Searching for form, Viswanathan Anand lived dangerously before carving out a fine 45-move win over Boris Gelfand in the first game of the sixth round of chess24 Legends of Chess on Monday.
A day after losing the tie-breaking Armageddon game, this time to Ian Nepomniachtchi, Anand found himself in serious trouble in the middle game. He conceded too much space to Gelfand whose well-placed pieces appeared ready to launch a serious offensive on black’s castled king.
Even as Ding Liren lost one more time after losing his internet connection against Anish Giri and before Vassily Ivanchuk stunned Vladimir Kramnik, Anand chose to sacrifice a knight for two pawns, including one in the centre, exchanged a few pieces to ease the pressure. But advantage remained with Gelfand.
Comeback
With three connected passed pawns on the queenside, Anand kept his fighting chances alive. He eventually equalised around the 35th move, traded all his pieces over the next 10 moves and forced Gelfand to resign after planting two connected pawns on the seventh rank.
On Sunday, Anand lost the second game but drew level to force the Armageddon game by winning the fourth game with black pieces. However, in the decider, he proved far slower than ‘speed-king’ Nepomniachtchi, who won with white. with more than a minute to spare on his clock.
The results: Seventh round (Game One): Boris Gelfand (Isr) lost to Viswanathan Anand; Magnus Carlsen (Nor) drew with Peter Svidler (Rus); Peter Leko (Rus) drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus); Ding Liren (Chn) lost to Anish Giri (Ned); Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr) bt Vladimir Kramnik (Rus).
Sixth round: Nepomniachtchi bt Anand 3-2; Kramnik bt Gelfand 3-2; Svidler bt Ivanchuk 3-2; Giri bt Leko 2.5-1.5.