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.
Despite being down 4-5 with just three more games to go, Viswanathan Anand has said he was fine with an easy draw in the ninth game and insisted that he still has a chance of posting a win in the World Chess Championship match.
The eight-player all-play-all tournament is the American finale of Champions Chess Tour. There is US$7,500 at stake for each match won at the event.
After scoring their fifth victory on the trot, the Indian men maintained their joint lead with 10 points along with China, Vietnam and Hungary.
Erigaisi is two points clear of Praggnanandhaa and world champion Carlsen (15 points).
'Chess and cricket are similar, but in cricket, you can show your aggression, but in chess, you can't. It is all about how calm you are in chess.'
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.
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.
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.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has 4 points and is sixth, while Arjun Erigaisi (3 points) is seventh.
Continuing his dream run, Praggnanandhaa on Monday stunned Caruana 3.5-2.5 via the tie-break in the semi-finals to set up a summit clash with world number one and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway at the FIDE's premier event.
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.
The third game in the World Chess Championship, between defending champion Viswanathan Anand and Norwegian challenger Magnus Carlsen on Tuesday ended in a draw after 51 moves. Following are the moves, with analysis and quotes.
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.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa opened his campaign in the FTX Crypto Cup, the American finale of Champions Chess Tour, with a 2.5-1.5 win over the world's top junior player Alireza Firouzja in Miami.
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.
Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi is excited about the upcoming Global Chess League, which he calls the "IPL of chess". The League has an innovative format which is to give four points for a win while playing with black and three points while playing with white pieces.
'I like to be challenged by the strongest players on the planet, even though it's going to get more difficult with this young Indian generation coming up. But I am not entirely depressed.'
Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand posted his second win on the trot, defeating Bulgarian Veselin Topalov in the Classical section to take the lead at the Norway Chess tournament.
Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by Alexander Morozevich in the 11th round of Morelia-Linares chess.
The loss also meant a heavy slide of 15 rating points for the Indian as he slipped to ninth spot in the World Chess rankings.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Anand played the Italian game with white pieces but could get little out of opening against Vituigov.
Praggnanandhaa turned things around in the all-Indian battle after his opponent blundered
Satisfied with a draw in a tough opening match of the World Championships, Indian chess wizard Viswanathan Anand said he felt relieved to have pulled off the result after a rather wobbly start against title-holder Magnus Carlsen.
Viswanathan Anand played out his second straight draw in the Shamkir Chess tournament.
At the world championship, players have two hours each to play the first 40 moves, with 30 minutes being added to reach move 60, before 15 minutes are added with a 30-second increment per move being then granted.
Chess will crown a new world champion when Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren begin their battle on Sunday.
Liem Le scored an emphatic 2.5-0.5 win over the teenaged Indian GM, securing victories in games two and three after the opener ended in a draw.
Praggnanandhaa edged out his Dutch opponent in 81 moves in the fourth game after the first three ended in draws.
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The moves in the second game of the FIDE World Chess Championship match between India's Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen of Norway in Chennai, on Sunday.
Praggnanandhaa, who received a grand welcome in Chennai on Wednesday, said he is delighted that chess is getting attention in the country.
Amid apprehension that the World Chess Championship title contest between reigning champion Magnus Carlsen and former winner Vishwanathan Anand could be postponed, the Indian ace is hoping the rematch would go ahead.
The other five games, hard fought, were drawn. World No.1 Magnus Carlsen and Andrey Esipenko trail the leaders by half a point.
Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa on Friday called for a robust financial backing for chess, debunking the common concept that players require minimal monetary support to train and excel in the sport.
World champion Viswanathan Anand split points with Russian Vladimir Kramnik in the 13th and final round to share the third spot in Group A at the end of the Corus International Chess tournament on Monday.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand finished joint second after playing out a draw with Wesley So of United States in the Sinquefield Cup, which concluded in St Louis, USA.
A group led by English soccer star David Beckham unveiled plans on Monday to build a 25,000-seat soccer stadium on Miami's waterfront for the Major League Soccer team he will own, but the proposal is already facing some opposition.
Five-time world champion Viswanthan Anand continued his fine form and crashed through the defences of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan to notch up his second successive win in the Candidates Chess tournament in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia.
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