Sochi G3: Anand strikes back – with a vengeance!

by Alejandro Ramirez
11/11/2014 – The match has exploded and is now wide open! Last year's match finished with not a single win for Viswanathan Anand, and today this has changed! The Indian struck back immediately after his loss in the previous round and used a combination of precise play and opening preparation to vanquish the World Champion. The match is now tied 1.5-1.5 The tiger is back!
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

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:

Moscow (Russia)   3:00:00 PM MSK UTC+3 hours
New York (U.S.A. - New York)   7:00:00 AM EST UTC-5 hours
Paris (France)   1:00:00 PM CET UTC+1 hour
Beijing (China - Beijing Municipality)   8:00:00 PM CST UTC+8 hours

Round Three

What a turn of events! When Magnus Carlsen won the first decisive game of the match in the previous round, many gave the challenger, Viswanathan Anand, no hope of recovering. After all, last year he was unable to put any pressure on the then-Challenger Carlsen and he won not a single game. But this all changed.

A fantastic preparation by team Anand left the Indian in a commanding position. The players repeated the game Aronian-Adams from 2013, but Vishy had a nasty surprise in store. The precise sequence of moves allowed White a strong advantage and a powerful passed c-pawn. Anand took the advantage and with surgical precision he won the game.

Carlsen seemed very unfamiliar with the position, taking a long time for his moves

Anand was also taking his time, but somehow it felt as if he was very familiar with the whole variation. He revealed in the press conference that there are so many variations in this complicated line that he did not want to reveal when his preparation ended. However, he did let know that the move 24.Qxb6 was still preparation, while 27...Bb4 was not considered by Anand.

Daniel King analyses the key moments of the game

New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 This style of the "Aronian Queen's Gambit" has become popular in recent years. In the super-tournament in Moscow, Tashir, we have seen this position several times. c6 7...Nh5 was Black's favorite in the Tashir tournament. 8.Bd3 b6 9.b4 a5 10.a3 White's expansion on the queenside looks scary, but if Black can neutralize it, open the a-file and trade off his light-squared bishop (which is often useless), then he can hold comfortably. Of course, doing this takes a long time. Ba6 11.Bxa6 Rxa6 12.b5! All of this is well-known theory. cxb5 13.c6 Qc8 14.c7 b4 15.Nb5 a4 16.Rc1 Ne4 17.Ng5 Taking twice on g5 is impossible, but taking once might be necessary. Ndf6 17...Bxg5 18.Bxg5 Ra5 18...Nxg5?? 19.Nd6+- rips apart the blockade and wins the queen. 19.Be7!? Re8 19...Rxb5 20.Bxf8 Kxf8 21.Qxa4 Ra5 22.Qxb4+ is unclear. The passed pawn on c7 does compensate for Black's material advantage of having two knights against a rook. Ke8!∞ 20.Bxb4 Rxb5 21.Qxa4 and the rook on b5 is trapped. This must favor White as Black's rook on e8 is very passive. 18.Nxe4 Nxe4 19.f3 Ra5 20.fxe4 Even though both players took a long time to get here (about an hour and a half to get to this position between the both of them) only 20.fxe4! is a novelty. 20.Qe2 Qd7 21.fxe4 Rc8! Aronian-Adams, 2013. Vishy must have taken a fresh look at this game. 20...Rxb5 21.Qxa4 Ra5 22.Qc6 bxa3 23.exd5 Rxd5 24.Qxb6 A fascinating position. Material is equal, but White's position is clearly preferable. The a-pawn is not as dangerous as the c-pawn, which needs to be blockaded immediately. Qd7 25.0-0 25.Qa6 The computers again and again were screaming for this move but it's consequences are not always clear. 25...Rc8 25...g5 26.Qb8! Rc8 27.Qxc8+ Qxc8 28.Rb1± 26.Rc6 Interestingly, this exact position was seen in the game Tomashevsky, Evgeny - Riazantsev, Alexander from the 2008 Russian Super Final. However, in that game White's pawn was on h3, and not on h2!  Tomashevsky won cleanly. g5 Black is running out of resources. He has to devote too much time to stopping the c-pawn and this means his a-pawn is not playing. 27.Bg3 Bb4 28.Ra1! An excellent move. There is no way to rip through the blockade immediately, so Anand adds pressure on the a-pawn. Ba5 29.Qa6! Keeping an eye on the a-pawn and especially the bishop on a5. Bxc7 30.Qc4! The pressure on the bishop is huge. This will cost Carlsen a piece. At this point he also had very little time left on the clock. 30.Rxa3 was also strong as the bishop is pinned. 30...e5 31.Bxe5 Rxe5 32.dxe5 As Svidler pointed out, Black has excellent chances to draw this game if he can break the pin and put pressure on White's weak pawns. But that, simply put, is not going to happen! Qe7 33.e6! The easiest. Now Black's king is also a factor. There is no way to dismantle the pin and Black's position is simply resignable. Kf8 34.Rc1 And it is over! Anand does it! Excellent preparation by the Indian player, followed by precise and surgical play leading to a clear and convincing win. 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anand,V2792Carlsen,M28631–02014D37WCh 20143

