'It's madness': Anand loses early after draw against Sindarov; 20-year-old calls legend 'world class'

Viswanathan Anand loses time to Javokhir Sindarov (GCL Photo) BENGALURU: Viswanathan Anand’s difficult start to the Global Chess League 2026 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.Anand, who played for the Alaskan Knights, had already had a tough Monday, losing in time to world number one Magnus Carlsen before holding Triveni Continental Kings’ Alireza Firouzja to a draw. Tuesday brought a little relief. Anand first retired against Ian Nepomniachtchi earlier in the day and ran out of time against Sindarov in the evening despite having chances to win.The defeat was particularly frustrating as Anand, playing white, had an advantage at one stage. However, with the clock becoming an increasingly important factor in this fast-paced format, the veteran struggled to maintain control of the position.To make matters worse, Sindarov offered a draw. Anand refused, believing he could still aim for victory.“It’s just a comedy of errors. He offered a draw when he played 43…Re4+. But his pieces seemed to have no coordination, so I tried to play for the win,” Anand told reporters, visibly devastated after the time loss.“And then, that’s crazy. I think I had to draw even at the very end, but I went with 70.Kxd4+. I already made the mistake of allowing 73.Rf8…Rc4+, and I can’t go on B4,” he explained.When asked what was wrong with him, Anand could not offer an explanation. “I don’t know. If I knew, I would do something,” he remarked.Sindarov, who is preparing to challenge for the World Championships later this year, was not thrilled with his own performance despite securing a key victory.“Yes, overall happy with the performance, but not happy with the game. But I think I played very well in the beginning, but then I made a big mistake. I start thinking for five minutes to find the best moves, but in this time control, it’s always difficult to find all the best moves,” he said.Sindarov confirmed he had offered Anand a draw and admitted he was relieved when the Indian legend declined.“I saw the screen. I was just hoping that my draw wasn’t going to be, I mean, not that bad. But then I saw that they were just losing, and I was very happy when he didn’t accept my draw. And I was like, ‘Okay, I’ve got to go all out, like, win or lose.’With both players down to mere seconds, Sindarov felt Anand’s dwindling clock gave him a psychological advantage.“I started to understand that he was feeling a bit nervous when his time was getting under one minute and then I kind of took that psychological advantage and started trying to push and he missed my last trick,” he said.Despite beating Anand twice in two matches, Sindarov played down any suggestion that he had a special edge over the legend. “No. I mean, I’m just so lucky that I won both games,” he added. “It’s very good to always play against Anand, to train, you know, against a world champion.And when Sindarov asked him how highly he rated Anand at 56, he was full of praise: “He’s world class,” he said. “There are very few players who can play at this level so close to 60. So that’s why he was one of the best.”

What happened on Day 4 in Bengaluru

The day started with the Ganges Grandmasters defeating the Alaskan Knights 12-8. US Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra’s match against Leon Luke Mendonca ended in controversy after an illegal move and time confusion cost Mishra a likely victory.Mumba Masters defeated American Gambits 11-6 in the second match of the day. The Triveni Continental Kings defeated the Pipers 10-4. The long-awaited clash between Magnus Carlsen and Alireza Firouzja ended in a draw, but the Continental Kings picked up victories on other boards.Before the fourth edition began, Carlsen joked that he wanted to “kick the f*** out of Alireza Firouzja”. He didn’t get his wish, but their game attracted a lot of attention and the arena filled up as the evening progressed.In the final game of the day, Anand’s Alaskan Knights went down against American Gambits 9-12.

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Global Chess League Season 4 standings

RankTeamMWLMPGP1American Gambits6339522APL Pipers5329473Mumba Masters5329474Ganges Grandmasters5329405Alaskan Knights6246476Triveni Continental Kings523644

GCL 2026: Day 5 Matches – Wednesday 9 September

Mumba Masters vs APL Pipers
Gangs Grandmasters vs Triveni Continental Kings
Alaskan Knights vs Mumba Masters
Triveni Continental Kings vs American Gambits