Anand joins Kamsy on top in Mtel Masters Chess

Sofia, Bulgaria, May 16: Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand has moved up on top of the table after splitting points with Peter Svidler to join overnight leader Gata Kamsky who suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Veselin Topalov in the fifth round of the Mtel Masters here today.

Playing with black, Anand settled for a draw with the Russian Grandmaster in 38 moves to share the lead with Kamsky at 3.5 points.

Anand will take on Etienne Bacrot in the next round and the Indian will have the advantage of playing with white against the Frenchman whom he defeated in the first round with black pieces.

But it was the reigning world champion Topalov who stole the show today displaying a fine attacking game to beat Kamsky in 40 moves to snap the American's dream run in the tournament. Playing with white pieces, the Bulgarian came up with a trademark powerful exchange sacrifice and attacked relentlessly from the 30th move onwards. In the end, his American opponent had no answer but to surrender to the onslaught.

Topalov thus recorded his third straight win against Kamsky -- the last one at Corus in January preceded by the match at Dos Hermanas in 1996.

In the other game of the day, Ruslan Ponomariov and Bacrot settled for a draw after 47 moves.

Svidler and Topalov are still in contention with even scores and the latter is a notoriously strong closer. Last year too, he was trailing initially before rallying from behind to score 4.5/5 to take the first place.

Ponomariov and Bacrot are out of the medal hunt but would like to taste a win when they resume action tomorrow after a rest day.

Standings after round 5: 1. Gata Kamsky, USA (3.5), Viswanathan Anand, IND (3.5); 3. Peter Svidler, RUS (2.5), Veselin Topalov, BUL (2.5); 5. Ruslan Ponomariov, UKR (1.5), Etienne Bacrot, FRA (1.5) Roud 6 Pairing: Veselin Topalov VS Peter Svidler; Gata Kamsky VS Ruslan Ponomariov; Viswanathan Anand VS Etienne Bacrot.

UNI