‘It’s madness’: Viswanathan Anand loses on time after declining draw against Sindarov

Viswanathan Anand loses on time to Javokhir Sindarov (GCL Photo)

BENGALURU: Viswanathan Anand’s difficult start to the 2026 Global Chess League took another turn for the worse on Tuesday as the five-time world champion suffered two defeats in a day, the second coming in painful fashion against 20-year-old Javokhir Sindarov.Playing for Alaskan Knights, Anand had already endured a tough Monday, losing on time to World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen before holding Triveni Continental Kings’ Alireza Firouzja to a draw. Tuesday brought little relief. Anand first resigned against Ian Nepomniachtchi earlier in the day and then, in the evening, ran out of time against Sindarov despite having chances to win.The defeat was particularly frustrating because Anand, playing White, had held the advantage at one stage. With the clock becoming an increasingly important factor in this rapid format, however, the veteran struggled to keep control of the position.To make matters worse, Sindarov had offered a draw. Anand declined, believing he could still press for a win.“It’s just a comedy of errors. He offered a draw when he played 43…Re4+. But it seemed to me that his pieces had no coordination, so I tried to play for win,” Anand, visibly devastated after the loss on time, told reporters.“And then, it’s madness. I think even at the very end, I must have had a draw, but I went with 70.Kxd4+. I already blundered allowing 73.Rf8…Rc4+, and I can’t take on B4,” he explained.Asked what was going wrong for him, Anand could offer little explanation. “I don’t know. If I knew, I would do something,” he remarked.Sindarov, who is preparing to challenge for the world championship later this year, was hardly delighted with his own performance despite securing the crucial win.“Yeah, general happy with the performance but not happy with the game. But, I mean, in the opening, I played very well, but then, like, I made big mistake. I start thinking for five minutes to find the best moves, but in this time control, it’s always hard to find all the best moves,” he said.Sindarov confirmed that he had offered Anand a draw and admitted he was relieved when the Indian legend declined.“I saw the screen. I was just hoping, like, my draw will be, I mean, not so bad. But then I saw they’re just losing, and I was very happy when he didn’t accept my draw. And I was thinking, ‘Okay, I need to go all in, like, I will win or lose.’”With both players reduced to mere seconds, Sindarov felt Anand’s dwindling clock gave him a psychological edge.“I started to understand he felt a little bit nervous when his time was going to less than one minute, and then, somehow, I took this psychological advantage, and I started trying to push, and he missed my last trick,” he said.Despite beating Anand twice in two games, Sindarov played down any suggestion that he has a particular edge over the legend. “No. I mean, I’m just so lucky to win both games,” he added. “It’s very good to play against Anand always, getting, you know, practice against a world champion.”And when asked how highly he rated Anand at 56, Sindarov was full of praise: “He’s world-class,” He said. “There are only a few players who can play at this level so close to 60 years old. So, that’s why he was one of the best.”

What happened on Day 4 in Bengaluru

The day started with Ganges Grandmasters beating Alaskan Knights 12-8. American Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra’s game against Leon Luke Mendonca ended in controversy after an illegal move and confusion over the clock cost Mishra a likely win.

Mumba Masters defeated American Gambits 11-6 in the second match of the day. Triveni Continental Kings beat Pipers 10-4. The much-anticipated clash between Magnus Carlsen and Alireza Firouzja ended in a draw, but the Continental Kings picked up wins on other boards.

Before the fourth edition began, Carlsen had joked that he wanted to “flag the s*** out of Alireza Firouzja”. He did not get his wish, but their game drew plenty of attention, with the arena filling up as the evening progressed.In the final match of the day, Anand’s Alaskan Knights then went down to American Gambits 9-12.

Global Chess League Season 4 standings

GCL 2026: Day 5 fixtures – Wednesday, September 9