Anand loses in fourth round
World Champion Viswanathan Anand was stunned by Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the fourth round of the Bilbao Grand Slam final chess tournament.
On a day that provided all three decisive games in this category 22 event, 17-year old Magnus Carlsen of Norway became the unofficial world number one after beating Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan.
The other game of the day saw Armenian Levon Aronian striking form as he defeated Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in a long drawn affair.
Former world champion Topalov retained his full point lead over Carlsen in the experimental football-like scoring system that gives three points for a win and one for a draw.
With six rounds remaining for the fight of Euros 150000 first prize, the Bulgarian has moved to 8 points. Aronian stands third on 5, two points clear of nearest rivals Radjabov, Ivanchuk and Anand, all of whom yet to register a single victory.
Anand was tamed by Topalov in a Queen's Indian defense game where the Indian played black. Topalov went for a popular set-up involving a pawn sacrifice early in the opening and the Indian's passive play resulted in a huge spatial advantage to white.
Topalov was a man on a mission after his previous round victory over Carlsen and guided his pieces quite well to launch a dangerous attack.
Anand was tamed by Topalov in a Queen's Indian defense game where the Indian played black. Topalov went for a popular set-up involving a pawn sacrifice early in the opening and the Indian's passive play resulted in a huge spatial advantage to white.
Topalov was a man on a mission after his previous round victory over Carlsen and guided his pieces quite well to launch a dangerous attack.