Croatia Grand Chess Tour: Anand suffers second defeat

In the only decisive encounter of the ninth round, Mamedyarov won in 45 moves and ended Anand’s seven-game sequence of draws.

Viswanathan Anand with 3.5 points, is placed eleventh in the elite 12-player field. He will face Sergey Karjakin next.

Viswanathan Anand lost to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and suffered his second defeat in the Croatia Grand Chess Tour here on Saturday. In the only decisive encounter of the ninth round, Mamedyarov won in 45 moves and ended Anand’s seven-game sequence of draws. World champion Magnus Carlsen led with seven points.

 

THE RESULTS:Ninth round: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 4.5) bt Viswanathan Anand (3.5). Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 7) drew with Levon Aronian (Arm, 5.5). Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus, 5.5) drew with Wesley So (USA, 6.5). Caruana Fabiano (USA, 5.5) drew with Ding Liren (Chn, 5). Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 4.5) drew with Anish Giri (Ned, 4.5). Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 3.5) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 4.5).