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Journalism of Courage
When Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov were finalised to meet over the chessboard in a series of exhibition games in St Louis 30 years after their classical World Chess Championship battle in New York’s World Trade Center, you would have expected drama. But so far, the two days of the 2025 Clutch Chess Legends battle between the five-time world champion from India and Kasparov, one of the greatest players to ever push a piece on the board, have delivered some astonishing moments of drama.
Sample this: on day 2 of the Anand vs Kasparov battle, Vishy Anand held a clear edge on the board in the fifth game between the duo, played in the rapid format. But the legend from India seemed to forget about his clock and was flagged (losing a game on time).
A video from the event shows Kasparov noticing that his opponent had lost and then pointing at the clock!
After the video of the win went viral, Kasparov wrote on X: “Thanks to everyone for the kind wishes. To be fair, I only have a couple kids at home to distract me, while Vishy has an entire nation of chess “children” to demand his attention.”
ALSO READ | ‘I deserve to be punished’: Why Garry Kasparov apologised to Viswanathan Anand after Indian lost on time
Kasparov went on to capitalise on the defeat early on on day 2 to win another game later on, thanks to a blunder from Anand and take a 8.5-3.5 lead into the final day. Kasparov and Anand had walked to the board for the first game of day 2 with the Russian holding a one-point lead, which is now a five-point lead.
The Tiger from Madras can still win the contest because as per the cascading points system in place for the event, there are 12 points up for grabs on Friday.
The games between the two former world champions, who don’t compete regularly these days has seen some wild swings, with Anand holding a winning position in a blitz game after just eight moves and Kasparov being close to winning in nine moves in another game on day 2.
The event will feature a $144,000 prize fund awarded across a spirited 12-game Chess960 (Fischer Random) match between the two icons, played at rapid and blitz time controls and with an innovative scoring system designed to captivate both players and fans. In Clutch Chess: The Legends, the winner will receive $70,000 and the runner-up $50,000 ($60K each in the event of a tie).
The format of Clutch Chess: The Legends is as follows:
On Day 1, each win is worth 1 point and $1,000. For Day 2, each win is worth 2 points and $2,000. And for day 3, each win is worth 3 points and $3,000.
