiated a direct kingside attack in the ensuing middle-game. Radjabov had some trouble in equalising but the trade of queens on the 26th move gave him ample play.

Further exchanges of pawns led to a drawn position after 48 moves where the draw was agreed. Radjabov finished with 4.5 points as he has a bye in the last round.

Kasparov has a winning streak spanning ten super tournaments, but it seems it will be broken in this Spanish city.

Local favourite Francisco Vallejo Pons who seems to be striking form a little late and held the world's highest rated player to a creditable draw. The opening was a Caro Kann defence where Kasparov failed to yield much from his 'advanced variation'.

Kasparov maintained the pressure keeping quite a few pieces but a fine pawn sacrifice on the 29th move by Vallejo gave the Spaniard ample counter play. Deciding against pressing hard in a double edged position, Kasparov took the draw vide repetition after 40 moves.

Standings after round 13: 1-2. Kramnik, Leko 6.5/11; 3-4. Kasparov, Anand 6/11; 5. Vallejo Pons 5/11; 6. Ponomariov 4.5/11; 7. Radjabov 4.5/12.

Results (Round 13):

Teimour Radjabov (Aze) drew Vladimir Kramnik (Rus); Peter Leko (Hun) beat Viswanathan Anand; Garry Kasparov (Rus) drew Francisco Vallejo Pons (Esp); Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukr) had a bye.

Standings after round 13:

1-2: Kramnik, Leko 6.5/11; 3-4: Kasparov, Anand 6/11;  5: Vallejo Pons 5/11; 6: Ponomariov 4.5/11; 7: Radjabov 4.5/12

The moves:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4 Nb4 9. Be2 O-O 10. Nc3 Bf5 11. a3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Nc6 13. Re1 Re8 14. cxd5 Qxd5 15. Bf4 Rac8 16. Bd3 Qd7 17. Rb1 Bxd3 18. Qxd3 b6 19. d5 Bf6 20. c4 h6 21. h3 Re7 22. Rbd1 Rd8 23. Rxe7 Nxe7 24. Ne5 Bxe5 25. Bxe5 Re8 26. Bg3 Nf5 27. Bxc7 Qxc7 28. Qxf5 Qxc4 29. d6 Rd8 30. d7 Qc6 31. g3 a6 32. h4 b5 33. Rd5 a5 34. Rxb5 g6 35. Qd5 Qxd7 36. Qxd7 Rxd7 37. Rxa5 Kg7 38. a4 Rd1+ 39. Kg2 Ra1 40. g4 Kf6 41. Kg3 Rc1 42. Rb5 g5 43. Rf5+ Kg6  44. h5+ Kg7 45. a5 Ra1 46. Kg2 Re1 47. f3 Re6 48. Kf2 Kf8 49. Rb5 Kg7 50. Rf5 Kf8 51. Rc5 Kg7 52. Rb5 Kf8 53. Rb6 Re5 54. a6 Kg7 55. a7 Ra5 56. Rb7 Ra3 57. Ke2 Kf6 58. Kd2 Ke6 59. Kc2 f6 60. Kb2 Ra4 61. Kb3 Ra1 62. Kb4 Kd6 63. Rh7 Ke5 64. Kb5 Ra2 65. Kb6 Kd5 black resigned.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. Nc3 Bb7 5. a3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Qc2 Nxc3 8. bxc3 c5 9. e4 Nd7 10. Bf4 Be7 11. d5 exd5 12. exd5 O-O 13. Rd1 g5 14. Be3 g4 15. Ng1 f5 6. h3 Bg5 17. hxg4 Bxe3 18. fxe3 Qg5 19. Bd3 Rae8 20. Ne2 Qxe3 21. c4 Qg3+ 22. Kd2 Qxg4 23. Rh3 Qg5+  24. Kc3 Re3 25. Rxe3 Qxe3 26. Qd2 Qxd2+ 27. Kxd2 Bc8 28. Nf4 Ne5 29. Re1 Re8 30. Kc3 Bd7 31. Bc2 Kg7 32. Nh5+ Kg6 33. Ng3 Kg5 34. Rf1 Rf8 35. Ne4+ Kg6 36. a4 Nf7 37. Nd2 Re8 38. Nf3 Nd6 39. Bd3 Kf6 40. Ra1 Re3 41. Kd2 Re7 42. a5 Rg7 43. axb6 Rxg2+ 44. Ke3 axb6 45. Rb1 h5 46. Rxb6 Ke7 47. Ra6 f4+  48. Kxf4 Rg4+ draw agreed.

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nd2 h6 5. Nb3 e6. Nf3 Nd7 7. Be2 Ne7 8. O-O Bh7 9. c3 Rc8 10. Bd2 Ng6 11. Be3 Be7 12. Ne1 c5 13. f4 O-O 14. Nf3 c4 15. Nc1 b5 16. Qd2 a5 17. Bd1 f5 18. Ne2 b4 19. h3 Rb8 20. g4 bxc3 21. Nxc3 Nh4 22. Rf2 Kh8 23. Ba4 Nb6 24. Bc2 Na8  25. Rb1 Nc7 26. Nxh4 Bxh4 27. Rg2 Be7 28. Qd1 Bb4 29. Ne2 a4 30. gxf5 exf5 31. Bxa4 Ne6 32. Bc2 Qh4 33. Kh2 g5 34. Qf1 g4 35. Rg1 Rg8 36. Bf2 Qh5 37. Ng3 Qf7 38. Ne2 Qh5 39. Ng3 Qf7 40. Ne2 draw agreed.