Anand excels, Harikrishna disappoints in World Rapid championship

Mainz, Germany Aug 16 (UNI) Viswanathan Anand came up with some brilliant strokes to record 31 wins and eight draws in the simultaneous exhibition but P Harikrishna proved to be a major disappointment in the under-20 Chess960 as he lost three of his four games in the Chess Classic World Rapid championship here.

Anand lost only one game -- against an unseeded Peter Osnabruch -- in his otherwise brilliant performance.

However, Harikrishna, fresh from his recent victory in the Hungarian Open, lost miserably to Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany in the Chess960.

The Indian Grandmaster lost the first two games and fought valiantly to draw the third but lost the fourth game.

Four more games will be played today but looking at the excellent form of the German Grandmaster it will be a difficult task for Harikrishna to come back in the game.

Naiditsch was at his best against the seventh seed Indian, who is playing in a strong field of 77 Grandmasters participating in various events being played here.

Speaking to UNI after his loss Harikrishna said, ''Chess960 is a different game altogether. I did not prepare for the games besides Naiditsch has vast experience of playing this type of event. I hope to do better in the Open event.'' In the womens section of the Chess960, Alexander Kosteniuk and German Elisabeth Pahtz finished their four games with a score of two points each.

Kostenuik won the first game and drew the second while Pahtz came back in the third game to beat Kostenuik and equalised the score with a draw in the fourth game.

UNI XC PM RN1025