ZURICH (SWITZERLAND), Feb 28:
World champion Viswanathan Anand suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of young Fabiano Caruana of Italy in the fourth round of Zurich Chess Challenge here today.
The loss, coming after a spate of three draws from the first three games, cost Anand quite dearly as from his joint lead, the Indian was pushed to the last spot.
The other game of the four-player double round-robin tournament between Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Boris Gelfand of Israel ended in a draw in spite of a tough fight.
With just two rounds remaining, Caruana emerged as the sole leader with 2.5 points, a half point ahead of Kramnik and Gelfand while Anand on 1.5 point is currently at the bottom of the tables.
Anand’s main chances now depend upon his final white game against Kramnik in the last round. The tide seems to have turned heavily in favour of Caruana, who finished second behind Anand in the just concluded Grenke Chess Classic.
Playing white, Anand faced the Moller variation in the Ruy Lopez and yet again Caruana came up with another opening idea and equalised successfully. (PTI)
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