Defending Champion Viswanathan Anand is going through a rough time in the ongoing Amber Blindfold and rapid chess tournament.With only three rounds to go, Anand is now placed joint sixth in the combined standings and is having a torrid time in the blindfold where he is joint seventh on just 3.5 points from 8 games. On the brighter side however, Anand continues to lead in the rapid with 5.5 points along with tournament leader Vladimir Kramnik of Russia. Anand has a relatively easier opposition in rounds to come, with two off-colour opponents in Spaniard Alexei Shirov and Israeli Boris Gelfand, apart from an in-form Vassily Ivanchuk of Urkaine. Anand has a reasonable score in individual encounters against all these players. If he is able to get around five points of these six games, he might find himself closing in on Kramnik who has a two-points advantage at present. (PTI)
Anand joint sixth after eight rounds
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