Anand recaps Carlsen vs Caruana (1)

by Sagar Shah
12/6/2018 – The World Championship Match 2018 ended recently, to mixed reviews: Many thought the match was dull and boring, while other called it one of the best World Championships in terms of quality of play. When it comes to opinions, there can be no one better than five-time World Champion Vishy Anand. The legend has played innumerable matches for the highest title — he has been there and done that! Anand did a 31-minute video interview, in his house in Chennai, with IM SAGAR SHAH, who transcribes the key passages with live diagrams.

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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Part 1

It the was our last day of the "one-year homeless journey" that Amruta and I began on November 27th 2017, and what better thing to do than to interview the absolute best chess player of India, one of the best in the world and five-time World Champion, Viswanathan Anand. After his success at the Tata Steel Chess India Blitz 2018, Vishy has a few days off before he will once again be in action at the World Rapid and Blitz in St. Petersburg. We were able to catch him at his home in Kotturpuram, Chennai, where he spent a solid half an hour explaining all the intricacies of the Carlsen vs Caruana match. 

In conversation with Vishy Anand at his residence in Chennai | Photo: Amruta Mokal

One of the things you will learn from Vishy in this interview is that he never goes over board with his comments. He has played multiple such matches and he knows the pressure of the occasion. That's why Vishy's views on the moves as well as the psychology and behind the scenes is so very important. The video interview lasted for 31 minutes. Anand was very relaxed and spoke his mind. It was an absolute joy for the viewers of ChessBase India YouTube Channel where they could hear the thoughts of such a legend. A week out from its release we already had 92,000+ views!

Vishy Anand recaps the 12 classical games of the World Championship 2018


Replay the games with Anand's comments

As you probably know you can select games in the list below the board. If you pause the video and switch on the engine (fan button) you can even analyse with the built-in chess engine.

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,165,57054%2421---
1.d4946,47455%2434---
1.Nf3281,31256%2441---
1.c4181,93756%2442---
1.g319,68856%2427---
1.b314,23654%2427---
1.f45,88648%2377---
1.Nc33,79651%2384---
1.b41,75348%2380---
1.a31,19754%2403---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d394850%2378---
1.g466246%2361---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c342651%2425---
1.h327956%2416---
1.a410860%2468---
1.f39147%2431---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bg7 6.h3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nd7 8.Be3 e5 9.0-0 b6 10.Nh2 Nf8 11.f4 exf4 12.Rxf4 Be6 13.Rf2 h6 14.Qd2 g5 15.Raf1 Qd6 16.Ng4 0-0-0 17.Nf6 Nd7 18.Nh5 Be5 19.g4 f6 20.b3 Bf7 21.Nd1 Nf8 22.Nxf6 Ne6 23.Nh5 Bxh5 24.gxh5 Nf4 25.Bxf4 gxf4 26.Rg2 Rhg8 27.Qe2 Rxg2+ 28.Qxg2 Qe6 29.Nf2 Rg8 30.Ng4 Qe8 31.Qf3
Anand: It is very strange that Magnus did not win this position. Magnus' own hero from five years ago would have won this position quite easily! It was one of the big misses of the match. What was striking is that Magnus' play until this point had been exemplary. Everyone praised him. Before cashing in he could have slowly improved his position. I would only put one caveat in this situation – it is very easy to sit at home and say this is how you should have done. God knows I have spoilt many winning positions as well. It's not my aim to make light of this. But it's a missed opportunity. There is no way going around this. 31...Qxh5 32.Kf2 Bc7 33.Ke2 Qg5 34.Nh2 h5 35.Rf2 Qg1 36.Nf1 h4 37.Kd2 Kb7 38.c3 Be5 39.Kc2 Qg7 40.Nh2 Bxc3 41.Qxf4 Bd4 42.Qf7+ Ka6 43.Qxg7 Rxg7 44.Re2 Rg3 45.Ng4 Rxh3 46.e5 Rf3 47.e6 Rf8 48.e7 Re8 49.Nh6 h3 50.Nf5 Bf6 51.a3 b5 52.b4 cxb4 53.axb4 Bxe7 54.Nxe7 h2 55.Rxh2 Rxe7 56.Rh6 Kb6 57.Kc3 Rd7 58.Rg6 Kc7 59.Rh6 Rd6 60.Rh8 Rg6 61.Ra8 Kb7 62.Rh8 Rg5 63.Rh7+ Kb6 64.Rh6 Rg1 65.Kc2 Rf1 66.Rg6 Rh1 67.Rf6 Rh8 68.Kc3 Ra8 69.d4 Rd8 70.Rh6 Rd7 71.Rg6 Kc7 72.Rg5 Rd6 73.Rg8 Rh6 74.Ra8 Rh3+ 75.Kc2 Ra3 76.Kb2 Ra4 77.Kc3 a6 78.Rh8 Ra3+ 79.Kb2 Rg3 80.Kc2 Rg5 81.Rh6 Rd5 82.Kc3 Rd6 83.Rh8 Rg6 84.Kc2 Kb7 85.Kc3 Rg3+ 86.Kc2 Rg1 87.Rh5 Rg2+ 88.Kc3 Rg3+ 89.Kc2 Rg4 90.Kc3 Kb6 91.Rh6 Rg5 92.Rf6 Rh5 93.Rg6 Rh3+ 94.Kc2 Rh5 95.Kc3 Rd5 96.Rh6 Kc7 97.Rh7+ Rd7 98.Rh5 Rd6 99.Rh8 Rg6 100.Rf8 Rg3+ 101.Kc2 Ra3 102.Rf7+ Kd6 103.Ra7 Kd5 104.Kb2 Rd3 105.Rxa6 Rxd4 106.Kb3 Re4 107.Kc3 Rc4+ 108.Kb3 Kd4 109.Rb6 Kd3 110.Ra6 Rc2 111.Rb6 Rc3+ 112.Kb2 Rc4 113.Kb3 Kd4 114.Ra6 Kd5 115.Ra8
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2832Carlsen,M2835½–½2018B31World Chess Championship 20181
Carlsen,M2835Caruana,F2832½–½2018D37World Chess Championship 20182
Caruana,F2832Carlsen,M2835½–½2018B31World Chess Championship 20183
Carlsen,M2835Caruana,F2832½–½2018A29World Chess Championship 20184
Caruana,F2832Carlsen,M2835½–½2018B31World Chess Championship 20185
Carlsen,M2835Caruana,F2832½–½2018C42World Chess Championship 20186

