Anand and Gelfand split point in semis

Anand and Gelfand split point in semis
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

CHENNAI, SEPTEMBER 9: Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand of Israel played a 21-move draw in the first of their two-game semi-final match in the World Chess Cup at Shenyang on Saturday. The second game, with Anand having black, will be played on Sunday.

Anand failed to get a breakthrough in the Sicilian Defence and when the draw was agreed upon only the Queen, rooks and a bishop (same coloured) were left on the board.

In the other semi-final, Gilberto Milos of Brazil, who had qualified for the semi-final on Friday after playing a hectic tie-break series against Sergei Movsesian of Czechoslovakia, settled for a 13-move draw with Evgeny Bareev of Russia in French Defence. ``I offered the draw,'' said Milos. ``I was too exhausted after last night and did not have the energy to fight.''

Milos had to win the second tie-break game on Friday against Movsesian to stay in the championship. He not only won that but went on to win the sudden-death game also to make it to the semi-finals. ``I am alive,'' he said later. ``The second 15-minute tie-break game was fantastic, not for the chess but for the fight.''

Gelfand defeated Ye Jiangchuan of China 1.5-0.5 while Bareev got the better of Azmaiparashvli of Georgia 1.5-05, both winning their first games in the tie-breaker.

In the women's section, Hoang Thanh Trang of Vietnam and Natalia Zhukova of Ukraine split the point in the first game of their semi-finals in 20 moves of Queen's Indian defence. Pia Cramling of Sweden defeated Xu Yuhua of China in the first game in 77 moves of Nimzo-Indian Defence. Cramling won a rook for two pawns and in the ending Yuhua's chances hinged on a Kingside passer.

Cramling stopped it with the rook and took the lead in the semi-finals.Earlier, on Friday, Anand needed only a draw in game two against Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine to qualify for the semis. The draw, which came through repitition of moves, gave Anand a 1.5-0.5 victory against Ivanchuk and ensured him a pre-tax cheque of $ 20,000.

The Moves
Anand (White) vs Gelfand(BLack)

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cd4 4. Nd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. a4 Nc6 7. Be2 g6 8. 0-0 Bg7 9. Be3 0-0 10. Qd2 Nd4 11. Bd4 Be6 12. a5 Rc8 13. Rc1 d5 14. ed5 Nd5 15. Bg7 Kg7 16. Nd5 Qd5 17. Qb4 Rc7 18. c4 Qe5 19. Bf3 Rd8 20. Re1 Qd6 21. Qc3+ 0. 5-0.5