ANAND – CARLSEN

WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2013 GAMES

AS ANNOTATED BY MARK CROWTHER IN TWIC

PDF VERSION BY PEKCHA

FOR

IMMORTALCHESS FORUM

2

Low key draw in first game of the World Chess Championship 2013

Mark Crowther - Saturday 9th November 2013

The first game of the World Chess Championship 2013 match between

defending champion Viswanathan Anand and his challenger Magus Carlsen

ended in a draw in only 16 moves and 90 minutes play. Carlsen playing white

chose the Reti System an extremely conservative choice. Anand played quickly

and confidently, and after his 10...Nb6 introducing forcing play Carlsen already

thought he had no advantage, he seemed to want play to develop more slowly,

it's not clear to me what he'd overlooked in preparation although Carlsen

admitted he did miss that 13.Qe1 is very bad due to 13...Nb4.

This was Carlsen's first world championship game and whilst his opening clearly

didn't go well maybe he just wanted to get a feel for what it was like without

losing the game. Once things had gone wrong Carlsen felt he had no choice but

to "pull the emergency brake" and get to a draw as fast as possible. Anand

could have played on with 13...b5 but he didn't see it as being worth the risk

and Carlsen claimed he wouldn't have been too upset to play on either.

We got the start of an insight into how the players want to play the match, as

Anand put it "I got to see what direction he's aiming at and he probably got a

clue to mine." It's certainly a bit too early to start getting angry about short

draws and saying the match will be boring. Carlsen rarely has them and there's

no reason to suspect he'll be looking for them in this match. However it is to be

hoped that Carlsen has some more critical opening lines prepared with white.

Kasparov comments

Garry Kasparov comments on game 1 on Twitter

First, a few brief comments on today's Carlsen-Anand game. Brief

comments are fitting for such a brief game.

I imagine Anand's 2..g6 was a surprise for Magnus, and 4..c6 as well. Then

White has a big choice: to play c4 & sacrifice a pawn, or not.

Sacrificing the pawn with c4 would not be a typical position for Magnus but

Anand (& his second Leko) know those positions well.

But without c4 by White Black gets a very solid position, even if he plays

the Nbd2 I'd prefer to Carlsen's Nc3. Little danger for Black.

I remember Anand played this in his 1994 NYC candidates match against

Romanishin, who played c4 & drew one & lost one. Can be quite sharp.

First games of big matches are often tentative. Both get a half point but

it's great to start any event with an easy draw with black!

3

Anand & I drew first 8 games of our 1995 world championship match. But

then, boom! Next 4/5 were decisive & the match was basically over.

So do not get too depressed with a slow start. Of my 7 world championship

matches, 5 started with draw in first game.

Game notes with player comments

Carlsen,Magnus (2870) - Anand,Viswanathan (2775) [D78]

WCh 2013 Chennai IND (1), 09.11.2013

[Crowther,Mark]

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4

c6 5.0-0 Nf6 6.b3 0-0 7.Bb2 Bf5

8.c4 Nbd7 9.Nc3 dxc4

[9...Ne4]

10.bxc4 Nb6

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 10...Nb6

"It developed kind of fast. 10...Nb6

is a rather sharp idea basically

forcing the play straight away. "

Anand

11.c5 Nc4 12.Bc1

Carlsen spent around 12 minutes

here. "12.Bc1 was a bit of a

surprise." Anand.

[12.Qb3 "To be honest I expected

12..Qb3 although after 12...Be6

black is probably doing fine. "

Anand. 12...Be6 13.Qc2 Bf5 14.Qb3

is a possible repetition here.]

12...Nd5!

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 12...Nd5!

4

[12...Ne4 Wagner,F (2249)-Aring,G

(2205) Gerlingen 2011 is at least

equal for black.]

13.Qb3

"After 13.Qb3 I can force this draw."

Anand.

[13.Qe1? Nb4! "is even getting very

unpleasant for white." Anand.

(13...Nc7 is also good.) ]

13...Na5

Anand decided to repeat because he

didn't see any real advantage in the

complications of 13...b5.

[13...b5!? would have led to some

reasonably interesting tactics.

14.cxb6 "14.cxb6 is what I thought

he would play." Anand. (14.a4!?)

14...Na5 15.Qb2 axb6 (15...Qxb6 is

quite interesting. 16.e4 Nxc3

17.exf5) 16.Ne5 "Ne5 I thought is

keeping the balance reaonably well."

- Anand. (16.e4!? may be better.

16...Nxc3 17.exf5 Bxd4 18.Bh6) ]

14.Qa3 Nc4 15.Qb3 Na5 16.Qa3

Nc4

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Final Position after 16...Nc4

1hr 8 mins vs 1hr 21 mins.

1/2-1/2

5

Anand's turn to steer for a draw in World Chess Championship game 2

Mark Crowther - Sunday 10th November 2013

Sunday's second game of the FIDE World Chess Championship was drawn by

three-fold repetition after 25 moves and just one hour ten minutes of play.

Magnus Carlsen's choice of the Caro-Kann with black came as a big surprise to

defending champion Viswanathan Anand. Carlsen chose to follow the game

Anand-Liren Ding from the Alekhine Memorial earlier this year. Anand

apologised after the game for shutting the game down so quickly but he

"decided to be a bit prudent today." It looks like Anand had options like 13.Nh5

instead of his 13.Bd2 but most post-game discussion surrounded his choice of

18.Qxd5 rather than 18.Qg4 especially as Carlsen's suggestion of 18...Kh7

doesn't seem to equalise according to the computer engine Houdini. Anand

moved quickly after this to force a draw by repetition on the kingside. Notes to

the game below.

Anand's 1.e4 best by test?

It was defending champion Viswanathan Anand's first game with white and as

was widely predicted prior to the game he returned to his first love of 1.e4.

Anand was pretty much forced to switch to 1.d4 with white in world

championship play in 2008 as his then opponent Vladimir Kramnik was so

difficult to break down in the Petroff Defence. The subsequent match against

Topalov saw Anand stick to this choice and he mixed both 1.d4 and 1.e4

against Gelfand. I don't think there's much doubt that Anand prefers to play

1.e4 and he must have less fear that Carlsen will play directly for a draw

against it. Of course it's possible Anand will use 1.d4 and 1.c4 later in the

match but I think 1.e4 will remain his main weapon.

Two short draws

Most of the discussion of the match has centred on the brevity of the games.

Anand-Gelfand saw a lot of draws many of which were almost entirely made up

of high class preparation. There have been high hopes placed on this match to

be different. 12 games isn't many to sort out who is best amongst a couple of

elite players meaning that risk really isn't rewarded at all. That said I really do

think it unlikely we'll see too much more of this as the contours of the match

are established. Matches should be viewed as one contest with a rhythm and

slow starts whilst the players get comfortable are part of that. Carlsen pointed

out he started with two pretty tame games in the Candidates in London before

getting to work and he in particular is known as a slow starter. These games

6

will soon be forgotten if the match catches alight. In the end however the

players are here to win the match and entertainment comes as a byproduct. I'm

not worried yet.

Hikaru Nakamura on twitter

Hikaru Nakamura @GMHikaru

I am not feeling inspired by the start of the WC match in India. One thing

@Kasparov63 always understood is that chess needs to be a show.

Game 2 notes

Anand,Viswanathan (2775) - Carlsen,Magnus (2870) [B18]

WCh 2013 Chennai IND (2), 10.11.2013

1.e4 c6

A small surprise from Carlsen as he

hasn't played this move more than

half a dozen times before. However

the Caro-Kann is an extremely

respectable opening which has

featured many times in world

championship matches.

2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5

5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 e6

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 7...e6

With this move Carlsen seems to be

inviting Anand to repeat his game

against Liren Ding from the Alekhine

Memorial.

[7...Nd7 is by far and away the most

popular choice here.; 7...Nf6 is the

second most popular and 7...e6 only

the third but all have been played by

black at the highest level. It's a

genuine choice.]

8.Ne5

[8.h5 is the other common move

here.]

8...Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nd7

11.f4 Bb4+

[11...Ngf6 is an equally popular

continuation for black.; 11...c5 has

also been played a few times.]

12.c3

[12.Bd2 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 Ngf6 14.0-

0-0 0-0 15.Qe2 Qc7 16.Ne4 Nxe4

17.Qxe4 Rad8 18.Qe3 Nxe5 19.dxe5

1/2-1/2 Jakovenko,D (2724)-

Eljanov,P (2702)/Tromso NOR

2013/The Week in Chess 980]

7

12...Be7

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 12...Be7

"It was a mild surprise. The position

after move 12 is a very sharp one

and I hadn't really expected it, that

was clear. I had to decide if I wanted

to fly blind or... I chose a slightly

solid line." - Anand.

13.Bd2

Not the sharpest.

[13.Nh5 might well be the critical

continuation. 13...Bxh4+ 14.Kd1 Bf6

15.Kc2 Qe7; 13.Qf3 also may be a

try. 13...Bxh4 14.0-0]

13...Ngf6 14.0-0-0

Anand has had this position before

this year, here he decides to deviate

from his game against Ding Liren

from the Alekhine Memorial.

[14.Qe2 So far no-one has used this

move again. 14...c5 15.dxc5 Qc7

16.b4 0-0 17.0-0 a5 18.a3 Nxe5

19.fxe5 Nd7 20.Ne4 axb4 21.cxb4

Qxe5 22.Bc3 Qc7 23.Rad1 Rad8

24.Qg4 g6 25.Nd6 e5 26.Qc4 Nb6

27.Qe4 Nd7 28.h5 gxh5 29.Qf5 Bf6

30.Qxh5 Qc6 31.Rxf6 Nxf6 32.Qxe5

1-0 Anand,V (2783)-Ding Liren

(2707)/Paris/St Petersburg FRA/RUS

2013/The Week in Chess 964;

14.Qf3!? Qa5 15.c4 Qa6 16.0-0

Qb6]

14...0-0

[14...c5 15.Be3 0-0 16.Kb1 Qc7

17.Ne4 Nxe4 18.Qxe4 Nxe5 19.dxe5

Rfd8 20.h5 Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1 Rd8

22.Rxd8+ Qxd8 23.Kc2 Qd7 24.b3

Bf8 25.g4 Qb5 26.Bd2 Qa6 27.Kb2

Qf1 28.Qxb7 Qe2 29.Kc2 Qxg4

30.Qxa7 Qxh5 31.Qb7 Qg6+ 32.Kc1

Qg1+ 33.Kc2 h5 34.a4 h4 35.Qf3 c4

36.b4 Qa1 37.f5 Qxa4+ 38.Kc1 exf5

39.Qxf5 Qc6 40.Qg4 Be7 41.Kb2

Qd5 42.Be3 Qxe5 43.Bd4 Qh2+

44.Ka3 Bf8 45.Qc8 h3 46.Ka4 Qc2+

47.Kb5 h2 48.Qa8 Qc1 0-1

Inarkiev,E (2693)-Eljanov,P

(2702)/Poikovsky RUS 2013/The

Week in Chess 982]

15.Ne4

Allowing some piece exchanges.

[15.c4 has been played in a couple

of GM games and was a clear

alternative.]

15...Nxe4

[15...Nxe5 is an alternative. 16.fxe5

(16.Nxf6+ Bxf6 17.fxe5 Bxh4

18.Kb1 Rc8 19.Rh3 Bg5 20.Rdh1 f5)

16...Nxe4 17.Qxe4 Qd5 18.Qg4 Kh7

19.Kb1 Rad8 20.Rde1 c5]

16.Qxe4

8

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 16.Qe4

16...Nxe5

[16...f5?! doesn't look like a move

Carlsen would ever play. 17.Qe2

Nxe5 18.dxe5 Qd5?! (18...Qa5

19.Kb1 Rad8) 19.c4 Qd7 20.Bb4 Qe8

21.Bd6 c5 1-0 Smeets,J (2613)-

Lauber,A (2465)/Forchheim GER

2012 and white was well on top and

went on to win.; 16...Nf6 is a

Khalifman suggestion whose line

continues: 17.Qb1 already this looks

very odd. (17.Qe2!?) 17...c5

(17...Qd5 18.g4 Ne4 19.Rh2 Rad8)

18.g4 cxd4 19.g5 Nd5 (19...dxc3!?

