Superbet Rapid & Blitz: Anand Leads After the Rapid
Viswanathan Anand enjoyed a great performance in the rapid section of the 2022 Superbet Rapid & Blitz, though the last game may leave a sour taste in his mouth going into the blitz. He won his first five games before giving up a draw in the last round of day 2, and today opened with an impressive win over David Gavrilescu and an interesting draw with Fabiano Caruana. Unfortunately for the former World Champion, he lost a crazy, up-and-down game to Richard Rapport in the last round, and finished only half a point ahead of him. (Or rather, a point ahead, given the 2-1-0 scoring for the rapid.)
Interestingly, he could easily have finished half a point (or rather, a full point) back, had Rapport finished off his winning advantage against Wesley So in the penultimate round. Had he won that game, and still defeated Anand in the final game, he would have finished with six wins in a row.
Here are the standings, both normal and doubled-up, after the rapid. The next two days will see blitz round robins scored in the usual 1-.5-0 system.
1. Anand 7/9 (14/18)
2. Rapport 6.5 (13)
3. Duda 6 (12)
4. So 5.5 (11)
5. Aronian 5 (10)
6. Caruana 4.5 (9)
7-8. Wojtaszek, Shevchenko 3.5 (7)
9. Korobov 2.5 (5)
10. Gavrilescu 1 (2)
Finally, here are Anand's games from today.
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