After objectively gaining a position of strength, Viswanathan Anand ran out of time in the tie-breaking Armageddon game and that gave Anish Giri a 3-2 victory in the fourth round of chess.com Legends of Chess on Friday.
The four rapid games produced draws to leave the players locked at 2-2 that in turn, ensured a point to both players. Anand played white in the Armageddon, thereby getting five minutes on the clock to Giri’s four. Since black only needs to draw to emerge as ‘winner’in an Armageddon game, Giri used his well-known drawing skills to emerge unscathed.
A fourth defeat, accompanied by his first point in the competition, pushed Anand to the bottom of the 10-player points-table.
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Earlier, Magnus Carlsen blanked Boris Gelfand 3-0, a first result of this kind, to stay ahead with 12 points. Carlsen won the first game with some smart play before Gelfand resigned in the second rather quickly after losing a central pawn. In the third, a desperate Gelfand chose not to draw by repeating the moves, sacrificed his queen in search of victory but lost again.
The clash involving Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Leko produced some thrilling action. Kramnik survived the first game, held on to the position in the second, drew the third in 119 moves before winning the fourth in style.
It may be recalled that the two played the 2004 World championship final where Leko was just a draw away from being crowned the champion.
With Leko leading 7-6, Kramnik pulled off a stunning last-round victory to draw level and keep the title.
Another interesting battle of the day saw Ding Liren post his first victory following defeats in the first three rounds. And the man he defeated was the overnight joint-leader Peter Svidler, winner of the first three rounds.
Svidler took the lead by winning the first in an impressive manner.
Liren hit back immediately to draw level. Following a draw in the third, the Chinese won the fourth to spoil Svidler’s all-win record.
Ian Nepomniachtchi faced some firm resistance from Vassily Ivanchuk in the first three drawn games. In the fourth, the flashy Russian checkmated Ivanchuk to stay within a point of Carlsen.
Fourth round results: Anish Giri (Ned) bt Viswanathan Anand 3-2; Magnus Carlsen (Nor) bt Boris Gelfand (Isr) 3-0; Vladimir Kramnik (Rus) bt Peter Leko (Hun) 2.5-1.5; Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus) bt Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr) 2.5-1.5; Ding Liren (Chn) bt Peter Svidler (Rus) 2.5-1.5.
Fifth-round pairings: Anand-Leko; Carlsen-Ivanchuk; Nepomniachtchi-Svidler; Kramnik-Liren; Gelfand-Giri.
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