Norway chess: Viswanathan Anand serves it to Carlsen again, moves top after win

Stavanger, June 6

Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand returned to winning ways, beating world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the fifth round of the classical section early on Monday in the Norway Chess tournament.

After defeating the Norwegian superstar in the blitz event that preceded the classical section, Anand claimed victory in a thrilling Armageddon (sudden death) game after the regular match ended in a 40-move draw. With this win, he climbed to the top spot in the standings.

In the Armageddon game, the 52-year old recreated the magic of old, stunning Carlsen in 50 moves. With 10 points, the Indian GM leads the field, with four more rounds to go in the prestigious tournament that features some of the world’s best players. Anand had started the classical section with three straight wins, beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) and Wang Hao (China) before American Wesley So ended his streak in the fourth round.

Carlsen sits second with 9.5 points despite the loss to his long-time rival. So, who won the blitz section, shares the third spot with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) on 8.5 points.

In the fifth round, So went down to Mamedyarov via Armageddon. There were wins for Anish Giri (the Netherlands) and Norway’s Aryan Tari over Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) and Hao, respectively, in the fifth round.