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Anand narrows Carlsen’s lead in Shamkir chess

World champion Magnus Carlsen maintained his lead at the end of eight rounds in the Shamkir Chess tournament on Saturday. Playing with black pieces, Carlsen managed to draw his game against Welsey So to stay on top with six points.

World champion Magnus Carlsen leads the standings in the Shamkir Chess tournament.
World champion Magnus Carlsen leads the standings in the Shamkir Chess tournament. Reuters/Babu
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He is followed by India’s Grandmaster and former world champion Viswanathan Anand on 5.5 points. Playing white, Anand crushed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to stay in contention for the top spot at the event that features the world’s top chess players.

Following Anand in the standings are Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana on 4.5 points. So, who started brilliantly by scoring 3.5 points in the first four rounds, has had a tough time in the second half of the tournament, scoring just one point in the last four rounds.

Caruana too had a similar result, drawing his game against Rauf Mamedov who is on 3.5 points.

Another player on 3.5 points is former world champion Vladimir Kramnik who crushed France’s Maxim Vachier Lagrave in 38 moves. The win must have come as a relief for the Russian Grandmaster who had suffered consecutive losses in the last three rounds.

The other decisive game of the day was played between Michael Adams and Anish Giri. Adams, playing with white pieces, destroyed the Dutch Grandmaster in 33 moves to secure his first win of the tournament.

The last round will be played on Sunday with Carlsen and Anand in contention for the title. While Carlsen has white pieces against Mamedov, Anand will be playing with black pieces against Caruana.

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