Carlsen: "It was a poor choice of opening, and he played very well... I could have done better."

Carlsen: "I was trying to hold on... I had seen this position from afar, this stuff with Qb6, I thought I would be a little worse but I would be able to neutralize it, but he got in Rc6... after that all this stuff with g6 and Bb4 just did not work. I probably had to do something else earlier on."

Anand claims that he only prepared three hours on the rest day. He said that he was aware of the Tomashevsky-Riazantsev game mentioned in the notes, but also claimed that the little detail of the pawn being on h3 instead of h2 changed things.

The face of despair

It's over! Carlsen resigns the game after Anand's 34th move...

The first Anand victory over Carlsen in classical chess in quite some time

"When something goes wrong it is always my fault" – Carlsen answering
the question how much influence his seconds had in choosing this opening.

Score

Game:
 Rtg
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
Score
Perf.
M. Carlsen 2863
½
1
0
                  
1.5
 2792
V. Anand 2792
½
0
1
                  
1.5
 2863

Tournament details

Schedule: the match will be played over a maximum of twelve games, and the winner of the match will be the first player to score 6.5 points or more. If the winner scores 6.5 points in less than 12 games then the closing ceremony will take place on the day after the World Championship has been decided or one day thereafter.

Report in Hindi by Niklesh Jain

राउंड 3 – आनंद की शानदार जीत के साथ बेहतरीन वापसी

भारत के लिए आज का दिन बहुत ही शानदार और अच्छी खबर ले कर आया हाँ जी हमारा टाइगर वापस आ गया है फिर वैसे ही । मद्रास टाइगर के नाम से प्रसिद्ध पाँच बार के विश्व विजेता भारत के विश्वनाथन आनंद ने वो कर दिखाया जो लगभग पूरी दुनिया ने सोचना ही बंद कर दिया था क्या शानदार समय था इस जीत का । जब उनके आलोचक उनका मज़ाक उड़ाने या उन्हे चुका हुआ घोषित करने में व्यस्त थे उन्होने मौजूदा विश्व विजेता कार्लसन को अपनी शानदार ओपेनिंग तैयारी और फिर उसके बेहतरीन नियंत्रण से बुरी तरह पराजित कर दुनिया को बता दिया की उनके पास शतरंज को देने को अभी बहुत  कुछ बाकी है । आज के मैच की जंहा तक बात है खेल क्वीन गेंबिट डिकलाइन मे खेला गया जिसमे आज आनंद ने देखने लायक  पैदल ब्रेक ,पासर पैदल के शानदार उपयोग साथ ही साथ मेजर मोहरो के जबरजस्त खेल से कार्लसन को आज कोई मौका नहीं दिया वापसी का । एक बात अब बिलकुल साफ है आनंद की ये जीत अब इस विश्व चैंपियनशिप मैच को बहुत ही रोमांचक मोड पर ले आई है अब कार्लसन पहली बार दबाव मे है और ये देखना रोचक होगा की वो इस दबाव का सामना कितनी मुस्तैदी से करते है साथ ही साथ आनंद का आत्मविश्वास उनके खेल के स्तर को जरूर उपर ले आएगा

