Anand suffers shock loss against Kramnik
Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand’s quest for a record sixth title suffered a setback as he slumped to a shock defeat against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the seventh round of the Tata Steel Masters chess tournament here.
Having done quite well so far, Anand went for unwarranted complications against Kramnik who was at his best to match his opponent.
The Italian opening by the Indian became very complicated when Anand decided to keep his king in the middle of the board and Kramnik showed deep understanding in finding the right manoeuvres.
As it happened in the game, Anand’s king proved to be under more danger than the counterpart and Kramnik skilfully deployed his forces to carve out a fine victory in 36 moves. The loss proved costly as Anand slipped to joint sixth spot from his overnight joint second position.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan stretched his lead to a full point after his third
WIJK AAN ZEE, THE NETHERLANDS:
straight victory in the tournament.
GOLFER SHIV FINISHES TIED 23RD
Indian golfer Shiv Kapur finished tied 23rd after a disappointing three-over in the fourth final round, while compatriots Jyoti Randhawa and Gaganjeet Bhullar shared the 27th spot in the $1 million SMBC Singapore Open here.
Shiv totalled two-under 282 (70-67-71-74) -- one stroke ahead of Randhawa and Bhullar -- after four days of competition at the Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong course.
Arjun Atwal was joint 47th with a total of two-over 286 (73-6774-72), while S. Chikka shared the 60th position on five-over 289 total.
SENTOSA(SINGAPORE):