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Speedy rebel blitzes Anand

In the saga of man versus machine, it is the machine, by a technical knock out.

Rebel, the Pentium-powered Dutch chess programme believed to be the best of its kind, outclassed world number two Viswanathan Anand 4.5-1.5 in the blitz-chess segment of an eight-match exhibition tie in Ischia Islands on Wednesday night.

Anand who, against his fellow humans, is master of the rapid chess format, was blinded by the speed of the computer in the blitz-chess games, that provide a mere five minutes for each player to complete the moves.

In the four five-minute games, the computer took a winning 3-0 lead and seemed set for a white wash (similar to its performance last year, when it blanked German grandmaster Artur Yusupov 4-0) when Anand's reflexes kicked in and he pulled one back.

Playing white, the Indian ace opted for the English opening and won a 33-move encounter wherein Anand forced the pace to win two bishops and a rook, forcing the machine to capitulate.

Segment two of the tie involved two semi-rapid games, of 15-minutes per player, and again, the computer came out on top.

In game one, Rebel played an electric 18th move to rock Anand back, and though the Indian went into the middle game with a rook and pawn for minor pieces, the computer's unexpected moves had Anand thinking hard, trying to come up with answers. After 28 moves, Anand lost in a fashion he has never encountered against human opponents -- he was beaten on time.

In game six, Anand pushed hard for a win and was a pawn up and well placed, when time ran out and he was forced to remain content with a 42-move draw.

With four wins to one, Rebel has as good as won the series. However, for the elite throng of grandmasters and cognoscenti gathered to watch the event, the real thrill is reserved for late Thursday night IST, when man and machine square off in the first of two classic games, played to tournament rules and with standard time controls.

It is here that it all comes together -- speed of thought, thoroughness of preparation, positional sense and the instinctive genius that separates the great from the merely very good -- and it is on these two games that the attention of the chess world is now focussed.

Follows, the game details:

Game 1, blitz: White: Rebel 10; Black: Vishy Anand; Grunfeld Defence: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Ne2 c5 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Be3 Bg4 11.f3 Bd7 12.Rb1 Qc7 13.Nf4 e6 14.Be2 Ne7 15.Qb3 b6 16.dxc5 bxc5 17.Qa3 Be5 18.g3 bd6 19.Rfd1 Rfb8 20.Rxb8+ Rxb8 21.Rxd6 Qxd6 22.Bxc5 Qd2 23.Bxe7 Rb7 24.Qa5 Be8 25.Bb4 Qe3+ 26.Kg2 Anand surrenders.

Game 2, blitz: White: Vishy Anand; Black: Rebel 10; Queen Pawn opening: 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.G3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.0-0 0-0 6.b3 c5 7.Bb2 Ne4 8.c3 Nc6 9.e3 Bg4 10.h3 cxd4 11.cxd4 Bf5 12.Nfd2 Nf6 13.Nc3 Nb4 14.Nf3 Nd3 15.Ba3 Rc8 16.Ne2 Be4 17.Nh2 Bh6 18.Qd2 Re8 19.Ng4 Nxg4 20.hxg4 Qc7 21.Rfd1 Qc2 22.Kf1 Qxd2 23.Rxd2 b5 24.f3 Bxe3 25.Rdd1 f5 26.fxe4 fxe4 27.Rxd3 exd3 28.Nf4 Rc2 29.Bxd5+ e6, Anand surrenders.