आपका निकलेश जैन 

Replay previous games of the match

New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Position not in LiveBook
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5!? The Grunfeld must be one of the most popular ways of meeting 1.d4 at the top level of chess; however it is not part of the World Champion's common repertoire. It is clear that Carlsen is bringing new things to the table and Anand's team will have to adapt quickly. 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 In the face of an opening that he did not expect, Anand decides to play a variation that is relatively quiet and is far from being a theoretical duel. Bg7 6.e4 Nxc3 7.Bxc3 0-0 8.Qd2 This type of Grunfeld focuses on holding the central tension without committing White's pawn to c3, which leaves it vulnerable to the pressure from the g7 bishop. In this case White will rely on his pieces to support his d4 and e4 pawns. Nc6 Carlsen played this relatively quickly, but it is a rare line. 8...c5 has been seen in many grandmaster games. 9.d5 e6 10.Bc4 was the very recent Tomashevsky-Kasimdzhanov from the Grand Prix last month. 9.Nf3 After this move Carlsen went on a 15 minute think. Interestingly, Carlsen this time around has already revealed that his seconds are "the Dane and the Hammer" referring to Nielsen and Hammer. However, many speculated that maybe Nepomniachtchi would help Carlsen, and this line has been played by the Russian player recently. 9.Ne2 is also possible but it blocks the development of the f1-bishop. 9...Bg4 10.d5 Bxf3 11.Bxg7 This is a novelty already. 11.gxf3 Ne5 12.Be2 c6 Moiseenko-Nepomniachtchi, 0-1 August 2014. 11...Kxg7 12.gxf3 Ne5 13.0-0-0 c6 13...Nxf3? Drops a kn ight. 14.Qc3+ 14.Qc3 f6 15.Bh3 cxd5 16.exd5! Anand ruins his structure! To compensate this he now has a strong hold over e6 and will be able to kick out Black's knight from e5. For Black, he will be able to reroute this knight somewhere else that is useful and his structure remains very solid. 16.Rxd5 Qb6 starts looking bad for White. His control of the d-file is worthless as long as the knight is stable on e5, since it guards d7. Kicking out t he knight is not an option. 17.f4? e6! And the strong threat is Rac8. Black would already be winning. 16...Nf7 17.f4 Qd6 Black's blockade on the dark-squres is keeping his position together. There is no easy way to penetrate and Black will create counterplay if left alone. The idea of pushing the a-pawn down the ranks comes to mind. 18.Qd4 A fascinating strategical game. White has a clear clamp on the position, but on the long-term he is worse because of his ruined pawn structure. Practically speaking it seems as if White has the easier time finding moves, but by no means do I think Black is objectively worse. Carlsen whos great resilience in finding passive but solid moves. Rad8 19.Be6 Qb6! I like this plan. Anand can now go into an endgame, but that seems counter-intuitive. 20.Qd2?! This might be turning point. The concession seems natural; give up the good position of the queen on d4 to avoid the queen trade. However It seems that after this White has no good way of continuing. 20.Qxb6 axb6 21.Kb1 Even though this might still be far from an advantage, the possibility of quickly going to c7 with the rook and the passive position of the black rooks allow White to have some chances to create problems. Nd6 22.Rc1 f5! 23.Rc7 Kf6 24.Bd7! Ne4 25.Rxb7 is only slightly unpleasant for Black. 20...Rd6 21.Rhe1 21.Kb1 Nd8 22.Bg4 Nc6!? 22...e6 23.Bf3 exd5 24.h4!? This kind of computer idea is hard to play over the board. It is, at least immediately, not c lear to me why White has enough compensation for the pawn. There is some initiative on the queenside but Black's position does look solid. 