Norwegian Chess: Viswanathan Anand Beats Teimour Radjabov, Magnus Carlsen lost to Aryan Tari

Indian conductor Viswanathan Anand defeated Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan in the Armageddon match in the seventh round of the Norwegian Chess Championship to retain second place behind world number one Magnus Carlsen. The 52-year-old Indian grandmaster has 13 points after the seventh round, half a point behind Carlsen, who was shocked by his Norwegian compatriot Aryan Tari in the tie-break. Anand and Radjabov drew one of their Classics in 42 moves in the game Guicco Pianissimo.

In the sudden tie-break that followed (Armageddon), the former world champion needed just 25 moves to beat the Azerbaijani to an early win on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Carlsen defeated his compatriot to 37 countries after the classic match ended in a stalemate.

Azerbaijan star Shakhriyar Mamedyarov scored against Anish Giri to move up to third place with 11.5 points alongside Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who beat Wesley So. Both scored all three points in the classic match.

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In another match of the day, China’s Hao Wang beat Veselin Topalov in the Battle of Armageddon.

In the ongoing tournament, players participate in an Armageddon (sudden death) match in the event of a tie in the classic game.