Viswanathan Anand won the 2013 edition of Grenke Classic in Baden-Baden. It’s been many years since he won his last closed tournament title. The long awaited first place is now a fact, and Vishy won it in style.

Anand started in his routine pace of secure play, signing draws in the first four games. A brilliant victory against Arkadij Naiditsch in round 5, just before the rest day, showed the Tiger from Madras is getting ready for a jump. 

Exactly against the same player, the Tiger roared again, showing he is much better prepared in the opening phase, and has a superior understanding of the game. In the last round Anand smashed Naiditsch and took the sole first place.

Fabiano Caruana was the only player in the field to give real competition to Anand. The Italian started with a victory against Georg Meier in round 1 and later on in round 3 defeated Naiditsch to have a strong plus score in the first half. In round 8 Caruana won against Naiditsch again, and just when all looked good for the Italian, he lost with white against Michael Adams. Caruana fought hard in the last game against Fridman, but missed his winning chance, concluding the game as a draw and thus handed Anand the victory.

Georg Meier is the top German player of the competition. He finished with 5,0/10, a full point ahead of Naiditsch and 1,5 points ahead of Fridman.

Michael Adams finished with the same points as Georg Meier, sharing 3-4th position with him.
Replay all games with analysis

Grenke Baden-Baden reports

Round 1: Caruana defeats Meier
Round 2: Naiditsch joins Caruana in the lead
Round 3: Caruana defeats Naiditsch
Round 4: Anand and Caruana draw
Round 5: Anand beats Naiditsch
Round 6: Caruana still leads Grenke Classic
Round 7: Meier defeats Fridman
Round 8: Caruana increases the lead at Grenke Classic
Round 9: Anand catches up with Caruana in an exciting round
Round 10: Anand dismantles Naiditsch

Final standings

1. Viswanathan Anand 6,5/10
2. Fabiano Caruana 6,0/10
3-4. Michael Adams 5,0/10
3-4. Georg Meier 5,0/10
5. Arkadij Naiditsch 4,0/10
5. Daniel Fridman 3,5/10

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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