23.h4 Nb4 24.Bf3 Rc8 21...Nd8 22.f5 Nxe6 23.Rxe6 Despite White's bind on the e6 square, it is Black that is now better. As soon as he solidifies his e7 pawn he can start working on grinding down White's structure. Qc7+ 23...Rxe6 24.fxe6 Rc8+ 25.Kb1 Qd6 is also rather appealing, but it does seem that Black might run out of ideas if the blockade must be preserved. 24.Kb1 Rc8?! perhaps letting White establish a rook on e6 is not a good way to push for any advantage. 25.Rde1 Rxe6 26.Rxe6 Rd8 27.Qe3 Rd7 28.d6! A tactical way of getting rid of his weakness. Anand is v ery close to equalizing. exd6 29.Qd4 Rf7 30.fxg6 hxg6 31.Rxd6 White's structure on f2 and h2 is still somewhat weak, but with his piece activity it does seem as if he should hold comfortably. a6 32.a3 Qa5 33.f4 Despite the computer's approval of this move, it is somewhat strange. Why push the f-pawn instead of the h-pawn? 33.h4 Qf5+ 34.Ka2 Qe5 perhaps Anand didn't want to deal with another rook endgame, considering how haunted by them he was last year... 35.Qxe5 fxe5 36.Re6= 33...Qh5 34.Qd2 Qc5 35.Rd5 Qc4 36.Rd7 Qc6 36...Rxd7 37.Qxd7+ Qf7 would force the queen to permanently defend the second rank, leaving it as a simple draw. 37.Rd6 37.Rxf7+ Kxf7 38.Qe3 a5! This would be what we have been calling a "Carlsen position". With the weak structure on the kingside Black has some chances of making progress by bringing in the king, as long as there is no perpetual, but of course with perfect play it should be drawn. 37...Qe4+ 38.Ka2 Re7 39.Qc1 a5 White has no way to improve so Black tightens the noose around White's king ever so slightly. This doesn't have a particular threat in mind, it is simply improving Black's chances. 40.Qf1 a4 With time control reached it is clear that the position is nothing but unpleasant for White. He is now passive, has to defend f4, and his king doesn't feel very comfortable. 41.Rd1 Qc2 42.Rd4 Black has to set-up some kind of lethal threat to make progress. The main thing is that if he can create real problems to the White king, White might run out of resources to defend both the king and the pawns on the kingside. Re2?! 42...Re3 The commentary team was very worried about this move appearing on the board. 43... Rxa3+! is a lethal threat. 43.Qd1 43.Rd7+ Kf8 44.Rxb7 Rb3 45.Rxb3 axb3+ 46.Ka1 Qxh2 White's badly placed king and the need to keep the queen on the first rank (or at lest protect the checkmate threats on the first rank) make this an incredibly unpleasant endgame that might just be lost. 47.Qd1! immediately threateining perpetuals. 47.Qd3 Qh1+ 48.Qb1 Qf3 49.Qxg6 Qxf4 47...Qh3! A hard move to find, especially from far away. 47...Qxf4 48.Qd8+ Kg7 49.Qd7+ Kh6 50.Qh3+ Kg5 51.Qxb3= 48.a4 Kg7 49.a5 Qe6! 50.Kb1! Qe4+ 51.Kc1 Qxf4+ 52.Qd2 Qf1+ 53.Qd1 Qc4+ 54.Kd2 Qd4+ 55.Ke1 Qe5+ 56.Kf1 Qxb2 57.Qd7+ Kh6 58.Qh3+ Kg5 59.Qe3+ Kf5 60.Qf3+ Ke6 61.Qg4+ Kd6 62.Qf4+ Kd7 63.Qg4+ f5 64.Qa4+ Ke6 65.Qc6+ Ke5 66.Qc7+ Ke4 67.Qc6+ Kd3 68.Qb5+ Kc2 69.Qe2+ Kb1 And Black has finally run away from the checks. 43...Qxd1 44.Rxd1 Rb3 is very unpleasant as Black's king will march in and once b5 is played the queenside is locked down. 43.Rb4 Now White's defensive set-up also includes pressure against the b7 pawn. Black cannot be careless with his own king. b5 Paralyzing White's position, but Anand still has an important resource. 44.Qh1! Incredibly important! Now Black's king is under threats of a perpetual. Re7 45.Qd5 Re1 46.Qd7+ Kh6 47.Qh3+ Kg7 48.Qd7+ ½–½
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anand,V2792Carlsen,M2863½–½2014D85WCh 20141
Carlsen,M2863Anand,V27921–02014C65WCh 20142
Anand,V2792Carlsen,M28631–02014D37WCh 20143

