Carlsen analyzes the World Championship (1/2)

A lot has been written and said about the process leading up to the match, the contract that was not signed and eventually signed, and so on, but let's focus on what happened during the actual match.

The full video of his summary 

Game one

I had a very good start. In the first game I had some minor problems in the opening. I realized during the game that the position was a bit more dangerous than we had thought before the game so I tried to find something else, which I didn't. Fortunately, he didn't find the most critical lines at some point, and I could escape into a drawn position.

After initial troubles, Magnus managed to turn the tables

From then on, I started to outplay him. He was a bit indecisive. It's one of those situations where you feel that the position is equal but with every exchange your position might be a little bit worse, and it's the kind of position you don't want to suffer in at all. That can sometimes be difficult because once you're forced to make a concession that feels uncomfortable, then while the position is still well within the realms of a draw, it's not a nice situation to be in.

And so, for the next moves, I managed to gain more and more territory. He didn't want to exchange queens, he didn't want to exchange rooks, and as a result both my queen and rook became active and his king was a little bit weak as well.

Unfortunately at one point I missed a key defensive resource: his
move Qh1. After that there was nothing.

Nevertheless it was a good start.

Game two

In the second game, it was a kind of quiet anti-Berlin opening. He doesn't have any particular problems with the opening but the position is a little bit non-standard and in many lines I may gain a slight initiative, and that's what happened in the game. I managed to gain a slight advantage in the center, and swing my rook to the kingside, and although there were no particular dangers for Black, it's clear I had the initiative and not very much risk.

Magnus Carlsen's brilliant Ra1-a3-g3 maneuver gave life to a dry position

Once he tried to bail out into a position with no minor pieces, it was clear that with my activity and superior king position I would have an advantage.

Vishy's attempt to release the pressure at all costs starting with
20...Bxf5 led to the loss of a pawn, but not the end of his problems

As unpleasant as it was, Black needed to play 26...Re8 27.Rce4
Rxe6 28.fxe6 and grit his teeth

It could only be an improvement over the monster battery two moves later

When he missed a chance to prevent my rooks from doubling, and eventually my queen from joining and tripling on the e-file it was very difficult. At the end he missed a tactical stroke, which meant that he lost immediately.

34...h5?? allowed 35.Qb7! and it was all over

Game three

Magnus admits that after game two, he thought he would dominate comfortably

The third game was frankly speaking a horrible experience. I changed my mind right before the game about what I was going to play. I was not well-enough prepared for the line that happened in the game. He showed very good preparation and finished the game quite nicely. I didn't have very many chances then.

The opening with a massive c7-pawn stuck in Black's throat needs
no explanation. Ouch.

Anand's 30.Qc4 sealed the game as the pin is fatal

Clearly that was a big blow for me. After the first two games I did think that the match was going to be easier than I thought before. I thought I was playing much better than him, and that would be the decisive factor, but the third game showed me that it wasn't so easy after all.

Magnus Carlsen felt the blow

Game four

The fourth game was another bad game. I didn't gain anything from the opening, but the position was still one with quite a bit of life in it. I gradually began to outplay him again, but then I missed a moment when I could have consolidated my advantage, and I let him equalize.

Then I played some really poor moves and he could almost start top play for a win, while I had little time, but fortunately he made a mistake, he blundered a pawn, but in the end it turned out there was no win.

Magnus stares at the game holding move

Anything other than 41...Qd2 might have cost the game

As coincidences go, Anand's 41...Qd2 was played at the same moment Philae landed on the comet

Game five

The fifth game was the conclusion of a very difficult part of the match for me. In that game we prepared something quite different from what I usually play, but it turned out that he was exceptionally well-prepared for this line as well, and he chose the line that was most dangerous for Black, and one that we had underestimated.

This was the crossroads Carlsen had before him. How to proceed?

"So forcibly I had to go to either an endgame with two pawns each
on the queenside and three pawns each on the kingside, and he
had the advantage of a strong bishop versus a weak knight,..."

or I would have a two pawn advantage on the queenside but with a crippled kingside as in the game. I chose to play with a crippled kingside and later on he could have created much more problems for me than he did. Frankly speaking I was very surprised he chose the way he played in the game, which caused me very few problems.

Indeed, instead of rushing to recover the pawn on a7, White might
have kept the pressure on with Rc7, preventing the knight from escaping

Javascript replayer of the first five games:

To be continued in part two