Written by: Express News Service
3 min readNew DelhiMay 16, 2013 03:36 AM IST
First published on: May 16, 2013 at 03:36 AM IST
After the near miss in the previous round against leader Sergey Karjakin,Viswanathan Anand made sure he did not let his chances slip away this time,beating Timour Radjabov in round seven. The win moved Anand 4 points up a place to joint third but positive results for Karjakin and second-placed Magnus Carlsen meant the Indian is running out of time to make up lost ground in Norway Chess 2013. Two rounds remain to be played. Thursday is a rest day.
Anand was playing black against Radjabov,who has had a terrible time of late since the Candidates tournament last month. The Azeri was in seventh place with 2.5 points from six rounds before Wednesday’s game. His lack of form showed early as he got himself into trouble in the opening,anti-Nimzo-Indian.
With Radjabov getting his move order wrong in the opening,Anand took the advantage straightaway. His ‘b’ and ‘c’ pawns rolled up the board at tempo. Radjabov’s knight and queen had to back-pedal and the advancing pawns meant white’s queen-side pieces would take longer to develop.
Early finish
By the end of the 14th move,black had connected pawns on b3 and c4,entrenched deep inside white’s setup. This would prove a pain for Radjabov through the game and ultimately swing the contest in Anand’s favour.
Black soon took advantage of white’s lack of mobility to break through his structure and soon Radjabov’s position deteriorated. Though he had the advantage from the beginning,Anand kept playing accurately to keep the pressure on his opponent through the game. The win came in just 34 moves.
Karjakin wrung out a win against Hikaru Nakamura in the longest game of the day. Carlsen defeated compatriot Ludvig Hammer to keep pace with Karjakin. In his two remaining games,Anand will play Hammer who has lost all but two of his seven games and Wang Hao who is currently tied for eighth place.
Round seven results:
Sergey Karjakin bt Hikaru Nakamura,Timour Radjabov lost to Viswanathan Anand,Ludvig Hammer lost to Magnus Carlsen,Peter Svidler drew with Veselin Topalov,Wang Hao drew with Levon Aronian.
standings after round seven:
1. Karjakin 5.5 points,2. Carlsen 5,3-4. Anand,Aronian 4,5-6. Nakamura,Svidler 3.5,7. Topalov 3,8-9. Wang Hao,Radjabov 2.5,10. Hammer 1.5.
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