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Live comments on playchess.com

Our team of commentators will analyse and comment the games of the match live on the playchess.com server. In four languages: English, German, French, and Spanish.

Schedule

Saturday 08.11.2014 Round 1 Daniel King, Parimarjan Negi
Sunday 09.11.2014 Round 2 Simon Williams, Nicholas Pert
Monday 10.11.2014 Rest day  
Tuesday 11.11.2014 Round 3 Daniel King, Loek van Wely
Wednesday 12.11.2014 Round 4 Daniel King, Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Thursday 13.11.2014 Rest day  
Friday 14.11.2014 Round 5 Simon Williams, Irina Krush
Saturday 15.11.2014 Round 6 Daniel King, Yannick Pelletier
Sunday 16.11.2014 Rest day  
Monday 17.11.2014 Round 7 Simon Williams, Loek van Wely
Tuesday 18.11.2014 Round 8 Daniel King, Loek van Wely
Wednesday 19.11.2014 Rest day  
Thursday 20.11.2014 Round 9 Simon Williams, Irina Krush
Friday 21.11.2014 Round 10 Daniel King, Simon Williams
Saturday 22.11.2014 Rest day  
Sunday 23.11.2014 Round 11 Chris Ward, Parimarjan Negi
Monday 24.11.201 4 Rest day  
Tuesday 25.11.2014 Round 12 Simon Williams, Rustam Kasimdzhanov

All playchess.com premium members have free access to the live commentary.

Schedule of live commentary, TV shows, training and tournaments

Playchess.com is Europe's largest chess server, as well as being the official server of the German Chess Federation. More than 4,000 players are logged on every evening, and you can play, chat, watch grandmaster games or take part in free chess training with friends from anywhere in the world. There is even a special room for beginners and hobby players where you can play games without a clock.

Get your Playchess membership instantly – or try it out with a single mouse click

Our team of World Championship commentators (English)


Irina Krush: The female in the commentator team, several times US Women's Champion.		  
Daniel King: Well known, popular, experienced, and very good. Author of many Fritztrainer DVDs

Simon Williams: Englisher grandmaster, author of two popular ChessBase King's Gambit DVDs.		  
Chris Ward: Dragon expert and chess commentator at the London Chess Classic.

Nicholas Pert: Grandmaster, trainer, and author of a number of excellent Fritztrainer DVDs.		  
Loek van Wely: Several times Dutch champion and quick-witted chess commentator.

Parimarjan Negi: Once the world's youngest grandmaster, author of books and DVDs.		  
Rustam Kasimdzhanov: The FIDE-World Champion 2004, former second for Vishy Anand

Live commentary on Playchess is also available in other languages:

German

  • Klaus Bischoff: German Champion and Anchor of the German chess commentary on Playchess
  • Oliver Reeh: Also known as "Tactics Reeh" for his regular column in the ChessBase magazine and the ChessBase website
  • Dr. Karsten Müller: Graduated mathematician and chess grandmaster. His works on the endgame changed endgame training completely.
  • Thomas Luther: Several times German champion. Active in the FIDE commission for the handicapped.
  • Merijn van Delft: From the Dutch dynasty of the van Delfts. Lives in Hambug and in Holland.
  • Yannick Pelletier: Several times Swiss champion. With a linguistic gift he can provide commentary in a number of languages.
  • Markus Ragger: Grandmaster and Austria's number one.
  • Harald Schneider-Zinner: Chess trainer and moderator of ChessBase TV Austria.

French

  • Christian Bauer: Grandmaster, several time French Champion and member of the French national team.
  • Fabien Libiszewski: International Master and member of the French national team.
  • Romain Edouard: Grandmaster, European Junior Champion and Vice-World Junior Champion, member of the French national team.
  • Sebastien Mazé: Grandmaster and French national coaach

Spanish

  • Ana Matnadze, Marc Narcisco, Sergio Estremera

Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com with full GM commentary. If you are not a member of Playchess get instant access, but you can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs to log on.
Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

johnmk johnmk 11/12/2014 02:01
King was tripping over himself too, clearly from a rushed effort. He mentions Black's option of 23...exd5 and comments that Black would like to keep his rook behind his passed pawn but gives only the bland reasoning that Black would have an 'isolated pawn' (another analysis at Chessdom opines that 23...exd5 is "much worse"). In fact the engines do consider exd5 and I think the variations show that it may even be stronger than the game choice.
johnmk johnmk 11/12/2014 01:32
Would not say it was a great game. It was a great bit of opening preparation. Lots of encomiums about Vishy's play by Ramirez but light on analysis. There does not appear to be any clear blunder by Magnus of the variety that is instantly detected by Houdini. But that's exactly where GM analysis should help out!
firestorm firestorm 11/12/2014 12:23
Being able to leave comments like this was a fairly recent thing, so thanks to Chessbase for introducing. Some of the discussions are interesting (and no, that's not meant as a backhanded compliment, just a personal preference of what I find interesting). Being able to read other people's views on the match is good. With regards to this article, apart from being able to replay the game with comments, another nice feature is the photos. Couldn't watch the game today, but the photos capture the moments. Again, thanks.

