Anand ends 20-year wait at home in dramatic ending
Viswanathan Anand may look like struggling to keep up with the young generation but when it comes to the crunch, the old dog can still bite and leave a lasting mark too. Inching towards 49 years, the Madras Tiger roared into action on the final day of the Tata Steel Chess India 2018, surging ahead from the middle of the table to win his first tournament on Indian soil in 20 years in dramatic playoff.
The Indian maestro, who had finished a poor seventh in the rapid section, defeated Hikaru Nakamura 1.5-0.5 in the twogame playoff to claim the blitz title and prove that writing him off due to his age and indifferent results is a big mistake the chess world is making. He had proved that by winning the World Rapid Championship in Riyadh in 2016 and he reinforced his statement that he has a lot to contribute to in world of chess by winning a title in a tournament that had four of the top 10 players.
Anand was at his brilliant best against Nakamura in the first playoff game as he defeated Nakamura with a superb game that left the American Grandmaster, the second highest ranked player in blitz in the world, shaking his head. Anand won the game and then thwarted some desperate attempts to force win from Nakamura in the second playoff game, playing precise moves to counter the valiant moves by his young rival to steer the game to draw and claim the title. In the nine games played on Wednesday, Anand won six games against three draws, as against in rapid section in which he drew eight games and lost only one.
Going into the 17th and penultimate round of the two-day blitz competition at the Tata Steel Chess India 2018, three players – Viswanathan Anand was sharing the top spot Hikaru Nakamura, winner of the rapid section and Levon Aronian.
In such a crucial game, Anand would not have expected to face the Breyer Variation in Ruy Lopez, a closed system in which the player with black pieces tries to develop his knights to good squares, hoping to make his opponent to force things. Harikrishna threw him the challenge and Anand grabbed it and overturned the tables on his compatriot.
Anand won that game and with NakamuraoutplayingVidit,they shared the lead. Thus it all came down to the final round with Anand taking on Aronian and Nakamura taking on 13-year-old R Praggnanandhaa. Anand drew with Aronian. PraggnanandhaaNakamura duel too ended in a draw, forcing Anand and Nakamura into a playoff.
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