An interesting development for chess presented itself momentarily when news of Anand’s methodical demolition of Aronian percolated out of the ongoing FIDE 2014 Candidates elimination tournament in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik are the two grandmasters who have been tipped to win the Candidates based on their FIDE ratings and their recent tournament results. The tournament is being played to provide a challenger for world champion Magnus Carlsen later in the year.
Anand never featured seriously as a contender to win the Candidates. He lacked initiative, it was thought, and probably was too old for the game. Yet he annihilated one of two early favourites, creating speculation, causing eyes to look up in surprise and tongues to wag. By round four, Anand had switched his sudden unexplained dominance to Mamedyarov, after holding the mighty Topalov to an exact draw where only the two kings remained on the chess board. In round four, the game against Kramnik, the Russian grandmaster and former world champion was fabulous, and the game was exciting. Anand sacrificed a pawn for the initiative in the opening, and spectacular fireworks followed. Kramnik parted company with a knight which was blocking his undeveloped bishop, and managed to create a perpetual check situation that fizzled the game into a draw. At the end of round five, Anand had grasped a minuscule half-point lead in the Candidates. A win counts as
