Anand faces elimination after defeat

Having struggled in the second game of the first round that he eventually managed to draw, Anand’s dip in form continued against Kovalyov who kept his nerves in a thrilling game after a speculative piece sacrifice by the Indian ace. 

For the record, it was a Sicilian Najdorf wherein Anand continued with a typical variation he has been using off-late. 

Kovalyov got a slightly worse position in the middle game but stayed put with some fine defensive manoeuvres. After the trade of queens, the Canadian Grandmaster was surprised by a knight sacrifice by Anand but again held on to his guard despite his king taking a walk around the centre. 

As it turned out, Anand’s sacrifice was not enough to get any advantage and in the end Kovalyov’s extra piece had the final say. Down a point in the two games mini-match, Anand will now have to win with black pieces in the return game. 

If Anand wins, tiebreak games of shorter duration will be played. Meanwhile, Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi made a strong bid for the third round by winning his game as black against top Vietnamese Le Quang Leim. Gujrathi now just needs a draw in the next game.