One year ago, when Norway’s Magnus Carlsen and India’s Viswanathan Anand faced each other for the World Championship chess title, Anand failed to win a single game and thereby lost the championship match. Now they are meeting again in a repeat encounter.
The first game of this 2014 match which is ongoing in the Olympic village Sochi, Russia, ended peacefully, in a draw. The two players were imaginatively testing the waters, as boxers frequently do. Come the second round, however, Carlsen came out with guns blazing. The Norwegian grandmaster refused to make peace as he did in the first game, concentrating instead on victory. Anand defended accurately against Carlsen’s ingenious attacks until he blundered and resigned. The Norwegian world champion has a way of grinding down his opponent until he blunders, especially in drawn games. Carlsen had the Indian grandmaster’s number, or so we thought. Come round three, however, Anand tore viciously into his opponent’s position, inexorably crushing the world champion. It seems as if we have a match on our hands. The first player to achieve 6.5 points (a win equals one point, a draw equals half of a point, and a loss equals zero points) in the best-of-12 series, wins the match. The score sits at 1.5 points to 1.5 points after three games.
Carlsen is the favourite to win the championship match. He has held the title in conventional, or slow chess, since November 2013, and is now the world champion at all speeds. He swept to victory at both the World Rapid Championship (fast), and the World Blitz Championship (faster) which were held in June of this year in Dubai. He started the tournaments as the No 4 seed at both events. Hikaru Nakamura was the top-rated player in both of the faster disciplines, and was the No 1 seed. Carlsen is also the favourite for the match because he is the younger, at 23, of the two players. Anand is 44, although some older players have been known to overcome their younger opponents. Wilhelm Steintz and Emanuel Lasker come readily to mind. Anand, additionally, is one of the greatest players in history, and was the undisputed champion since 2007. He has been the only player to have won titles in three different formats, namely, match, tournament and knockout. Certainly, we have a match on our hands.
When Carlsen calmly defeated Anand in the second game of the match, one would have hardly expected the Indian grandmaster to respond so quickly and so viciously in the third. He chose the Aronian Queen’s Gambit. The home preparation by Team Anand, his seconds, was, as we are fond of repeating in Guyana, significantly state of the art, when one replays the game. The precise sequence of events allowed White (Anand) a strong advantage and a passed c-pawn (see game). The game followed the moves of a previous encounter which was contested between two elite grandmasters, Levon Aronian and Michael Adams, last year. However, in a remarkable twist, Anand suddenly deviated from the sequence of moves which had been played previously, and lashed out with a novinka, a nasty surprise move. The world champion was in trouble, he was taking much too long to complete his required move. His time was climbing. Anand seized the advantage, and with surgical precision, seized the game. Carlsen resigned on move 34. Assuredly, we have a match on our hands.
In the first game Carlsen chose the Grunfeld Defence, which is popular in top-level chess. However, the defence is not known to be a part of the world champion’s repertoire. It meant therefore, Carlsen was bringing new ideas to the table. Anand employed a relatively quiet variation, achieving the draw in 48 moves. In the second game, Carlsen preferred the Anti-Berlin line of the Ruy Lopez, a variation which has been named after a 14th century Spanish priest. The world champion shattered Anand’s equanimity and soon assumed control of the position. Anand was under pressure for almost the entire game. The combination of having to defend an unpleasant position and lasting time pressure, caused him to crack. Carlsen secured the win in 35 moves.
Anand’s creative win in the third game, however, gives the match some excitement. Perhaps Anand is back with a vengeance.
