Shamkir Chess | Viswanathan Anand falls to Sergey Karjakin in sixth round
Viswanathan Anand suffered a loss against Russia’s Sergey Karjakin despite putting hard work in the sixth round of Shamkir Chess tournament in Azerbaijan on Saturday. Karjakin joined Magnus Carlsen of Norway in lead on four points out of a possible six following the win against Anand.
Viswanathan Anand shared joint second spot with Russia’s Sergey Karjakin, with three points from five rounds. However, the Indian GM suffered a disappointing loss against Karjakin. Playing the black side of a queen’s gambit declined, Anand’s thorough preparation ahead of the match should have been good enough for a draw but Karjakin pressed hard where it mattered and went on to secure a rare victory against his Indian counterpart. In doing so, the Russian player joined Magnus Carlsen of Norway in lead on four points out of a possible six following the unforeseen win against Anand.
Anand looked to have had done enough to secure a draw with a long opening variation where the Indian had done the hard work to equal endgame with a knight and a double rook. Karjakin, however, pressed on for a long time in an equal position and the former world number one could not find the right way out.
Carlsen and Karjakin share the lead in Azerbaijan on four points each from six games are followed by a long list of players having three points apiece in this ten player nine-rounds event. Anand occupies the third spot next to Ding Liren, Veselin Topalov, Teimour Radjabov and Alexander Grischuk having three points each while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Anish Giri are struggling on two points from six matches.