For readers who prefer text and diagrams here is a summary in that form. Note that in the diagrams below you can move pieces on these boards to follow the analysis.


1. Carlsen-Caruana resembles Anand-Gelfand

When asked about which of his World Championship matches resemble the Carlsen and Caruana 2018 match, Vishy felt that the closest was the one between him and Boris Gelfand. In that match as well there were a lot of draws, but the players also exchanged a pair of decisive results, while Carlsen vs Caruana match had all 12 classical games ending in draws.

Anand won the World Championship Match against Gelfand in the rapid tiebreaks 2½-1½

2. The first critical position that we discussed

Anand:

"It is very strange that Magnus did not win this position. Magnus' own hero [a younger version of himself -Ed.] from five years ago would have won this position quite easily!"

 
Caruana vs Carlsen, London WCh Game 1
Position before 31...Qxh5

"It was one of the big misses of the match. What was striking is that Magnus' play until this point had been exemplary. Everyone praised him. Before cashing in he could have slowly improved his position. I would only put one caveat in this situation — it is very easy to sit at home and say this is how you should have done. God knows I have spoilt many winning positions as well. It's not my aim to make light of this. But it's a missed opportunity. There is no way around this."

3. Anand's take on 10...Rd8 by Caruana

"I had looked at it, I had notes on it, but evidently Fabiano went much further. I know that Hikaru looked at it as well because we had discussed it briefly. It was good opening work."

 
Carlsen vs Caruana, London WCh Game 2
Position after 10...Rf8-d8

"This is the sort of thing that should happen at a World Championship match. You have so much time, you can go really deep and clean some stuff and play not even the most fashionable move. I don't think it was 'one-game stuff'. I think Fabiano intended to repeat it if Magnus went Rd1 again."

