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
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

"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)
 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 The 3rd Rossolimo in a row. Both players seem happy to continue the discussion. Magnus is looking for unbalanced positions with Black and is comfortable assuming some risk, while Fabiano has a clear target as well. Switching to a main line Sicilian is getting harder. Fabi may end up wasting a White to gain some info on Magnus's choice of subvariation though many people (myself included!) assume its the Sveshnikov. g6 4.0-0 Switching from 4.Bxc6 Bg7 5.Re1 e5 5...Nf6 6.e5 Nd5 7.Nc3 Nc7 8.Bxc6 dxc6 is playable, but is simply not the kind of position Magnus is looking for with Black 6.b4 Nxb4 6...cxb4 7.a3 b3 was Grischuks sensible response when surprised by Bacrot in a rapid game. It would be amazing if Carlsen was unprepared for b4 (hardly a rare move) and he has a more concrete response in mind. 7.Bb2 Carlsen did spend some time on his decisions, but I did this as well quite often just remember things with clarity. After all they must have revised lots of different options in the morning. a6 7...Qc7 8.d4 is a surprising suggestion of the computer 8.c3 Nc6 9.d4 d6 10.d5 a6 11.Na3 Ke7 is the by now famous game Rapport-Granda 2013 8...a6 9.Bc4 9.Bf1 exd4 10.Qd2 10.c3 d3 11.Na3 also looks reasonable for a mere pawn 9...cxd4 10.Bb3 Nc6 11.c3 The position is very rich in possibilities, but I won't second guess their conclusions since Magnus certainly studied this line 8.a3 ...You will find all of Anand's comments to Game 5 in the next issue of ChessBase Magazine, due to be released in the last week of December!
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2832Carlsen,M28352018B31WCh 20185

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

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