Anand went down to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France in what was his second straight loss following a defeat against Alexander Grischuk in the previous round.
With odds staked against him, five times world champion Viswanathan Anand will look forward to make a grand comeback in the Candidates chess tournament that starts.
The five-time World champion played out his third draw on the trot as he signed peace with Etienne Bacrot of France in the third round of Grenke Chess Classic.
Billed as the most high-profile clash in chess history in more than 40 years, the World Chess Championship match -- between defending champion Viswanathan Anand and challenger Magnus Carlsen of Norway -- begins in Chennai on Saturday, with the experts divided over who will walk away with the coveted title.
Olympic medallist Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal entered the semi-finals of the Indonesia Masters' tournament after a straight-game win over Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand.
Viswanathan Anand's hunt for an elusive victory continues. The five-time World champion failed to break the solid defences of Wesley So of the United States in the seventh round of Sinquefield Cup, which is part of the Grand Chess tour, in St Louis, and settled for his fifth draw in the last five games.
The crown slipping away from his hands, defending champion Viswanathan Anand will have to pull himself together and produce a couple of sterling efforts to come back in the World Chess Championship match against Norwegian Magnus Carlsen.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand found his way back to the 2800 rating club and jumped to second spot in the World rankings after beating local hero Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the eighth and penultimate round of Vugar Gashimov memorial in Shamkir, Azerbaijan.
Viswanathan Anand did not capitalise on his chances and had to settle for a draw.
Time might be running out and the throne slipping away but defending champion Viswanathan Anand made it clear that he will come back harder in the next game after drawing the eighth tie of the World Chess Championship.
The King is wounded, not dead. Defending champion Viswanathan Anand had to be content with a draw but said he was relieved to eke out a draw after two losses on the trot against Magnus Carlsen in the World Chess Championship in Chennai on Monday.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand played out a second straight draw by holding Fabiano Caruana of the United States easily in the fourth round of the Sinquefield Cup, which is part of the Grand Chess tour.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand suffered his second defeat in as many games losing to Alexander Grischuk of Russia in the second round of Sinquefield Cup, a part of the Grand Chess tour.
Viswanathan Anand will defend his World Chess Championship title against World No 1 Magnus Carlsen in his home city as FIDE on Sunday chose Chennai as the venue for the prestigious match.
With his third victory in the event, Anand came back within striking distance of the leaders. His tally of six points out of ten is only one point less than Holland's Anish Giri, Norway's Magnus Carlsen and Azerbaijan's Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, all who have seven points apiece.
With his third draw in five games, the reigning world rapid champion remained in joint lead on 3.5 points and now shares the lead with Anish Giri of Holland and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan.
World champion Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw against Russian Peter Svidler as black while World No 1 Magnus Carlsen turned the tables on Sergey Karjakin of Russia to put a twist in the tale at the Norway Chess 2013 Super Tournament in Sandnes, Norway.
Viswanathan Anand's woes in the Grenke Chess Classic continued as the five times world champion blundered yet again and went down to Levon Aornian of Armenia in the fifth round that concluded in Baden-Baden in Germany.
World champion Viswanathan Anand mishandled a winning endgame and drew with former women's world champion Yifan Hou of China in the 11th round of 75th Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands, on Saturday.
Viswanathan Anand had to be content with second place in the World Blitz Chess Championship after scoring 28 points, three behind the winner, Magnus Carlsen, of Norway.
'I like to challenge myself. Competing against players much younger than me is something that I want to keep doing,' says Chess Legend Viswanathan Anand
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand scored a crushing victory against overnight leader Wesley So of United States in the fifth round of Shamkir Chess 2015 in Shamkir, Azerbaijan.
Grandmaster S P Sethuraman continued with his dream run and played out a fighting draw with higher ranked Anish Giri of Holland in the first game of the third round of World Chess Cup in Tbilisi, Georgia.
World champion Viswanathan Anand slipped to the second position after he was held to an easy draw by tail-ender Ivan Sokolov of Holland in the eighth round of 75th Tata Steel Chess tournament Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands.
World champion Viswanathan Anand outsmarted Loek Van Wely of Holland to regain joint lead after the seventh round in the 75th Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand pushed yet again but could not break the solid defences of Anish Giri of Holland and had to settle for a second straight draw in the Norway chess tournament, a part of the Grand Chess tour.
Over the weekend, the NFL issued a video of Commissioner Roger Goodell apologizing for failing to listen to black players: "We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter," Goodell said.
Fans tuning in to the 2016 World Chess Championship from home may well have the best seats in the house, with the tournament set to be broadcast live in 360-degree Virtual Reality (VR) -- a first in any sport, organisers say.
Viswanathan Anand played out a quick draw with eventual champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria to finish second in the Norway chess tournament, which is part of the Grand Chess Tour.
Anatoly Karpov and Viswanathan Anand, two former World champions, took on dozens of children and teenagers in simultaneous chess games in Jerusalem on Monday as hundreds of onlookers watched.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand did not have a change in fortunes as he played out his sixth draw in a row, signing peace with tournament leader Levon Aronian of Armenia in the eighth and penultimate round of the Sinquefield Cup chess meet.
Defending champion Viswanathan Anand will start his campaign with black pieces against Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the first game of the 12-round World Chess Championship in Chennai on Saturday. After declaring the 'FIDE World Championship Match-2013' open, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa picked the photograph of Anand from the first bowl and a 'black piece' from the other during the draw of lots for the match, to be held at Hyatt Regency hotel.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand named Grzegorz Gazewski of Poland as the lone new inclusion in his team, putting to end speculations that he had made big changes for the World Chess Championship match against Magnus Carlsen, starting in Sochi on Saturday.
Following the draw, Anand inched up to 4.5 points out of a possible seven and can now look up to his final white game in the tournament, slated against the lowest-ranked player, Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway.
Viswanathan Anand was to return to Chennai on Monday after competing in the Bundesliga Chess League but had to stay back near Frankfurt given the travel restrictions, his wife Aruna said. Anand, who is set to don the commentator's hat for the FIDE Candidates tournament that begins in Yekaterinburg, Russia to spot the challenger to world champion Magnus Carlsen, will handle the role from his present location.
Viswanathan Anand's hunt for the elusive victory continued as he was again held to a draw by Alexander Grischuk.
Having suffered back-to-back defeats in the World Chess Championship, defending champion Viswanathan Anand was left a bit nervy if the press conference after the sixth game is anything to go by.
Since 2012, 44 Indians have been anointed as grandmasters -- the highest achievement in chess, points out Arvind Subramanian, economist and former chief economic adviser to the government.
Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by Alexander Morozevich in the 11th round of Morelia-Linares chess.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand's hunt for an elusive victory continued as he played out a draw with American Wesley So in the fifth round of the Altibox Norway chess tournament, in Stavanger on Sunday.