Viswanathan Anand faces uphill task at London Chess Classic

Anand began the tournament with a well fought draw against world No 2 Fabiano Caruana. The 24-year-old American Grandmaster, playing with white, had an opportunity to win before the experienced Indian steered the game to a draw and came out happier of the two with half a point.

Next up for Anand was world No 4 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Playing with white, Anand exacted his revenge for his loss at the MVL in 2015 with the Frenchman admitting after the game that he had been “out-prepared and outplayed.”

On his 47th birthday, the Indian went up against the enigmatic Hikaru Nakamura, who had only half a point from his first two games while Anand was joint-second behind Wesley So. A mistake on his 26th move created a ripple effect that saw Anand lose his first match of the tournament.

Anand played with white pieces against England’s Adams for a draw that put him on two points after four rounds.

A win in the fifth round today (Dec 13) will see Anand go level with tournament favorite So on three points while a defeat would certainly put the Indian out of title contention.