Moderate day for Viswanathan Anand, Gukesh shines with twin wins at Grand Chess Tour

Viswanathan Anand (Pic: AFP)

It was a moderate run for Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand on day two of the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz chess tournament, part of the Grand Chess Tour, winning, drawing and losing a game each.

The day began on a good note, with Anand beating Ivan Saric in round four before settling for a draw against Fabiano Caruana and ended with a loss to world No.1 Magnus Carlsen on Thursday.

Anand's compatriot - GM D Gukesh, bounced back from a below par start to win two matches and drew one to climb to the joint second spot.

Gukesh had a fine run, beating Constantin Lupulescu and Saric after drawing with Richard Rapport in the day's first game.

A surging Ian Nepomniachtchi and Caruana were able to catch Anand during the second day. All three now have eight points and share the top spot followed by Gukesh and Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), who are on seven points each.

Nepomniachtchi won all three games to tie for the lead going into the last day of the rapid.

Also Read: Indian ace Viswanathan Anand off to flying start in Grand Chess Tour in Zagreb

The day started off with a shock for Carlsen, as he lost back-to-back games to Caruana and Firouzja. However, the former five-time World Chess Champion bounced back in the final round, with a nice technical win against Anand in a rook endgame.

A blitz segment will follow the rapid event in the tournament which features top players including Carlsen, Anand and Nepomniachtchi among others.

The time control for the rapid portion is 25+10, with 2 points awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 for a loss. The blitz portion will have a time control of 5+2, using the typical 1, 1/2, 0 scoring system.

The Grand Chess Tour is a circuit of international events, featuring the world's best players.

(With PTI inputs)