Online Nations Cup: Viswanathan Anand, P Harikrishna combine to lead India to first victory

Former world champion Viswanathan Anand and P Harikrishna led India to their first win in the Online Nations Cup, beating Rest of the World 2.5-1.5 in the seventh round before drawing against Europe on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_6373151” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Viswanathan Anand. Image courtesy: Shamkir Chess 2019[/caption] Anand beat Teimour Radjabov in 37 moves. The Indian had posted his maiden win in the tournament on Thursday by thrashing Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi in just 17 moves. Harikrishna posted his first win after four draws and a loss (to Vladislav Artemiev yesterday) by putting it across Jorgi Cori. India no 2 Vidit Gujrathi’s struggles continued as he went down to the talented, young Alireza Firouzja for Rest of the World to pick up a point. It was his fourth loss in the tournament so far. D Harika and Mariya Muzychuk settled for a draw as India posted a much-needed win. Later in the day, India was held to a 2-2 draw by Europe in the eighth round. Gujrathi ended his barren spell with a win over Levon Aronian with white pieces while Jan-Krystozf Duda put it across Harikrishna to ensure the teams shared honours. Anand and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave played out a 60-move draw while the game between world rapid champion Koneru Humpy and Anna Muzychuk too ended in a stalemate. India had drawn with Russia and lost to USA on Thursday. The event follows the double round-robin format, with the two leading teams battling for the title in the “Super Final”. All matches involve four boards — represented by three men and a woman player. The rapid time-control is 25-minute plus 10-second increment per move.