Norway Chess: Anand loses to Mamedyarov; Carlsen surges ahead

Anand showed impressive form with a victory over Carlsen but was outgunned by Mamedyarov in 22 moves in the Classical match in a Petroff Millenium Attack game.

Anand, who was in second spot behind world No.1 Carlsen after seven rounds, slipped to third with 13 points at the conclusion of the eighth and penultimate round. (File Photo)

Viswanathan Anand made a queen-move when his rival Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was not around. He noted down the move and at once realised the decisive error he had committed. He foresaw a two-move checkmate that Mamedyarov could deliver.

The moment Mamedyarov returned to the board, Anand surprised him by resigning. It took Mamedyarov some time to realise what had happened.

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Such was the dramatic end to Anand’s eighth-round clash in the Norway Chess at Stavanger on Thursday. The loss saw Anand (13 points) slip a rung to the third spot, behind leader Magnus Carlsen (15) and Mamedyaro (14.5).

As Mamedyarov recalled, “When I come to the board I see there’s something going wrong. The faces of the chess players, of other chess players, I think everyone saw this (move) Qxf3, only not me!… Here I asked (Anand) why he resigned, because it’s strange, and he asked me, "you don’t see this one?”

In the final round, Anand needs a victory over Aryan Tari to keep alive the chances of forcing a tie-breaker for the title.

The results:Eighth round: Viswanathan Anand (13/26.5) lost to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 14.5/26); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 15/26.5) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 12.5/26); Armageddon: Carlsen bt Vachier;  Wesley So (USA,11/27) drew with Veselin Topalov (Bul, 8.5/27.5); Armageddon: So lost to Topalov; Anish Giri (Ned, 11/26) bt Aryan Tari (Nor, 8.5/26.5); Teimour Radjabov (Aze, 6.5/26.5) drew with Wang Hao (Chn, 6.5/27); Armageddon: Radjabov bt Wang.