Regarding the game, whilst the line is known theory, I'm still surprised that Carlsen played this line in a world ch match- its not the giving the opponent a pawn on c7 that concerns me, so much as the risk attached that Anand has the preparation to back it up. If you think back to the Kramnik - Anand match, Anand twice used a sac in the Slav with 2/2 based on preparation.

In the end you have to play what you think is best (and there's no-one better at that than Carlsen currently), and can't be afraid of ghosts, but I'll be very surpised if we see the position after 12.b5 on the board again during this match. However, whatever else, Anand has now beaten Carlsen in a world ch match, so should play with a lot more confidence. Think back to Spassky - Fischer or Karpov Kasparov for examples of first wins in world ch matches, for example. The fact that those were the first wins ever for Fischer and Kasparov respectively (compared to Anand beating Carlsen in the past) doesn't reduce the significance of this result.

Last year's match was interesting, but too one-sided. This games in this are much better already.
G Mohan G Mohan 11/12/2014 11:59
Carlsen to play a4 to avoid theory and home prep!!
G Mohan G Mohan 11/12/2014 11:59
Carlsen to play a4 to avoid theory and home prep!!
srivara srivara 11/12/2014 11:48
Relentless aggression coupled with application of the established lines of played games is the route to crack MC who seems to be invincible otherwise.
Camembert Camembert 11/12/2014 10:53
@ pantheracorbetti
Lol !
It's not a question of Tiger or Python but of a Parrot.
With all these home-prep, computer prep, it's just a question how good a parrot you can be.
Fischer said it in a famous interview, first quality to be good at chess is MEMORY.
Fischer said also " With the coming of computers, Chess is dead".
Anyway in the last game, allowing with 10...Ba6 the coming of a passed pawn is an elementary mistake that you can learn even in a club for Blind.

May the best Parrot win !
abhirami abhirami 11/12/2014 10:31
Vishy we wish you all the best!
ashperov ashperov 11/12/2014 10:25
Gut feeling says Carslen will heed the warning signs and steer away from Vishys prep. However this will boost vishy and we will hopefully get a fist fight to the end.
pantheracorbetti pantheracorbetti 11/12/2014 06:25
This, this exactly is what expected out of Anand from his and chess fans! When you’re a tiger, fight like a tiger. It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose. You just have to believe in yourself. If they compare Carlsen to a python who slowly chokes his prey until the end(game), then Anand is a tiger who can inflict a swift end in the beginning itself! Brilliant game! Expecting more! Hope Anand will win this time coz when it comes to tooth and nail fighting; it is the tiger who’ll have an upper hand over a python!
karavamudan karavamudan 11/12/2014 05:39
for once magnus has been shaken from his smug, bored, nonchalant and everything is beneath me

attitude. Even an elephant can slip its footing.

How the two handles the rest of the match is literally a million $ question.
keyn keyn 11/12/2014 05:19
Sorry but the truth is, either NO ONE on this planet has ever played 'pure' chess (...I guess we all have to wait for future quantum computers to address the issue of chess 'purity' ) or EVERY ONE has played purely enough, according to the individual perspective and preferance of course. However, if you blame your loss for others playing less 'pure' chess than you, then you're a true loser.
johnmk johnmk 11/12/2014 05:11
It's good that Anand can get a victory, but, he can't always count on a home preparation advantage.
keyn keyn 11/12/2014 05:05
I can not honestly say that I'm a fan of Anand, and I really appreciate some of Carlson's play style, with that being said, I have found all this saying that Anand won because he 'just' outprepared his opponent laughable!

Give me any name in the top 10 range who never bothers preparations before any IMPORTANT event, I mean this is chess, it's not like open up the latest Subway Surf or Temple Run, jump in, and hope you may have some better shot today.

And anyone who naively believes that Carlson(backed up by his technical/media/marketing team )hasn't done his huge homework on openning preparation is obviously a fool to buy into this Carlson-just-plays-pure-chess propaganda.

And it is equally laughable that nowadays some people conveniently invented a new term called 'pure chess', implying that any chess with 'preparation' involved is all but 'dirty'.

