Anand finishes joint third in London Classic

TIL Desk Sports/ Viswanathan Anand played out a draw with long-time rival Vladimir Kramnik of Russia to end the London Chess Classic with a shared third result after the end of the ninth and final round in London. The highlights of Anand’s campaign were the innovative ideas he displayed, while the lone low point was the defeat against Hikaru Nakamura in the third round.

Anand remains one of the biggest star in the sport if the fan following in London is anything to go by. Wesley So of the United States expectedly won the tournament with an easy draw with white pieces against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France in the final round. The Filipino-turned American ended up with six points out of a possible nine and remained a half point ahead of second placed compatriot Fabiano Caruana who also played a draw with Anish Giri of Holland.

Anand, Hikaru Nakamura of the United States and Kramnik tied for the third spot on five points apiece and it’s almost a certainty now that the Indian ace will get a call back for the next year of the Grand Chess tour which will have a new event added to the existing four. Wesley So couldn’t have wished for a better first appearance in London. His phenomenal debut brought him both the tournament victory worth US$ 75,000 and, more importantly, a win in the Grand Chess Tour worth US$ 100,000. “This is definitely my best achievement ever,” So said. Anand was all praise for the new star in world chess.