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World rapid chess champion Viswanathan Anand arrived in Leon to participate in the four-player 18th City of Leon Tournament this weekend. The other three players are FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan, Alexei Shirov of Spain and Magnus Carlsen of Norway.
The drawing of lots will be made at Hotel Conde Luna on Thursday evening 8 p.m. Spanish time followed by the opening press conference. Two semifinals will be played on Friday and Saturday and the finals on Sunday. It is a knock out format. Each match will be a two game affair and a blitz play off if necessary to decide the winner if the score is 1-1.
Anand had been in Leon several times, the first being a 4.5-1.5 match victory against Spanish GM Miguel Illescas. From 1999 to 2001 he made a hat-trick in the Advanced Chess format winning the tournament. In 2002, he lost 2.5-3.5 to Russian world classical champion Vladimir Kramnik in a close match. The 35-year old NIIT Brand Ambassador returns to Leon after a two year break.
Tania Sachdev In Joint Lead
Woman International Master Tania Sachdev of Delhi is jointly leading the 11-player First Saturday Grandmaster Tournament at Budapest in Hungary on Wednesday. Tania is one of the three leaders with three points from five rounds. She requires just two points from the last five rounds for her woman grandmaster norm. The event runs until June 14.
In the same section, WIM Eesha Karavade from Pune is placed at the bottom with just one point from five games. She had lost her mutual game to Tania already. Kiruba Arasu of Madurai is competing in a lower section and has made two wins and lost one game
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