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

CHESS IN SCHOOLS BOOK
28th Asian Youth Chess Championships – 2026 in Shenzhen, China from 15th to 25th July 2026
SNA Seminar & Exam on 16 & 17 May 2026 at Swami Vivekanand International School, Kandivali (West), Mumbai.
Certificate :National Team in Raipur ,Chhattisgarh from 16-22 March 2026
Certificate :Senior National Arbiter Seminar cum Examination at Guwahati 2025 on 20 & 21 Sept 2025