Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand finished second in the Croatia Grand Chess Tour on Sunday. Anand put on a brilliant performance and defeated his rival Garry Kasparov.
Viswanathan Anand in the Croatia Grand Chess Tour
Anand had also crushed Kasparov on the first day of the Blitz on Saturday. Playing with white pieces, Anand beats the 13th world champion in half an hour in the fourth round of the Blitz event. On the first day of the Blitz on Saturday, the Former World Champion recorded four wins, drawn three matches, and suffered two defeats.
In the 13th round on Sunday, Anand came up with an outstanding performance once again to defeat Garry Kasparov. Playing black, Anand got the better of Russian legend in 25 moves. Anand ended up seventh after the Rapid section, with nine points.
Anand scored 21 points from the rapid and blitz sections combined. On Sunday, Anand started with a bang and continued his excellent form. He drew his first three games of the day, with Anish Giri (the Netherlands) in Round 10, Jan-Kryzstof Duda (Poland) in Round 11, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) in Round 12 before crushing Kasparov.
Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave claimed the title with a round to spare. He jumped to the top of the standings after 14 rounds with 19.5 points followed by Nepomniachtchi. Indian ace Anand secured a draw in his 18th round game against Alexander Grischuk to finish with 21 points to finished second. He received USD 25,000 as prize money for his second-place finish.
“I basically lost two normal positions with two big blunders, against Shakh and Maxime. So first of all, I tried to stop blundering and pull myself together. In general, I do not think I played too well, but it was enough to change the flow and score some wins,” Nepomniachtchi said to chess.com
Standings
1. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) 23 points
2. Viswanathan Anand 21
3. Anish Giri (Ned) 20.5
4-5. Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus) and Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Pol) 20
6. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze) 19
7. Alexander Grischuk (Rus) 18
8. Anton Korobov (Ukr) 15.5
9. Garry Kasparov (Rus)/Ivan Saric (Cro) 12.5
10. Jorden Van Foreest (Ned) 10.5