Former World Champion rallies to beat Nakamura in play-offs to win Tata Steel Chess.
Viswanathan Anand (left) beat Hikaru Nakamura in the play-offs of the Tata Steel Blitz tournament in Kolkata
Chennai:
“I’m really really happy,” Anand was quoted as saying after the win. “It was not that I was playing blitz particularly well yesterday or even this year – and Naka is a monster in blitz – so this victory came slightly against the odds.”
This title came after the reigning world rapid champion had lost to local challenger and his former second Surya Sekhar Ganguly in the final round to finish seventh in the Rapid tournament, with eight draws and one loss, on Sunday.
In blitz chess, each player gets only three minutes and +2 seconds (extra time) for each move. In rapid chess, players get 15 minutes and +10 seconds (extra time) for each move.
In the play-offs, Anand, who is world ranked 11 in blitz, was at his best, winning the first in an Italian game. Namamura took some risks initially, but Anand displayed a solid game with a one up pawn. They had a rook and pawn endgame where Anand sealed the issue with a superb display.
Down 0-1, Nakamura played with a long term strategy in the second game thinking Anand would break down trying to defend.
But Anand was at his aggressive best and went in for an all-out attack to put Nakamura in the back foot.
Finally, the game was forced in opposite square bishop endgame where Nakamura was forced to concede a draw and hand the title to Anand. Nakamura gave Anand the best compliment when he said there’s no reason why the 48-year-old 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, Gary kind of came out of retirement to play in St Lucia. And I think Vishy did better than he did. It just shows what a truly amazing chess player he is,” Nakamura said.
India’s Viswanathan Anand won the inaugural edition of the Tata Steel Chess Blitz tournament in Kolkata, beating Hikaru Nakamura of the US on Wednesday. The two players were tied after 18 rounds, but five-time world champion Anand triumphed 1.5-0.5 in the Blitz play-offs.
“I’m really really happy,” Anand was quoted as saying after the win. “It was not that I was playing blitz particularly well yesterday or even this year – and Naka is a monster in blitz – so this victory came slightly against the odds.”
This title came after the reigning world rapid champion had lost to local challenger and his former second Surya Sekhar Ganguly in the final round to finish seventh in the Rapid tournament, with eight draws and one loss, on Sunday.
In blitz chess, each player gets only three minutes and +2 seconds (extra time) for each move. In rapid chess, players get 15 minutes and +10 seconds (extra time) for each move.
In the play-offs, Anand, who is world ranked 11 in blitz, was at his best, winning the first in an Italian game. Namamura took some risks initially, but Anand displayed a solid game with a one up pawn. They had a rook and pawn endgame where Anand sealed the issue with a superb display.
Down 0-1, Nakamura played with a long term strategy in the second game thinking Anand would break down trying to defend.
But Anand was at his aggressive best and went in for an all-out attack to put Nakamura in the back foot.
Finally, the game was forced in opposite square bishop endgame where Nakamura was forced to concede a draw and hand the title to Anand. Nakamura gave Anand the best compliment when he said there’s no reason why the 48-year-old 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, Gary kind of came out of retirement to play in St Lucia. And I think Vishy did better than he did. It just shows what a truly amazing chess player he is,” Nakamura said.