ANAND LOSES TO YANGYI IN NORWAY

Stavanger, Norway: Viswanathan Anand’s winning run of three matches came to an end as the Indian ace let go of a decent chance to lose to Yu Yangyi of China in the tiebreak game in the sixth round of Altibox Norway chess tournament here. Anand did not get much in the Classical game played earlier in the day. Yu Yangyi’s opening preparation was good and Anand also could not really dent his Petroff defense. The players had to fight out the Armageddon game soon after a draw was agreed and Anand deviated as early as in the second move when he went for the Bishop’s opening. Yangyi went for the main line but his position deteriorated in the middle game as Anand clearly had more knowledge. The Chinese parted with a pawn in order to get some play on the king side and it was here that Anand missed a tactical nuance. Yangyi won an exchange and it was all over in 48 moves. It was a day of unusual blunders in the tournament. American Wesley So allowed a checkmate in one, Ding Liren of China dropped a whole rook and Russian Alexander Grischuk just left his Bishop in front of his opponent’s Bishop. The big gainer was yet again Magnus Carlsen. The World Champion looked on the verge of his first defeat against Ding Liren in a pawn less rook and opposite coloured Bishops endgame but the latter simply blundered a rook in checks to rue his chances. Carlsen on 9.5 points stayed 1.5 points ahead of Yangyi, who is now on 8, and Levon Aronian of Armenia is sole third on 7.5 points. In a position that was likely to end in a draw through repetition, Aronian benefitted as Wesley So allowed a checkmate. Wesley slipped to sole fourth spot on 6.5 points, a full point ahead of Anand and Ding Liren who both now share the fifth spot on 5.5 points.