Sochi G10: Unrealized opportunities

FIDE World Chess Championship Carlsen-Anand 2014

The FIDE World Chess Championship match between defending champion Magnus Carlsen and his challenger Viswanathan Anand is taking place from November 7 to 27, 2014 in Olympic Media Center located in the Adler City District of Sochi, Imeretinsky Valley, on the Black Sea.

The match is over twelve games, with time controls of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 61. The games start at 3:00 p.m. Sochi Time, which is the same as Moscow time:

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Round ten

It was rather strange opening preparation that led to a quite controversial decision by Team Carlsen. Magnus Carlsen played the Gruenfeld once more and this time Vishy Anand was the first with a slight surprise in 5.Qb3, going for a line he knows all too well. In fact until move eleven the game even followed Anand-Kasparov 1999.

Carlsen unleashed a surprise of his own on move seven with  7...Na6, but this was met with incredulity and shaking heads by the grandmasters. While there might be a bit of surprise value, as a rule a well-prepared opponent could make him regret his impetuosity.

In fact, the odd times spent in later moves, with some moves by Magnus taking as long as ten minutes followed by a move played almost instantly left the pundits wondering whether he was bluffing this was all prepared, or bluffing he was not prepared. Anand no doubt spent little or no time considering these factors, being far too experienced to get baited into such mind games.

The first crossroads where it appeared White might make his opponent suffer was after 15...Bxe4 when 16.d6 was suggested by both grandmasters and engines, with Komodo 8 suggesting a 0.50 advantage for the challenger. Engine evaluations vary quite a bit among themselves, with some attributing considerable bonuses for speculative reasons, but Komodo is certainly one of the most balanced and such a middlegame advantage should be seen as having very promising chances.

Carlsen tried to put on airs that it was under control...

... but it is hard to bluff someone who can see the cards.

Magnus showed clear signs of worry during the game

As it were he did not choose it and instead played 16.Qc1 with everyone expecting the d-pawn to soon fall, but not so and a few moves later the d-pawn had finally made it safely to d6 on move 22. It lacked the punch of the previous situation, but still promised excellent play coupled with the bishop pair. However the complications and indecision took their toll on Anand's clock and by now he was down to just 20 minutes. Whether failing to see a way to clearly improve, or feeling the pressure of the time and situation, some imprecisions led to mass exchanges and after 32.Rd2, with only the rooks left and a dead equal endgame they shook hands.

Daniel King shows the highlights of game 10

After sweating a little, this was a moment of relief for the title-holder

Even if one cannot claim a clear missed win by any means, there was certainly plenty of venom and the impression is that White failed to make the most of the opportunities at hand.

It has to be inordinately hard to do a full press conference with analysis after a tense game

Tomorrow is a rest day and play will resume on Sunday.

Score

Round ten summary by Niklesh Jain in Hindi for Indian readers

रोमांचकारी मैच – दसवीं बाजी फिर ड्रॉ कार्लसन 5.5-4.5 से आगें

विश्व शतरंज चैंपियनशिप में आज का दिन रोमांचकारी साबित हुआ आनंद सफ़ेद मोहरो से खेल रहे थे और हर हालत में जीतने की जरूरत के मौके पर आज उन्होने गुर्न्फील्ड ओपनिंग में कार्लसन को थोड़ा चौंकाते हुए अपने वजीर के इस्तेमाल से एक पैदल d5 खाने तक पहुंचा दी और फिर  कुछ देर के लिए ऐसा लगा की वो शायद आज  एक और जीत की तरफ जा सकते है । पर इस दौरान कार्लसन अपनी कमजोर स्थति को अच्छी तरफ भांप चुके था और आनंद के घटते समय ने भी उन्हे वापसी का अच्छा मौका दिया । कार्लसन ने आनंद की खतरनाक होती d पैदल को रोकने के लिए कारगर रणनीति बनाई उसके लिए सबसे पहले तो उन्होने अपने वजीर को आनंद के वजीर के साथ बदलते हुए अपने राजा की तरफ की h6 पैदल के बदले आनंद की b2 पैदल ले ली और फिर अपने सफ़ेद खाने के ऊंट को आनंद के घोड़े से बदलते हुए अपने काले खाने के ऊंट से d फ़ाइल को बंद कर दिया । इन सभी चालों के दौरान कार्लसन का उद्देश्य बिलकुल साफ था किसी भी तरह खतरे को टालना और अपने घोड़े को किसी भी तरह खेल में सुरक्षा के लिए वापस लेकर आना । इस दौरान आनंद अपने समय के साथ साथ अच्छी चालों को भी चलना था और जैसा की लग रहा था आनंद को लगभग 17 मिनट में 15 चाले चलना था और आनंद ने खेल को और ज्यादा उलझाने से ज्यादा बराबरी पर रखना चुना और अगली लगातार कुछ चालों लगातार मोहरो की अदला बदली के साथ सिर्फ हाथी ही बाकी रह गए और में जल्द ही दोनों खिलाड़ी खेल को बराबरी पर रखने में सहमत हो गए । खैर आज आनंद ने बेहतर खेल दिखाया पर शायद कार्लसन को थोड़ा फायदा हुआ और अब सिर्फ दो मैच बाकी है । कार्लसन के लिए एक जीत या दो ड्रॉ उन्हे खिताब वापस पाने के लिए काफी है जबकि आनंद को अब किसी भी हाल में जीत दर्ज करनी होगी वरना छठी बार विश्व विजेता बनना संभव नहीं होगा । खैर जो भी हो पिछली बार की तुलना में आनंद के बेहतर खेल ने कुछ भी होने के संभावना बनाई रखी है और प्रतियोगिता का अंतिम पड़ाव सबसे रोमांचक होने के पूरी उम्मीद है ...आपका निकलेश जैन 

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