20.Bxc3) 20.gxh6 Qc7? (20...dxc3

21.Bxc3) 21.Rdg1 g5 22.c4 Bf6

23.Qe4 Bxe5 24.fxe5 with a crushing

position for white in 1.e4 According

to Anand by Khalifman but this is a

strange line.; 16...a5!?]

17.fxe5 Qd5

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 17.Qd5

[17...Qa5?! 18.Qg4]

18.Qxd5?!

It's Anand's turn to "pull the

emergency brake" to use Carlsen's

game one phrase but it doesn't seem

terribly necessary here and now

black is at least equal.

[18.Qg4 was the obvious alternative

for white and it has been seen in a

correspondence game. 18...f5

Carlsen thought this less accurate

but was sufficient for a draw in this

the only test and might very well be

the best here. Perhaps he feared

Carlsen was still in preparation but

this seems unlikely given that

Carlsen's suggestion here doesn't

seem the best. Of course hardly

anyone tells the full truth at press

conferences and Carlsen outright

refused to say where his preparation

ended.

a)

18...Kh7 was Carlsen's suggestion

after the game but it might not be

9

that strong. 19.Kb1 (19.Bg5!?)

19...f5 (19...Rad8 although white

seems better here too.) 20.exf6 Rxf6

21.Bg5 Rg6 22.c4!! Houdini and

white is well on top.;

b)

18...Qxa2 19.Bxh6 Qa1+ 20.Kc2

Qa4+ 21.Kb1 is winning for white.;

19.Qg6 Qxa2 20.Bxh6 Rf7 21.g4

fxg4 22.Qxg4 a5 23.Rhg1 Bf8

24.Kc2 a4 25.Rdf1 Qb3+ 26.Kd3

Rxf1 27.Rxf1 Qb5+ 28.c4 Qb3+

29.Ke4 1/2-1/2 Epure,C (2411)-

Tikhobaev,A (2227)/ICCF 2010]

18...cxd5 19.h5 b5 20.Rh3

Black's queenside play is clear and

quite fast but white is just in time

with his pressure on the kingside.

20...a5 21.Rf1 Rac8

Inviting the draw seen in the game

not that there is much to do to avoid

it.

22.Rg3

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 22.Rg3

White best get on with forcing the

draw before black arrives with b4.

[22.Kb1 Kh7 23.Rhf3 Kg8 24.Rg3

Kh7 25.Rgf3 Kg8 is another draw.]

22...Kh7 23.Rgf3

An attack on the vulnerable f7 pawn

is white's main counter-play here.

23...Kg8 24.Rg3 Kh7 25.Rgf3 Kg8

1/2-1/2

10

Carlsen again fails to cause Anand problems with white in World Championship Game 3

Mark Crowther - Tuesday 12th November 2013

Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand drew the third game of their title

match in Chennai after 51 moves and just over 4 hours of play. Carlsen again

repeated his choice of the Reti but got little or nothing from the opening and

even admitted that he missed some important details. The game did produce

the first real struggle of the match, Anand at least was slightly better due to a

space advantage and the two bishops. Some computer analysis suggests Anand

could have had chances to be substantially better and Carlsen admitted he was

a bit concerned but there was nothing really clear. Anand himself suggested he

always thought Carlsen had enough counter-play.

Carlsen seemed to be disconcerted by 27...b5 rejecting his planned 28.Nxe6

Qxe6 29.Bh3 because he wasn't better but his 28.e3 put him at a disadvantage.

Anand talked up Carlsen's counter-play after this and there was indeed some

but 29.Bxb2 according to Houdini was strong but only due to a deep finesse.

Later 34...Rf8 which Anand rejected because he thought Carlsen would get

good counter-play with Bd3 and Qe4 could have led to a queen ending a pawn

up if he had found a later Qd6!

Anand offered a draw on move 40 but this was turned down by Carlsen who

then didn't really try to win but merely simplified to a complete draw. With

perpetual checks ending the first two games it may be Carlsen's unstated

intention never to offer or agree to a draw but to play all the games out like

this. This is something he has talked about in the past as being generally

desirable.

"I didn't spend much time regretting my moves, that's completely the wrong

focus." - Carlsen.

Q: "Kasparov is here. In the building. Are you intimidated?" - Anand: "Is he

now like Elvis?"

Arrival times and zero tolerance

The players have to arrive 10 minutes before play to clear security checks for

electronic devices and so forth. They have to be sat down at the board at the

time of the official start of play otherwise they will lose the game. The players

are separated from the press by glass but I imagine it's fairly disturbing and

alarming to sit there for very long. Anand was there alone for a few minutes but

Carlsen only sat down 46 seconds before he would have been defaulted. He was

11

likely just off stage but I was starting to have a feeling of mild peril. Imagine he

misjudged this run.

Kasparov attends

Garry Kasparov attended the day's play in the company of J.C.D. Prabhakar,

President, AICF and D.V. Sundar, Vice President, FIDE. Kasparov said he is just

here to watch and was a bit unhappy he was applauded as this could be heard

by the players. He made lengthy comments on the game and match on his

twitter feed which were insightful without being controversial. Kasparov will also

watch game four.

Kasparov on twitter

Kasparov tweeting on game 3 of the match in answer to some questions

Hello from Chennai & the first real fight of the WCh match! Another

comfortable opening result with black for Anand, who had some pressure.

(To answer all your politics questions in 1 tweet, I was received very nicely

at match today. Ministry doesn't mind my visit, it seems!)

My feeling is Magnus is trying to reach "his" positions, where he can play

forever with little risk. Anand has blocked this plan very well.

Not sure if Anand missed a win as some suggest, but at the time I was

surprised he played 33..Qb4 so quickly. Pawn on b2 is dead meat.

The bishop went the wrong way! f2 is the juicy target. 33..Rf8 looked

much stronger. Maybe Vishy played it a little too safe there.

It's hard to switch to "win" mode if you are playing with mentality that

draw with black is good result. Psychological pull toward safety.

Carlsen got nothing in the opening. He wants calm positions but so far is

getting calm & slightly worse against Anand's strong reactions.

That is, Anand is responding in way that offers either a sharp fight not to

Carlsen's preferred style or calm with no advantage. Well done.

Yes, was surprised to see Carlsen think after Vishy took with 3..dxc4. I'm

sure Vishy took some confidence from that.

There is a nice trap I saw if White tries a trick with 7.Nxe5? Bxe5 8.Bxc6+

bxc6 9.Qxc6+ Bd7 10.Qe4 f6 11.f4 Ne7! 12.fxe5 Bc6 Oops!

12

Will know more tomorrow about match evaluation. Anand gets second

white, warm-up time over! But clear as I said, no walkover for Magnus.

So far like wrestling, with Magnus trying for a clinch & slow squeeze &

Vishy handily fighting out of it but not pushing hard for more.

Will be interesting to see if Magnus is content to keep circling like this or if

he "takes the bait" & plays a sharper line.

No, no chance for anything 'great' yet, so don't blame players. But also,

'great' not always needed to win match & that's what matters!

Anand didn't play great vs Topalov or Gelfand but he beat them both! Vs

Kramnik he was fantastic & I'm sure Magnus is very aware of that.

An old tiger may not be able to chase down his prey like he used to, but

put your head in his mouth & you learn his teeth are still sharp!

It's far from exact comparison, but are parallels to 1st Petrosian-Spassky

match, 1966. Petrosian champ but underdog. But only 8 yr gap.

This is 3rd largest age gap in World Ch history, 22 years. Ironic it's young

guy looking for quiet positions, veteran wants it sharp!

Yes, both have same problem with white. How to balance desire for their

type of position (sharp or quiet) vs objective quality of moves.

So Vishy wants a sharp position but if Magnus defends well, how far out on

a limb should Anand go? Carlsen can play sharply too!

But that is all just talk & what matters is preparation & good moves & high

energy each game. Can't get too caught up in these clouds.

Yes, I heard both players' answers to question about my visit & was

impressed by both. I do not want to be a distraction & they are pros.

No, as I have said over 100 times, I am not working with Magnus & am

here as a spectator. Not second, not commentator, not politician!

Yes, "put your head into the tiger's mouth" is too strong. Anand doesn't

need so much help! Perhaps "if you step into his lair" is better.

Yes, was very nice reception. Kind but a little troubling people applauded

when I entered playing hall. Players can hear that, not good!

I'll be here in Chennai for game 4 tomorrow, hoping for another good fight.

Thanks for all questions & comments & to my kind Indian hosts.

13

Game three notes

Carlsen,Magnus (2870) - Anand,Viswanathan (2775) [A07]

WCh 2013 Chennai IND (3), 12.11.2013

[Mark Crowther]

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.c4

Carlsen is the first to deviate.

[3.Bg2 was chosen by Carlsen in

game one.]

3...dxc4

White's opening is hardly critical so

grabbing a pawn to slow white's

development seems a good test.

[3...c6; 3...d4 are both respectable

and more commonly played

alternatives.]

4.Qa4+

[4.Na3 is the main alternative.]

4...Nc6 5.Bg2

[5.Qxc4]

5...Bg7 6.Nc3

[6.0-0 e5 7.Qxc4]

6...e5

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 6...e5

Grabbing a share of the centre.

[6...Nh6 7.Qxc4 Nf5 8.0-0 0-0 9.d3

h6 10.Bd2 Nfd4 1-0 Polugaevsky,L

(2575)-Dlugy,M (2545)/London

1986 Was perfectly fine for black

and led to an interesting game

settled on the run up to first time

control.]

7.Qxc4

[7.Nxe5 Bxe5 8.Bxc6+ bxc6

9.Qxc6+ Bd7 10.Qe4 f6 11.f4 Ne7

12.fxe5 Bc6! was a nice line given by

Kasparov.]

7...Nge7 8.0-0

[8.d3 0-0 9.Bg5 Be6 10.Bxe7 Qxe7

11.Qa4 Nd4 1/2-1/2 Vukic,M (2482)-

Palac,M (2565)/Neum BIH 2004]

8...0-0 9.d3 h6!?

14

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 9...h6

[9...Be6 has been played more

frequently. 10.Qh4 Nf5 11.Qxd8

Rfxd8 12.Ng5 Bd7 13.Nge4 Nfe7

14.Bg5 h6 15.Nf6+ Kh8 16.Nxd7

Rxd7 17.Be3 Rb8 18.Rfc1 Nd4

19.Kf1 c5 20.Rab1 b6 21.b4 cxb4

22.Rxb4 Rc8 23.Rbb1 Rdc7 24.Bd2

Nef5 25.e3 Ne6 26.Nb5 Rxc1+

27.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 28.Bxc1 a6 29.Nc3

Nc5 30.Ke2 Kg8 31.g4 Nd6 32.Bc6

Bf8 33.Nd5 f5 34.gxf5 gxf5 35.Nxb6

e4 36.d4 Nd3 37.Bd2 Nb5 38.Bb7

Nb4 39.a4 Nd6 40.Ba8 a5 time 1-0

Stein,L-Averbakh,Y/Riga 1970/URS-

ch. (40...a5 41.Bxb4 axb4 42.a5+-)

]

10.Bd2 Nd4!?N

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 10...Nd4

starting to exchange pieces and

grabbing space.

[10...Be6 11.Qa4 Nd4 (11...f5!? has

been very successful for black but

has been only tested at a low level.)

12.Rfc1 f5 13.Ne1 c5 14.Bxb7 Rb8

15.Bg2 Rxb2 was a draw in

Kuzubov,Y (2624)-Negi,P (2607)

New Delhi 2011 (40 moves).]

11.Nxd4

"I missed some simple things when I

went for this whole 11.Nxd4,

12.Ne4, 13.Bb4 operation so I think

already then I misplayed

something." - Carlsen.

[11.Rac1 Be6 12.Qa4 b6 seems fine

for black.]

11...exd4 12.Ne4

[12.Na4 Be6]

12...c6 13.Bb4

15

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 13.Bb4

This seems to allow black complete

equalisation but there doesn't seem

to be very much if anything for white

here already. Carlsen commented

that this position wasn't a disaster

because if he had had this as black it

would be a fairly common position

from the Maroczy structure.

[13.h4 Be6 14.Qc1 Nf5=; 13.Qc1

may offer the best chances for

something. 13...Kh7 14.Bb4 Be6

15.Nc5 Bc8 16.Re1]

13...Be6 14.Qc1

[14.Qc5 Nd5 15.Ba3 Qc7 16.Rfc1]

14...Bd5 15.a4 b6 16.Bxe7 Qxe7

17.a5 Rab8 18.Re1 Rfc8 19.axb6

axb6 20.Qf4

[20.Ra6]

20...Rd8 21.h4 Kh7 22.Nd2

White's queen is terribly short of

squares.

