Grand Chess Tour: Anand has moderate day; Gukesh shines with twin wins

Chess Grandmaster and former World champion Viswanathan Anand interacts with chess enthusiasts during International Chess Tournament, in Mumbai.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Indian maestro Viswanathan Anand had a moderate run on day two of the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz chess tournament, part of the Grand Chess Tour, winning, drawing and losing a game each.

Anand began the day well, beating Ivan Saric in round four before settling for a draw against Fabiano Caruana and ended with a loss to world No.1 Magnus Carlsen on 6th July.

Anand’s compatriot – GM D Gukesh, bounced back from a below par start to win two matches and drew one to climb to the joint second spot.

Gukesh had a fine run, beating Constantin Lupulescu and Saric after drawing with Richard Rapport in the day’s first game.

A surging Ian Nepomniachtchi and Caruana were able to catch Anand during the second day. All three now have eight points and share the top spot followed by Gukesh and Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), who are on seven points each.

Nepomniachtchi won all three games to tie for the lead going into the last day of the rapid.

The day started off with a shock for Carlsen, as he lost back-to-back games to Caruana and Firouzja. However, the former five-time World Chess Champion bounced back in the final round, with a nice technical win against Anand in a rook endgame.

A blitz segment will follow the rapid event in the tournament which features top players including Carlsen, Anand and Nepomniachtchi among others.

The time control for the rapid portion is 25+10, with 2 points awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 for a loss. The blitz portion will have a time control of 5+2, using the typical 1, 1/2, 0 scoring system.

The Grand Chess Tour is a circuit of international events, featuring the world’s best players.