Bravo!!
slickfish slickfish 11/12/2014 03:33
Some of you make it sound like only Vishy prepares openings, while Carlsen just "plays chess". Ridiculous! Magnus has Vishy's former lead second, Peter Heine Nielsen, on his team. You think they haven't worked up a lot of ways to prevent Vishy from getting the types of positions that he prefers? Players at this level don't just get booked up, they write the "book"! Vishy was able to apply new ideas to a known topical position, and Magnus couldn't counter it over the board. Let the match continue!
KevinC KevinC 11/12/2014 01:37
@Bostonian, You are a total douche and loser (note the spelling moron). You don't have to agree with my analysis, but with the exception of ONE game, Anand has had a lot of trouble beating Carlsen so keep your insults to yourself. Maybe YOU should read the rules for posting, or don't they apply to you?
H B H B 11/12/2014 01:00
Superb game won by Anand - the strongest chess player in the world!
jcaleb jcaleb 11/11/2014 11:59
Now Carlsen will always worry that Anand can outprepare him in any of the succeeding games
tom_70 tom_70 11/11/2014 10:52
Today was an important reminder that at the very highest level, very little separates these players. One small mistake is all it takes to lose. Anand played beautifully. He made one or two suboptimal move throughout the entire game. Carlsen had already made quite a few subotimal moves and was already losing when he made his first red move. Then Anand struck with technical precision. In short, Carlsen simply got outplayed today, from start to finish. I still think he's the better player, but he got his butt handed to him today. He really should be more careful with his opening repertoire. I don't think he minds playing ANY opening if it strikes his mood at the time.
Daniel Quigley Daniel Quigley 11/11/2014 10:28
I've seen no mention of it, but in my opinion the losing move was 22...bxa3? It did nothing to improve Black's position. Once Anand played 23.exd5 and loosened Black's entire pawn exoskeleton, it was curtains for Carlsen. Had Carlsen played 22...dxe4 instead, his position is nothing to write home about, but how does Anand break through with no pawn levers? I think Carlsen could have held after 22...dxe4.
ptr3 ptr3 11/11/2014 09:55
Looks like the only difference between chess fans and soccer fans is that there aren't enough chess fans to cause a riot in the streets after every game.
sinder sinder 11/11/2014 09:29
Bostonian, I think you need to read hpaul's post more carefully - he said "in the last 93 years". So it was only the 2000 Kramnik-Kasparov match that he forgot. Also, it's ironic that you tell people to read the "rules for reader comments", given that you are in violation of them with your offensive language.
jhoravi jhoravi 11/11/2014 09:18
Don't you guys get this article? Anand won because Carlsen fell into his home prepared line.
Bostonian Bostonian 11/11/2014 09:12
@Hpaul - You are still wrong - there are many - Think before you post garbage next time okay ?
1) Frank Marshall who lost the match against Emanuel Lasker with a score of 3.5-8.5 in 1907.
2) David Janowski who lost to Emanuel Lasker with a score of 9.5-1.5 in 1910.
3) Emanuel Lasker did not let two opponents win even a single game but it was now his turn to lose in similar fashion against the great Cuban Capablanca with a score of 5-9 in 1921.
4) And lastly, very surprisingly it was Garry Kasparov who lost his 2000 match against Vladimir Kramnik without a win and with a score of 6.5-8.5 in 2000.

@Oldy, Be a man and give credit where its due. Go brush up your knowledge on world championships and to understand what "preparation" means. "Carlson infatuation played him a trick and made him lose " - What bullcrap is this ? next you will say - And Anand looses because he is old, weak, from India and a looser ? you loose because you either made mistake/s somewhere or because your opponent outplayed you. Stop being an engine supported armchair ahole! Carlsen manned up and accepted his loss but looks like cant accept it.

@KevinC, time will tell. Both Carlsen and Anand's wins were well deserved and they have accepted their losses - Your opinion and moronic analysis does not matter. Stop being biased, giving excuses to defend your favorite players (when none are required) and enjoy the wonderful games. Only loosers give excuses and try to defend loses. Real men take it move on and come back to fight another day.
If you are here to fight with other posters rather than post something readworthy, then don't bother!