22...Be5 23.Qg4

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 23.Qg4

23...h5

[23...f5 was my thought when

watching the game it seems black is

so in control he can play on either

side of the board. 24.Qh3 f4!?

(24...h5) 25.Bxd5 Rxd5 26.g4 Rb5;

23...Be6 at first looks like it will lead

to a repetition but: 24.Qf3 Bd5

25.e4!? Be6 (25...dxe3?! 26.Qxe3

Re8 27.Nc4 Bxc4 28.Bxc6 Rec8

29.Bg2) 26.Qe2 Qb4 27.f4 Bg7

28.e5 which also looks better for

white.]

24.Qh3 Be6 25.Qh1 c5 26.Ne4

Kg7 27.Ng5

16

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 27.Ng5

"Here it felt like white had more or

less gotten enough counterplay, I'll

have to check that was indeed the

case. I felt if we swapped light

squared bishops white was not

risking anything to that rules out for

me Bf5, Bg4 such moves and I didn't

really see where else I could go. Bb3

is a bit ridiculous so I decided just to

go for the opposite bishops." -

Anand.

27...b5!

Carlsen admitted he

"underestimated this plan with b5

giving up the bishop".

[27...Bf5 28.Bh3 Bxh3 29.Qxh3;

27...Bg4 28.Bf3 (28.Bh3 Bxh3

29.Qxh3 transposes.) 28...f6 29.Ne4

Bd7]

28.e3?!

"I really didn't have any idea what

was happening next so I was happy

to survive." - Carlsen. I think around

here Carlsen lost the thread of the

position after being surprised by b5.

[28.Nxe6+ Qxe6 29.Bh3 was

Carlsen's initial intention but it

"didn't seem to work out"

nevertheless most probably he

should have played it. 29...Qe7

(29...f5 30.Qf3 Qf7) 30.Qc6 c4

31.dxc4 bxc4 32.Qxc4 Rxb2 with a

draw to follow.]

28...dxe3 29.Rxe3

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 29.Re3

29...Bd4!?

[29...Bxb2! is the best according to

Houdini but only if you see a finesse

quite deep into the line. 30.Rae1

Rb6 31.Bd5 (31.Bh3 "I thought

white had full compensation, I didn't

see the point in going for that."

Anand. 31...Bd4 is the move Houdini

gives against this line of Anand's

with advantage to him.) 31...Bd4

32.Rxe6 fxe6 33.Rxe6 Qf8!! Houdini

(33...Rxe6 34.Nxe6+ Kh6 35.Nxd8

Qxd8 36.Qf3 is completely equal.)

34.Qg2 when black is better.]

30.Re2 c4

17

"I think I have enough counterplay

here." Anand didn't comment at all

on 28.e3 suggesting that he didn't

considered it an important moment.

31.Nxe6+ fxe6 32.Be4 cxd3

33.Rd2

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 33.Rd2

33...Qb4?!

Kasparov was surprised Anand

played this move so quickly.

[33...Rf8!? 34.Bxd3 Qd6 35.Qg2

Rxf2 36.Rxf2 Rf8 37.Raf1 Bxf2+

38.Rxf2 Rxf2 39.Qxf2 Qxd3]

34.Rad1 Bxb2

[34...Rf8 "The thing is we were

getting very short of time. Even if I

win the pawn on f2 if he plays Bd3

and Qe4 I don't see how I'm better.

It seems to me my upside was quite

limited anyway." Anand. 35.Bxd3

(35.Kh2 doesn't seem any better.)

35...Rxf2 (35...Qd6!? may be the

critical try that Anand missed as it

stops Qe4. 36.Qg2 Rxf2 37.Rxf2 Rf8

38.Rdd2 Rxf2 39.Rxf2 Bxf2+

40.Qxf2 Qxd3 with a pawn up in a

Queen and Pawn ending but this I

think may be a long way from being

won.) 36.Rxf2 Rf8 37.Qe4 Bxf2+

38.Kg2 Qxe4+ 39.Bxe4]

35.Qf3 Bf6

[35...Bd4]

36.Rxd3 Rxd3 37.Rxd3 Rd8

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 37...Rd8

A tacit draw offer. "The thing is that

although black has an extra pawn

I'm not really in danger of queening

it. The problem is with these

opposite coloured bishop white's

always going to have a backstop and

the other thing is that g6. I saw I

could play Bd4 and normally this is

what I would have done but I simply

didn't see anything anyway with

something like Qe2, I didn't see any

progress. And then I was just

swapping down with Rd8." Anand.

[37...Bd4]

38.Rxd8 Bxd8 39.Bd3 Qd4

40.Bxb5 Qf6

18

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 40...Qf6

Accompanied by a draw offer from

Anand.

41.Qb7+

Carlsen turns down the draw offer

but there are no chances here. The

first two games were settled by

three-fold repetition and perhaps

this indicates Carlsen won't agree

any draws but will play out the

games until the end. The players

quickly trade down to an absolute

draw.

41...Be7 42.Kg2 g5 43.hxg5

Qxg5 44.Bc4 h4 45.Qc7 hxg3

46.Qxg3 e5 47.Kf3 Qxg3+

48.fxg3 Bc5 49.Ke4 Bd4 50.Kf5

Bf2 51.Kxe5 Bxg3+

Finally insufficient mating material

for both sides, so draw.

1/2-1/2

19

Anand survives "basically lost" position against

Carlsen in World Championship Game 4

Mark Crowther - Wednesday 13th November 2013

The FIDE World Championship showed just what it might become following a six

hour, sixty-four move draw in game four of the twelve game match. Garry

Kasparov was the centre of a post-game media controversy over his seating

arrangements but he was only talking enthusiastically about the game via his

twitter account. "Great game 4 in Chennai today! A true pleasure to watch. A

top-level battle that did credit to Anand & Carlsen & to fighting human chess!

Despite the eternal talk of their demise, classical chess and match chess are

alive and well. Many hours of deep ideas at highest level."

Defending champion Viswanathan Anand had white and whilst he repeated 1.e4

Carlsen deviated from the Caro-Kann and played the Berlin Defence instead

using a variation played a number of times by one of his seconds Jon Ludvig

Hammer. Anand said that "Something went horribly wrong in the opening - I

made one illogical move after the next" and after 18.Ne2 he allowed Carlsen to

win his a-pawn. Anand had some but probably insufficient compensation for the

pawn but this lead to a very difficult position for both sides and Anand started

to resist very well. Nevertheless Anand called the position "basically lost" in his

initial comments at the press conference. Although Carlsen pressed for a long

time Anand defended extremely well and eventually held the draw. "When I

won the pawn I was very optimistic but he kept finding resources. I was missing

some little things; he just fought on really well. All credit to him."

Key moments were 25...h5 (25...Ne7 Anand), 28...Rh4 (28...Nc5, 29...a6),

35.Ne4 (35.R1c3), 36...Rf4+ (36...Rd8), 37...Rf8 (37...g5) all of which were

tough decisions that would repay analysis. Anand's dynamic defence with

35.Ne4 and 38.Nd4 was great but in spite of his disappointment Carlsen

continued to find problems for Anand to solve after first time control with

43....Rdd3, 46....Rg3, 49....g5 and 56....Re6 were all tricky moves but in the

end he had to settle for the draw.

The two players chatted about the key moments animatedly at the end of the

game. Even after such a late finish to a great game the media focus seemed to

be dominated by Kasparov's visit and whether there had been a request by

Anand's camp to move him from the front row. Anand I believe said he knew

nothing (the sound to the press conference video was very bad today) and FIDE

Press Officer shut down the conversation quickly no doubt mindful of an earlier

reportedly acrimonious press conference with Georgios Makropoulos that I

haven't seen. It all seemed to me to be a bit of a storm in a teacup. Kasparov

didn't mention it and has now left India. (Big NRK Sport story in Norwegian on

Kasparov)

20

"Please be cautious when using word like "blunder" to describe the game of two

great players. Or you think Anand didn't notice pawn on a2?" - Kasparov.

Game four annotated

Anand,Viswanathan (2775) - Carlsen,Magnus (2870) [C67]

WCh 2013 Chennai IND (4), 13.11.2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-

0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6

7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8

Kasparov talked on twitter about the

Berlin Defence that caused him so

many problems. "The Berlin is a

sharp & rich middle-game, not an

ending. This was Kramnik's

discovery, or re-discovery, vs me in

2000 that I didn't grasp. Nor did

most others then. Berlin is more

than a wall. After I lost to Kramnik &

failed vs his Berlin in 2000, many

said it was still lousy, only good

against me. Now every top player

uses it! Berlin also has benefit of

rendering most machine analysis

useless. Human chess, deep

strategic planning only way. Great

from both players." Kasparov has

written an essay for Informant 118

on this issue.

9.h3

[9.Nc3; 9.Rd1+]

9...Bd7 10.Rd1 Be7

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 10...Be7

Quite a rare continuation.

[10...Kc8 has been played a lot

here.]

11.Nc3

[11.Bg5 Kc8 12.g4 h6 13.Bd2

(13.Bxe7 Nxe7 14.Kh2 Re8 15.Nbd2

b6 16.Re1 c5 17.Ne4 Bc6 18.h4 Kb7

0-1 Sutovsky,E (2692)-Hammer,J

(2606)/Aix-les-Bains FRA 2011 (44

moves)) 13...Nh4 14.Nxh4 Bxh4

15.Bc3 h5 16.f3 hxg4 17.hxg4 Bg3

1-0 Ganguly,S (2651)-Hammer,J

(2647)/Wijk aan Zee NED 2011 (67

moves)]

11...Kc8 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bxe7 Nxe7

14.Rd2

21

[14.a4 a5 15.Rd2 c5 16.Rad1 Bc6

17.e6 fxe6 18.Ne5 Re8 19.Nb5 Bxb5

20.axb5 Nd5 21.c4 Nb6 22.h4 a4

23.h5 a3 24.b3 a2 25.Ra1 Rd8

26.Rdxa2 Rxa2 27.Rxa2 Rd1+

28.Kh2 Rb1 29.Ra3 Nd7 30.Ra8+

Nb8 31.Ra3 Nd7 32.Ra8+ Nb8

33.Ra3 Nd7 1/2-1/2 Berg,E (2587)-

Hammer,J (2630)/Achaea GRE

2012/The Week in Chess 921]

14...c5 15.Rad1N

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 15.Rad1

"Something went horribly wrong in

the opening - I made one illogical

move after the next" - Anand. This is

the first new move in the game. One

can assume Anand's comment refers

some if not all of this and the next

couple of moves.

[15.Ne4 b6 16.Ng3 Bc6 17.Nh2 Ng6

18.Re1 Nf4 19.f3 Kb7 20.Kf2 Rad8

21.Rxd8 Rxd8 22.Nhf1 g6 23.Ne2

Ne6 24.Ne3 Bb5 25.Nc3 Rd2+

26.Kg3 Bc6 27.Rd1 Rd4 28.Kf2 Kc8

29.Ne2 Rxd1 30.Nxd1 Nd4 31.c3

Kd7 32.Ne3 Nxe2 33.Kxe2 Ke6 34.f4

g5 35.g3 Be4 36.Ng4 gxf4 37.gxf4

h5 38.Nf6 Bg6 39.Kf3 c6 40.Ne8 f5

41.Nd6 h4 42.a4 Bh5+ 43.Ke3 Bd1

44.a5 bxa5 45.c4 Bb3 46.Kd3 Bd1

47.Ke3 Bb3 48.Kd3 Bd1 49.Nb7 Bf3

50.Nxc5+ Ke7 51.Nb3 Bg2 52.Nd4

Bxh3 53.Nxc6+ Kd7 54.Nd4 Bf1+

55.Ke3 h3 56.Nf3 Bxc4 57.Kf2 Bd5

58.Kg3 h2 59.Nxh2 Kc6 60.Nf1 Kc5

61.Kf2 Kd4 62.Ng3 Be6 63.Nh5 Kd3

64.Ng7 Bc8 65.e6 Kc2 66.e7 Bd7

67.Nxf5 Kxb2 68.Nd6 a4 69.f5 a3

70.f6 a2 71.f7 -- 1-0 Jakovenko,D

(2710)-Almasi,Z (2691)/Khanty-

Mansiysk 2007/CBM 122; 15.Ne1]

15...Be6 16.Ne1?! Ng6 17.Nd3 b6

18.Ne2

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 18.Ne2

"I just missed something after

18.Ne2 and suddenly I was basically

lost." - Anand who expanded on the

theme later saying that he played

the move "just to be consistant" and

that he thought there might be

tactics with a timely e6 that turned

out not to work.

