Aronian beats Anand, takes over lead

The reign of World Champion Viswanathan Anand in Linares was short-lived. In the second round he went for 1.d4 against Aronian and tested an early pawn sacrifice. The Armenian GM took the pawn, then gave a knight for three pawns to take over the attack but only because of a big mistake by Anand, he won the game after 53 moves. The second round also included a superb performance by Grischuk, who beat Wang Yue in great style.

From February 18 till March 8 the 26th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez Ciudad de Linares takes place. There is no starting fee for the players this time but instead the prize fund is quite high: € 314,000. The first prize is € 100,000, the second € 75,000 and the third € 50,000.

Round 2 The answer to the question whether Anand would be using 1.d4 more often, after his match against Kramnik, can now be answered by a clear yes. In his game against Aronian he came up with the interesting novelty 12.Ng5!? which involves the sacrifice of a pawn. His compensation was clear: a strong center, nice development and good attacking chances.

With 23.g4 the Indian took some risks, and indeed by giving his knight for three pawns, Aronian took over the initiative. Anand kept on defending accurately, until 33.Rg3? (where 33.Rxd4! was necessary). In the resulting ending Black had five pawns for the piece, which was simply too much.

Grischuk's victory over Wang Yue looked very impressive and should not be missed either. Carlsen-Dominguez was spectacular for as long as it lasted; they followed Aronian-Leko, Morelia/Linares 2008 and the novelty 10...Qxf2 was analysed to a draw by Dominguez, apparently. Radjabov-Ivanchuk (yes, not the other way around!) was a King's Indian - apparently Radjabov was inspired to reach for the queen's pawn too, and Ivanchuk want to treat him with his own opening! It seemed fairly level throughout the game.



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