Five-time chess world champion Viswanathan Anand won his maiden London Classic title after defeating British Grandmaster Michael Adams in the fifth and final round, here today.
Having drawn the first four games of the six-player round-robin tournament, Anand had to win to stay in contention for a podium finish and he was duly assisted by Adams who fought it out instead of going for a dull draw with white pieces.
The victory confirms Anand's presence in elite chess for some time. Just two weeks before the London Classic, Anand had suffered defeat against Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the world championship match at Sochi and the quick recovery here shows that there is more to expect from the Indian on the chequered board.
Anand scored seven points in all under the Soccer-like scoring system that gives three points for a win and one for a draw. With his sole victory apart from the four draws, Anand matched Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Anish Giri on points and then has the superior tie-break to clinch the title.
The London scoring system favour the player with victories with black pieces and both Giri and Kramnik had won only with white earlier in the tournament.
Hikaru Nakamura of United States was the only serious contender for title but he could not get the better of world number two Fabiano Caruana of Italy. Nakamura ended on six points for his sole fourth spot while Adams and Caruana ended on an identical four points each.
