Anand wins, Topalov loses ahead of their 'title-clash'

Just when it seemed Veselin Topalov could win the Norway Chess 2015 with a round to spare, Anish Giri’s conquest of the Bulgarian in the eighth round has given Viswanathan Anand an outside chance of claiming the title.

With just half a point separating Topalov and Anand, their final-round clash will decide the title.

Topalov (6 points) needs a draw while second-placed Anand (5.5) requires a victory from black pieces to top the field.

The day also saw Magnus Carlsen overpower Levon Aronian in an error-filled game where the Armenian had better of the exchanges until he messed it up.

Should Carlsen win with black pieces against his ‘second’ Jon Ludvig Hammer in the final round, the World champion could finish with a 50 percent score from the competition.

In what looked like a routine game in English Opening, Anand seized the opportunity when Hammer overestimated his position. The eventual trading of rooks saw Anand win a pawn in the bargain.

The five-time World champion gained another pawn after Hammer overlooked a simple tactic. The Norwegian gave up soon thereafter in the day’s shortest game lasting 37 moves.

Hikaru Nakamura looked like keeping Anand’s company at 5.5 points with a possible victory but soon Maxime Vachier-Lagrave found a way to force a draw. With Nakamura falling behind, Anand was solely in the second place.

In the last game to finish, Giri punished Topalov for his bid to find counter-play when the situation demanded an attempt to employ the best defensive plan.

At one stage, Giri seemed to have missed the winning continuation. But two moves later, the youngster was on course and the plan fetched him two pawns. Topalov gave up after 56 moves.

The results:

Eighth round: Viswanathan Anand (5.5) bt Jon Ludvig Hammer (Nor, 2); Anish Giri (Ned, 5) bt Veselin Topalov (Bul, 6); Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 5) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 3.5); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 3.5) bt Levon Aronian (Arm, 3); Alexander Grischuk (Rus, 3) drew with Fabiano Caruana (Ita, 3.5).

Final round pairings: Topalov-Anand, Vachier-Lagrave-Grischuk, Aronian-Nakamura, Hammer-Carlsen and Caruana-Giri.