Round 4. Game 2
Stars fade away. Stars come out…

Anand and Khalifman advanced after only two games in round four and may proceed to preparations for their meeting. They happen to play with each other rather often. Anand was lucky at the first KO Championship, he is certainly no convenient opponent for Khalifman. The World Champion lost many games to him. Still, his score against Leko was also not very impressing… Fortune has its own laws. It’s no use to guess. Of course we support the Russian grandmaster.

Morozevich quit the championship. Tkachiev won a pawn and then achieved his advantage in the second game. By the way, when playing White in the first game, Morozevich did not even try to win. As the result, this tactics cost dearly to him. Five pairs proceed to rapid games after two draws in each pair. As for Dreev and Topalov, there were no draws but two disasters. Topalov won the second game, and their struggle will continue on the next stage.

The Russian player Kovalevskaya still holds. There is a chance that she will play even the final match. Also Chinese women perform very well, one of them already advanced to the semi-final. Our prognosis stays unchanged for the time being, but let’s see what tie breaks will show…

Just a few words about Anand. This grandmaster is dangerous for anybody. He won a most convincing game.