22

[18.f4; 18.b3]

18...Bxa2

The bishop cannot be rounded up.

White has some compensation for

the pawn but almost certainly not

enough.

19.b3 c4 20.Ndc1 cxb3 21.cxb3

Bb1 22.f4 Kb7 23.Nc3 Bf5 24.g4

Bc8 25.Nd3 h5

[25...Ne7 "I don't think there's

anything wrong with 25...h5 but I

thought 25...Ne7 was even stronger.

26.f5 Nc6 Anand said he "didn't see

how I could get anything" in this

position.]

26.f5 Ne7 27.Nb5 hxg4 28.hxg4

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 28.hxg4

[28.Rc1 was a suggestion of Boris

Gelfand's in commentary. 28...Nd5

The only move that promises any

advantage. (28...Nc6 29.Rdc2 is

what white is hoping for.) 29.Nc5+

bxc5 30.Rxd5 Bxf5 31.Rdxc5 Rac8 is

better for black but I'm not sure by

how much. "It just seemed to me

some kind of fantasyland" said

Anand about his rejection of this line

although he showed a rather

different set of ideas than this line.

But he obviously considered it for

some time.]

28...Rh4!?

[28...Nc6 29.Rc1 Rh4 30.Nf2 a5

(30...g6) ; 28...a6 If Carlsen wants

to drive away the white knight then

this proves to be the last chance to

do it.]

29.Nf2

Forced.

29...Nc6 30.Rc2

[30.Rc1]

30...a5

[30...g6!?]

31.Rc4 g6 32.Rdc1 Bd7 33.e6

fxe6 34.fxe6 Be8 35.Ne4

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 35.Ne4

23

"Curious that - 35.Ne4 was the only

move Kasparov wanted to analyse

ten minutes ago in Chennai" Ian

Rogers on twitter.

[35.R1c3 is an alternative.]

35...Rxg4+ 36.Kf2 Rf4+

[36...Rd8!? may be the best but

maybe Carlsen missed it due to the

rather rare tactical idea involved.

37.Ned6+ (37.Ke3 is the best white

has and black is better.) 37...cxd6

38.Rxg4 Ne5!! when black is

threatening at least three things and

is winning.]

37.Ke3 Rf8?!

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 37.Rf8

[37...g5! maintains black's

advantage.]

38.Nd4!

Carlsen looked very unhappy when

this appeared on the board.

38...Nxd4 39.Rxc7+

Anand commented that he was lucky

that here and on move 59 he had

checks to take him to time control

when short of time.

39...Ka6 40.Kxd4 Rd8+ 41.Kc3

Rf3+ 42.Kb2 Re3 43.Rc8

There was the expectation that the

players would soon agree to a draw

but Carlsen kept the problems going

for another 20 moves.

43...Rdd3!

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 43...Rdd3

[43...Rxc8 44.Rxc8 Bc6 45.Rxc6

Rxe4 46.Rd6 Kb5 47.e7 Rxe7

48.Rxg6 and the ending is a simple

technical draw for a player of

Anand's class.]

44.Ra8+

This finesse may or may not be an

improvement over directly capturing

the bishop straight away.

44...Kb7 45.Rxe8 Rxe4 46.e7

Rg3

24

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 46...Rg3

Black needs to hang on to the g-

pawn if he is to have any chance to

win.

47.Rc3 Re2+ 48.Rc2 Ree3

49.Ka2 g5!?

Again the most taxing.

[49...Rxb3? 50.Rb8+ wins for

white.]

50.Rd2 Re5 51.Rd7+ Kc6

52.Red8 Rge3 53.Rd6+ Kb7

54.R8d7+ Ka6 55.Rd5 Re2+

56.Ka3 Re6!?

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 56...Re6

setting up a final rather evil plot.

57.Rd8

[57.e8N Rxe8 58.Rxg5 R8e6

59.Rgg7; 57.Rxg5?? b5 and mate or

ruiness loss of material follows.

Anand said he thought he had

checked everything before this final

problem turned up.]

57...g4 58.Rg5 Rxe7 59.Ra8+

a welcome check to take Anand to

the time control.

59...Kb7 60.Rag8 a4 61.Rxg4

axb3 62.R8g7

In spite of getting more time Anand

played very fast at the end showing

he had everything under control.

62...Ka6 63.Rxe7 Rxe7 64.Kxb3

1/2-1/2

25

Carlsen leads World Championship 3-2 after Anand subsides in messy game 5

Mark Crowther - Friday 15th November 2013

Magnus Carlsen won the fifth game of the FIDE World Chess Championships in

Chennai. This was the first decisive game of the match meaning Carlsen leads

defending champion Viswanthan Anand 3-2. This was not a game for the purist,

with Carlsen's opening seemingly trying to skirt around anything at all like deep

opening theory and get Anand to find moves on his own. Anand chose the

Triangle System a variation of the Semi-Slav that can lead to sharp play,

especially after Carlsen's 4.e4 but after playing that Carlsen's 6.Nc3 transposed

to extremely quiet lines and I don't think there is very much doubt that Anand

was objectively at least equal on move 13. Around here Anand's play started to

get tentative and that set the pattern for the rest of the game. 13.Bc7 whilst

certainly not losing allowed Carlsen to swap queens off and reach a technical

ending where he could push for a long time.

Anand defended quite well and again must have been quite close to equality but

the point is to end the suffering at some point and not get tired having to be

endlessly accurate. After the game Anand picked 34.Rd4 as being too active

and the losing move but I think he was merely attending the press conference

as he had to, he didn't offer up much that made much sense and this assertion

is just wrong. Indeed it seemed Carlsen thought it a good move and not

thinking he was better at this stage.

It's hard to say what went wrong for Anand his resistance just seemed to

subside. 39...a4 could have been replaced by 39.g4 but it fixes the white a3

pawn and Anand could have followed this idea up by playing 45...Ra1 winning

that pawn with equality. After that 46.Re1 may be the very last chance,

certainly after 48...Kd7 Carlsen was winning.

A very hard game to annotate because the win came about more from

sustained pressure than any specific operation. Carlsen said about the win "It

feels good. It was good fighting game. It got messy at times. I got there in the

end. I am very very happy about that." Detailed notes and comments below.

"Someone said it's about age, I don't think so. The game was a draw, but

Magnus kept on as usual, playing his cold blooded little moves." - Miguel

Illescas

Anand has white in the next two games

This kind of loss can hurt a great deal more than one in a mutual slug-fest.

Anand admitted he didn't sleep after his only loss to Gelfand in his last defence

but then went on to win the following game. I think it likely he won't sleep

26

much tonight either, can he also come back to win? The match is coming up to

the half way point and this means Anand will have white in the next two games,

a loss in either of those would probably be almost curtains for his chances but

Anand has a couple of chances to get right back into contention. Whatever

happens first decisive game always changes the dynamics of a match and

sometimes in unpredictable ways. Anand could loosen up and Carlsen become

more nervous. Anand could fall apart. Who can tell? but expect a change.

A few Kasparov comments

Oh, was there a chess game today? Will have a look... ;-)

A strange match but oddly balanced. Carlsen plays without openings and Anand

without endgames! Statistically, that's in Magnus's favor. Congratulations to

Carlsen for his first world championship win. It took me 32 games! Surely not

his last, but this match is far from over.

But I had similar problem in 2000 when I lost my title to Kramnik. I played into

his Berlin, his style, because I thought it was "best". Situation not nearly as

concrete for Anand, but yes, good to avoid long equal endgames vs much

younger player who loves them! But how?" Anand crushed Kramnik by getting

him into very sharp positions. Was very well prepared & played great, but also

much more at home there.

As I said after game 3, Carlsen content to wait patiently for 'his' positions, not

trying to fight sharp opening preparation war. Despite his gifts, no way for

Carlsen to catch up to Anand's opening prep advantage. So, avoid it & play to

own strengths. Today it worked. Similarly, it is unlikely Anand will fail to reach a

few sharp positions of "his" preference. Then we'll see first big test for Magnus.

Game notes

Carlsen,Magnus (2870) - Anand,Viswanathan (2775) [D31]

WCh 2013 Chennai IND (5), 15.11.2013

[Mark Crowther]

1.c4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4

This seems a strange choice from

Carlsen if he wasn't comfortable in

playing the main line. This means

that he saw some prospects in the

coming play.

[4.e3; 4.Nf3 are in fact the most

played moves. I go with e3

personally.]

4...dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Nc3!?

27

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 6.Nc3

A surprise. I don't expect to see this

again later in the match.

[6.Bd2 has been seen as the true

critical test in this variation, I doubt

this game will change this

assessment, Anand would however

have prepared it extremely deeply.]

6...c5 7.a3 Ba5 8.Nf3

[8.dxc5 when white's trebled pawns

don't leave a good impression even

if one is extra and he has the two

bishops. 8...Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qxd1+

10.Kxd1 Nf6 11.f3 Na6 12.Be3 Bd7

13.Nh3 Ba4+ 14.Kc1 Nd7 15.Rb1

Naxc5 drawn in 79 moves

Georgiev,K (2636)-Potkin,V

(2647)/Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2013.]

8...Nf6 9.Be3

[9.Be2 Nc6 (9...cxd4 10.Nxd4 Ne4

11.Ndb5 Qxd1+ 12.Bxd1 Nxc3

13.Nxc3 Bxc3+ 14.bxc3 Bd7 15.a4

Bc6 16.0-0 Nd7 17.a5 a6 18.Ba3

1/2-1/2 Babula,V (2581)-Khenkin,I

(2624)/Tegernsee GER 2003/The

Week in Chess 427) 10.dxc5 Qxd1+

11.Bxd1 Ne4 12.Bd2 Bxc3 13.Bxc3

Nxc3 14.bxc3 and against draw this

time in 43 moves Gurevich,M

(2643)-Khenkin,I (2633)/Polanica

Zdroj POL 1999.]

9...Nc6

[9...Ne4 10.Qc2 Nxc3 11.bxc3 cxd4

12.Bxd4 0-0 13.Bd3 h6?! and white

went on to win in 36 moves

Yermolinsky,A (2530) -Shulman,Y

(2623)/Philadelphia USA 2008.]

10.Qd3N

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 10.Qd3

"There were lot of options for all the

sides. A lot of unconventional

positions. It is natural that you need

to take your time." Carlsen

commenting on the slow pace of the

opening play.

[10.d5!? exd5 11.Bxc5 Ne4 12.Qe2

Be6 13.0-0-0 Nxc5 14.cxd5 Qf6

15.dxe6 Nxe6 16.Nd5 Qh6+ 17.Kb1

0-0 18.Qb5 Rab8 19.Ne7+ Nxe7

28

20.Qxa5 Nc6 21.Qf5 g6 22.Qf6 Qg7

23.Qxg7+ Kxg7 24.Bc4 Kf6 25.Bxe6

fxe6 26.Rd7 h6 27.Rhd1 Rbd8

28.Kc2 Rxd7 29.Rxd7 Rf7 30.Rxf7+

Kxf7 31.Kd3 1/2-1/2 Kubala, M

(2310)-Splosnov,S (2335)/Frydek

Mistek 1998/CBM 062 ext]

10...cxd4 11.Nxd4 Ng4 12.0-0-0

Nxe3 13.fxe3 Bc7?!

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 13...Bc7

"Probably Anand had chance to draw

in endgame...But what was the point

of 13...Bc7?! and to play endgame?"

Pentala Harikrishna. "Not to say

Anand's 13..Bc7 was objectively bad,

probably it is fine & had many

chances to hold draw. But fits

Carlsen's style perfectly." - "After

13..Nxd4 14.exd4 the queens are

still on the board & black has the

bishop pair to compensate for

white's central pawns. A

middlegame!" - Garry Kasparov.

[13...0-0; 13...Nxd4 "Again Carlsen

got next to nothing in the opening.

Amazed Anand went into endgame.

