Norway Chess 2022: Anand makes a blunder, now in third place

In the world of chess, it is not every day that we get to see a grandmaster of the prestigious 2800-points club get caught in a wrangle.

Indian Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand blundered and immediately resigned from his game in Round 8 at the Norway Chess 2022 on Thursday.

Also read: Norway chess: No stopping Anand after third straight win

After leading the table and kicking off the tournament in a stupendous manner — beating World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen — the Madras Tiger now finds himself in third place after Thursday’s debacle, two points behind Carlsen who leads the table with 15 points.

Anand, who was playing with the White pieces, had just played Qb5 against his opponent Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the classical format of the game.

The wrong move

The Azerbaijani Grandmaster, who was away from the board when Anand moved his Queen, looked confused when he returned to the table and saw that the Indian ace’s move would allow him to checkmate Anand within two moves.

Anand shook Mamedyarov’s hand and resigned.

You can watch how the game played out here.

Mamedyarov is now in second place and only half a point behind Carlsen with 14-1/2 points.

Carlsen beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in a breathtaking tiebreak in Thursday’s Round 8 fixture, thereby maintaining his position at the top of the table with 15 points.