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Anand wins Ciudad de Leon

Viswanathan Anand won a crucial final game against FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov to take the 18th Ciudad de Leon championship by a 2.5-1.5 score. Anand came back after losing the first game of the match to take the championship.

The Ciudad de Leon was a four-player knockout tournament, featuring two interesting first-round matches. Anand was paired against young prodigy Magnus Carlsen, while Kasimdzhanov faced perrenial superstar Alexei Shirov.

As expected, Anand had a fairly easy time with the young Carlsen. After taking the first game with white, Anand calmly drew the second with the black pieces. He then won his second white game, proving to be too much for the young Carlsen. A draw in the final game left the score 3-1 in favor of Anand.

In the second semifinal, Kasimdzhanov shocked Shirov in the first game, winning with the black pieces. After the second game was drawn, Kasimdzhanov struck again with black, taking an insurmountable lead. A draw in the final game gave Kasimdzhanov a surprising and convincing 3-1 win.

The final proved to be the closest match of the tournament. Kasimdzhanov once again jumped out to an early lead, taking game one with the white pieces. Anand struck back in game two, winning in just 33 moves to even the match.

After a long draw in the third game, the tournament came down to one final contest. Anand had the advantage with the white pieces, and didn't disappoint, winning a Roy Lopez to take the match 2.5-1.5.

Here is Anand's win in the final game:

White: Anand, V (2785)
Black: Kasimdzhanov, R (2670)
Ciudad de Leon, Final Game 4
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3 Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. a3 Na5 11. Ba2 c5 12. Nbd2 Nc6 13. Nf1 Bc8 14. Bg5 Ne8 15. Bxe7 Nxe7 16. Ne3 Nf6 17. c3 Qc7 18. Nh2 Be6 19. Nhg4 Nd7 20. Qf3 c4 21. Nf5 Bxf5 22. exf5 f6 23. a4 d5 24. Ne3 Qc6 25. dxc4 dxc4 26. Qxc6 Nxc6 27. b4 Nb6 28. a5 Nd7 29. Rad1 Rad8 30. Nxc4 bxc4 31. Bxc4+ Kh8 32. Bxa6 Ne7 33. Bb7 Nxf5 34. g4 Ne7 35. c4 Nb8 36. a6 Nbc6 37. Rxd8 Rxd8 38. b5 Na5 39. Ra1 1-0