Could take on d4, keep queens on,

very different game." Garry

Kasparov 14.exd4 0-0]

14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.Qxd8+ Bxd8

16.Be2 Ke7

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 16...Ke7

"Anand plays again passively for a

draw, dismissing any chances to get

double edged game. May still hold

though, why not?" Later "I meant

that 13...Bc7 and 16...Ke7 were not

necessary. For example 16...Bb6!? is

way sharper if you ask me! Still

shocked though that Anand didn't

manage to save this one." were

Anish Giri's comments on twitter.

[16...Bb6 a quick sample Houdini

variation: 17.Bf3 Bxe3+ 18.Kb1 Bd7

19.Rhe1 Bb6 20.Ne4 Ke7 21.c5 Bc7

22.Nd6 Rhd8 23.Nb7 Rdb8 24.Nd6

Rd8 is a drawing line.]

17.Bf3 Bd7 18.Ne4 Bb6

29

It's not quite clear to me why Anand

plays this way.

[18...f5 19.Nc5 Be8 20.Na6;

18...Bc7 19.c5 Rhb8 20.Nd6 Rb3

21.Rd2 Rab8 22.e4 Ba5 23.Rc2]

19.c5 f5 20.cxb6 fxe4 21.b7

Rab8 22.Bxe4 Rxb7

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 22...Rxb7

Now an end game where Carlsen has

static weaknesses to play at. Q: At

which moment did you have the

advantage? A: (Magnus Carlsen) "I

mean it is not huge. I have (pointing

mouse after move 22) I have better

bishop and better pawn structure. If

I can consolidate than I can win. I

did not manage to play with the

right plan."

23.Rhf1 Rb5!? 24.Rf4 g5 25.Rf3

h5!?

Actually rather a commital idea.

Anand had choices.

[25...Re5; 25...Be8]

26.Rdf1 Be8 27.Bc2 Rc5 28.Rf6

h4 29.e4 a5 30.Kd2 Rb5 31.b3

Bh5

[31...g4]

32.Kc3 Rc5+ 33.Kb2 Rd8 34.R1f2

Rd4

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 34...Rd4

Anand labeled this as the decisive

error but to be honest I don't think

he was mentally there in the press

conference. "Somehow my plan did

not materialise. I had to go

34...Rg8. There are many small

inaccuracies. But Rd4 was the

decisive mistake." - Anand. "After

...Rd4 I thought... I was worried that

I might be even worse. (after

browsing the game on Chess Base

says...) Probably I am not" - Carlsen

[34...Rg8 35.Rh6 Bg6]

35.Rh6 Bd1 36.Bb1 Rb5 37.Kc3

c5 38.Rb2 e5 39.Rg6 a4!?

30

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 39...a4

This isn't losing and indeed sets up a

clear drawing idea so it really can't

be that bad.

[39...g4 "As I see others suggesting,

playing 39..g4 instead of sacrificing

the pawn also looks superior.

Though was likely still drawn as I

said." Kasparov.]

40.Rxg5 Rxb3+ 41.Rxb3 Bxb3

After the time control there was an

important moment. I really wanted

to go Bd3.

42.Rxe5+

[42.Bd3 c4 43.Rxe5+ Kd6 44.Kxd4

cxd3!! 45.Rf5 d2 46.Rf6+ Ke7

47.Rf1 d1Q+ 48.Rxd1 Bxd1 winning

a piece.]

42...Kd6 43.Rh5 Rd1 44.e5+ Kd5

45.Bh7

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 45.Bh7

45....Rc1+?

"Truly baffled by each of Anand's

moves from 39 onwards. But

especially 45...Rc1??" - Nakamura.

[45...Ra1! "Sure its easier for us

who are sitting at home without the

pressure, but 45... Ra1 seemed very

natural and intuitive." - Nakamura.

Q: (FIDE Press Officer) When you

played 45...Rc1 did you also

consider also 45...Ra1? A:

(Viswanathan Anand) "It is possible.

Somehow I missed in the rook

ending. It is so difficult. I thought I

should be able to generate

counterplay in the end." 46.Bg8+

Kc6 47.Bxb3 Rxa3 48.Kc4 axb3

49.Rh6+ Kd7 50.Kc3 Ra2 51.Kxb3

Rxg2 52.h3 Rg3+ 53.Kc4 Rxh3

54.Kxc5]

46.Kb2 Rg1

Without deeper analysis hard to say

what "last mistake" was. Even

46..Re1 looks like it gives better

drawing chances. Keep king active.

31

[46...Re1]

47.Bg8+ Kc6 48.Rh6+ Kd7

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 48...Kd7

Black is just lost here.

[48...Kc7]

49.Bxb3 axb3 50.Kxb3 Rxg2

51.Rxh4 Ke6 52.a4

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 52.a4

"I was amazed at how quickly

Magnus played 52.a4. He just

*knows* these positions. It's very

complex, a lesson in how to cut off

king." - Kasparov.

52...Kxe5 53.a5 Kd6 54.Rh7 Kd5

55.a6 c4+ 56.Kc3 Ra2 57.a7 Kc5

58.h4

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 58.h4

32

Q: How does it feel to break the

deadlock? A: (Magnus Carlsen) "It

feels good. It was good fighting

game. It got messy at times. I got

there in the end. I am very, very

happy about that."

1-0

33

Carlsen’s second win in a row a "heavy blow" to Anand's World Championship chances in game 6

Mark Crowther - Saturday 16th November 2013

Magnus Carlsen took control of his match against defending champion

Viswanathan Anand in Chennai, India when he won the sixth game in 67 moves

to move to a 4-2 lead. This loss can only have been extremely painful to Anand

because in spite of being clearly short of his best this loss was almost totally

unnecessary and at least in part self inflicted.

Anand again played 1.e4 and Carlsen repeated his Berlin Defence from game

four. Carlsen repeated the moves from Anand's game against Aronian from

Paris earlier in the year. 10.Bg5 was a new, although hardly surprising, novelty

that didn't cause Carlsen any problems. After the manoeuvre 13...Nb8

14...Nbd7 similar to that used in the Breyer Defence Carlsen was doing well and

Anand didn't seem to know what to do. 21.Bxf6 led to a major piece ending

where Carlsen was slightly better. Anand wasn't so much blundering as making

slightly under-par decisions. Nevertheless there wasn't so very much for

Carlsen to work with. Anand decided to part with a pawn in return for a

clarification of the defensive task with 38.Qg3. Carlsen couldn't work out

whether it was a blunder or a sacrifice.

Carlsen's 43...Kf7 was an error, missing 44.h5 giving up another pawn but

more or less equalising. Carlsen had more or less given up trying to win and

only had one idea left to make progress. It was at this point Anand became a

bit careless taking only 30 seconds of his 38 minutes left in playing 57.Rg8+

(indeed he almost made this move immediately) when 57.Rc8 would have

probably led to a quick draw. Anand clearly missed Carlsen's last winning try

with 57...Kf4 and his post-game comments suggest he thought he was lost. It's

been my observation that carelessness in technical endings has been seen quite

a number of games in Anand's career. Anand thought he was now losing but in

fact it was 60.Ra4? that was the decisive error 60.b4 draws. Anand had nearly

half an hour left to consider his move but used only 90 seconds.

It was reported during commentary that Anand didn't sleep very much the

previous night following his game 5 defeat and this may have had an impact in

game 6. This loss was, if anything, worse. Anand will feel that in both games he

should have been able to avoid the loss.

Sunday's rest day marks the half way point of the match. Anand starts the

second half with the white pieces again. Carlsen leads by 4-2 and requires just

2.5/6 to become the new champion. There are scenarios where Anand could get

back into the match but right now Carlsen looks the near certain winner.

34

There was a press conference right after the game. A clearly upset Anand

managed to control himself for the most part and finally snapped at a rather

fatuous line of questioning which brought the press conference to a close

Q: (Ole Rolfsrud, NRK TV) I am still wondering if Mr Anand will elaborate by

what you mean by doing your best again?

A: (Viswanathan Anand) Doing your best means doing your best. I don't know

why you don't understand English.

"Today was a heavy blow. I will not pretend otherwise. Nothing to be done. You

just go on." – Anand

Game 6 annotated

Anand,Viswanathan (2775) - Carlsen,Magnus (2870) [C65]

WCh 2013 Chennai IND (6), 16.11.2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3

Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 Re8 7.Re1 a6

8.Ba4 b5 9.Bb3 d6 10.Bg5N

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 10.Bg5

Anand comes up with a new, if not

especially surprising new move.

Again Carlsen had been following a

recent Anand game. This is why

players often hide their intended

repertoire in events before the world

championship. Anand however had

to play a lot of chess this year in

order to get some form back.

Perhaps however he gave away

some of his intended repertoire.

[10.Nbd2 Bb6 11.Nf1 Ne7 12.Ng3

Ng6 13.h3 h6 14.d4 c5 15.dxe5

dxe5 16.Qxd8 Bxd8 17.a4 c4 18.Bc2

Ba5 19.axb5 axb5 20.Be3 Bb7

21.Ra2 Bc7 22.Rea1 Rxa2 23.Rxa2

Ra8 24.Rxa8+ Bxa8 25.Kf1 Ne7

26.Nd2 Kf8 27.Bc5 Nd7 28.Ba3 g6

29.f3 Ke8 30.b3 cxb3 31.Nxb3 Nc8

32.Bd3 Bc6 33.c4 bxc4 34.Bxc4 Ba4

35.Nc5 Nxc5 36.Bxc5 Nb6 37.Bxb6

Bxb6 38.Ne2 Ba5 39.Nc1 Ke7

40.Nd3 Bc3 41.g4 1/2-1/2 Anand,V

(2783)-Aronian,L (2809)/Paris/St

Petersburg FRA/RUS 2013/The Week

in Chess 964]

10...Be6 11.Nbd2 h6 12.Bh4

Bxb3 13.axb3 Nb8 14.h3 Nbd7

"I thought I got a solid position out

of the opening." - Carlsen

35

15.Nh2 Qe7 16.Ndf1 Bb6 17.Ne3

Qe6 18.b4 a5 19.bxa5 Bxa5

20.Nhg4 Bb6 21.Bxf6

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 21.Bxf6

Anand trades minor pieces hoping

his remaining ones would stand well

already an indication things have

gone slightly wrong. "Magnus'

manoeuvre with the knight was quite

good. Then I started wondering what

to do. Then I thought with Qg4 with

the major pieces I could get a solid

position. Then I dont know ... one

mistake after the other." - Anand

21...Nxf6 22.Nxf6+ Qxf6 23.Qg4

Bxe3 24.fxe3 Qe7

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 24...Qe7

"Then at some point I was little bit

better. But nothing much going on."

Carlsen.

25.Rf1 c5 26.Kh2 c4 27.d4 Rxa1

28.Rxa1 Qb7 29.Rd1

[29.d5 attempting to close things up

was a possible alternative although

white's position is a very static

target.]

29...Qc6 30.Qf5 exd4 31.Rxd4

Re5 32.Qf3 Qc7!

Just a nice manoever.

33.Kh1 Qe7 34.Qg4 Kh7 35.Qf4

g6 36.Kh2 Kg7 37.Qf3 Re6

38.Qg3?!

36

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 38.Qg3

"He sacrificed or blundered a pawn.

After that I got a good rook ending. I

am not at all sure if it is winning." -

Carlsen. I presume Anand thought

simplification at the expense of a

pawn was the best idea. I wasn't

sure what Anand meant by his

explanation "Well, what can I say.

Some days goes like that."

[38.Qf4 Kh7 39.Qf3]

38...Rxe4 39.Qxd6 Rxe3 40.Qxe7

Rxe7 41.Rd5 Rb7 42.Rd6 f6!

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 42...f6!

The best idea for making progress.

43.h4 Kf7?!

[43...h5 and "press for a win

eventually with Re7-e5" according to

Carlsen.]

44.h5!

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 44...h5

37

"At this point I missed the whole h5

idea. I didnt think you can really

give up a pawn like that. Now, it was

a draw." - Carlsen.

44...gxh5 45.Rd5 Kg6 46.Kg3

Rb6 47.Rc5 f5 48.Kh4 Re6

49.Rxb5 Re4+ 50.Kh3 Kg5

51.Rb8 h4 52.Rg8+ Kh5 53.Rf8

Rf4 54.Rc8 Rg4 55.Rf8 Rg3+

56.Kh2 Kg5

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 56...Kg5

57.Rg8+?

