Norway Chess 2022: Viswanathan Anand defeats Tari, finishes third

New Delhi: Viswanathan Anand won the armageddon game against GM Aryan Tari and claimed the third position in Norway Chess 2022. While playing the armageddon with black pieces, Anand just required a draw to win the match, rather Tari lost on time.

The game: Anand vs Tari

The classical game between Anand and Norway number 2, Aryan Tari, ended in a draw. The match went into armageddon where Tari had the white pieces and 10 minutes on the clock. Tari chose the Italian opening while Anand is known to be an expert in this opening. Anand managed to exchange the queens and the game went drawish.

Tari had a chance on move 40, as Anand made a blunder on move 39. Tari played the best continuation but gave away the decisive advantage by exchanging rooks on move 41. After that, it turned into a rook ending which is known to be drawish in nature. Tari was really low on time and was unable to push for an advantage. Eventually, Anand won on time and added 1.5 points to his tally.

With this win, Anand having 14.5 points stood third in the tournament, behind Magnus Carlsen (16.5 points) and Shakhriyar Mamedyrov (15.5 points). Magnus Carlsen has won Norway Chess for the fifth time, and the fourth time in a row.

On the final day of the tournament, all the classical games ended in a draw. In the armageddons, Teimour Radjabov, Anand, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So emerged as winners against Mamedyrov, Tari, Anish Giri, Veselin Topalov and Wang Hao respectively.

Anand could have finished at the top if he had not made a blunder in the game against Mamedyrov. Still, Anand in his good form finished at the podium. After the tournament, Vishy Anand has climbed two spots in the live rankings to 13th position. The tournament did not contribute much to Carlsen’s 2900 dream, as he could just gain 0.3 rating points.