Missouri: Chess legend Garry Kasparov defeated India’s Viswanathan Anand in the exhibition event Clutch Chess: The Legends held in St Louis, winning 13-11 after 12 rapid and blitz games played over three days.
The tournament featured a cascading points system, with wins on Day 1 worth one point, Day 2 worth two, and Day 3 worth three. Kasparov secured the overall victory with two games to spare, though Anand went on to win both of the final matches.
Speaking after the win in an interview with the St Louis Chess Club’s YouTube channel, Kasparov said Anand appeared to struggle mentally during the contest. “He had some psychological discomfort. It didn’t go well for him from day one and I think it’s just that his score against me historically is bad and somehow, probably just the ghosts of the past visited him during the game,” he said.
On the second day, Anand, a five-time world champion, had a clear advantage in one of the rapid games but lost on time despite having over a minute left on his clock. The blunder marked a difficult day for the Indian grandmaster, who also went on to lose another game after an early piece error.
Reflecting on the event, Kasparov said, “It was a very difficult fight and I think that I was extremely lucky in many games. There were few moments where the tables could have turned. I actually played a few good games. It’s probably those I have not won. I would have preferred to lose game one (of day 2) or just to force a draw which I could do easily. I would rather win game two on day 2. So it’s probably a fair balance. Of course I just totally relaxed today after game two (winning the event).”
Kasparov’s victory came exactly 30 years after his triumph over Anand in the 1995 World Chess Championship held at New York’s World Trade Centre.
“I’m not a professional player. I had very little expectations before the match. I was quite surprised to find myself in this situation. When I won the match it was just somehow just total relaxation. In the depths of my mind I thought it’s not fair. I tried (to win the last two games). It’s not that I just lost on purpose. I think I was more resilient than he expected. In time trouble, to my great surprise, I did better. But again luck is luck. I tried to make sure that luck would be with me,” he said.