JOIN USAnand’s performance has been lacklustre in the tournament so far having played draws in his first two matches before slumping to a defeat in the third round at the hands of Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine.
The Indian is now languishing at the bottom of the table along with world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway which is a rare sight even for the chess pundits who are though still predicting a comeback for both.
It, however, remains to be seen whether that happens here or in the second leg of the category-22 super tournament which will be held in Bilbao in Spain from October 5.
Indeed, a loss is shattering enough and when it comes with white, which Anand had against Ivanchuk, it is demoralising.
Anand, however, has proved more than a few times that he can produce his best when looking down and out.
The onus is also on world number one Carlsen who will have white pieces in his game against Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the fourth round.
It has also been a lacklustre start for Carlsen. After a draw against Anand in the first round, Carlsen played out another draw before losing his third round match.
With seven rounds still to come in the unique event that has a soccer-like scoring system, Ivanchuk has come out as the early leader with seven points from two wins and a solitary draw against Nakamura in the first round.
After the sole rest day in this leg here at Sao Paulo, two more games will be played and there will be a four-day break before the event recommences at Bilbao.