Anand Crushes Vachier-Lagrave
By Arvind Aaron
Five time former world champion Viswanathan Anand scored his second win to move to the joint second place with four points.
The older players were the only winners on Monday. Former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria widened his lead to 1.5 points when Russia’s Alexander Grischuk fell after good opening play.
Topalov leads with 5½ points. Anand and Hikaru Nakamura of USA are on 4 points. Three rounds remain to be played. Anand faces Aronian with black on Tuesday.
Anand won with a sparkling bishop sacrifice. The attacking genius from Chennai tore through black’s Sicilian to win a queen for two minor pieces.
Anand and Topalov, the two oldest players in this 10-player field were the only winners. Rest of the games were drawn

Fide Arbiter Seminar in Pune 28 Feb -02 March 2026 & Thoothukudi 07-09 March 2026
Announcement : Medical Evaluation in Chennai on 27 & 28 February 2026.
Final report of SNA Seminar & Exam in Ahmedabad on 02 & 03 January 2026
Final report of SNA seminar & Exam in Bhopal on 10 & 11 January 2026
Final Report of SNA Seminar & Exam held in Madurai on 27 & 28 December 2025