1. Home
  2. Viswanathan Anand shocked by Anish Giri in Bilbao chess

Viswanathan Anand shocked by Anish Giri in Bilbao chess

October 31, 2015

Bilbao, Oct 31: Defending champion Viswanathan Anand suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri in the fourth round of the Bilbao Masters final chess tournament here.

BilbaoAfter three draws coming under different circumstances, Anand suffered a typical case of chess blindness and his opening blunder cost him dearly against Giri who used the opportunity well. For the records, this was Anand's first loss against Giri in Classical chess.

Riding on his victory, Giri joined overnight leader Wesley So of United States in lead on six points under the soccer-like scoring system that gives three points for a victory and one for a draw.

Wesley So played out a hard-fought draw with Liren Ding of China who now shares the third spot with Anand on three points with two rounds still to come in the four-players double round-robin tournament.

Giri chose the English opening that is in vogue these days. Playing black,

Anand fell for a simple trick as early as on move 11 when a Bishop move by the Indian turned out to be a serious inaccuracy. Giri pounced on his chance in quick time and Anand was faced with a very difficult choice to either lose a pawn and wait for the inevitable or try and create some counter active chances.

As it happened in the game, Anand gave up his queen for two pieces as early as move 17 but the counter play for the lost material was never enough. The game was fought till move 37 when Anand ran out of his allotted time.

Liren Ding's attempt to liven things up against Wesley So boomeranged a bit. Playing the white side of an irregular queen pawn, Ding felt some pressure when Wesley got his king side attack and only some timely exchanges helped in neutralising the initiative.

The players arrived at a rooks and minor piece endgame wherein Wesley got the draw through repetition. The game lasted 53 moves.

With just two rounds to come, Anand has one white game against Wesley while against Ding the Indian will play black.

The game against Wesley is likely to be crucial for the five times world champion.

Results round 4: Anish Giri (Ned, 6) beat V Anand (Ind, 3); Liren Ding (Chn, 3) drew with Wesley So (Usa, 6).

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: "Want to know what makes him tick," said Australian pacer Kane Richardson will talking about playing alongside Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.

The IPL 2020 will be played in the UAE from September 19-November 10 and the tournament will run for 53 days.

In the players' auction which was conducted in December 2019, RCB managed to bag key players like Richardson, Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Dale Steyn, Joshua Philippe, and Isuru Udana.

In an interaction with news agency, Richardson talked about playing alongside Kohli and the learning curve which is in store for him by being in the same squad as Proteas great Dale Steyn.
"Huge. These guys (Virat, AB de Villiers) are the absolute legends of the game. Anything I can learn from them will be a bonus, that's for sure.

I am really looking forward to playing with Virat, there are few more competitive players in the world. I am really looking forward to seeing what makes him tick," Richardson said.

The 29-year-old pacer also said that he would want to learn from Steyn as to how to be consistent in all formats of the game over a long period of time.

"There are loads I can learn from Dale. He has been amongst the best at the highest level for so long. His control and ability to swing the ball without losing his pace is really impressive. 

I look forward to getting in his ear about how he performs so consistently over a long period, in all forms," said Richardson who has 39 ODI wickets to his credit.

Richardson has so far played 14 games in his IPL career so far and has picked up 18 wickets. The bowler played for Pune Warriors India in 2013, Rajasthan Royals in 2014, and RCB in 2016.

For this year's IPL, RCB has also bagged Australia's limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch, and Richardson thinks having a familiar face in the camp would help him to settle better in the franchise.

"Finchey is an awesome player and a fantastic leader. I am sure it will help to have two Aussies in the side along with Josh who is playing his first tournament after a massive summer in the BBL. We are all professionals, I'm sure it won't take long for us to gel as a side," Richardson said.

However, before the IPL starts, Australia is expected to tour England for a limited-overs series, comprising of three ODIs and as many T20Is.

