Garry Kasparov beats Viswanathan Anand in freestyle chess, says ‘I had very little expectations before match’

Precisely 30 years after Garry Kasparov defeated Viswanathan Anand in the 1995 PCA World Chess Championship Match at the World Trade Centre in New York, the Russian legend prevailed over the former world champion from India again — this time in St Louis in an exhibition event called ‘Clutch Chess: The Legends’. Kasparov and Anand squared off in 12 rapid and blitz battles over three days in the freestyle (chess960) format, where Kasparov defeated his one-time arch-rival Anand by a 13-11 scoreline on the exact same date — October 10 — that he had become world champion in 1995.

The Kasparov vs Anand battle from 1995 had given the world the iconic imagery of the duo playing chess on the 107th floor of the World Trade Centre with the city of New York playing a backdrop to the game. This time a