Candidates Chess: Anand loses lead after shock defeat against Nakamura
After a win against Karjakin, Viswanathan Anand suffered a shock loss to Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the 12th round of the Candidates Chess tournament at Moscow on Friday. It was the former world champion's third loss in the event, pushing him from the top of the table to the third spot.
Encounters against Anand have always seemed to bring out the best in Nakamura. The American, who has struggled so far in the tournament, raised his game when he faced off against the former world champion and pulled out a shock result.
Nakamura caught Anand off guard with an English opening, the move to which Anand lost against Fabiano Caruana in the 10th round. The American gained control of the match with that opening. Already on the back foot, Anand made a mistake with his 11th move, when he saved his opponent's Bishop from a pawn attack. That proved a costly mistake and eventually the Indian lost in just 26 moves.
Anand now faces an uphill task to overtake Fabiano Caruana and Sergey Karjakin, who are currently the joint-leaders at the top with seven points each, with just two rounds remaining. With 6.5 points, Anand is third in the table and will now face Anish Giri and Peter Svidler in his remaining two matches.
Round 12 results:
Peter Svidler 0.5-0.5 Anish Giri
Hikaru Nakamura 1-0 Viswanathan Anand
Sergey Karjakin 1-0 Veselin Topalov
Fabiano Caruana 0.5-0.5 Levon Aronian
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