Chess
Norway Chess: Viswanathan Anand beats Radjabov; trails Carlsen by 0.5 points
Viswanathan Anand continued his winning run at the ongoing Norway Chess as he brushed past Azerbaijan's Teimour Radjabov in an Armageddon.
Viswanathan Anand (Source: FIDE/Twitter)
Indian chess maestro Viswanathan Anand continued his winning run at the ongoing Norway Chess as he brushed past Azerbaijan's Teimour Radjabov in an Armageddon. Anand now trails world champion and local boy Magnus Carlsen by just half a point.
The classical game between Anand and Radjabov started off with the Italian opening. Despite playing with white pieces, the former world champion failed to eke out any advantage but he put Radjabov under some serious time crunch. The Azerbaijan GM was, however, as solid as ever with the black and managed to hold Anand for a draw despite being low on time.
Having made a habit of clinching matches in Armageddons, Anand once again struck the vital blow. Playing with the white pieces and a win being the only option to bag the tie, the Indian was pushed to the backfoot early on after a vicious attack from Radjabov.
Anand, however, kept defending well until Radjabov blundered with a tactical error in a very crucial moment. The 52-year-old spotted it with relative ease and forced a resgination in just 25 moves.
Viswanathan Anand is now just half a point behind tournament leader Magnus Carlsen, who fell to a shock defeat against Dutch GM Aryan Tari in an Armageddon on Tuesday.
