India’s Viswanathan Anand won the inaugural edition of the Tata Steel Chess blitz tournament in Kolkata, beating Hikaru Nakamura on Wednesday.

The two players were tied after 18 rounds, but five-time world champion Anand triumphed 1.5-0.5 in the Blitz playoffs.

“I’m really really happy,” Anand was quoted as saying after the win. “It was not that I was playing blitz particularly well yesterday or even this year – and Naka is a monster in blitz – so this victory came slightly against the odds.”

This title came after the reigning world rapid champion had lost to local challenger and his former second Surya Sekhar Ganguly in the final round to finish seventh in the Rapid tournament, with eight draws and one loss, on Sunday.

In blitz chess, each player gets only three minutes and +2 seconds (extra time) for each move. In rapid chess, players get 15 minutes and +10 seconds (extra time) for each move.

More to follow...