The Fide world chess champion, Anatoly Karpov, has beaten Viswanathan Anand in the first of their six games for the Fide title and $1.37m.

The Russian overcame his 28-year-old Indian challenger after 108 moves and six hours to take the lead in the six-day contest in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Anand defeated the British player Michael Adams on Tuesday in the Netherlands to set up the match with Karpov.

In Saturday's game, Karpov, 46, led from the start and soon establish a lead, though he was forced to sacrifice many pieces before forcing Anand to resign.

If the two players are tied after playing all six games, extra tie-breaker quick-play games will be held.

The winner will take home the $1.37m purse; the loser gets around half that amount.

Karpov is rated fifth in the world after failing to win a single tournament last year.

His opponent is ranked third and lost to Garry Kasparov in the PCA world championship in 1994.

He may get the chance to challenge the PCA champion again if he manages to turn around his game against Karpov.
 

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