4. The ...Bc5 line in the reversed Dragon

 
Carlsen vs Caruana, Games 4 and 6
Position after 6...Bf8-c5

"I guess …Nb6 and …Be7 (1.c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 followed by Be7) is still leading if you look at the total number of games. I wouldn’t say that …Bc5 is completely taking over, but if you see, last year I played this line against Fabiano at Saint Louis, then there was the famous Dubov-Karjakin discussion here. And so it flared up and then dropped out of the radar for a while. But after this match, I think this is just going to be one of the main lines."


Not to be missed: the game that Anand mentions about Dubov vs Karjakin is analyzed in depth by Dubov in this video captured by ChessBase India


5. The pawn sacrifice in Rossolimo

"The pawn sacrifice b4 is well known and the theme is also well known. Not only this game but also Fischer-Spassky where Bxc6 bxc6 was met with b4. Even what Caruana played in this game has been played before. I would expect both sides to be well prepared, obviously Fabiano because he played it, but also Magnus seemed to know it well."

 
Caruana vs Carlsen, London WCh Game 5
Position after 6...b2-b4
6. New ideas in the Petroff

"You try to play these unusual moves to get a game. But even these unusual moves you can analyze with a computer. You have heard this famous conversation between Grischuk and Kovalev that Grischuk had looked at the sequence that happened in the game with Nf4-Nd5 and Black going Nc6-Nd4 (laughs)."

 
Carlsen vs Caruana, London WCh Game 6
Position after 4.Ne5-d3

"It's quite funny that they had gone that far! [After the moves 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nd3 Nxe4 5.Ne2 Ne7 6.Nf4 Nc6 7.Nd5 Nd4 8.Nxe7 Nxe2 9.Nd5 Nd4 10.Na3 Ne6 11. f3 N4c5]"

 
Carlsen vs Caruana, London WCh Game 6

"Grischuk knew it was dead and it was not a big deal. When it works it works. There are cases when you play harmless stuff but your opponent doesn't know it and you get something. Fabiano's preparation has been thorough. But we won't know because Magnus has probed very little. He has just probed the surface, whereas Fabiano has stuck to one thing and kept on chipping away. We know now that Carlsen's Rossolimo preparation was very good, but the Sveshnikov preparation in the Nd5 lines gives the feeling of slightly improvised."

"When it works, it works" —Vishy Anand | Photo: Amruta Mokal

7. How difficult it is to find the move ...Bh4!

Caruana played 68...Nf3 and the position was eventually drawn. But he had chances to win if he had played 68...Bh4. We asked Anand about how difficult or easy it was to find the win here for Black?

 
Carlsen vs Caruana, London WCh Game 6
Position after 68.Bd5-c4

Anand:

"Obviously, it was not easy. I haven’t even delved into it entirely. But the piece up position was not a forced win, which means that White could have used his bishop better to corral the knight in some other way. I saw Svidler’s recap of this ending and I have forgotten the details. The funny thing is that Svidler while doing the recap was also saying that I have to check my notes and corresponding squares! It’s a very difficult ending. But I think I understand the position after …Ng1 pretty well now."

 
Analysis position Carlsen vs Caruana Game 6

"As Black, you need to lose a move here. So after h6 Kh8 h7 you go Bh4 Kh5 (or Kh6) then Be1 Kg6 Bc3 Kh6 (The bishop cannot move as then the knight comes out) Bd2 Kg6 Bg5!"

 

"And now I have transferred the move to you. This bishop loop is winning and it is always winning because Black can always lose a move by extending the loop! So this is not one of those mutual zugzwang things. This is one of those positions where White can be very clearly brought into a zugzwang. But I have not exactly grasped why it was drawn one move ago and why bishop on c4 is not well placed. This bit I have to go over once again slowly and try to understand. But it's fascinating. Suddenly you discover something new about an ending."

8. Is the study of such an ending useful for a player like Anand?

"Yes, some positions are just interesting enough that you must study them. It is conceivable that someday I might have a similar position on the board and this knowledge might be useful in some vague way. But, I am not necessarily studying it to score points. (smiles)."


Continued in part two...


Special thanks to ChessBase India for providing this video. There are hundreds of videos on their very successful ChessBase India YouTube Channel, and we are going to make vigorous use of them in the future.

ChessBase India is also very active on social media: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram


Sagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.

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