Viswanathan Anand loses to Ivanchuk, ends disastrous Legends campaign after 8 defeats
Chennai: Indian chess ace Viswanathan Anand's signed off second from bottom after his disappointing campaign at the Legends of Chess online tournament ended with a loss to long-time rival Vasyl Ivanchuk in the ninth and final round.
It was Anand's eighth loss in the USD 150,000 tournament. The 50-year-old ended in ninth position behind GM Peter Leko who finished last.
After all the four games ended in draws, the Anand-Ivanchuk contest went into the Armageddon (a tie-breaker), which also ended in a stalemate.
The Ukrainian emerged victorious as he played black in the decider late on Wednesday.
Anand started the match with a 57-move draw and the tie progressed in a similar vein with the players opting for quiet draws.
The Armageddon game was a 59-move affair before the former world champion signed peace with Ivanchuk.
The 50-year old Indian finished ninth in the standings with 7 match points and a solitary win (over Boris Gelfand) on his debut in the Magnus Carlsen Tour.
In other matches, world No.1 Magnus Carlsen beat Vladimir Kramnik 3-1 to finish with an all-win record after nine matches in the preliminary stage.
The Norwegian will now play Russia's Peter Svidler in the semi-finals, while Anish Giri (Hungary) takes on Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) in a repeat of their Chessable Masters semi-final.
Legends of Chess is an event in which 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 qualifies for the USD 300,000 Grand Final scheduled from August 9 to 20.
Results of Round 9:
Vasyl Ivanchuk (Ukraine) beat Viswanathan Anand (India) 2.5-2.5 (Ivanchuk wins by playing black after Armageddon is drawn); Magnus Carlsen (Norway) beat Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) 3-1; Boris Gelfand (Israel) beat Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) 3-2; Anish Giri (The Netherlands) beat Peter Svidler (Russia) 2.5-1.5; Ding Liren (China) beat Peter Leko (Hungary) 2.5-1.5.
Final standings: 1. Carlsen 25 match points, 2. Nepomniachtchi 20, 3. Giri 18, 4. Svidler 14, 5. Ivanchuk 13, 6. Kramnik 12, 7. Gelfand 11, 8. Liren 7, 9. Anand 7, 10. Leko 6.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
