Viswanathan Anand wins Tata Steel blitz tournament in style

Kolkata: Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand saved his best for the last to clinch the inaugural Tata Steel Chess India Blitz Tournament by getting past overnight leader Hikaru Nakamura in the playoff here on Wednesday.

The 48-year-old five-time world champion, who was fourth after the first leg, secured six wins and three draws in the final nine rounds to draw level with the world number three of blitz Nakamura.

In the two-round play-off which was faster than blitz in reduced time format of a three-minute game, Anand won with white pieces, before drawing with black to seal the issue 1.5-0.5.

“Today was just like a dream. I wanted to show the audience what is that I do in some other part of the world all the time and it was nice to be able to do it here,” Anand said during the prize distribution ceremony.

In the blitz category, Anand had last won a bronze medal at the World Championship in December 2017 Riyadh, in the same meet where he had won the rapid title.

Nakamura, meanwhile, had a forgettable outing on the final leg where he eked out four victories and four draws and suffered a defeat to Pentala Harikrishna in the 11th round.

Praising Anand, he said there is no reason why the legendary player should stop playing. “To me what Vishy has done....I am almost certain I won’t be playing chess at that age. So it’s really remarkable and I think especially if you compare (him) against Gary (Kasparov) for example.” (IANS)

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