Anand beat Topalov in the Leon Rapid Championship to lift the title
By Vijay Kumar

Leon Spain 11th June 2006. World Rapid Champion Vishy Anand proved once again that he is the best rapid chess player in the World. In the final of the 19th Ciudad de Leon which concluded here in Leon , he defeated World Chess Champion Veselin Topalov by 2½-1½. Margin.

Topalov started the first game quietly. Then Anand got the initiative (around move 24),
but mishandled it. In the endgame white was a pawn up, but Topalov allowed Anand to exchange rooks (47.Bb3?), which practically assured a draw.

In game 2 Anand playing with white maneuvered his pieces in a technically perfect manner and executed a fine victory on the White side of the Berlin Variation.

However the 3rd game bored the spectators and all assembled in the hall got a sigh of relief when the game finally ended in a tame draw.

After a rather boring draw in game 3 the last game was a mix of the Najdorf and the Dragon. Topalov's opening choice was clearly inspired by the fact that he needed to win the game. To stay in the match and the black continued to take risky moves. White was clearly better – as his knight also dominated the enemy rooks. The game could have gone Anand’s way but he was more happy with a draw to clinch the title with 2.5-1.5 score.