Anand takes fifth spot in blitz event

After starting off with two victories, Anand missed out on a winning opportunity against Norwegian Carlsen and finally ended fifth with 5.5 points out of a possible nine in the blitz event.

Stavanger — Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand lost to world champion Magnus Carlsen from a winning position to finish fifth in the blitz event that acts as a curtain raiser for the Norway Chess tournament which begins here on Tuesday.

After starting off with two victories, Anand missed out on a winning opportunity against Norwegian Carlsen and finally ended fifth with 5.5 points out of a possible nine in the blitz event.

Besides being a curtain raiser, the blitz event decides the pairings for the main tournament — which will be played in classical format — and the top half finish for Anand means a lot as he will get to play five white games.

The surprise winner of the blitz event was Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France who led from the beginning and defeated Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana of Italy en route to his 6.5 points. Former world champion Anand will now play against Caruana in the Norway Chess tournament, part of the Grand Chess tour that started here.