Morovic wins tournament, Anand wins exhibition

Desafio de Xadrez

August 20-24, 2004 – Sao Paulo, Brazil Official site • View all games online All photos by Luiz Doro/@dorofotos at the official site

India's Viswanathan Anand had locked up victory a few rounds in advance so he could relax on the last day. Unfortunately for Rafael Leitao and Giovanni Vescovi, what Anand does for relaxation is play chess. Very good chess.

Anand beat both of the Brazilians for the second time to stretch his final margin of victory to an amazing three points. Only one other player managed a plus score! Anand won every minimatch and didn't lose a game.

This is the most top-heavy crosstable we've seen since Kasparov humiliated an impressive Linares 2001 field with another three-point winning margin. (The other common denominator? Karpov played in both events.)

With Anand cruising to victory in the exhibition (perhaps he should have played a simul against the rest of the field?), Chile's Ivan Morovic rubbed more salt in Brazilian wounds by taking second place. He was rewarded for a very conservative performance in which all of his seven draws came in 26 moves or fewer. He lost only to Anand.

Chile's Morovic saved his energy for laughter and second place

Of the local contingent, Rafael Leitao had a minus score but got some satisfaction from beating Karpov and finishing ahead of his compatriots. The 24-year-old had a very uneven event and played short draws with his final two whites.

Former world champion Anatoly Karpov had another poor result. A few years ago it looked as though the living legend had done a good job of revamping his game to specialize in rapid chess. He wasn't doing much preparation anymore and he tired in classical events, but his sheer talent and hierarchy shone through against weaker competition in fast games.

In the last year Karpov has had one terrible result after another in rapid tournaments, the low point coming with a 1.5/7 score in last year's Cap D'Agde, where he usually did very well. In Sao Paulo, where Karpov visited for exhibitions last year, Karpov started out being kind to the hosts with two losses. He clawed back to -1 but Anand slammed the door shut in the eighth round.

Karpov is still a giant and there is little doubt that Anand particularly enjoys increasing his score against his old foe. Their long history goes back to a tight 1991 Candidates quarterfinal match won by Karpov. And who could forget their controversial FIDE title match in 1998?

Living legends. Karpov-Anand, the center of attention in round three

Meeting the Brazilian fans

The Desafio players and organizers assembled