Ivanchuk, Anand draw
game 1 in semis

Defending champion Vishwanathan Anand opened his semi-final campaign in the FIDE World chess championship against Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine with a draw in Moscow on Saturday.

The NIIT brand ambassador was playing with black pieces, and for a brief period was in a spot but did well to extricate himself from it and settle for a draw in 43 moves.

There are three more games left in the semi-final and Anand will have white pieces in the second game on Monday.

Sunday will be a rest day, the second of the championship.

In the other semi-final, Peter Svidler allowed Ruslan Ponmariov to get off the hook before a truce was signed in 35 moves.

Svidler had white pieces in a Petroff defence game.

The women’s final got off to a scintillating start with Russian girl Alexandra Kosteniuk giving the home crowd a lovely present with a fine win over Zhu Chen.

Kosteniuk started with white pieces in the four-game final, which is being played simultaneously.

The Ivanchuk-Anand game was played in the Rubinstein variation of the French defence, the same Anand had used against Alexey Shirov in the second game of the quarter-final.

Ivanchuk had an edge at various points in the game but Anand, who looked happy to exchange of all major pieces, did not look in any great trouble. As the queens were exchanged, the game looked headed for a draw. But Anand then made a mistake which could have proved costly. He played the 27th move -- Nb2 -- which placed his knight in a vulnerable position. And just as he was trying to figure a way out of that, Ivanchuk made a mistake himself with his 32nd move -- Ra5 -- which had his rook stuck for a while. Till then Ivanchuk had a better position and with his a-passer he looked well placed.

But the mistake on the 32nd move allowed Anand to steer clear of problems and move towards a draw.

"A draw with black pieces against Chuky (Ivanchuk) is a fair result. There are still three more games to go. With a four-game match, there is more scope," said Anand after the game.

Anand admitted that his Nb2 was a mistake. "It was a blunder, but I was not losing even then. I could have still got a draw," he said.

The Indian ace then added, "He played that horrible move -- Ra5 -- after which is just a draw. Maybe he should keep the rook in a better place.. an open file. Well, I am not too sure. I will see that later."

In the other semi-final, which was a Petroff, Svidler was better, but Ponomariov got some good counterplay and managed a draw with counterplay on the Queen side.

In the women’s final, Kosteniuk played wonderfully. In another Petroff defence, she managed an excellent game. Zhu Chen, with black pieces, did well to dismantle Kosteniuk’s pawn structure.

Then Kosteniuk played brilliantly with her bishops and Queen. Zhu added to her woes by giving away an exchange and Kosteniuk walked away with the e-passer and the game.

Ivanchuk, V (2731) v Anand, V (2797)
ROUND 6, GAME 1

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. Bc4 a6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 c5 10. Bb3 b5 11. c3 Bb7 12. O-O Be7 13. dxc5 Qxd1 14. Rfxd1 Bxc5 15. Ne5 g5 16. Bg3 O-O 17. Nd3 Be7 18. Be5 Rfc8 19. Bd4 Nd7 20. f3 Bf6 21. Bxf6 Nxf6 22. a4 Bd5 23. Bc2 Bc4 24. a5 Nd5 25. Ne5 Ne3 26. Be4 Nxd1 27. Bxa8 Nxb2 28. Bb7 Rc7 29. Bxa6 Ra7 30. Bc8 Bd5 31. a6 Kf8 32. Ra5 Nc4 33. Nxc4 Bxc4 34. Kf2 Ke7 35. Ke3 Bd5 36. Rxb5 Rc7 37. Bb7 Rxc3+ 38. Kd4 Rc4+ 39. Kd3 Ra4 40. Kc3 Kd6 41. Bxd5 exd5 42. Rb6+ Ke5 43. Kb3 Ra1 1/2-1/2 (Draw).

The winners of the semi-finals will clash in the title match, in Moscow, from January 16, 2002.

Earlier reports:
Ivanchuk to meet Anand in semis
Anand reaches semi-finals
Anand beats Shirov in first game
Anand beats Dreev to enter quarters
Anand faces tough road ahead
Quick draw for Anand in round 4
Anand through to last 16
Anand settles for draw, Van Wely loses
Anand enters third round
Anand scores quick win
Anand moves into second round
Anand wins second game
Anand shocked in opening round