A day after stopping Boris Gelfand 2.5-0.5 for his first win in the chess24 Legends of Chess, Viswanathan Anand crashed to a 22-move loss with white pieces to Ding Liren in the first game of the eighth round on Tuesday.
In a battle involving two players out of the reckoning for a place in the semifinals, Anand faltered early with a knight-retreat and soon found his castled-king on the queenside come under fierce attack. Anand saw no way of saving the position and resigned inside 25 minutes of game-time.
In the most-watched game of the day, leader Magnus Carlsen let second-placed Ian Nepomniachtchi off the hook after gaining a firm grip with black pieces. The Russian defended brilliantly from a seemingly lost position to save the game.
On Monday, Anand won the first two games against Gelfand and drew the third to complete a comprehensive win. After pulling off the first game after some initial struggle, Anand controlled the second better to double the lead.
In the third game, Anand did not press too hard for a win. He simplified the position by going for a series of exchanges and easily got the draw needed to close out the contest.
The results: Eighth round: Game One: Viswanathan Anand lost to Ding Liren (Chn); Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus) drew with Magnus Carlsen (Nor); Vladimir Kramnik (Rus) lost to Peter Svidler (Rus); Anish Giri (Ned) drew with Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr); Peter Leko (Hun) drew with Boris Gelfand (Isr).
Seventh round: Anand bt Gelfand 2.5-0.5; Carlsen bt Svidler 2.5-1.5; Nepomniachtchi bt Leko 3-2; Ivanchuk bt Kramnik 3-1; Giri bt Liren 2.5-0.5.
