The much awaited clash between India’s Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen at the London Chess Classic ended in a draw on Monday. After three rounds so far, the tournament has witnessed 100% draws.
The game was a Catalan, with the world champion sacrificing a pawn. Despite the advantage, the Indian couldn’t outmanoeuvre Carlsen as they agreed a draw after 31 moves.
As many as five pairs drew their games: Levon Aronian-Sergey Karjakin, Ian Nepomniachtchi-Fabiano Caruana, Carlsen-Anand, Michael Adams-Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Hikaru Nakamura-Wesley So. Armenian grandmaster Aronian will face Anand on round four.
Carlsen, a four time winner was not happy with the way his game unfolded, “It was he [Anand] who fought to get a shot and I do not quite know where it went wrong for me,” Carlsen said.
“Of course, I was not happy with the position, but he might not have many ways to attack yet”, he added. Carlsen won both World Cup matches against Anand in 2013 and 2014. The Norwegian meets Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on Tuesday.
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