Anand falters after creating a masterpiece against Kramnik

In a clash involving former World champions, Anand missed a winning continuation a move before resigning

July 23, 2020 10:57 pm | Updated 10:57 pm IST - NEW DELHI

Viswanathan Anand.

Viswanathan Anand.

Viswanathan Anand suffered a painful defeat after failing to put the finishing touches to a masterpiece he created against Vladimir Kramnik in the first game of the third round chess24 Legends of Chess on Thursday.

In a clash involving former World champions, Anand missed a winning continuation a move before resigning. All credit to the now-retired Kramnik for finding the defensive moves and coming out stronger in 63 moves.

The other decisive game of the round also followed a similar course with Anish Giri losing his way after attaining a winning position against Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Late on Wednesday, Anand cracked in the fourth game, Gelfand and Svidler won while Ding Liren lost again. Anand, after proving equal to Carlsen in the first three games, overlooked a trick from the World champion while enjoying a clear positional advantage and resigned.

Unlike the blunder committed against Svidler almost 24 hours before that, Anand fought on but lack of time on the clock made matters worse for him.

Third round (Game 1): Viswanathan Anand lost to Vladimir Kramnik (Rus); Peter Leko (Hun) drew with Magnus Carlsen (Nor); Boris Gelfand (Isr) drew with Peter Svidler (Rus); Anish Giri (Ned) lost to Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus); Ding Liren (Chn) drew with Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr).

Second round: Nepomniachtchi bt Ding 2.5-0.5; Carlsen bt Anand 2.5-1.5; Svidler bt Leko 2.5-1.5; Giri bt Kramnik 2-5-1.5; Gelfand bt Ivanchuk 2.5-1.5 .

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.