By IANS
Netherlands : World’s top rated chess player Viswanathan Anand let slip a chance that might have given him the advantage he needed to get his first win in the Corus Chess Tournament Sunday. His second round game against Azerbaijani Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ended in a draw.
Anand, who had also missed a possible chance to draw his first round match against young Azerbaijani Teimour Radjabov, finally got onto the scoreboard with half a point.
The tournament, which has 14 players in each of the three main sections, runs till Jan 27. There will be 13 rounds in all.
The 36-move draw from an opening in the Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz variation, helped Anand steady the boat after his unexpected loss to Radjabov.
Mamedyarov, who like Anand opened with a loss in first round, opted for one of his pet lines in the Modern Steinitz variation of the Ruy Lopez.
Anand with white had the momentum but very slightly. Then in the middle game on the 22nd move, Anand could have played the pawn to h3 which could have given him a good advantage to capitalize on. Instead he opted for Qc3.
In the game continuation black (Mamedyarov) was safe enough to escape to a drawn rook endgame.
In group A, the second round saw five of the seven matches end in draws, with Armenian Lev Aronian pulling off a fine win over Boris Gelfand with black pieces and young Swede Magnus Carlsen scoring his second straight win over Pavel Elianov of Ukraine. Aronian and Carlsen now have a perfect two points from two games.
In a notable match, Radjabov consolidated his first round win over Anand with a draw in the second round against Vladimir Kramnik, ranked joint No. 1 in ratings.
In Group B, Pentala Harikrishna scored his first win beating China’s Hou Yifan in 55 moves from a game in the French defence. Harikrishna is now part of the six-way lead in the group.
Also in Group B, another Indian, Koneru Humpy, the world’s second highest rated women’s player, bounced back from a first round loss to draw with Ian Nepomniachtchi in 34 moves of a Dutch game.
In Group C, Parimarjan Negi suffered his second straight loss, losing to Arik Braun of Germany in an English Symmetrical opening in just 31 moves.
Results, standings and pairings:
Group A
Results Round 2: Loek van Wely drew with Judit Polgar; Veselin Topalov drew with Vassily Ivanchuk; Boris Gelfand lost to Levon Aronian; Peter Leko drew with Michael Adams; Magnus Carlsen beat Pavel Eljanov; Vishwanathan Anand drew with S. Mamedyarov; Vladimir Kramnik drew with Teimour Radjabov
Standings: Aronian, Carlsen – 2 points; Radjabov – 1.5 points; Kramnik, Adams, van Wely, Polgar, Ivanchuk – 1 point; Mamedyarov, Gelfand, Anand, Eljanov, Topalov – 0.5 points.
Pairings for Round 3: Radjabov vs van Wely; Mamedyarov vs Kramnik; Eljanov vs Anand; Adams vs Carlsen; Aronian vs Leko; Ivanchuk vs Gelfand; Polgar vs Topalov
Group B
Results Round 2: Nigel Short beat Erwin L’Ami; Koneru Humpy drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi; Gabriel Sargissian drew with Jan Smeets; Ivan Cheparinov drew with Sergei Movsesian; Michael Krasenkow beat Wouter Spoelman; Etienne Bacrot drew with Daniel Stellwagen; P. Harikrishna beat Hou Yifan
Standings: Smeets, Stellwagen, Short, Harikrishna, Cheparinov, Bacrot – 1.5 points; Movsesian, Nepomniachtchi, Sargissian, Krasenkow – 1 point; l’Ami, Koneru – 0.5 points; Hou, Spoelman – 0 point.
Pairings for Round 3: Hou vs Short; Stellwagen vs Harikrishna; Spoelman vs Bacrot; Movsesian vs Krasenkow; Smeets vs Cheparinov; Nepomniachtchi vs Sargissian; L’Ami vs Koneru Humpy
Group C:
Results Round 2: Irina Krush drew with Dimitri Reinderman; Efstratios Grivas beat Dennis Ruijgrok; Fabiano Caruana beat Mark van der Werf; Pontus Carlsson drew with Peng Zhaoqin; Arik Braun beat Parimarjan Negi; John van der Wiel beat Friso Nijboer; Li Shilong beat Anna Ushenina
Standings: Li, Caruana, van der Wiel, Braun – 2 points; Reinderman, Carlsson – 1.5 points; van der Werf, Grivas – 1 point; Peng, Krush – 0.5 points; Ushenina, Nijboer, Negi, Ruijgrok – 0 point.
Pairings for Round 3: Ushenina vs Krush; Nijboer vs Li; Negi vs van der Wiel; Peng vs Braun; van der Werf vs Carlsson; Ruijgrok vs Caruana; Reinderman vs Grivas