Anand draws with Nakamura to regain India No.1 spot
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand settled for a draw against Hikaru Nakamura in the fifth-round at the Candidates Tournament to regain the India No.1 position. Anand had fallen behind Pentala Harikrishna in the ELO ratings after a fourth-round loss to Sergey Karjakin on Tuesday.
Although the Tiger of Madras started with a win against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the opening round of the 14-round tournament, the last four rounds have been a disappointment for the former World champion after suffering three draws and a defeat. A loss against Russia’s Sergey Karjakin also saw him losing his India No.1 position after almost three decades. The Indian regained his spot after just 24 hours, earning an easy draw against with white against Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the fifth round of the tournament.
The game lasted just 28 moves with both players playing it safe. Anand started the game with his king pawn and pushed it to 1.e4 following a similar pattern, which he has been using in the tournament. Nakamura chose the solid Berlin Defence and opted to take no chances early on in the game. The game followed a dull pattern as both players continued making natural moves to end it in a draw after two hours of play.
The draw gave Anand 0.4 points in the ELO ratings to regain his top spot jumping above Pentala Harikrishna. In the Candidates chess tournament, Anand has a fifty percent score of 2.5/5 with one win, three draws and a loss. Sergey Karjakin leads the tournament with 3.5/5, while Levon Aronian is on 3.0/5. Caruana, Giri and Svidler are all in the third position along with Anand after five rounds.