Moscow: Viswanathan Anand had to be content with a second place finish in the World Blitz Chess Championship after managing 28 points, three behind the winner Magnus Carlsen of Norway.
Anand, who started off brilliantly by winning 12 out of the first 14 games, was three points clear of third positioned Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine.
The Championship saw Anand going in to a two point lead after the first day with Carlsen on his heels but the remaining two days belonged to the Norwegian who scored massively to romp home.
Carlsen is likely to become the top rated player in the new-year, when the next FIDE rating list will come out.
The major difference between Anand and Carlsen was the individual results. While Carlsen lost eight games in all, Anand lost just six but his draw percentage was much higher.
Overall, Anand finished with 20 wins and 16 draws besides his six losses.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, November 19, 2009, 20:20