Not losing but now the game

continues and black's task quickly

turns out to be very hard. "I had one

little trap. Which was my Kf4-Ke3

etc. Fortunately he went for it. It is

very difficult. May be impossible to

hold after that." - Carlsen.

[57.Rc8 Seems to be an easy draw

as black has no way to progress.

57...Rg4 58.Rg8+ Kf6 59.Rh8 Kg7

60.Rc8]

57...Kf4 58.Rc8 Ke3 59.Rxc4 f4

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 59...f4

Carlsen only said "Maybe" when

asked if he thought this position was

winning. "Without these pawns (b2,

c3) it would be a dead draw but

these pawns seriously inhibit the

rook and h3, f3 is coming very fast."

- Carlsen. "Here it's lost" according

to Anand but computers suggest this

simply isn't the case.

[59...Rg4 "I thought he was going to

go for Rg4 and a similar idea and

then I'm OK." Anand.]

60.Ra4?

[60.b4 Both players thought this

idea way too slow but it seems to

draw. 60...h3 61.gxh3 Rg6 62.Rc7 f3

63.Re7+ Kd3 64.b5 f2 65.Rf7 Ke2

66.Re7+ Kf1 67.c4 Rg2+ 68.Kh1

Rg6 69.Kh2]

60...h3 61.gxh3 Rg6 62.c4 f3

63.Ra3+

38

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 63...Ra3+

Loses immediately but the position is

gone anyhow.

63...Ke2 64.b4 f2 65.Ra2+ Kf3

66.Ra3+ Kf4 67.Ra8 Rg1 0-1

39

Carlsen moves closer to title after straightforward World Championship Game 7 draw

Mark Crowther - Monday 18th November 2013

Magnus Carlsen requires just two points from the last five games of his World

Chess Championship match against defending champion Viswanathan Anand to

claim the title after an uneventful 32 move game 7 draw. Carlsen leads 4.5-2.5

in the 12 game match and only needs to score 2 out of 5 to take the title.

After two consecutive losses there was obvious speculation as to what Anand

would do as this was one of his three remaining games with white. Whilst

players such as Hikaru Nakamura and Teimour Radjabov advocated going "all-

in" with aggressive play Anand instead chose a "very slow, maneuvering kind of

game" where he "might be able to press a little bit". Anand admitted that

"somehow I was not able to make it happen". Key moments such as they were:

Anand's 5.Bxc6 goes for a small advantage by doubling pawns, Carlsen's

7...Bh5 was new at the elite level and probably avoided any preparation Anand

actually had, 17...fxe3 was probably the only move white could play to try for

an advantage, 19...a5 was a quality waiting move after 25...Qxe5 a draw was

going to be the only result.

No doubt Anand hoped for more from the opening today but the match has

probably passed the point where he can get back into it without Carlsen starting

to playing considerably worse than he is now. Carlsen hasn't shown much signs

of weakening but if it does happen then most likely it will be as he approaches

the finish line. A loss for Anand today would have all but ended the match. Has

Anand more or less given up as some believe? I don't know, it is possible. It

may be Anand had in mind the old Soviet dictum that if you lose two in a row

your only job is to draw to stop the rot. Then you can move on. Anand at least

looked in a reasonably good mood at the press conference today.

Anand needs to win at least one in the next three games and to hope that

Carlsen's nerves will get him a second in the final two. This already feels like a

long shot. The inability of Anand to put Carlsen under any real pressure with

white in the match so far has been the biggest surprise to me.

The closest Carlsen came to a loss today was before it started when he left the

board with less than a minute to go before the start and only returned with less

than 16 seconds to go. In watching the footage I was able for the first time to

see that there is a count-down on a video screen so Carlsen probably wasn't in

much danger of being defaulted for not being at the board at the time the

clocks were started. Nevertheless I was getting slightly alarmed.

40

Game 7 Press Conference

I give the entire press conference today as there wasn't much of the chess. The

players were as cagey as ever. There's not a huge sign of meeting of minds

between the questioners and the players.

Q: (FIDE Press Officer) Can you share with us your thoughts on game seven,

what happened today?

A: (Viswanathan Anand) I chose a line that both of us had played quite a bit in

the past. 6.Nbd2 He went for Bg4 instead. Then you get a slow kind of

manoeuvring game after the next three moves. White has two plans, which is,

one is to play f4 and the other like in the game which is to play on the h-file.

The problem with f4 which is not really effective is that because black is

preparing to go with the knight to f8-e6. So I tried castles. Here I thought I

might be able to press little bit. I know it is not huge. But somehow I was not

really able to make it happen. May be there is something to be said for Bg5 f6,

and then coming back and then trying h5. I thought here I might get something

with g3, f4 and perhaps the rook on the h-file. It did not materialise so much.

Swapping all the rooks gives him adequate counterplay.

Q: (FIDE Press Officer) Magnus, so please your comments?

A: (Magnus Carlsen) Not so much more than what he said. We played this line

many different times. Whatever you play it really goes slow. I thought I was

doing moreorless fine. Just little bit worse. But nothing real. I thought the key

here after g3, a5 is that f4 can be met by f5 and everything goes out. For

instance if I had gone Rh8 immediately, then f4 and I cannot exchange all the

pieces. Also Ne6, f4, takes, takes, f5, e5, d5, Re1 and I was not sure if I

managed to chop everything off. But anyway, what happened in the game was

just drawish.

Q: (FIDE Press Officer) Was there any moment black could have been in

danger?

A: (Magnus Carlsen) It was always going to be tiny bit pleasant for white but

my pieces are well developed and I had no particular weaknesses. I think I

should not be in any major trouble.

Q: (FIDE Press Officer) How did you cope with the pressure yesterday? What

did you do?

A: (Viswanathan Anand) Nothing really special. The weather (pouring monsoon

rains) doesnt allow you to do very much. It is pleasant time to be here. But you

really cant go out. So I stayed in the hotel and did some work.

Q: (FIDE Press Officer) Magnus, You were playing basketball or volleyball

(yesterday)?

A: (Magnus Carlsen) Yes we played a bit of football and basketball. Not too

successful but it was fun.

41

Q: (Amit Karmarkar, The Times of India) You look at it as an opportunity lost or

was it a release?

A: (Viswanathan Anand) Obviously after the last two games it is nice to break

this result. I was hoping to press him a little bit. I did not manage very much to

be honest.

Q: (P.K. Ajith Kumar, The Hindu) Are you disappointed that the game was short

today?

A: (Magnus Carlsen) I am fine with that. I have the lead. I won my last game

with black. So, this suited me fine.

Q: (FIDE Press Officer) Anand, did you try yesterday thinking about changing

strategy and so on?

A: (Viswanathan Anand) We had to assess what was going on. But it is not

something I can explain now.

Q: (FIDE Press Officer) What about something like lucky pen?

A: (Viswanathan Anand) There are other things to do.

Q: (Nirav Y Rajasuba, Gujarat Samachar) Vishy, you are an exceptional player

in the world. You recover so easily. You have the ability to recover so easily.

Shall we expect some sharp battle from you to come back?

A: (Viswanathan Anand) I will definitely keep trying.

Q: (Sam Daniel, NDTV) Are you a relieved lot now?

A: (Viswanathan Anand) Obviously the last two games were unpleasant. Well,

we played a game today. So, we will try again.

Q: (Ebenezer Joseph, Shubsandesh TV) How much of psychology is important in

a match and how do you feel about it? The last two games were not being

outplayed. It is just the press and made a small mistake? What about the

psychology in the match and to the kids watching throughtout the world?

A: (Magnus Carlsen) That was a really long question! (press room explodes into

laughter). Of course there are some psychological aspects. For instance, there

was no doubt that the outcome of game five influenced the next game. I think

that is unavoidable in a match. But that is little bit different. You try to move on

at best as you can. But it is not so easy.

A: (Viswanathan Anand) Yes, there is lot of psychology involved.

Q: (Paul Truong) This questions is for both of you. A lot of fans are sending best

wishes in the social media. Do you read any of it. Do your teams relay it to you

at all?

A: (Viswanathan Anand) In general if they think I should know something they

let me know. But I dont know what they are not telling me. (room explodes into

laughter) (Magnus Carlsen) I follow little bit. I am happy very thankful to all

42

who wish me well. For those who dont I dont read it anyway. (room explodes

into laugher)

Q: (FIDE Press Officer) In Norway the sale of chess boards and sets increased

three times. What do you think about it? Do we expect a big chess boom in a

way?

A: (Magnus Carlsen) Really happy to see that people are following the match.

That they are interested. So keep it going and I will do my best. And keep up

the good work.

Q: (Lennart Ootes, New In Chess/News About Chess) After the first game you

said there were some Butterflies. About they third game you were nervous.

What about the butterflies and nerves?

A: (Magnus Carlsen) I guess they are still there. I think it is unavoidable. As the

match goes long you settle in. Then it becomes easier. I dont know.

Q: (Lennart Ootes, New In Chess/News About Chess) Can you recall a nervous

moment during your games?

A: (Magnus Carlsen) That is very optimistic of you.

Q: (V Kameswaran, United New of India) Anand, today did not go well.

Tensions released. Tomorrow, what Anand is going to do? You got a plan? Not

to allow your opponent to cross six points.

A: (Viswanathan Anand) Well in general that is the plan.

43

Game 7 annotated

Anand,Viswanathan (2775) - Carlsen,Magnus (2870) [C65]

WCh 2013 Chennai IND (7), 18.11.2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3

Bc5 5.Bxc6

Definitely third choice in terms of

frequency in this position. The

trouble with this is that it starts a

simplification process that seems

likely to play to Carlsen's strengths.

[5.c3; 5.0-0]

5...dxc6 6.Nbd2 Bg4 7.h3 Bh5!?

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 7...Bh5

Practically a novelty as it has only

been played by a couple of lower

rated players before. One of

Carlsen's real abilities is to be able

to play such positions without

knowing theory as he's confident of

finding better continuations for

himself.

[7...Bxf3 Is presumably what Anand

was hoping for. 8.Qxf3 Nd7 9.Qg3

Qf6 10.Nc4 0-0 11.0-0 Rfe8 12.a4

Nf8 13.Bg5 Qe6 14.Bd2 Ng6 15.b4

Bf8 16.Qg4 b6 17.g3 f6 18.Bc3 Bd6

19.Ne3 Kh8 20.Kg2 a6 21.Qf3 Ne7

22.h4 b5 23.Rfb1 Qd7 24.h5 h6

25.Qg4 Qxg4 26.Nxg4 Nc8 27.Bd2

Nb6 28.a5 Nd7 29.c4 c5 30.cxb5

axb5 31.bxc5 Nxc5 32.Rxb5 Nxd3

33.Ra4 Ra6 34.Rc4 c5 35.Ne3 Rea8

36.Rc3 Nb4 37.Nc4 Be7 38.Rb3 Nc6

39.Rb6 Nb4 40.Kf3 R6a7 41.Be3 Kg8

42.Rb2 Rc7 43.Kg4 Kf7 44.Rb1 Nc6

45.R1b5 Nd4 46.Rb1 Nc6 47.R6b5

Nd4 48.Rb7 Rxb7 49.Rxb7 Ke6

50.Bd2 Ra6 51.Bc3 Bf8 52.f4 exf4

53.gxf4 f5+ 54.exf5+ Kd5 55.Ne5

Ne2 56.Be1 Bd6 57.Rxg7 Nxf4

58.Nf7 Nd3 59.Nxd6 Nxe1 60.Ne8

Rxa5 61.Rd7+ Kc6 62.Rd6+ Kb5

63.f6 Ra7 64.Re6 Nd3 65.f7 Ra4+

66.Kg3 1-0 Adams,M (2733)-

Fressinet,L (2696)/Germany

2012/CBM 148]

8.Nf1 Nd7 9.Ng3

[9.g4]

9...Bxf3 10.Qxf3 g6

44

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 10...g6

Limiting the squares white's knight

can go to.

11.Be3 Qe7 12.0-0-0 0-0-0

13.Ne2 Rhe8 14.Kb1 b6 15.h4

Kb7 16.h5 Bxe3 17.Qxe3

[17.fxe3 Is Houdini's suggestion

here but it's not going to amount to

much anyway.]

17...Nc5 18.hxg6 hxg6 19.g3 a5

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 10...a5

A waiting move. Carlsen doesn't

want to allow f4.