I hope everyone uses these discussion boards the right way - read and UNDERSTAND the "Rules for reader comments" before you post nonsense. IF you are here to slander the players or just fight amongst yourselves, then go some place else. It is very easy to be a engine enabled armchair critic and spew venom against Anand and Carlsen because either of them are not your favorite players or because you have certain inherent (racial/Age/regional etc ) bias against them. let's just say if your knowledge, understanding and intelligence at playing chess was anywhere near them you wouldn't likely be posting on these forums!
KevinC KevinC 11/11/2014 08:29
To the Anand fanatics, I think this is a red herring of a game. Yes, Anand won, but I am not sure that it will mean much in the long run. He won by out preparing Carlsen in ONE game, and nursing that advantage throughout.

If the last match, and the first two games of this match showed us anything, it is that Anand will face a lot of pressure, and often crack under it. I don't think that we can expect Anand to get an advantage out of the opening too often, and if not, he will be fighting for his chess life in every game.
iComeInPeace iComeInPeace 11/11/2014 08:16
thats it, code cracked and now its all down hill for the temporary champion.

the C pawn is now called 'The Stake'!
bronkenstein bronkenstein 11/11/2014 07:59
Wonderful game by Tiger. Very good prep, high accuracy in the finish, a true model!

Additional weight, especially psychologically, is his remarkable bounce-back after his very weak play in that awful 2nd game, in which he played series of weak moves crowned by rather rough, that is inexplicable, blunder! Today he crushed his opponent as if nothing has happened - not many would be able to do so!

Honestly, I expected Vishy to ˝waste˝ his whites on another draw, in order to recover after his weak performance in the previous one. I am surprised and shocked, but pleasantly! If Vishy continues to play strongly like this, match can easily end around 9th or 10th game. And World Champion will, as expected, take part in the London Chess Classic =)
chr_king chr_king 11/11/2014 07:58
Anand likes knr words
chr_king chr_king 11/11/2014 07:56
Anand punched today
hpaul hpaul 11/11/2014 07:44
ewenardus: Thanks for the correction - I must have repressed the 2000 Kramnik-Kasparov result.
But it's very good to see that this will (hopefully) be a fighting match.
Balthus Balthus 11/11/2014 07:37
Hhorse, respect for that! :)
ewenardus ewenardus 11/11/2014 07:37
hpaul actually kasparov failed to win a match against kramnik in 2000... sad memory...
Oldy Oldy 11/11/2014 07:34
I dont believe that Anand played anything special. This was all about memorizing an opening. Carlson could've made the simple 23....a2 move instead and everything could turn out the other way, or at least a draw. But Carlson infatuation played him a trick and made him lose. A live and learn experience for Carlson. Never under estimate your adversaries.
juanviches juanviches 11/11/2014 07:22
Wow! Match is turning on. I like seeing these great champions fighting like lions!
chr_king chr_king 11/11/2014 07:06
anand pounced carlsen like lion today. wonderful
hpaul hpaul 11/11/2014 07:03
He strikes back Vishysly!
Even though (part) Norwegian, I'm glad to see Vishy fight back. It means this may be a normal W.Ch. match, where both players win their share of games. The 2013 match was a disappointing anomaly, the first W.Ch. match in 93 years (I believe) where one player has failed to win a game.

(In 1921 Lasker at age 52 resigned his match against Capablanca after 14 of 24 scheduled games, with the score standing at 4 wins for Capa, 0 for Lasker. Lasker had not wanted to play the match, and had in fact offered to resign his championship to Capa without a match, but Capa wouldn't accept that.)
libyantiger libyantiger 11/11/2014 06:29
i love anand i hope he wins the title back.....but it is not easy carsen is still too strong and he fights till the very end
Reshuaggarwal Reshuaggarwal 11/11/2014 06:15
Anand strikes back sensationaly... This the right phrase.. It has created a sensation in India.. Atleast you can witness that in the Twitter world.
daftarche daftarche 11/11/2014 06:07
i don't like these hasty commentaries. where did black go wrong? give some truth Mr. Ramierez.
tacticachess tacticachess 11/11/2014 05:54
Why to allow the contenders to use the engines/seconds help
during the world championship match ?

Is it fair to avail such facilities during the match period ?

Neutralizing the Novelties/coming up with a Novelty with the help of engines/seconds during the match period
will never make the champion a real champion. let them fight on their own !

Once the colours are drawn for the first round, access to the engines/seconds help should
be denied to the contestants till the championship is decided.

After all the chess world is willing to see a real CONTEST and a TRUE World Chess Champion !

We need a battle of wits and nerves not a battle of bits and bytes .
12Next
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.