King of rapid chess is back

Riyadh, December 30

Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand regained the World Rapid Chess Championship after defeating Russia’s Vladimir Fedoseev in the tie-break play-off.
Anand, a former world champion, outclassed world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the ninth round of the tournament and was placed joint second at the start of the final five rounds. He then defeated Fedoseev 2-0 in a two-game tie-break after a three-way tie with the Russian and Ian Nepomniachtchi at 10.5 points each from a possible 15. The Indian claimed the title by remaining unbeaten in the championship with six wins and nine draws.
The win for Anand has come after a tough year. The 48-year-old had earlier failed to qualify for the Candidates Tournament to decide the challenger for the World Championship match against Carlsen and then finished last in the London Chess Classic.
Slow start in World Blitz Championship
On Friday, Anand won two and drew four rounds to make a slow start to his campaign at the World Blitz Chess Championship. With absolutely no time to relax after clinching the World Rapid Championship yesterday, Anand was a bit tentative at the start of the blitz championship, which gives just three minutes to each player with a two-second increment after every move is made.
As a result, it was a draw with Jhao Jun of China in the opening round. Vladislav Kovalev of Belarus proved no match for the Indian in the second round.
Two more draws with Alexander Moiseenko of Ukraine and Nigel Short of England ensued before Anand won against Ivan Salgedo Lopez of Spain.
The game against Lopez was an indication of Anand’s superior form as he held the winning position in just 11 moves with the black pieces. The Spaniard had no clue what hit him and it was all over in quick time.
Anand raised visions of another victory when he had a slightly better endgame against Gabrial Sargissian of Armenia but the latter stood his ground to play out a draw.
With four points out of the possible six, Anand is one point behind eight leaders, on five points apiece, and currently shares the 18th spot.
P Harikrishna (4.5 points) is at the ninth spot currently. There are 15 more rounds to go in the event.