The side was last seen in action in March this year as they played one ODI against New Zealand in Sydney. After the first match, the remaining two ODIs were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Talking about the series against England, Kane replied: "We will be fresh, that's one thing, while the England players have been in a bubble for some time now. As long as we get enough practice in before and possibly some centre wicket it should not be an issue."

"They are World Cup holders and the number one ranked side for a very good reason. It will be a tough series also given they will have played a fair bit of cricket together by then. We know we need to work hard on our one-day game which will be a priority over the next period," he added.

The pacer also talked about how the lockdown was like for him, and Richardson feels that everyone would come back strong as a result of this break.

"The break from playing has been refreshing, to be honest. We have come back strong and are well into pre-season training with our states. As a bowler, our loads are not at their peak but we are working towards getting ready for a tour of the UK in a few weeks," Richardson said.

The Australian quick has so far played 25 ODIs and 18 T20Is, managing to take 39 and 19 wickets respectively.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
February 26,2020

It could be Virat Kohli versus Faf du Plessis in the Asia XI-World XI two-match T20 series that has been organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on March 18 and 21 -- subject to the India skipper confirming his availability.

The matches will be played to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The BCB is awaiting a confirmation from Kohli as well as K.L. Rahul for the March 18 game as India are set to play South Africa on the same day in the final ODI of a three-match series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Agencies had earlier reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly had sent the names of Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan and Kuldeep Yadav to the BCB for the two matches. And they all feature in the Asia XI team with the addition of wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant and Rahul.

Announcing the names, BCB President Nazmul Hassan said: "We have already received four names from India. We haven't signed contracts but Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan and Mohammed Shami are supposed to come. They have said K.L. Rahul and Virat Kohli will play one game each, but that hasn't been finalised.

"Players like Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have finalised with us, from Afghanistan. Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane will play while from Sri Lanka, we will have Lasith Malinga and Thisara Perera. From Bangladesh, we will have Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Mahmudullah and Liton Das.

"I don't remember all the names, but we will have three or four players from South Africa. Definitely, there will be the same number of players from West Indies. Australia and New Zealand will be playing but we will try to find some (players). Bairstow is definitely coming. Ngidi is coming. Chris Gayle is supposed to play. Faf du Plessis. We will have some of the best players around. We are uncertain about Pakistan since the PSL is will be ongoing. We will invite some of the cricketing greats."

Squads: Asia XI: Virat Kohli*, K.L. Rahul*, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan, Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Thisara Perera, Rashid Khan, Mustifizur Rehman, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lasith Malinga, Muzeeb ur Rehman

World XI: Alex Hales, Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis (Captain), Nicholas Pooran, Ross Taylor, Jonny Bairstow, Kieron Pollard, Adil Rashid, Sheldon Cottrell, Lungi Ngidi, Andrew Tye, Mitchell McClenaghan. (Coach: Tom Moody)

Note: (*) For one game; Kohli's selection subject to confirmation.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 7,2020

London, Apr 7: Bowling coach Waqar Younis feels that it was the absence of pacers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir which saw Pakistan getting whitewashed during Australia tour last year.

Amir and Riaz had quit the red-ball format ahead of the matches against Australia in 2019.

"Just before the Australia series, they ditched us and we had the only choice to pick youngsters.

We were the new management and decided to go on with taking in the younger lot and groom them. ESPNcricinfo quoted Younis as saying.

Pakistan was not able to win a single match in Australia as they got defeated both in T20Is and Test series.

"It's not like we have lost a lot, but yes they left us at the wrong time. But anyway, we don't have any grudge against them," Younis added.

"We cannot control players' choice on what they want to play, but then there should be a mechanism so we all are on board. "It's not like I am saying we could have won in Australia but we could have done better than what we have done," he opined.

Amir gave up the red ball format in July in order to manage his workload and extend his white-ball career for Pakistan as well as in T20 leagues around the world, while Riaz took an "indefinite break" from Test cricket in September last year.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.