It was in the first game that Anand had outplayed Kasparov and the former world No 1 survived thanks to some unforced error by the Indian ace.
IMAGE: Interestingly, the first two games of the day were drawn and it was in the third game that Garry Kasparov was able to break the deadlock as Viswanathan Anand walked in to a lost King and pawns endgame, possibly from a what could have been a probably draw. Photograph: Kind courtesy Chess Base India/X
Garry Kasparov stole the eyeballs on the opening day as he defeated Viswanathan Anand in the third game and took a slender 2.5-1.5 lead in the duel between the two legends at Clutch Chess underway in St Louis (USA).
By consent, the best ever player in the Chess history, Kasparov at 62 showed there is still a lot of chess left in him after retiring 21 years back.
Anand had his chances but could not capitalise on them.
With the daily schedule having two rapid and two blitz games under the chess 960 format, the pieces are set randomly before the start of the game. It is through a drawing of lots that the position to be played is determined and the same position is played for the whole four games with two white and two black for both players.
Interestingly, the first two games of the day were drawn and it was in the third game that Kasparov was able to break the deadlock as Anand walked in to a lost King and pawns endgame, possibly from a what could have been a probably draw.
It was in the first game that Anand had outplayed Kasparov and the former world No 1 survived thanks to some unforced error by the Indian ace.
The second game was drawn and so was the fourth, leaving a lot of room for both players to improve upon their chances in the US$144,000 prize money contest.
The tournament has US$70,000 reserved for the winner and US$50,000 for the loser and another US$24,000 are reserved for scoring victories with a roll over of money in case of draws.
The battle is only likely to get more exciting on the second day as each victory will be worth two points, meaning if Anand wins one and draws the remaining three games, he will have to lead in the match.
On the third day, each victory will be worth three points apiece.
