Viswanathan Anand faces uphill task at London Chess Classic

SportsCafe Desk
no photo

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand is faced with an uphill task at the London Chess Classic after he drew against Michael Adams in the fourth round. The Indian plays Philippines-born American Wesley So next that he must win to keep his title hopes alive.

Anand began the tournament with a well fought draw against world No 2 Fabiano Caruana. The 24-year-old American Grandmaster, playing with white, had an opportunity to win before the experienced Indian steered the game to a draw and came out happier of the two with half a point.

Next up for Anand was world No 4 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Playing with white, Anand exacted his revenge for his loss at the MVL in 2015 with the Frenchman admitting after the game that he had been “out-prepared and outplayed.”

On his 47th birthday, the Indian went up against the enigmatic Hikaru Nakamura, who had only half a point from his first two games while Anand was joint-second behind Wesley So. A mistake on his 26th move created a ripple effect that saw Anand lose his first match of the tournament.

Anand played with white pieces against England’s Adams for a draw that put him on two points after four rounds.

A win in the fifth round today (Dec 13) will see Anand go level with tournament favorite So on three points while a defeat would certainly put the Indian out of title contention.

Get updates! Follow us on

laught0
astonishment0
sadness0
heart0
like0
dislike0

Comments

Sign up or log in to your account to leave comments and reactions

0 Comments