IOM Chess | Viswanathan Anand draws with Nils Grandelius; 12-year-old Indian boy upsets GM David Howell

Playing with black pieces for the first time in the tournament, Anand couldn’t live up to the expectations and settled for a draw after 30 moves to remain joint second with three points and will now face another Indian GM SP Sethuraman, who moved into the joint second position after beating GM Boris Gelfand of Israel in 52 moves. 

However, it was a good day at the office for Vidit Gujrathi, who took only 40 moves to get the better of Benjamin Bok. The fourth Indian to cross the 2700 ELO rating barrier, Gujrathi will now lock horns with American Grandmaster Aleksandr Lenderman in the fifth round.

Meanwhile, a 12-year-old International Master, R Praggnanandhaa took the world of chess by storm by creating one of the biggest upsets in the tournament by outwitting 26-year old British Grandmaster David Howell to move to the joint third position in the overall standing.

The IM from Chennai, who already has an ELO rating of 2500, showcased his immaculate ability and forced the British Champion into abject surrender in 64 moves to take his points tally to 3.5. This was Praggnanandhaa’s third win in five rounds with his only defeat coming against Englishman GM Michael Adams in the second round.

India’s top women’s player Grand Master D Harika, however, suffered a double whammy as she lost her second consecutive match on Wednesday. Three-time World Cup bronze Medallist, Harika, playing with white, lost to Anna Rudolf of Hungary.