[19...Rh8 20.f4]

20.Rh7 Rh8 21.Rdh1 Rxh7

22.Rxh7 Qf6 23.f4 Rh8 24.Rxh8

Qxh8 25.fxe5 Qxe5

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 25...Qe5

Black has at least equality.

45

26.Qf3 f5 27.exf5 gxf5 28.c3 Ne6

29.Kc2 Ng5 30.Qf2 Ne6 31.Qf3

Ng5 32.Qf2 Ne6

Drawn by repetition.

1/2-1/2

46

Carlsen forces quick draw in World Championship Game 8

Mark Crowther - Tuesday 19th November 2013

Magnus Carlsen edged half a point closer to the World Chess Championship title

with a 33 move draw in game 8. Carlsen leads 5-3 against defending champion

Viswanathan Anand and only needs 1.5 points from the final 4 games to win the

match.

Carlsen chose 1.e4 for the first time in the match and after a short thought

Anand chose to defend with 1...e5 and then the Berlin Defence to the Ruy Lopez

a very solid choice. With a two point lead Carlsen chose the dullest variation

available and the game traded quickly to a draw. (was this playing into Anand's

final gamble?) This result pretty much guarantees Anand will have to win or go

down fighting in Thursday's game 9. After the game the press conference was

delayed whilst the players were informed they must undertake a doping control.

Below some light notes on the game and some comments on opening

preparation from the press conference.

Game 9 Thursday 21st Nov Anand-Carlsen 15:00 Chennai time, 9:30am GMT. I

will hosting ICC's commentary with GM Jon Speelman.

"Well, the match situation is fairly clear now. This was a short two relatively

easy games. Obviously I have to try in the next one." - Viswanathan Anand

"He played the Berlin. I played the most solid line ... yada yada yada (like chop

chop chop) we go to the doping control." - Magnus Carlsen

"Starting to realize that I am the only person who is going to be able to stop

Sauron in the context of chess history." - Hikaru Nakamura

Opening battles

Post game twitter talk was around the question as to whether Anand had just

given up following two games where Carlsen got easy draws. There was a lot of

discussion around whether Anand should have played a sharper variation.

Carlsen has been world number one for the best part of four years now and the

number of valid options to play for a win with black must look depressingly

small to Anand.

Anand's experience in preparing deeply for world championship matches was

supposed to his key advantage. So far this hasn't proven to be the case.

Carlsen played 1.Nf3 and 1.c4 in the early games when looking for an

advantage, now he's content to play 1.d4 and 1.e4 when a draw is good

enough. With black there was the surprise Caro-Kann not repeated (maybe a

key moment as Anand could have done so much more in that game to play for

a win) and then the Ruy Lopez Berlin where he's had no problems. I'm sure

47

Anand must have prepared a lot of great opening surprises but one can only

conclude Carlsen has side-stepped them.

Carlsen untroubled

Whist Anand wasn't surprised Carlsen had played 1.e4 in the match he "had not

prioritised 1.e4" in his preparation for the game. Many people were

disappointed with Anand's choice of the Berlin rather than playing something a

bit more combative.

"I did not really know his intentions were. Even the Sicilian, if you want to play

the dry system they are available. It is not like there were clear options there. I

thought little bit (two minutes) and decided to go for this. Well the match

situation speaks for itself. It is my job to liven it up. I guess I will try in the next

game."

Carlsen has proved particularly lethal using the Moscow Variation of the Sicilian

with 3.Bb5. It doesn't seem that Anand has come up with anything he likes

against this.

Opening Preparation

The players won't discuss their preparation in detail but did at least open up a

start to a discussion that will happen after the match.

"I am quite happy with my opening perparation. This is not the time to start

analysing things. I get a bonus evening before the rest day and so I will try and

prepare something for the next one." - Anand.

FIDE Press Officer Anastasiya Karlovich asked "Magnus, many people say you

do not pay too much attention to the opening. I read an interview of Caruana

who are good in choosing openings which are not pleasant for your opponent.

What do you think about this?"

"I mean Caruana is a very good player and a clever guy. There must be

something to what he says." - Carlsen.

Carlsen's style of play

If Carlsen wins the match he will be the second youngest world champion by a

few months from Garry Kasparov both being 22. Whilst Carlsen has played all

sorts of styles I think there are signs he will be a pretty conservative player in

maturity. Paul Truong asked him.

"A lot of fans are asking you are having a very unique style for somebody so

young. How did you develop that style?"

"I did not have a particular bible in chess when I was young. As a young player

I was trying to play attacking chess sacrificing material all the time. A bit

different from what I do today. Although I am playing the game for a long time

I have been playing top level for seven years. I have had some time to adjust

to the situation and adjust to the other players and develop my play." - Carlsen

48

Game 8 Annotated

Carlsen,Magnus (2870) - Anand,Viswanathan (2775) [C67]

WCh 2013 Chennai IND (8), 19.11.2013

[Mark Crowther]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-

0 Nxe4 5.Re1

With a two point lead it isn't up to

Carlsen to win a game.

[5.d4 is the move with real interest.]

5...Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5

8.Rxe5

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 8.Rxe5

One of the most drawish variations

in elite level chess. White very

occasionally wins one, black pretty

much never.

8...0-0 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re1 Re8

11.c3 Rxe1 12.Qxe1 Ne8

[12...Nf5 13.Bf4 d6 14.Nd2 Be6

15.Bd3 Nh4 16.Ne4 Ng6 17.Bd2 d5

18.Nc5 Bc8 19.Qe3 b6 20.Nb3 Qd6

21.Qe8+ Nf8 22.Re1 Bb7 23.Qe3

Ne6 24.Qf3 Rd8 25.Qf5 Nf8 26.Bf4

Qc6 27.Nd2 Bc8 28.Qh5 g6 29.Qe2

Ne6 30.Bg3 Qb7 31.Nf3 c5 32.dxc5

bxc5 33.Ne5 c4 34.Bb1 Bg7 35.Rd1

Bd7 36.Qf3 Be8 37.Nxc4 dxc4

38.Rxd8 Nxd8 39.Qe2 Ne6 0-1

Steinitz,W-Zukertort,J/USA 1886/]

13.Bf4 d5 14.Bd3 g6 15.Nd2 Ng7

16.Qe2

[16.Nf3 c6 17.Qd2 Bf5 18.Re1 Bxd3

19.Qxd3 Qd7 20.Be5 Bxe5 21.Nxe5

Qf5 22.Qxf5 Nxf5 23.Nd3 Kf8 24.Nc5

Nd6 25.Nd7+ Kg7 26.Nc5 Kf8

27.Nd7+ Kg7 28.Nc5 Kf8 29.Nd7+

Kg7 30.Nc5 Kf8 1/2-1/2 Salgado

Lopez,I (2621)-Bruzon Batista,L

(2694)/Quito ECU 2012/The Week in

Chess 911]

16...c6 17.Re1N

49

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 17.Re1

The first new move not that it

matters all that much.

[17.Nb3 b6 18.Re1 Bf5 19.Bxf5 Nxf5

20.Nc1 Qd7 21.Nd3 Ng7 22.Be5 Re8

23.Qf1 Bxe5 24.Nxe5 Qd6 1/2-1/2

Nepomniachtchi,I (2711)-

Riazantsev,A (2688)/Khanty-

Mansiysk RUS 2011/The Week in

Chess 878 (88); 17.Be5 Bxe5

18.Qxe5 Bf5 19.Bxf5 Nxf5 20.Re1

Qd6 21.Nb3 Qxe5 22.Rxe5 f6 23.Re2

Kf7 24.Nc5 Nd6 25.f3 Re8 26.Rxe8

Kxe8 27.Kf2 b6 28.Nd3 Kd7 29.g4

g5 30.Ke3 h6 31.f4 1/2-1/2

Rozentalis,E (2619)-Bruzon Batista,L

(2691)/Montreal CAN 2013/The

Week in Chess 981]

17...Bf5 18.Bxf5 Nxf5 19.Nf3 Ng7

20.Be5 Ne6 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.Ne5

Re8 23.Ng4 Qd8

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 23...Qd8

The position is dead equal, the

players force the pieces off to show

this.

[23...Qg5? 24.f4! wins (24.h4 is not

quite as good 24...Qxh4 25.g3 Qd8

26.Qe5 Ng7 27.Nf6+ Qxf6 28.Qxf6

Rxe1+) 24...Qxf4 25.Rf1 Qb8 26.Qf2

f5 27.Nf6+ Kf7 28.Nxe8]

24.Qe5 Ng7 25.Qxe8+ Nxe8

26.Rxe8+ Qxe8 27.Nf6+ Kf8

28.Nxe8 Kxe8 29.f4 f5 30.Kf2 b5

31.b4 Kf7 32.h3 h6 33.h4 h5

1/2-1/2

50

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 33.h4

51

Carlsen on the brink of becoming World Chess Champion after game 9 win

Mark Crowther - Thursday 21st November 2013

Magnus Carlsen is just one draw away from become World Chess Champion

after surviving a very difficult position against defending champion Viswanathan

Anand in game nine before even going on to win after a blunder by the

champion. Carlsen now leads 6-3 with potentially three games to go although

the most likely result will be that the match will finish after a quiet draw in

Friday's game 10 (no-one seemed to believe Anand will go all out to win with

black in such a dire match situation when I floated the idea but it could

happen).

The ninth game was pretty much Anand's last chance to get back into the

match and he switched to 1.d4 and played the sharp 4.f3 against Carlsen's

Nimzo-Indian. Carlsen's 7...exd5 avoided the main line 7...Nxd5 and 8...c4 was

really quite rare. 10...0-0 was a principled choice asking Anand if he could

checkmate him. 16...Nxc1 may have been an error (16...Nc7) because by move

20 most experts believe Anand may be close to winning with best play. The

suggestion is that 20.a4 and the direct 20.f5 both win although it will take

considerably more time and detailed analysis to prove this for sure as the wins

aren't easy. Anand's 20.axb4 did not seem to be right especially after Carlsen's

cold-blooded 22...b3. Anand fell into a 45 minute thought before playing

23.Qf4, this move should have led to a forced draw but Anand didn't check his

calculations too much and he played 28.Nf1 losing immediately (he realised

immediately what he had done), 28.Bf1 would have led to a draw. Very long

thinks such as Anand's are rarely good news for the player concerned and must

have been in part responsible for the error. Anand had calculated 28...Qd1 wins

for him. This I believe was the most interesting and difficult game of the match

but again finished drastically.

A consideration of the match as a whole and the future should wait until the

match finishes.

Below is a transcript of a sometimes tetchy press conference plus some light

notes which may serve as a starting point for deep analysis.

Game 9 Press Conference

Q: (FIDE Press Officer) Magnus can you please tell us what happened?

A: (Magnus Carlsen) So we get a very very sharp position from the opening.

Basically I missed something with f4 because in general I would like to do...and

block the pawns. He can play Qb1, Rb6 and attack the pawn which is a bit

inconvenient for me. So, here I had to go all out for counterplay. And I mean,

there are an amazing number of complicated lines here. I wasnt sure. As it

52

happens my moves were not that complicated. I had to play the only move all

the time. Fortunately for me, he blundered.

Q: (FIDE Press Officer) At this moment (after 24.f6) did you also consider

24...gxf6?

A: (Magnus Carlsen) Yes, 24...gxf6 is an option. But 25.Nh5 looks very

dangerous here. I can may be go 25...fxg5 26.Nf6+ Kh8 27.Qxg5 Rg8. Anyway,

I thought in case of 24.f6 here I would have to play ...g6 anyway. So it didnt

matter. Clearly, Nf1 is a blunder. He just missed Qh5. 28. Bf1 Qd1 29. Rh4 Qh5

30. Nxh5 gxh5 31. Rxh5 Bf5 32. Bh3 Bg6 33. e6 Nxf6 34. gxf6 Qxf6 35. Re5

fxe6 36. Qe3 here. This is what we discussed after the game. White should be

able to hold.

Q: (FIDE Press Officer) Can you also give us your scenario of what happened?

The world champion. A: (Viswanathan Anand) The position was very very

interesting. Here I spent a hell of a lot of time essentially getting into this

position. If the king goes to h8 usually it looks like it should be lost. As I have

the extra resource of Qf7 check. Here I was anticipating Qh8. Because f6, g6,

Qh4, b2 and moreorless similar idea like in the game.

