Vishwanathan Anand beat reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen in the ninth round of the World Rapid Championship. The Indian, playing from the black side of the Nimzo-Indian defence, won the game in 34 moves thanks to an endgame in which his queen and bishop that controlled the long diagonal proved too powerful.
Anand started out in a very aggressive style using his queen and bishop which controlled the long diagonal. The India Grandmaster defeated the Norweigan in just 34 moves.
The tournament is being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Anand won the World Championship in 2007 and went on to defend the title three times before Carslen, in 2013, dethroned him.
At the end of the second day, ten rounds have been played and Anand is sitting joint second in the table with 7.5 points alongside Peter Svindler and Hao Wang. Vladimir Fedoseev is at the top with 8 points out of a total possible 10.
Anand is unbeaten in the competition with five wins and five draws from the ten encounters.
