Norway chess 2022: Anand, Giri share honours in round six; Carlsen moves into lead

The classical match ended in a draw after which the Armageddon ended in stalemate to leave Anand on 11.5 points and in second place. Magnus Carlsen sits at the top with 12.5 points.

FILE PHOTO: Anand, who had shocked Carlsen in the previous round, takes on Teimour Radjabov in round eight.

Viswanathan Anand prevailed over Anish Giri by drawing with black pieces in their Armageddon game before Magnus Carlsen produced a brilliant display to beat Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to snatch the lead after six rounds of  2022 Norway Chess at Stavanger on Monday. With Carlsen’s victory coming in the classical game and fetching him three points, to Anand’s 1.5, the top seeded Norwegian raised his tally to 12.5 points from a maximum of 19. Anand slipped to second place with 11.5 points from 20.

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Anand and Anish drew their classical game in 35 moves following repetition of moves. In the Armageddon game, Anand stayed in complete control with black pieces and accepted a draw in a winning position in their 45-move clash. Later, asked to comment on Anand, Anish said, “He was slowing down… and now he’s going backwards. He’s speeding up! He was getting slower and slower and slower, until at some point he reached the peak of slowness, he was a slow player at some point, and then it went the other way. He became faster, faster and faster, and now he’s super-fast again. He’s playing like… I never played the young Vishy, but something like Ian Nepomniachtchi plays. He plays just very fast and relies on calculation and preparation, and it’s a way to play, just to play very quickly, and it’s one of the more unpleasant styles to face.”

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Carlsen, who reached a classical live rating of 2780 and traded places with Anand on the points table in spite of losing to the 52-year-old Indian, said, “He's very impressive, but I hope to be ahead of him in the standings at the end!”  

The results:Sixth round: Anish Giri (Ned, 8/20) drew with Viswanathan Anand (11.5/20); Armageddon: Anish drew with Anand; (Anand adjudged winner) Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 12.5/19) bt Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 8.5/20); Wesley So (USA, 10/20.5) drew with Aryan Tari (Nor, 7/20); Armageddon: So bt Tari; Wang Hao (Chn, 4/20) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 8.5/20); Armageddon: Wang lost to Vachier; Teimour Radjabov (Aze, 4/19.5) drew with Veselin Topalov (Bul, (6/20.5); Armageddon: Radjabov drew with Topalov (Topalov adjudged winner).