Anand: "Switching to a main line Sicilian is getting harder"

by ChessBase
11/16/2018 – Magnus Carlsen noted in the post-game press conference that "obviously 6.b4 wasn't new to me" and former World Champion VISWANATHAN ANAND agrees in his analysis of Game 5 for the next ChessBase Magazine. Here's a sneak peek and also a candid video interview with Anand on his victory in the blitz tournament of Tata Steel Chess India after a tiebreak match. | Photo: (left) World Chess / (right) Amruta Mokal

My Career Vol. 1 My Career Vol. 1

The first DVD with videos from Anand's chess career reflects the very beginning of that career and goes as far as 1999. It starts with his memories of how he first learned chess and shows his first great games (including those from the 1984 WCh for juniors). The high point of his early developmental phase was the winning of the 1987 WCh for juniors. After that, things continue in quick succession: the first victories over Kasparov, WCh candidate in both the FIDE and PCA cycles and the high point of the WCh match against Kasparov in 1995.
Running time: 3:48 hours

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"That ship has sailed"

The great laugh line of the Game 5 post-game press conference came in response to the question of who were the competitors' favourite players of the past. Carlsen said "probably myself like three or four years ago", which sounds more egotistical than it was likely intended.

Grandmaster Ian Rogers asked, tongue-in-cheek, whether Magnus would be able to "emulate his idol" (i.e. himself), and he replied, "no — he won his first game and game five of the World Championship, so that ship has sailed".

Carlsen won his first game with the white pieces in Sochi, 2014, and his first win in the 2013 Chennai match came in the fifth game. Of course, his opponent in both those matches was the 15th undisputed World Champion, Viswanathan Anand. Coming off a stellar blitz performance in Kolkata (more on that later), Anand agreed to annotate Game 5 for the forthcoming issue of ChessBase Magazine.

On the 'videogate' incident before Game 4, Anand says:

"T​here's nothing that dramatic that they gave away, except that you confirm that you're looking at the Petroff. On the other hand, this is completely useless information, if the Carlsen team — even if they felt that it's authentic — would they trust it, would the bet their life on it? They can't. I think both sides cannot take this ploy any further. So, in the end, it didn't matter, but at least it was more interesting than the game [on Tuesday]".

Here's a sneak peek:

Game 5: Caruana vs Carlsen (annotated by Viswanathan Anand)
 

ChessBase Magazine 186

Enjoy the best moments of recent top tournaments (Sinquefield Cup, Biel, Dortmund) with analysis of top players. In addition you'll get lots of training material. For example 10 new suggestions for your opening repertoire.


Anand speaks to ChessBase India following his Tata Steel Chess India blitz victory

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