Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 5:54 PM
Subject: Linares 2003 Update (03/03/03)


Linares 2003 Update

Hope all of you are taking in all of the action. I
sure am, and we are getting a wonderful set of games
being played daily.

Nine rounds are complete. Anand was leading the
tournament, until the last three rounds. In Round 5,
Anand managed to squeeze and squeeze Leko and get his
win. Play over the game and see for yourself.

In Round 6, against his nemesis Kasparov, Anand
faltered. There are (I am told) tons of ways to draw
the game, but Anand missed them all. He took his first
loss of the year.

He came back the next day (Round 7) to face
Ponomariov. Anand did great, but then he seems to have
missed several winning continuations. (Again, this is
what the experts are saying.) That game petered out
into a draw.

Today, Anand played Spain's Vallejo Pons, and that
turned into a draw as well. Tomorrow is a rest day for

everyone, and on Wednesday, Anand gets his second bye.
Let's hope he comes back recharged after the 2-day
rest.

Please be sure to catch a game if at all possible. You
can log into the ICC (Internet Chess Club) as a guest,
and you can listen to live audio commentary from
http://chess.fm.
GM Federowicz is absolutely great, and he makes the
games so much more exciting, and it is all free!

Take care,
Ram