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Viswanathan Anand wrapped up the Candidates, with a round to spare. The former world champion scored 8.5 from 14 (+3, =11) for a crushing victory. Sergey Karjakin came in second with a score of 7.5. Remarkably, nobody else had a plus score. There was a high decision ratio with 22 out of the 56 games ending in wins.
Anand was the only unbeaten player and he also had the least number of decisive games. Everybody else logged at least two wins and two losses. Karjakin won three after losing two. Vladimir Kramnik, Dmitry Andreikin and Shakhriyar Mamedaryov all scored 50 per cent. The top seeded Levon Aronian scored three wins and four losses - as did Peter Svidler. Veselin Topalov placed last (+2,-4).
Anand played with apparent confidence and his form was better than it had been for three years. This result takes him to No. 3 on the April rating list. Anand said the emotional turnaround happened during a chat with Kramnik, who had just suffered a painful loss from a winning position versus Hikaru Nakamura. While trying to cheer up Kramnik, Anand cheered himself up as well.
While this is the former world champion's best result in years, it doesn't necessarily mean much in the context of the rematch, which is due in November. Anand didn't convert several positions where he was clearly superior and he only had to defend one inferior endgame. Against Magnus Carlsen, he will not have the luxury of passing up chances and his defensive technique will be more severely tested.
That said, Anand has nothing to lose and if he maintains form and trusts his own judgement, he could play a lot better than he did in the 2013 title match. The last time a former world champion regained the title was 1961 when Mikhail Botvinnik beat Mikhail Tal. So, it would be an amazing feat.
Meanwhile, Vassily Ivanchuk won the Latvian Railway Rapid with an incredible 13/ 14 score.
The Kolkata Open (average rating 2394, 77 players) ran into financial issues. The young Filipino GM Oliver Barbosa won, with the better tiebreak from Lalith Babu (both 7.5/10).
The key game, which absolutely destroyed Aronian's chances was his ninth round loss to Mamedaryov. At the DIAGRAM, WHITE TO PLAY (Mamedaryov Vs Aronian, Candidates 2014), the Azeri GM found a spectacular liquidation.
35.Qe8+! Qxe8 36.Nf6+ Kf7 37.Nxe8 Ra3 One alternative is 37...c2 38.Nf6 c1Q 39.g8Q+ Kxf6 40.Qe6+ Kg5 41.Qg4+ Kf6 42.Bd4+ Kf7 43.Qe6+ Kf8 44. Bg7#.
38.Nf6 Ra8 39.g8Q+ Rxg8 40.Nxg8 Kxg8 41.Kf4 Bd3 White wins with passers on both flanks. The game ended 42.Ke5 Kf7 43.Be3 Bf1 44.g4 (1-0). A possible win is 44.g4 Be2 45.d6 cxd6+ 46.Kxd6 Bxf3 47.g5 and white pushes the b-pawn.
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player
