Chess great Vishy Anand went toe-to-toe with World Champion Magnus Carlsen today before finally collapsing in round 2 of the chess24 Legends of Chess online super-tournament.
The veteran former world title-holder, playing the man who took the crown off him seven years ago, battled hard but ultimately came up short in today's marquee tie.
Anand and Carlsen famously played World Championship matches in 2013 and 2014 in which the Norwegian came out on top. Carlsen has dominated world chess since. But any thoughts that an in-form Carlsen would brush aside the 50-year-old legend were quickly dispelled as Anand played solidly to hold for three consecutive draws.
Carlsen, who is playing from a boat in the Mediterranean Sea, eventually broke through in the final game to pick up the maximum 3 tournament points.
The World Champion is looking in ominous form having won both his opening matches in the $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour event which he entered on the back of winning the Chessable Masters earlier this month.
World number 3 Ding Liren's woes continued as he looked badly out-of-form against Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Ding, who has been dogged by connection problems in previous tournaments, went down 2.5-0.5. He has now lost 2/2 rounds while the Russian Nepomniachtchi has won both his matches.
Boris Gelfand, the oldest in the field who downed Ding yesterday, claimed another scalp when he overpowered Vasyl Ivanchuk in the final game to take the match 2.5-1.5.
Vladimir Kramnik, the man who dethroned Garry Kasparov to become the 14th World Chess Champion, blew a chance to take his match against Anish Giri to an Armageddon tiebreak.
Giri, Netherlands number 1, then secured the draw he needed in their last game to take the match 2.5-1.5.
The "Peter derby" match-up between 2004 world title challenger Peter Leko and eight-time Russian champ Peter Svidler also ended in a 2.5-1.5 win for Svidler. The Russian was not particularly happy with the level of play he demonstrated in two starting games but found consolation in two straight wins in games 3 and 4.
The event, the fourth leg of the $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, runs until August 5 and will carry a $150,000 prize fund.
The winner will scoop a top prize of $45,000 and the last of the coveted spots in the tour’s Grand Final in August.
Tournament rules and schedule
The time control will be a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone. There will be two stages starting with a 10-player round-robin (July 21-29) with each round consisting of 4-game matches and Armageddon tiebreaks if needed.
The top four will advance to the knockout semi-finals (July 31-August 2) and two will go through to the final (August 3-5). July 30 is a free day. All sessions will begin at 16:00 CEST.
Highlights in English:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Rmx6IFrFYxYPrNhZVtxZbRWTiMAIICvc?usp=sharing
New files at around 23.00 CEST
Rough edit highlights:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SItw6DwCyoTsZ0WiVAjw4BkVHEaGQFDI?usp=sharing
New files ready around 02.00 CEST
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Leon Watson
leon@chessable.com
+447786 078770
