Defending champion Viswanathan Anand's quest to retain the crown suffered a decisive setback after he played out a draw with American Wesley So in the fifth and penultimate round of the Bilbao Masters Final Chess Tournament in Bilbao.
Taking his tally up to two points out of a possible four, Anand now has his task cut out for the remaining five games in this strongest tournament of the year. The world rapid champion needs a couple of victories to stake a claim in the tournament.
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen secured a remarkable double victory at the Tata Steel Chess India tournament, winning both the rapid and blitz titles.
On current form, D Gukesh is the favourite to win the World Chess Championship title against his Chinese opponent, Ding Liren, believes Indian teenage Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa.
Defending champion Viswanathan Anand started his campaign with a draw against Dutchman Anish Giri in the first round of Bilbao Masters Final chess tournament.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand survived a scare before eventually holding his position together to escape with a draw against Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri in the sixth round of London Chess Classic in London on Friday.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand came up with another resourceful preparation to beat Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the eighth and penultimate round of the London Chess Classic, a part of the Grand Chess Tour, in London on Sunday.
It was not the best of birthdays for five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand as he went down to Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the third round of London Chess Classic chess tournament.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand's hunt for an elusive victory continued as he was held to a draw by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France .
Wesley So of the United States expectedly won the tournament with an easy draw with white pieces against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France in the final round.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, with a double black, suffered a surprising first round loss at the hands of Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the Sinquefield Cup, in St Louis, the United States.
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.
