Anand stopped by So, shares lead with Carlsen

Stavanger, June 4

Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand’s winning run in the classical event of the Norway Chess tournament came to an end when he suffered a loss to American Wesley So in the fourth round here today.

The 52-year-old former world champion now shares the lead with Norway’s Magnus Carlsen on 8.5 points.

The regular classical game between Anand and So had ended in a draw in 28 moves. The American then beat the Indian GM in 46 moves via the Armageddon (sudden death) game.

Anand had posted wins over France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and China’s Wang Hao in the first three rounds.

Meanwhile, Carlsen defeated Dutchman Anish Giri to pick up three points and join Anand at the top.

In another decisive game in Round 4, Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated Hao, while Teimour Radjabov and Topalov won via the Armageddon against Vachier-Lagrave and Norway’s Aryan Tari, respectively.