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  Viswanathan Anand all set for crunch game

Viswanathan Anand all set for crunch game

PTI
Published : Mar 24, 2016, 7:13 am IST
Updated : Mar 24, 2016, 7:13 am IST

Rejuvenated after his third victory in the previous round, former world champion Viswanathan Anand takes on Fabiano Caruana of the United States in a crunch game in the 10th round of the Candidates Ch

Viswanathan Anand
 Viswanathan Anand

Rejuvenated after his third victory in the previous round, former world champion Viswanathan Anand takes on Fabiano Caruana of the United States in a crunch game in the 10th round of the Candidates Chess tournament here.

With just five rounds remaining, Anand will play as black against Caruana and the game is tipped as the most crucial of this round.

As things stand, Anand and Karjakin share the lead on 5.5 points while Caruana and Aronian are on their heels a half point behind.

While the rest of the contestants have little chance at this stage, one cannot rule out Anish Giri of Holland who has 4.5 points, having drawn all games thus far.

Russia’s Peter Svidler on four, Hikaru Nakamura of the United States on 3.5 and Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov on three are virtually out of contention for the coveted top spot that will guarantee a match against Magnus Carlsen of Norway for the world title.

The first tie-breaker being the individual encounter here, Anand is worse off as he lost to Karjakin earlier in the tournament. However, Anand still has a return game left against the Russian in round 11 where he will play with white pieces.

For Anand personally, the game against Nakamura will also be crucial as he does not enjoy a good record against the American.

However, given the form that Nakamura is in, that might not really turn out to be a real worry.

Location: Russian Federation, Moscow (City), Moscow