Following the win, Anand thanked his wife, Aruna for pushing him to play the tournament despite the risk of missing her 50th birthday.
Top-seed Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) led the field at the end of the Rapid with 11 points. He is followed by Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Duda and Saric on 10 points.
The Armenians protested for a long time delaying the start of the second round of matches before withdrawing following rejection of their appeal.
D Gukesh started off on a positive note, beating Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania
Both Harikrishna and Carlsen drew all their four games on the opening day of the tournament as matches ended late on Saturday.
Lesser-fancied Indians again stole limelight in the LIC World Junior Chess Championships, being played at Hotel Hyatt, in Pune, on Friday. Nandhidhaa PV created a sensation in the fifth round, upsetting IM Meri Arabidze of Georgia, who is rated and titled higher than her, while 15-year-old Maria Ivana Furtado shocked Nguyen Thi Mai Hung to emerge joint leaders.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand played out a draw with table-topper Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the third round to open his account in the Sinquefield Cup -- a part of the Grand Chess tour.
India captain Virat Kohli embellished the pink-ball Test with a sparkling century and his quick bowlers reduced Bangladesh to 152-6 as the hosts closed on a 2-0 series sweep on day two of the second and final Test.
Rameshbabu is no expert of the complex patterns of chess that his son R Praggnanandhaa has mastered so deeply. He is just an understanding father who is happy to work as a supporting force to the whiz kid.
Gujrathi and Erigaisi will represent India in the men's individual event while Koneru Humpy and D Harika will do so in the women's section.
World chess champion Viswanathan Anand must have never imagined when he left his home in Madrid last Thursday that he would undergo so much to reach the venue that saw him traverse 2000 kilometres across five countries to reach Sofia for his World Chess Championship match against Veselin Topalov.
Anand moved to joint sixth spot with 2.5 points on a day that saw Firouzja Alireza scoring a sensational victory over super-solid Anish Giri of Holland.
With the top spot assured in the pool with a round to go, India was held to a 3-3 draw by a fighting Slovenia.
Gujrathi settled for a draw against Russia's Andrey Esipenko to stay in the lead with three points
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand ended his campaign with a draw against Peter Svidler of Russia, while another Russian Sergey Karjakin emerged the new challenger for the next World Championship match after the conclusion of the Candidates chess tournament in Moscow.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand squandered away a good start and could just end Day 1 on a fifty percent score after the end of the fifth round of World rapid chess championship in Berlin.
Sankalp Gupta becomes India's 71st GM.
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.
Shami was there to receive the honours. He took 24 wickets in seven World Cup games last year.
The second standard student of the NSS Hill Spring International School reigned supreme in all the three categories - rapid, blitz and standard -- and achieved the feat of being the only Indian to bag all the crowns in the 1st Western Asia Youth Chess Championship.
Anand did not quite re-work his energy and lost to Carlsen in the first game of the third day and then made a draw with compatriot Vidit Gujrathi.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday.
The battle lines for the much-awaited November 9-28 World Chess Championship between World No 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway and defending champion Viswanathan Anand in Chennai are drawn.
After a win over Hikaru Nakamura in his opener, the Norwegian went down to Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi in the second round. A draw with Wesley So in the third left the world no.1 in fifth spot.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand came into his own with a much-needed win over Jan-Krzystof Duda in 78 moves in the second round after losing to his opponent in the first round.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has 4 points and is sixth, while Arjun Erigaisi (3 points) is seventh.
Defending champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway drew the first blood by defeating challenger Viswanathan Anand in the second game of the World Chess Championship in Sochi on Sunday.
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy will spearhead the Indian challenge in the Women's candidates' chess tournament that will get underway in Toronto, Canada from Wednesday.
The US team fought back brilliantly after being trounced in Round 1 by India to win the second and the Blitz tie-break 4.5-1.5, emerging victorious in an exciting semi-final in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad on Tuesday.
The 47-year-old former World champion is taking some time off before he gets down to tournament play in St. Louis, United States, where the focus would be on Russian chess legend Garry Kasparov, who is making a surprise return to the game.
The men's team comprises Grandmasters D Gukesh, Gujrathi, Erigaisi, P Harikrishna and R Praggnanandhaa.
From a life built on challenges and studded with victories, India's beloved chess champion, Vishwanathan Anand plucks out a few important lessons.
Considered the favourite to lift the title, world champion Viswanathan Anand has been given the top billing at the Grenke Chess Classic and will take on Michael Adams of England in the first round in Baden-Baden, Germany.
World champion Viswanathan Anand won the psychological battle by holding his world championship challenger Magnus Carlsen of Norway to an easy draw in the second round of the Norway Chess 2013 Super tournament in progress in Sandnes, Norway.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand ended the World Rapid Championship on a positive note, scoring four points out of five games on the final day, but the Indian ace could only finish 25th in the final standings.
It's been seven years since a chess player got the Arjuna award and the iconic Viswanathan Anand is hoping that India's triumphant campaign at the online Chess Olympiad will change this when the national sporting honours are announced next year.
Hans Niemann, the teenage American grandmaster at the centre of an alleged cheating scandal, sued world champion Magnus Carlsen, online platform Chess.com and others for slander and libel on Thursday and is seeking at least $100 million in damages.
The conclusive champion of this tournament is set to be determined on Thursday.
World champion Viswanathan Anand played out a fighting draw with Michael Adams of England in the first round of the Grenke Chess Classic that got underway in Baden-Baden, Germany.
