Viswanathan Anand wins the inaugural Tata Steel Chess India Blitz tournament

All Photos: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess India

India’s Viswanathan Anand won the inaugural edition of the Tata Steel Chess blitz tournament in Kolkata, beating Hikaru Nakamura on Wednesday.

The two players were tied after 18 rounds, but five-time world champion Anand triumphed 1.5-0.5 in the Blitz playoffs.

In the two-round play-off, which was faster than blitz in a reduced time format of a three-minute game, Anand won with white pieces, before drawing with black to seal the issue 1.5-0.5.

“To win this tournament, and to win it at home, is amazing,” said Anand.

Harikrishna receiving the second prize for the rapid.

Nakamura had fate in his own hands in the final round, after Anand had drawn his game with Levon Aronian. All he had to do was beating the tail-ender, Praggnanandhaa R. However, India’s Praggnanandhaa did a huge favour to Anand in the last round when he held Nakamura in the final round. The 13-year-old probably displayed the best defensive game of his life to manage a miraculous draw that forced a playoff against Anand.

Round 10:

Surya Shekhar Ganguly – Hikaru Nakamura 0-1
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu – Pentala Harikrishna ½-½
Santosh Gujrathi Vidit – Levon Aronian 0-1
Viswanathan Anand – Wesley So 1-0
Sergey Karjakin – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ½-½

Round 11:

Sergey Karjakin – Surya Shekhar Ganguly ½-½
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Viswanathan Anand 0-1
Wesley So – Santosh Gujrathi Vidit ½-½
Levon Aronian – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 1-0
Pentala Harikrishna – Hikaru Nakamura 1-0

Round 12:

Surya Shekhar Ganguly – Pentala Harikrishna 1-0
Hikaru Nakamura – Levon Aronian ½-½
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu – Wesley So 0-1
Santosh Gujrathi Vidit – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 0-1
Viswanathan Anand – Sergey Karjakin ½-½

Round 13:

Viswanathan Anand – Surya Shekhar Ganguly 1-0
Sergey Karjakin – Santosh Gujrathi Vidit 0-1
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 1-0
Wesley So – Hikaru Nakamura ½-½
Levon Aronian – Pentala Harikrishna 1-0

Round 14:

Surya Shekhar Ganguly – Levon Aronian ½-½
Pentala Harikrishna – Wesley So 1-0
Hikaru Nakamura – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 1-0
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu – Sergey Karjakin 0-1
Santosh Gujrathi Vidit – Viswanathan Anand 0-1

Round 15:

Santosh Gujrathi Vidit – Surya Shekhar Ganguly ½-½
Viswanathan Anand – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 1-0
Sergey Karjakin – Hikaru Nakamura 0-1
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Pentala Harikrishna ½-½
Wesley So – Levon Aronian ½-½

Round 16:

Surya Shekhar Ganguly – Wesley So 1-0
Levon Aronian – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 1-0
Pentala Harikrishna – Sergey Karjakin 0-1
Hikaru Nakamura – Viswanathan Anand ½-½
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu – Santosh Gujrathi Vidit 0-1

Round 17:

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu – Surya Shekhar Ganguly 1-0
Santosh Gujrathi Vidit – Hikaru Nakamura 0-1
Viswanathan Anand – Pentala Harikrishna 1-0
Sergey Karjakin – Levon Aronian ½-½
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Wesley So 0-1

Round 18:

Surya Shekhar Ganguly – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 0-1
Wesley So – Sergey Karjakin ½-½
Levon Aronian – Viswanathan Anand ½-½
Pentala Harikrishna – Santosh Gujrathi Vidit 0-1
Hikaru Nakamura – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu ½-½

Tiebreak:

Viswanathan Anand – Hikaru Nakamura 1-0
Hikaru Nakamura – Viswanathan Anand ½-½

Final Ranking after round 18:

Rank		Points	Rating
1	Anand, Viswanathan	12½	2786
2	Nakamura, Hikaru	12½	2893
3	Aronian, Levon	12	2854
4	So, Wesley	10	2771
5	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	8	2808
6	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	8	2727
7	Harikrishna, Pentala	8	2706
8	Karjakin, Sergey	7½	2836
9	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	6	2547
10	Praggnanandhaa R	5½	2366