 "Viswanathan Anand in action during his Clutch Chess showdown against Garry Kasparov in St Louis, USA. Image credit: Saint Louis Chess Club/Lennart Ootes")
Viswanathan Anand is facing fellow chess legend Garry Kasparov in an three-day exhibition series titled ‘Clutch Chess: The Legends’ in St Louis, USA three decades on since their Classical World Chess Championship showdown on top of the World Trade Centre in New York City.
Kasparov currently leads his former rival by five points, the scoreline reading 8.5-3.5 in favour of the Russian chess icon after two days, although things can turn dramatically in favour of the Indian on the third and the final day.
The two former world No 1s and multiple world champions aren’t regular when it comes to competing at the highest level of the sport, and their showdown at the Saint Louis Chess Club has witnessed its fair share of dramatic moments so far.
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Among those quirky moments was Anand forgetting about the clock while having the upper hand on his opponent, resulting in a defeat due to the exhaustion of time.
Vishy Anand reacts to ‘biggest shock’
The incident took place during the fifth game that took place on Thursday, which ended in Kasparov’s favour after the six-time world champion pointed towards the clock to make Anand and the officials present at the venue aware about the time factor.
Anand later revealed that he was contemplating his path to victory, having fought his way to a strong position, but “completely forgot” about the clock and ultimately paid the price for it.
“The first game I saw at one point I had one minute, 26 seconds and then I don’t know, I should have looked at the clock again. I just completely forgot… then when the arbiter came it was the biggest shock,” Anand was quoted by Chess.com as saying on Thursday.
The event, which carries a total cash prize of $144,000, is taking place in rapid and blitz time controls in the Chess960, a.k.a. FischerRandom format. Each day comprises two rapid and as many blitz games, with the points awarded for wins and draws increasing with each passing day.
A victory carries 1 point on Day 1 and a draw is worth half-a-point, and the corresponding numbers increase to 2 points and 1 point respectively on Day 2. A victory on the final day, meanwhile, will carry three points with 1.5 points being awarded for a draw.
Anand, thus, can bounce back on the final day despite trailing Kasparov by 5 points. Five out of the eight games that have been played so far have ended in a stalemate, while Kasparov – who is officially representing Croatia at the event – has won three.