Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand returned to competitive chess following a sedate draw against Peter Svidler as all five boards ended with honours even in the first round of chess24 Legends of Chess online event on Tuesday.
Only Vladimir Kramnik held some chance of forcing a win but on all other boards, the positions remained equal.
After Svidler chose the Gruenfeld Defence, Anand accepted an early-pawn sacrifice but the position remained equal with the Russian winning back the central pawn. Though Svidler targeted one of pawns protecting white’s king, Anand, who holds a 8-0 career record in classical time-format against his rival, easily negotiated the aggression, with queens going off the board.
At this stage, Anand did enjoy a two-minute advantage on the clock but the position remained equal. Eventually, following perpetual checks, Anand took a draw in 37 moves.
The much-awaited clash between Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri ended in a tame draw in 33 moves. Giri, playing white, faced a cautious Carlsen who seemed happy to split the point within half-an-hour of play.
Kramnik gave his much-younger Russian compatriot Ian Nepomniachtchi some anxious moments after gaining a pawn. Eventually, Nepomniachtchi managed to save half-a-point in 98 moves though Kramnik retained a three-versus-two kingside pawn-majority.
The results: Round One: Game One: Viswanathan Anand drew with Peter Svidler (Rus); Anish Giri (Ned) drew with Magnus Carlsen (Nor); Vladimir Kramnik (Rus) drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus); Peter Leko (Hun) drew with Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr); Boris Gelfand (Isr) drew with Ding Liren (Chn).
