Anand gears up for last leg at Corus chess

Anand will take on Latvian-born Spaniard Alexei Shirov in the 11th round and thereafter has to tackle local hopeful Sergei Tiviakov and David Navara in the last two rounds.

Five-time winner Viswanathan Anand is geared up to liven up things in the last leg of the Group 'A' to post a great finish at the Corus International Chess tournament.

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Anand will take on Latvian-born Spaniard Alexei Shirov in the 11th round and thereafter has to tackle local hopeful Sergei Tiviakov and David Navara in the last two rounds after the third and final rest day of the event.

With only three rounds remaining in the first super tournament of the year, the Indian ace is currently on joint third spot but he seems the only one, who can post a challenge vis-a-vis top seed Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, leading the fray on 7.5 points.

Azeri Teimour Radjabov is currently on the second spot, a half point behind Topalov, while Anand, World champion Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Svidler of Russia and Levon Aronian of Armenia share the third spot on 6 points apiece in the category-19 tournament.

It looks as though Topalov is a huge favourite to win the crown here, he has a tough opposition to phase in the last three rounds and the pundits predict an even score for him in the final leg.

The Bulgarian will meet Svidler, Kramnik and Radjabov in last three games.