Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, June 6: Indian ace Viswanathan Anand regained the top rank in the Norway Chess tournament by defeating world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the fifth round of the Classical phase early on Monday.
Anand won a tense Armageddon (sudden death game) after the normal match ended in a 40-move draw after defeating the Norwegian superstar in the Blitz tournament that preceded the Classical section.
In the Armageddon, the 52-year-old Anand startled Carlsen by winning in 50 moves.
The Indian GM leads the field with 10 points after four rounds of the prestigious competition, which comprises some of the top players in the sport.
Anand had won three straight games in the Classical section, defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), and Hao Wang (China), before being stopped in the fourth round by American Wesley So. Despite the loss against his long-time rival, Carlsen sits in second place with 9.5 points.
So, who previously won the Blitz segment, is tied for third place with Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov on 8.5 points. So was defeated by Mamedyarov by Armageddon in the fifth round.
In the fifth round, Anish Giri (Netherlands) and Aryan Tari (Norway) defeated Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) and Hao Wang, respectively.
In the other match, Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave defeated veteran Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) in a sudden death game to boost his score to 7 points.
In the ongoing Norway Chess tournament, if the classical game ends in a draw, the players participate in an Armageddon (sudden death).
