Anand Draws Carlsen With White
By Arvind Aaron
After a dismal 0/2 start, former world champion Viswanathan Anand finished strongly to end with two points from five games in the Zurich Chess Challenge. The rapid series is slated for Tuesday at Zurich.
Anand started as the bottom seed, for the first time and lost to Aronian and Nakamura. Then he drew Caruana and beat Gelfand with black and finally drew Carlsen in the last round. Though on minus one, Anand should not be losing Elo.
In the fifth round, Anand preferred a quiet d3 variation as white against the Berlin variation of the Ruy Lopez. They reached an opposite coloured bishop ending and drew in 40 moves.
Carlsen was lucky in some games and has concluded the show on 4/5. He drew Aronian, Anand and beat the rest of the players. He was lucky against Nakamura, the out of form American.
Two final round games between Aronian v Caruana and Gelfand v Nakamura are in progress. If Aronian wins, he ties Carlsen for the first place.
FIDE World Junior Rapid & Blitz (Open & Girls Under 20)Chess Championships – 2026 in Al Ain, U.A.E. from 1st to 7th November, 2026 
Western Asian Junior/ Girls Chess Championship – 2026 from 22nd to 31st October 2026 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat 
Western Asian Youth Chess Championships – 2026 in Ahmedabad ,Gujarat from 22-31 October 2026 
Fide Trainer Seminar in Mohali from 02-04 October 2026 
FIDE World Championships U7, U9, U11, U13, U15 & U17 – 2026 in Roquetas de Mar, Spain from 13th to 21st October 2026 
Asian Amateur Chess Championships – 2026 (Men & Women U2300 – U2000 – U1700) in Bangkok, Thailand from 20th to 30th November, 2026.