Croatia Grand Chess Tour: Anand held to draw in sixth-round
(PTI desk)
Former chess world champion Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by Russia's Alexander Grischuk in the sixth round of the Croatia Grand Chess Tour tournament on Thursday. The Indian Grandmaster (GM) was held to a 40-move draw in a Ruy Lopez game and now has seven points after the sixth round. Here are more details.
Anand scored impressive fifth round win in rapid competition earlier
Earlier, Anand had scored an impressive fifth-round win over Anton Korobov of Ukraine in the rapid competition. To recall, he had also drawn his fourth-round game against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan in 70 moves in an Alekhine variation game.
Anand started with a fluent win over Dutch Grandmaster Foreest
The 51-year old Indian maestro, who is playing his first over-the-board event in more than a year, quelled the challenge of Korobov in the fifth round which saw the other four games end in stalemate. To note, he had started the tournament on Wednesday with a fluent win over Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest before faltering against France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the second round.
He drew his third-round match against Nepomniachtchi
Anand drew his third-round match against Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi. The Russian Grandmaster—who will challenge Magnus Carlsen for the World champion title later—continued to lead the table after five rounds following a win over compatriot Alexander Grischuk and a draw against Poland player Jan-Krzystof Duda.
The tournament will see 10 elite Grandmasters compete
The tournament will see 10 elite Grandmasters competing over nine rapid chess rounds (July 7-9) and 18 blitz chess rounds (July 10-11) for a total prize fund of $150,000. In rapid chess, players get 25 minutes to complete the game with 10-second increments after each move. In blitz chess, players get five minutes for the game with two seconds' increment after each move.
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