Grand Chess Tour: Mixed day for Viswanathan Anand

Anand, playing his first tournament for over a year, defeated Jorden Van Foreest of the Netherlands in the opening round before he ended the day with a defeat and a draw.

Published : Jul 08, 2021 00:09 IST , Kozhikode

Viswanathan Anand in Croatia.

Viswanathan Anand in Croatia.

Viswanathan Anand had a mixed day on his return to competitive chess on Wednesday.

The five-time World champion, playing his first tournament for over a year, defeated Jorden Van Foreest of the Netherlands in the opening round of the Croatia Grand Chess Tour at Zagreb.

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But he went down to Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the second round before drawing with Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi in the third. The Russian is in the sole lead after three rounds in the rapid section of the tournament, with 2.5 points.

Six more rounds remain in the round-robin event, which is being played in the rapid and blitz formats. Former World champion Garry Kasparov will compete in the blitz section.

The standings (after three rounds)

1. Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus) 2.5 points; 2-8. Alexander Grischuk (Rus), Anton Korobov (Ukr), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Pol), Shakhriyar Mamyedarov (Aze), Viswanathan Anand, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) and Ivan Saric (Cro) 1.5; 9-10. Anish Giri (Ned) and Jorden Van Foreest (Ned) 1.