Anand to clash with Ding Liren in Altibox Norway chess

Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand will take on Ding Liren of China with white in the fourth round of Altibox Norway chess tournament here. After a terrible start that cost him a game in the tiebreaker and another in regular time control, Anand bounced back by winning a tiebreaker against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France in the previous round and this could be his chance to make things even by winning the normal game against Liren.

On two points from three rounds, Anand currently holds the eighth spot with seven rounds still to come. The win under normal games gives two points while if the game is drawn a tiebreak game is played to determine the winner with black keeping draw-odds.

If the game drags to Armageddon stage, Anand will have to win in order to stay in contention. Even as he started by winning a couple of Armageddon with huge luck, Carlsen came up with a resounding win over Alexander Grischuk of Russia in the previous round to find himself at the top of the tables.

The World champion is showing some exceptional results recently and has won as many as five tournaments on the trot against similar elite opposition. With five points to his credit, Carlsen is followed by Wesley So of the United States, Levon Aronian of Armenia and Ding Liren who all are on four points while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan is next in standing with 3.5 points in his kitty.

Carlsen plays with Mamedyarov, Aronian meets Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley has an important match against compatriot Caruana who is at the seventh spot on 2.5 points. Yu Yangyi, who is sixth on three points, will play with tail-ender Grischuk.

Carlsen's biggest challenge could come from Aronian right now as the Armenian was close to beating him in both games but ended up losing the tiebreaker. Anand will have to put up a strong front for the next three matches and then take stock of things for the final stretch.

Pairings round 4: V Anand (Ind, 2) vs Ding Liren (Chn, 4); Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 2.5) vs Wesley So (Usa, 4); Levon Aronian (Arm, 4)m vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 1); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 5) vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 3.5); Alexander Grischuk (Rus, 1) vs Yu Yangyi (Chn, 3).

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