Viswanathan Anand crashes to fourth straight defeat in Legends of Chess tourney
Chennai: Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand suffered his fourth straight defeat in the USD 150,000 Legends of Chess online tournament, going down 2-3 to Anish Giri of the Netherlands.
The former world champion Indian and Giri played out four draws before the Dutch player pulled off a win in the Armageddon game (a tie-break) late on Friday.
Anand, however, picked up his first point of the event. He remains at the bottom of the table. He had earlier lost to Peter Svidler, Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik.
The Chennai-based Anand, who is making his maiden appearance at the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, settled for a 82-move draw in the opening game of the best-of-four contest.
The second game was a 49-move affair while the third and fourth games were drawn, setting the stage for the Armageddon.
Giri grabbed the decider with black pieces to secure victory and two points.
Anand meets Hungary's Peter Leko in the fifth round later on Saturday.
Russia's Peter Svidler, who was in joint lead with Magnus Carlsen, lost to Ding Liren of China 1.5-2.5 to hand the sole lead to the Norwegian world No.1. Carlsen has 12 match points and is followed by Ian Nepomniachtchi (11).
It was Liren's first win in the tournament.
Carlsen had no troubles, thrashing veteran Israeli Boris Gelfand 3-0.
All the round-robin games are best-of-four game contests.
Legends of Chess is a unique event where Carlsen, Liren, Nepomniachtchi and Giri, semifinalists at the Chessable Masters (part of the Magnus Carlsen Tour), received an automatic invite and are up against six legends aged 40-52, who have been at the top of world chess at various points in their career.
The tournament is part of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. The winner of this event will qualify for the USD 300,000 Grand Final scheduled from August 9 to 20.
Results: Round 4: Anish Giri beat Viswanathan Anand 3-2; Magnus Carlsen beat Boris Gelfand 3-0; Vladmir Kramnik beat Peter Leko 2.5-1.5; Ding Liren beat Peter Svidler 2.5-1.5; Ian Nepominiachtchi beat Vasyl Ivanchuk 2.5-1.5.
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Heavy rain, hailstorms likely to lash Uttarakhand on Tuesday; IMD issues warning
Dehradun/Pithoragarh (PTI): The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning for heavy rain and hailstorms across several districts of Uttarakhand on Tuesday, as temperatures remained markedly below normal in the region.
Heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places in Dehradun, Haridwar, Tehri, Pauri, Nainital, Champawat, and Udham Singh Nagar districts. Most places across all districts are expected to receive light to moderate rain or thunderstorms, while higher reaches are likely to witness snowfall, officials said on Monday.
The weather department warned of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, hail and intense spells of rain in six districts, including Dehradun and Nainital. Gusty winds with speeds reaching 40-50 kmph are also expected at isolated locations in these areas and other hilly districts.
In the state capital, Dehradun, the sky is forecast to remain partly cloudy with light rain and thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds of 30-40 kmph.
The maximum and minimum temperatures in the city are expected to hover around 31 degrees Celsius and 19 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Maximum temperatures during the past 24 hours remained markedly below normal in the hills and appreciably below normal in the plains. While no significant change in temperature is expected over the next 2-3 days, the IMD predicts a rise of 3-5 degrees Celsius during the subsequent 3-4 days.
Rainfall was recorded in several areas after 8.30 am today, with Ramnagar receiving 31.5 mm and Nainital recording 26.5 mm. Other areas, including Pithoragarh, Khatima and Champawat, also reported moderate precipitation.
Authorities have stopped a batch of 36 Adi Kailash pilgrims at the Dharchula base camp and placed the high-altitude yatra route on high alert following heavy rains and hailstorms in the district on Monday.
Dharchula SDM Ashish Joshi said the pilgrimage was halted due to adverse weather conditions. The issuance of new inner-line passes has been suspended until the weather normalises.
With 1,700 passes issued so far, pilgrims already at higher camps are being monitored for safety, the official added.
