Viswanathan Anand, after a hat-trick of defeats, resumed his search for a win with a sedate 82-move draw against Anish Giri in the opening game of the fourth round of chess24 Legends of Chess on Friday.
Since both had lost in three games in the third round, a cautious approach was expected. This equal game was the last to finish after overnight leaders Magnus Carlsen and Peter Svidler defeated Boris Gelfand and Ding Liren to inch towards their fourth successive win. Other games were drawn.
The Giri-Anand game was a positional warfare with neither player getting an edge in the 50-minute contest. Peace prevailed when both were left with a rook each in the company of their kings.
Losing to Kramnik
On Thursday, the impact of the loss in the opening game led to Anand’s 0.5-2.5 defeat to Vladimir Kramnik.
In the second game, Anand started aggressively with black and launched a desperate attack on Kramnik’s king by exposing his own castled king! Kramnik withstood the pressure and slowly seized the initiative to force a resignation.
The third game, where Anand played white in a must-win situation, was fought on an even keel with neither player getting any chance to force a win. Since Kramnik needed only a draw, the match was over with a game to spare.
The results:
Fourth round: Game One: Anish Giri (Ned) drew with Viswanathan Anand; Magnus Carlsen (Nor) bt Boris Gelfand (Isr); Peter Svidler (Rus) bt Ding Liren (Chn); Vladimir Kramnik (Rus) drew with Peter Leko (Hun); Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus) drew with Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr).
Third round: Kramnik bt Anand 2.5-0.5; Carlsen bt Leko 2.5-1.5; Svidler bt Gelfand 2.5-1.5; Nepomniachtchi bt Giri 2.5-0.5; Ivanchuk bt Ding 2.5-1.5 .
