Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands): Defending champion Viswanathan Anand was brilliance personified as he crashed through the defences of overnight leader Vladimir Akopian of Armenia to emerge as leader in the Corus Chess tournament now underway.

In category-19, 14-players event, Anand is in sole lead on 1.5 points from his two games and has done what might effectively be useful.

A victory against someone who beats Kramnik can be really handy in a tournament like this. Just the right kind of manoeuvres frustrated Akopian into going for an exchange sacrifice that yielded nothing as Anand defended with precision.

The final position was a picturesque sight as Anand threatened to push his passed king pawn to glory, leaving his king in an optical danger and his rook en prise. The game lasted 45 moves.

Anand looked in some temporary problems as his attack on the king took a back seat in the middle game stage and he resorted to the defence of his apparently vulnerable king on the other flank after netting himself a pawn amidst complexities.