Press Trust of India
Berlin, Oct 12: Former World Champion Viswanathan Anand suffered two more losses Monday at the hands of Rauf Mamedov of Azerbaijan and Denis Khismatullin of Russia and will now need a miracle for a turnaround in fortune at the World Rapid Championships here.
After finishing day one on 2.5 points out of a possible five, Anand started with two smashing victories at the expense of Vladimir Belov of Russia and Andrei Volokitin of Ukraine but his comeback was seriously dented when he lost to Rauf Mamedov in the eighth round.
In the ninth round Anand bounced back beating Viktor Bologan of Moldova but lost to Khismatullin again in the next game.
With just five rounds remaining in the championships, Anand, on 5.5 points, needs to score massively on the last day to stake his claim for a podium finish. The Indian ace still has a theoretical chance provided he doesn’t suffer any more losses in the championship.
Defending champion in the faster format, Magnus Carlsen of Norway shot his way to joint lead along with Sergei Zhigalko of Belarus on eight points from 10 rounds. Carlsen yet again gave away just two draws and won the remaining three games to find himself at the top of the tables.
After stealing the thunder on day one when he scored four points and was tied second, Vidit Gujrathi added just 1.5 points more to his overnight tally to match Anand on points. B Adhiban is the best placed Indian on points having six points to his credit.
Anand’s second in three World Championships, Surya Shekhar Ganguly was on 5/8 but lost steam as he went down to Ernesto Inarkiev of Russia and Zoltan Almasi of Hungary in the ninth and 10th rounds respectively.