Viswanathan Anand ends tragic legends campaign after eighth defeat


Viswanathan Anand ends tragic legends campaign after eighth defeat

Vishwanath Anand

Indian GM Viswanathan Anand underwent his eighth loss in the USD 150,000 Legends of Chess online tournament, Anand was defeated by long-time rival Vasyl Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the final round.

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Vasyl Ivanchuk defeat Viswanathan Anand

Anand finished off the tournament in the ninth position behind GM Peter Leko who ended last. After all the four games ended in draws, the Anand-Ivanchuk contest went into the Armageddon (a tie-breaker), which also finished in a standstill.

The Ukrainian appeared triumphant as he played black in the decider late on Wednesday. Anand opened the match with a 57-move draw and the tie evolved in the same streak with the players opting for quiet draws. The Armageddon game was a 59-move affair before the former world champion ratified truce with Ivanchuk.

The 50-year old Indian finished ninth in the standings with 7 match points and a secluded win (over Boris Gelfand) on his debut in the Magnus Carlsen Tour.

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In other matches, world No.1 Magnus Carlsen beat Vladimir Kramnik 3-1 to finish with an all-win record after nine matches in the preliminary stage.

The Norwegian will now play Russia’s Peter Svidler in the semi-finals, while Anish Giri (Hungary) takes on Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) in a replica of their Chessable Master’s semi-final.

The tournament is part of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour and the winner of this event qualifies for the USD 300,000 Grand Final planned from August 9 to 20.

Results of Round 9:

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• Vasyl Ivanchuk (Ukraine) beat Viswanathan Anand (India) 2.5-2.5 (Ivanchuk wins by playing black after Armageddon is drawn)

• Magnus Carlsen (Norway) beat Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) 3-1

• Boris Gelfand (Israel) beat Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) 3-2

• Anish Giri (The Netherlands) beat Peter Svidler (Russia) 2.5-1.5

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• Ding Liren (China) beat Peter Leko (Hungary) 2.5-1.5.

Final standings:

  1. Carlsen 25 match points
  2. Nepomniachtchi 20
  3. Giri 18
  4. Svidler 14
  5. Ivanchuk 13
  6. Kramnik 12
  7. Gelfand 11
  8. Liren 7
  9. Anand 7
  10. Leko 6

Also Read Viswanathan Anand suffers 7th defeat in Legends of Chess Tournament