Chennai: At 48, many had written him off. But first he stunned the World Champion and then he stunned the world. Vishwanathan Anand showed that there is still plenty of fire in his belly by winning the title at the World Rapid Chess Championships at Riyadh, late Thursday night.
Anand ended the 15-round contest with 10.5 points. However, since Vladimir Fedoseev and Ian Nepomniachtchi ended on the same number of points in the Rapids World, Anand had to play a tie-breaker match against Russian Fedoseev. The Chennai ace beat Fedoseev 2-0 in a two-game tie-break to win the trophy.
Relieved after claiming his first rapid world title since 2003, Anand said he entered the tournament in a ‘pessimistic’ frame of mind but managed to surprise himself and the world with an unbeaten campaign.
“The last two rapid events were nothing short of disastrous. I came here in a pessimistic frame of mind. But it has just been the most wonderful surprise, it happened because I played well,” Anand said after his triumph.
Anand said he had had a particularly tough year coming into the event in Riyadh. “…especially the London (Chess Classic) tournament was a big disappointment, to finish in last place was a heavy blow,” Anand informed.
However, a victory on the first day of the tournament in Riyadh over Peter Leko put Anand in a ‘good frame of mind’.
“It was on the first day I felt I was playing well. It was as if time had stood still. I was back in time a few years when I was dominating rapid chess tournaments. That gave me a lot of confidence. I was in a good frame of mind,” Anand asserted.
The five-time World Champion described the win against Norway’s Magnus Carlsen as the crucial moment in the tournament.
“The crucial moment was the win against Magnus Carlsen. He has this amazing ability to dominate events,” Anand said. “Keeping our history in mind beating him gave me a good feeling. To beat him was real accomplishment as he is a player who is very dominant in the blitz and rapid rating segments.”
Anand, admitted that a number of twists and turns had contributed to his emerging the top.
“It (the triumph) is so unexpected because I wasn’t even planning to come to this tournament, which was announced late. The most amazing feeling of all is to have the title of World Champion again. I am so happy that I can’t describe it in words,” Anand said.
Agencies
