Anand back to winning ways, beats Ponomariov in fourth round

Sofia, May 15: After his shock defeat at the hands of his American nemesis Gata Kamsky, Viswanathan Anand bounced back with a fourth round win against former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov and the Indian is now placed second with three points.

Playing his second game with white, Anand was determined to overcome the third round setback and it took him 56 moves to get the better of his Russian opponent's defence.

Playing his first two games with black, Anand had won both -- beating Etienne Bacrot and Veselin Topalov before Kamsky upstaged him in third round in which the Indian played with white.

Kamsky, meanwhile, maintained his his supremacy, beating Peter Svidler in 24 moves to stay in the lead with four points.

In the other match of the day, Bacrot and Topalov split points after the 29-move game failed to yield a winner.

Standings after round 4: 1. Gata Kamsky, USA (3.5); 2. Viswanathan Anand, IND (3); 3. Peter Svidler, RUS (2); 4. Veselin Topalov, BUL (1.5); 5. Ruslan Ponomariov, UKR (1); 6. Etienne Bacrot, FRA (1); Roud 5 Pairing: Veselin Topalov vs Gata Kamsky; Peter Svidler vs Viswanathan Anand; Ruslan Ponomariov vs Etienne Bacrot.

UNI