Anand continues fine run, wins Tal Memorial rapid chess title
MOSCOW: World rapid champion Viswanathan Anand continued his fine run in the faster version of the game and annexed the Tal Memorial rapid chess title here after an easy final round draw against Boris Gelfand of Israel.
Anand finished with six points out of a possible nine points, scoring four wins and four draws. His solitary loss came at the hands of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan in the third round but thereafter the Indian ace showed his superb form.
Anand defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexander Grischuk and Daniil Dubov of Russia and Hikaru Nakamura of United States enroute to his final score.
The most crucial was his victory over Grischuk in the penultimate round that sealed the title for Anand.
It was a Sicilian defense where Anand employed the Rossolimo variation with his white pieces.
The players castled on the opposite wing and the king hunt was on from the early middle game stages.
Anand sacrificed a pawn to open up the position and Grischuk erred by going for counter attack when he had to defend precisely.
What followed was a treat for the spectators as Anand came up with a startling knight and rook sacrifice to force checkmate. The game lasted 30 moves.
For Anand this was another fine victory to add to his world rapid title won in Riyadh just over two months ago. The Indian will now try to repeat his performance in the blitz tournament that will see a few players added to the present list.