Game 3, blitz, White: Rebel 10, Black: Vishy Anand, Queen Pawn opening 1.d4 d6 2. e4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.f4 c6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Be3 Nd7 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 e6 9.0-0-0 d5 10.g4 Ne7 11.h4 b5 12.h5 b4 13.h6 Bf8 14.Ne2 dxe4 15.Qxe4 Nd5 16.Bg2 Be7 17.Bd2 0-0 18.Qd3 N7f6 19.g5 Ne8 20.Ng3 a5 21.Rde1 Nd6 22.Qe2 Re8 23.Rhf1 Bf8 24. Ne4 Nf5 25.Qd3 Qb6 26.c3 bxc3 27.Bxc3 Red8 28.Bh3 Be7 29. Bxf5 exf5 30.Nd2 Qc7 31.Rg1 Bd6 32.Kb1 Bxf4 33.Nc4 a4 34.Bd2 Re8 35.Rxe8+ Rxe8 36.Qc2 Bxd2 37.Qxd2 Re4 38.Rc1 Ne7 39.Qc3 Nd5 40.Qd2 Re6 41.Ne5 Qb6 42.Rc4 Qb5 43.Rc5 Qf1+ 44.Qc1 Qxc1+ 45.Kxc1 f6 46.gxf6 Nxf6 47.Ra5 Kf8 48.Ra8+ Ke7 49.Rxa4 Rd6 50.Rc4 g5 51.a4 g4 52.a5 g3 53.Rc3 f4 54.a6 g2 55.Nf3 Nd5 56.a7 Nc7 57.Rb3 Rd8 58.Rb8 Kd7 59.Kd1 Na8 60.Ke2 Kc7 61.Rxd8 Kxd8 62.Kf2 Anand surrenders.

Game 4, blitz, White: Anand; Black: Rebel 10; English Opening: 1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.b3 Bg4 4.Bd2 Nd7 5.e3 Ngf6 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 e6 8.Nc3 dxc4 9.bxc4 Ne5 10.Qe2 Bb4 11.f4 Bxc3 12.Bxc3 Ne4 13.0-0-0 Ng3 14.Qe1 Nxh1 15.Bxe5 Qa5 16.Be2 Qxa2 17.Qxh1 0-0 18.g4 a5 19.Qe4 a4 20.Qc2 Qxc2+ 21.Kxc2 Rfc8 22.Kb2 a3+ 23.Ka2 f6 24.Bc3 Ra7 25.Rb1 Kf8 26.h4 Ke8 27.g5 Ke7 28.Rg1 fxg5 29.hxg5 c5 30.Bxg7 Kf7 31.Bc3 Rc7 32.Rh1 Ke8 33.Bg4 Re7 Rebel 10 resigns.

Game 5, semi-rapid format, White: Rebel 10; Black: Anand; Caro-Kann Defence: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.h5 Bh7 8.Nf3 Nf6 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bd2 Be7 12.0- 0-0 0-0 13.Ne5 Nbd7 14.f4 c5 15.Bc3 Nd5 16.dxc5 Nxc5 17.Qf3 Rc8 18.Nf5 exf5 19.Rxd5 Qc7 20.Qh3 Ne4 21.Rd7 Qc5 22.Nd3 Qc4 23.Rxe7 Qxa2 24.Rxe4 fxe4 25.Nb4 Qa1+ 26.Kd2 Rfd8+ 27.Ke2 Qa4 28.Qf5 Anand resigns.

Game 6, semi-rapid format, White: Anand; Black: Rebel 10; Reti Opening: 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.0-0 Nc6 5.d3 e5 6.h3 be6 7.a3 Be7 8.b4 a6 9.Bb2 Nd7 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.e3 f5 12.c4 dxc4 13.dxc4 Bf6 14.Qc2 e4 15.Nd4 Nxd4 16.exd4 c6 17.Rfd1 Nb6 18.Bf1 Qc7 19.Nb3 Qf7 20.Na5 Rfd8 21.a4 Rd7 22.b5 axb5 23.axb5 Rc7 24.c5 cxb5 25.Bxb5 Rcc8 26.Qe2 Nd5 27.Nc4 Be7 28.Ne5 Qf6 29.Bc4 Qh6 30.h4 Kh8 31.Bc1 Rxa1 32.Bxh6 Nc3 33.Rxa1 Nxe2+ 34.Bxe2 gxh6 35.Ra7 Bf6 36.Rxb7 Bxe5 37.dxe5 Rxc5 38.Re7 Bd5 39.Rd7 bg8 40.Re7 Bd5 41.Rd7 bg8 42.Re7 Bd5 game drawn.

Scores after six games of the eight game tournament: Rebel 10: 4.5; Anand: 1.5.