Back with a bang, world champion Viswanathan Anand will be up against world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway in a much-awaited fifth-round clash of the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee.
After enduring some indifferent form and results in the second half of 2012, Anand
has finally shown his true mettle at his favourite hunting ground.
The five-time winner here is gunning for a sixth title and he has had a fantastic start. The fourth-round victory over Levon Aronian must have been a great confidence booster for Anand as the Armenian has been his nemesis for a long time.
Already in the first month of the year, the battle was dubbed as the game of the year and also the game of the decade by some.
A fine opening preparation well compiled with required aggression led to a finish which had the spectators awestruck.
Such games were usually played only 100 years back. With three points from four games Anand is sharing the lead with Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin of Russia.
These three are now separated from the pursuers by a full point and the list includes P Harikrishna who is making his debut in the premier section.