Anand draws with Kamsky, title race heats up as Topalov wins

Sofia, May 20: Viswanathan Anand's rock solid defence came to his rescue as he played out an exciting draw against Gata Kamsky to remain in title contention but reigning world champion Veselin Topalov stepped up the pressure with a second successive win to be tied second with the Indian after the eighth round of the Mtel Masters being played here.

Anand, playing with black, replied with e5 to Kamsky's king pawn opening and the game followed the popular Ruy Lopez exchange pattern, Gligoric variation. Anand, who lost to the Russian-turned-American in the Corus and in the third round here, came well prepared not to concede the full point to Kamsky.

Kamsky tried hard but Anand defended well and despite strong white position for some time Anand was able to equalise in the Rook endgame and secure a draw after 39 moves.

''Basically we went for the exchange line and it was just a very solid position. While b4 idea was good enough to get this kind of Rook ending, positions seems to be equal and I defended well,'' Anand told UNI after the drawn game.

With 5.5 points to his credit, Kamsky is still the sole leader with Anand a point behind him.

Meanwhile, Topalov continued his second-half recovery and fought bitterly in his match against world's youngest ever world champion Ponomariov. After picking up a point in the seventh round game against Anand, the Bulgarian showed determination to take another full point and join the Indian at the second spot.

Playing with white, Topalov won the game after 65 moves. The defending champion will now take on the tournament leader Kamsky in the ninth round in a critical battle, which might have a bearing on the title race.

Anand will play with white in the penultimate round against Peter Svidler, who failed in his attempt to beat French Grandmaster Etienne Bacrot despite having the white advantage as Bacrot defended well.

Results Round 8 Gata Kamsky drew with Viswanathan Anand Peter Svidler drew with Etienne Bacrot Veselin Topalov beat Ruslan Ponomariov Standings after Round 8 Gata Kamsky 5.5 point Viswanathan Anand 4.5 point Veselin Topalov 4.5 point Peter Svidler 4 points Etienne Bacrot 3 points Ruslan Ponomariov 2.5 points Pairing for Round 9 Gata Kamsky vs Veselin Topalov Viswanathan Anand vs Peter Svidler Etienne Bacrot vs Ruslan Ponomariov

UNI