Anand Advances to León Title
Vishy Anand won the León 2000 Advanced Chess Tournament by defeating Alexei Shirov 1.5-0.5 Sunday.
The first game was a French defense: 1. e4 e5 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5. The game went to a bishop+knight+pawns endgame, and Anand sacrificed his knight for extra pawns on the kingside. The Indian defended against Shirov's own passed pawn on the queenside, and "Leonardo" Shirov resigned after 39 moves.
The second game was a Petroff defense with Shirov playing 5. Bd3 instead of d4. Most of the pieces came off the board, and Shirov was left with double isolated g-pawns. He agreed to a draw after 51 moves. Anand wins the title and the $30,000 first prize.
Final Results:
Anand 1-0 Shirov
Shirov ˝-˝ Anand
Websites:
http://www.advancedchess.com/ (English)
http://www.ajedrezdelfuturo.com/ (Spanish)
3 June 2000
Anand Tops Polgar to Reach Final
Vishy Anand overcame stiff resistance from Judit Polgar to reach the final of León 2000. He will now face Alexei Shirov Sunday.
In game one of the 2-game match, Anand was totally dominant against Polagr's Sicilian and it seemed only a matter of time before he snuffed her out. But Anand somehow made a serious error, even with the aid of a computer, and his advantage disappeared. They went to a rook-and-pawn versus rook endgame, which was finally drawn when Anand's a-pawn couldn't advance.
Game 2 was a quick lackluster draw, which meant the match would be decided by blitz games (white having 4 minutes while black had 5). In game 1, Polgar as white agreed to a quick draw. In game 2, Anand's quick, accurate play against Polgar's King's Indian won the match for him.
2 June 2000
Shirov Dispatches Illescas on Day 1
Alexei Shirov won his 2-game match with Illescas Friday by a score of 2-0. In the first game, Shirov had little trouble with Illescas' Caro-Kann. "Leonardo" Shirov took black's pawn on c5 with his d-pawn and didn't give it back, gaining domination in the center. Illescas sacrificed the exchange, but his eventual counterattack generated too little steam, and he resigned after 31 moves. In the second game, Shirov played the Meran and won after 46 moves with several advanced passed pawns.
Polgar plays Anand Saturday.
Ciudad de León 2000 Advanced Chess Tournament
The Ciudad de León 2000 Chess Tournament takes place June 1 to 5 in León, Spain. It is an "advanced chess" format, meaning the players are allowed to use a computer. There is a $50,000 prize fund. The participants are:
Judit Polgar
Viswanathan Anand
Alexei Shirov
Miguel Illescas
Shirov is coming off an excellent performance at Sarajevo, where he finished joint second with Michael Adams. Polgar is also in top form, with recent victories at Malmo and the Japfa Classic in Bali. Anand won the
previous León tournament and, according to the website, is an "expert in computers" and considered the favourite. Illescas is also familiar with computers, having aided Deep Blue in its victorious match with Kasparov.
He won the Spanish Championship in 1998 and 1999. Illescas will need all the computers skills he can draw upon to stay level with his illustrious opponents.
The games begin Friday, June 2. In the first semi-final, Shirov battles Illescas in a 2-game match.
On Saturday, the other semi-final will be played between Polgar and Anand.
The final is scheduled for Sunday, with the two winners contesting for the top prize. The closing ceremony is Monday. Shirov is expected to play a simul at a university as well.
The games are to be broadcast live at the official website.
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