GCT Superbet: Valiant Anand shares second spot, behind Duda

Viswanathan Anand ensured the title with a round to spare after his nearest challenger Richard Rapport lost to Wesley So in the eighth and penultimate round.

Having entered the field as a wildcard, Anand appeared a strong contender to the overall title for the better part of the five-day competition. (File Photo)

Viswanathan Anand fought valiantly and signed off with two successive victories for a share of the second spot behind local favourite Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the Grand Chess Tour Superbet rapid and blitz tournament in Warsaw, Poland, on Monday.

Anand, winner of the rapid segment and overall leader after a day of blitz, finished with 23.5 points, same as Levon Aronian, and half a point behind the champion. The final day defeats to Duda and Aronian surely hurt Anand’s chances in spite of his strong finish.

Beginning the final day of nine-round of blitz games with a 1.5-point lead, Anand lost to Duda and Anton Korobov, drew with David Gavrilescu, defeated Kirill Shevchenko, lost to Aronian, drew with Wesley So and Caruana Fabiano, beat Richard Rapport and Radoslaw Wojtaszek.

Having entered the field as a wildcard, Anand appeared a strong contender to the overall title for the better part of the five-day competition. In fact, Anand scored over Aronian in the rapid format and Duda in the first blitz game. His other prominent victims included Wesley So (twice) and Richard Rapport.

Next, Anand will be seen in action in the 10th edition of the Norway Chess beginning in Stavanger on May 31st in an elite 10-player field headed by World champion Magnus Carlsen.