A victory against old nemesis Magnus Carlsen of Norway seems to have spurred on Viswanathan Anand as he went on to regain the World Rapid Chess Championship in Riyadh on Thursday.
Anand, who took revenge of his 2013 World Championship loss as he defeated World No 1 Magnus Carlsen in their ninth round match on Wednesday, was placed joint second at the start of the final five rounds (11 to 15) on Thursday, but came back strongly to bag the title on tie-break after a three-way tie with Russians Vladimir Fedoseev and Ian Nepomniachtchi at 10.5 points from a possible 15.
Anand then defeated Fedoseev 2-0 in a two-game tie-break to win the title.
On Thursday, Anand played out couple of draws before defeating Russia’s Alexander Grischuk in the 14th and penultimate round of the tournament with white pieces. With leader Carlsen held to a draw by Vladislav Artemiev of Russia, Anand joined the Norwegian at the top.
In the final round, Anand drew with Bu Xiangzhi of China while Carlsen suffered a shock defeat to Grishchuk.
At the end of fifteen rounds, Anand remained unbeaten in the competition with six wins and nine draws. The former World No 1, who had lost his crown to Carlsen in 2013, reclaimed the title he had won in 2003 beating Vladikir Kramnik in the final. Anand, who had a indifferent season so far thus finished an underwhelming year on a rousing note.
HT
