- The Washington Times - Saturday, March 29, 2014

Indian chess superstar Viswanathan Anand on Saturday earned the right to a rematch with Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen later this year, topping a tournament of leading challengers in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

Mr. Anand, 44, lost the title he had held for seven years to the 23-year-old Carlsen in November by a 6 1/2-3 1/2 score, a match in which the Indian did not manage to win a single game. But he played with great confidence in the candidates tournament over the past three weeks while favored rivals such as Levon Aronian of Armenia and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia faltered.

Anand clinched first place in the tournament with a round to spare, drawing with Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin while Mr. Aronian was losing fellow Russian star Dmitry Andreikin. The Indian is a point-and-a-half ahead of four rivals with just one game to go.

Mr. Carlsen, the first world champion ever from Norway, is likely to be favored in the world title match in November. A host city for the event has not yet been announced.

 

 

• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.

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