Anand enters third round

Vishwanathan Anand troubled himself only as much as he needed to move into the third round, the last 32 stage of the World chess championships, as he opted for a no-risk draw quickly in the second game of the second round.

It was most apparent that the NIIT-sponsored World champion had come prepared for a quick draw against Dane Peter Heine Nielsen. The defending champion had won the first game on Thursday with black pieces and with white he had little trouble. He quickly went in for exchanges and in his own words made the game lifeless and only worthy of a draw. That was just what he needed to enter the third round.

He will now meet Vladislav Tkachiev of France, who beat Vietnamese player Bguyen nh Dung 1.5- 0.5. Tkachiev, who had won the first game quickly, drew the second and advanced to a meeting with Anand.

Playing with white pieces, Anand drew his second game and totalled 1.5-0.5.

"It is nice to move ahead without any tie-breaks," said Anand.

He was taken to the tie-breaker in the first round by Frenchman Olivier Touzane.

Nielsen, like Touzane, was an Internet qualifier. A total of eight Internet qualifiers were given berths for the first time in the World championships.

Anand, whose sponsors have opened a special page where his fans can send him best wishes, added a draw to the crushing win he achieved in the first game of the second round on Thursday and became the first player to make the last 32 stage in the 128-player field.

As Anand was cruising into the third round, the only other two Indians left in the championships were eliminated.

Krishnan Sasikiran and Nisha Mohota lost their second games in the second round and went out of the championships.

Sasikiran was outplayed by Alexander Morozevich in the second game after having drawn the first on Thursday. It was the second time in as many World championships that Sasikiran had lost in the second round.

Nisha Mohota, the only Indian woman to advance to the second round, lost to Romania's Cristina Foisor. She had drawn the first and lost the second.

China's Zhang Zhong (2667) moved past Alexander Lastin of Russia (2628). Zhong had drawn the first game black pieces and today he won with white to complete a 1.5-0.5 win.

A big surprise in the second round was Alexander Grischuk, who had stunned all by entering the semi-finals at the last World championships. Grischuk lost to Russian champion Alexander Motylev of Russia. Motylev, playing with white, scored the crucial win in second game and moved up into third round.

Vassily Ivanchuk was taken to the tie-breaker by Poland Bartlomej Macieja. Ivanchuk won the first game but lost the second.

Others making the third round included Israel's Emil Sutovsky, who beat Spain’s Paco Vallejo 2-0, Israel's Boris Gelfand who beat Cuba's Lenier Dominiguez 1.5-0.5 and Israel's Ilia Smirin who beat Thomas Luther of Germany 1.5-0.5.

Among the women, Alisa Galliamova shut out Natalia Kiseleva of Ukraine 2-0, but Almia Lautier Skripchenko was taken to the tie-breaker by Marta Zielnksa of Poland. China's Xu Yuhua entered the third round with 1.5-0.5 verdict over Elina Danielian of Armenia and Joanna Dworakowska of Poland beat Georgian Nana Ioseliani 1.5-0.5.

The moves:
Game 2, Round 2
White: Vishwanathan Anand - India
Black: Peter Heine Nielsen - Denmark
Result: 1/2-1/2
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. O-O Nc6 6. c4 g6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bg7 9. Be3 Nf6 10. f3 O-O 11. Nc3 Rfc8 12. b3 Qd8 13. Qd2 Nd7 14. Rac1 Nxd4 15. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 16. Qxd4 Qb6 17. Qxb6 Nxb6 18. Rfd1 f6 19. Nd5 Kf7 20. Nxb6 axb6 21. a4 g5 22. Kf2 Rc5 23. Rd5 Ke6 24. Ke3 Rg8 25. g3 h5 26. Rcd1 Kd7 27. R1d2 Ke6 28. Rd1 Kd7 29. R1d2 Ke6 30. Rd1.

Game 2, Round 2
White: Alexander Morozevich - Russia
Black: Krishnan Sasikiran - India
Result: 1-0
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. c4 dxc4 5. Bxc4 e6 6. Nc3 Nd7 7. Nge2 Nb6 8. Bb3 Ne7 9. O-O Qd7 10. Nf4 h6 11. Be3 Bh7 12. Rc1 Ned5 13. Ncxd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 exd5 15. Bd2 Be7 16. Rc3 Bf5 17. Bc2 h5 18. Bxf5 Qxf5 19. Qb3 Qd7 20. f4 f5 21. Rg3 Kf7 22. Bb4 Bxb4 23. Qxb4 Rae8 24. Rff3 Re6 25. Rg5 g6 26. Ra3 b6 27. h3 h4 28. Kh2 Qe7 29. Qa4 a5 30. Rb3 Qc7 31. Rc3 Rc8 32. Qc2 Qe7 33. g4 hxg3ep+ 34. Rcxg3 Rh8 35. Rxg6 Rxg6 36. Qxf5+ Rf6 37. exf6 Qxf6 38. Qd7+ Kf8 39. Qc8+ Kf7 40. Qc7+ Kf8 41. Rg5 Rh4 42. Qc8+ Ke7 43. Rf5 Qxd4 44. Qc7+ Ke6 45. Re5+

Game 2, Round 2
White: Cristina Adela Foisor - Romania
Black: Nisha Mohota - India
Result: 1-0
1. c4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d4 d6 6. d5 c6 7. Nh3 O-O 8. O-O h6 9. Rb1 Qe8 10. b3 Na6 11. Bb2 Nc5 12. Nf4 g5 13. Nd3 Nce4 14. Nxe4 fxe4 15. dxc6 bxc6 16. Nb4 Bf5 17. Nc2 Rd8 18. Ne3 Bc8 19. Qd4 e5 20. Qxa7 d5 21. cxd5 cxd5 22. Rbc1 d4 23. Rc7 Rd7 24. Nc4 Rff7 25. Rxd7 Rxd7 26. Qb8 Ba6 27. Qxe8+ Nxe8 28. Bxe4 Nf6 29. Bf5 Ra7 30. Nxe5 Bxe2 31. Rc1 Ne8 32. Bxd4 Rxa2 33. Rc8 Bb5 34. Bg6 Re2 35. f4 Re1+ 36. Kg2 Re2+ 37. Bf2 Kf8 38. Bxe8 Bxe8 39. Kf1 Rb2 40. Bc5+ Kg8

Earlier reports:
Anand scores quick win
Anand moves into second round
Anand wins second game
Anand shocked in opening round