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Viswanathan Anand ‘shocked’ after defeat to Garry Kasparov: ‘At least I don’t have to hide my face when I return home'
Garry Kasparov sealed a convincing victory against Viswanathan Anand in an exhibition chess event, at St Louis.
It was nostalgic and entertaining as Viswanathan Anand lost 11-13 to Garry Kasparov in an exhibition event (Clutch Chess: The Legends) at St Louis. It was a one-sided affair as the Russian GM eased past his Indian opponent. Anand did get his consolation wins in the final day, clinching victory in the final two blitz games. Meanwhile, Kasparov won two blitz and two rapid games. Anand won only two blitz games at the end after Kasparov confirmed victory.
After the event, Anand observed that the games against Kasparov felt more like 'puzzle solving'. The Indian GM also accepted that he was 'missing the practical touch completely.'
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‘I was shocked’: Viswanathan Anand
Speaking to ChessBase India, he said, "I was shocked when I didn’t win game four on the first day. The next day to lose the first game on time was also completely ridiculous. So that really got to me. And in general I had the feeling that I’m not playing competitive chess. I’m playing some sort of puzzle solving or something. I don’t know. I was missing the practical touch completely."
"Chess is not some academic conference. It’s just a sport. I think I deserved this. But for all the points I did not convert, it was nice to finish with this blitz at the end… At least I don’t have to hide my face when I return home," he added.
The win saw Kasparov take home a massive sum of 78,000 Dollars and anand got 66,000 Dollars.
Speaking after his win, Kasparov said, "I think I was more resilient than he expected."
"His score against me historically is bad, and I think it’s somehow probably the ghosts of the past visited him during the games," he added.
