BIEL (SWITZERLAND), July 22: Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand proved his superiority in preparation and tactics scoring a quick-fire win over Joel Lautier of France in the inaugural round of the Credit Suisse Grandmasters Chess Tournament being held here.

Lautier's Scandinavian Defence as opening choice was a pleasant surprise for Anand, who himself had used it once against PCA champion Garry Kasparov in their World Championship match in 1995 and hence knew the positions well.

The 27-year-old world No 2, sacrificed his Queen in a sparkling game using just about half an hour to record a 25-move victory over his French rival.

Anand played an improvement on his 15th move over a previous game in this variation, offering rook for Lautier's knight, simultaneously trapping his adventurous bishop.

The Frenchman went on a pawn grabbing spree to make up for the inevitable loss of material. This landed his queen in an uncomfortable position, paving way for a neat combination by Anand, which involved a queen sacrifice, acceptance of which would have led to a mate in three moves.

Finally faced with a loss of a bishop, Lautier resigned on the 25th move.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.