After Three Decades, Vishwanathan Anand is No Longer India No. 1

File photo of vishwanathan Anand. (Photo: Reuters)

Wednesday was the first time in last thirty years that Vishwanathan Anand has lost his India number one rank on the live Elo rating lists. With his loss to Sergey Karjakin, Anand’s rating is 2763 while Pentala Harikrishna’s live rating is 2763.3.

The five-time world champion suffered a shocking loss against Sergey Karjakin of Russia in the fourth round of Candidates Chess tournament in Moscow on Tuesday.

Anand began well this year, with a victory over Topalov and two draws. His loss to Karjakin puts him on the back-foot in what is Anand’s biggest challenge this year.

The Indian ace took Karjakin’s irregular opening choice in his stride and was close to equalising, but didn’t quite manage to get there, as a vigilant Karjakin was on the look-out for an opening.

The middlegame was hard-fought, but once the queens were traded, it quickly became clear that the challenge against Anand was formidable.

Anand, known for his defence, was unremarkable and quickly collapsed. With his first loss in four games, Anand slipped back to a fifty percent score while Karjakin had three out of a possible four points.

For Anand, it has always been about comebacks and the Indian will be itching for one. It was a missed opportunity in the middlegame that cost the Indian dearly.

As things stand, Karjakin holds the lead with three points out of a possible four, Aronian is second, with 2.5 points under his belt. Anish Giri, Peter Svidler and Vishwanathan Anand hold the joint third spot with 2 points.

The Candidates decides the next challenger to incumbent World Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway. There are 14 rounds in all before the winner of this strong tournament is decided.

(With inputs from PTI)