The difference is when Rb1 happened he has Qa5. But after this, I am kind of

forced to go in with Rf4. What I missed initially was this: I wanted to play Bh3,

Bxh3, Rxh3, Qd7, Rh5, Qf5, g6 I thought was a draw. But later I saw Qb6,

Qb1+.

Q: (Amit Karmarkar, The Times of India) Magnus, it was quite tense today. Can

you describe the tension you were going through?

A: (Magnus Carlsen) It was really tough game. From the opening it was clear it

going to be unbalanced. And I run a serious danger of getting mated which I

hadnt in previous games. I had to deal with the situation. I had to create

counterplay. It was really tough game.

Q: (FIDE Press Officer) Were you scared in any particular moment in this game?

A: (Magnus Carlsen) Basically all the time. The white pawns look extremely

menacing. At the same time I was trying to calculate this as well as I could. I

did not find a forced mate. It seems there wasn't any mate. At least no obvious

one.

Q: (Kristian Madsen, Politiken) Grand Master Anand, You came out needing a

win today. You showed us some of the attacking chess which has been

associated with your name throughout your career. You dominated the World

No.1 for 25 or 27 moves. For the game to end this way, how do you feel your

emotions right now?

A: (Viswanathan Anand) In general, the match situation did not leave me with

much of a choice. I saw a couple of moments when I could exit. For instance,

here I could play 22.cxb4 and try to get the knight to c3. Then black is also out

53

of serious danger at the same moment. I had to give it a shot. When he played

Na6 I saw this variation. It is not that difficult to calculate. There were always

finessess. It seemed to be very dangerous for black. And, I could play e6

somewhere with fxe6, f6 which is a second kind of chance. I decided to give it a

shot. In the end, it was irresponsible, silly whatever you want to call it. I had

been calculating around about 40 minutes when I went f5, b3 Qf4 I think. And

what I was calculating was this line. It was a draw. When I found Qd6 there, I

couldnt see a way forward. When I got to this position, I suddenly saw Nf1,

Qd1, Rh4, Qh5, Rh5, gxh5, Ne3 and the knight is coming to e7. By a miracle,

black will probably play Be6, for Bxd5 he might have to play Qxd5. For a second

I got excited. The problem, I missed the knight which was on g3 has just

moved. As soon as I put the knight on f1 I knew what I had done. What can I

say?

(Magnus Carlsen) It should be noted that if Bf1, Qd1, Ne2 would be met by Qd3

or Qe1 works then. (Viswanathan Anand) If I had seen this Qe1 I would have

seen the other one as well. Because I only saw Qd3, Rh4, Qe3 this ladder.

Q: (V Kameswaran, United News of India) You have had many hat-trick wins in

your career. Will it be possible for you? Think it over and tell me?

A: (Viswanathan Anand) The situation does not look very good.

Q: There was lot of praise for your going for a win. Can you explain your

mindset and why you chose such a sharp opening?

A: (Viswanathan Anand) I needed to change the course of the match rather

drastically. That's why I kind of went for this. I had a rest day to kind of get

familiar with all this. Because it is all very complicated line.

Q: Were you glad you did it? A: (Viswanathan Anand) I was in a way. Still I

think I had to do this. This was the correct choice. I had no regrets for this.

54

Game 9 Annotated

Anand,Viswanathan (2775) - Carlsen,Magnus (2870) [E25]

WCh 2013 Chennai IND (9), 21.11.2013

[Mark Crowther]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3

d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5

exd5

[7...Nxd5 is the most common

choice.]

8.e3 c4 9.Ne2

[9.g3 Nc6 10.Nh3 Na5 11.Bg2 Nb3

12.Ra2 Qa5 13.Bd2 0-0 14.0-0 Re8

15.Nf2 Bf5 16.Re1 Re7 17.e4 dxe4

18.fxe4 Bg6 19.Qf3 Rd8 20.h4 h5

21.Re2 1-0 Biolek,R (2399)-

Agdestein,S (2555)/Prague CZE

2013/The Week in Chess 950 (54)]

9...Nc6 10.g4 0-0

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 10...0-0

Looks very brave at first glance.

[10...h6 weak according to

Kasparov. 11.Bg2 Na5 12.0-0 Nb3

13.Ra2 0-0 14.Ng3 Bd7 15.Qe1 Re8

16.e4 dxe4 17.fxe4 Nxg4 18.Bf4

Qh4 19.h3 Nf6 20.e5 Rad8 21.Qf2

Nh5 22.Bxh6 Re7 23.Nf5 Qxf2+

24.Rfxf2 Re6 25.Be3 Bc6 26.Bf1 f6

27.Bxc4 Bd5 28.Be2 fxe5 29.Bxh5

exd4 30.Bg5 Rd7 31.Rae2 Be4

32.Nxd4 1-0 Kasparov,G (2820)-

Polgar,J (2670)/Tilburg NED 1997;

10...Na5 was certainly an option.;

10...h5]

11.Bg2 Na5 12.0-0 Nb3 13.Ra2

b5 14.Ng3

[14.g5 Nd7 15.e4 Nb6 16.e5 Bf5

17.f4 Na4 18.Rf3 Bb1 19.Rc2 a5

20.Rh3 b4 21.Be3 Bxc2 22.Qxc2 g6

23.axb4 axb4 24.cxb4 Nb6 25.f5

Qd7 26.Ng3 Ra1+ 27.Bf1 Nc8

28.Rh6 Ne7 29.Qg2 Nxf5 30.Qh3

Rfa8 31.Rxh7 Kf8 32.Ne2 Nxe3

33.Qxe3 Qg4+ 34.Ng3 R8a2 35.e6

Rxf1+ 36.Kxf1 Qd1+ 37.Qe1 Qf3+

0-1 Gardner,R (2202)-Shabalov,A

(2534)/Calgary CAN 2012/The Week

in Chess 916]

14...a5 15.g5

[15.e4 was a definite option.

15...dxe4]

15...Ne8 16.e4

55

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 16.e4

16...Nxc1

If white is really much better in only

a few moves then this may be the

culprit but otherwise the knight may

end up just being out of play.

[16...Nc7 could easily be the better

move. 17.Be3 (17.e5? b4) 17...Ra6

18.e5 b4 19.f4 is worth

investigating. 19...f5 Giri]

17.Qxc1 Ra6 18.e5 Nc7 19.f4 b4

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 19...b4

20.axb4?!

After the game this move got some

criticism. Anand almost certainly was

motivated to play this to get rid of

Ra6 as a defensive piece.

[20.f5 Nb5 This is the move that

everyone was afraid of at the time

but it doesn't seem to work. White

would have to trust to intuition that

his attack will break through at this

point. (20...b3) 21.axb4 axb4

22.Rxa6 Bxa6 23.f6 g6 Is a line

given by ChessPro Ru and Mikhail

Golubev. It's possible to calculate to

here and feel this has a good chance

of winning. Will take a bit more work

to prove it's winning. 24.Qf4 (24.e6

fxe6 25.Qe3 Bc8 26.cxb4 Qd6 is

ChessPro's line with equality.)

24...Qb6 25.Qh4 h5 26.Nxh5 bxc3

27.Kh1 Nxd4 28.Ng3 Ne6 29.Nf5

gxf5 30.Qh5 Qb7 31.Bh3 is indeed

winning if I run Houdini long

enough.; 20.a4 was recommended

by several strong players with the

idea that it stops a lot of black's

56

counter-play but that would require

a lot of analysis.]

20...axb4 21.Rxa6 Nxa6 22.f5 b3

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 22...b3

Cold blooded in the extreme but it

seems sufficient to hold. Carlsen was

over half an hour behind on the

clock but then Anand had a huge

think himself.

[22...bxc3]

23.Qf4

After 45 minutes thought.

[23.f6 g6 24.Qf4 Kh8 25.Qh4 isn't

fast enough.; 23.h4 a very slow

continuation of the attack which I

suggested during the game in

commentary also looks playable.]

23...Nc7 24.f6 g6

[24...gxf6 25.Nh5 Looks very

dangerous according to Carlsen.

25...Ne8! (25...fxg5 26.Nf6+ Kh8

27.Qxg5 Rg8) ]

25.Qh4 Ne8! 26.Qh6 b2! 27.Rf4

b1Q+

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 27...b1Q

Diagram

28.Nf1?

A complete surprise. Anand moves

quickly and it's a losing blunder.

[28.Bf1 Qd1 29.Rh4 Qh5 30.Nxh5

gxh5 31.Rxh5 Bf5 32.g6 Bxg6

33.Rg5 is equal.]

28...Qe1

57

Magnus Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand

Position after 28...Qe1

And white has to resign.

[28...Qd1? Was the move Anand was

expecting and it just loses. 29.Rh4

Qh5 30.Rxh5 gxh5 31.Ne3 Be6

32.Bxd5 Bxd5 33.Nf5 Be4 34.Ne7+

Kh8 35.Qxf8#]

0-1

58

Magnus Carlsen is the new World Chess Champion

Mark Crowther - Friday 22nd November 2013

Magnus Carlsen has won the FIDE World Chess Championship in Chennai by a

score of 6.5-3.5 against defending champion Viswanathan Anand. Carlsen

required just 10 of the 12 scheduled games to win the title. It is too early to

talk of the Carlsen era as defence of his title is scheduled in less than 12

months but this is the culmination of Carlsen's domination of the game. First

Carlsen has cemented himself firmly as world number one, then somewhat

nervously he navigated the qualification via a Candidates tournament and in

India he didn't seem to have to exert himself to the maximum in becoming

world chess champion. It seems entirely possible he will keep the title for some

time.

Carlsen had an overwhelming lead going into what turned out to be the final

game. A short perfunctory affair might have been expected but instead it

turned into a real struggle. Anand finally played his old favourite the Sicilian

Defence and Carlsen played his expected Moscow Variation against it. Anand

described the game as "I thought today was a kind of microcosm of the whole

match" in that "at some point I started to make mistakes" with 28...Qg5

allowing 29.e5 and after 29...Ne8 Carlsen almost immediately made the capture

30.exd6 which he thought was just winning but he "missed something simple".

Instead if Carlsen had spent a bit more time he would have seen 30.Nc3 would

have given him a huge advantage Carlsen said this mistake "doesn't feel very

important now" afterwards. Carlsen pressed for some time into a knight ending

which turned out to be very complicated and at least on the outside seemed to

give him at least some losing chances. In the end Carlsen had to trade into a

queen ending where he had pawns and Anand a knight. This was drawn after a

few more moves on move 65 with only a knight remaining.

Anand thought his chances in the match were down to being able to avoid a lot

of mistakes and that execution of any match strategy was entirely dependent

on that. He was happy to escape with a draw in game four but his first loss in

game five came as a big setback and for him this was the turning point in the

match. For Carlsen he felt that after a nervy first two games the play in games

three and especially four gave him the confidence that the match wouldn't

require him to do much more than he was already doing in winning

tournaments. Carlsen won games five and six and also yesterday's game nine

all after major blunders by Anand although both players pointed out that

Carlsen had some responsibility in getting Anand to make them.

At the final handshake the players signed the board they played game 10 on

and Carlsen remained on the stage a little longer than Anand eventually leaving

not with a punch to the air as Kasparov famously did in 1985 but with a broad

smile.

59

22 year old Carlsen went from amateur to champion in only 10 years. Carlsen

(22 years and 357 days) is the 16th undisputed World Chess Champion and the

second youngest behind Kasparov (22 years and 210 days). The split between

Kasparov and FIDE in 1993 makes all numbers in this area controversial, the

Indian press release of champions names the maximum 20 champions in which

case FIDE's 2002 champion Ruslan Ponomariov would be youngest at 18 years

old.

Full account of this game and the match will follow over the next days.

"Clearly, he (Carlsen) dominated the match. Full credit to him," - Anand

"I would like to think I can take some responsibility for those blunders, I just

play and people crack under the pressure, even in World Championships." -

Carlsen

60

Carlsen vs Anand final game one of the longest and most difficult of the World Championship

Mark Crowther - Saturday 23rd November 2013

Magnus Carlsen became world chess champion by a score of 6.5-3.5 following

his game 10 draw against Viswanathan Anand. It was expected that Carlsen

would try and shut out the match with a quick draw but he pressed for a long

time even after missing a chance for a big advantage. Not surprisingly the

actual game was pretty much lost in all the excitement of the end of the match

but I've gone back over the game and produced some notes and added

comments from various sources. I don't have a definitive judgement but

hopefully I'll be able to point up the large number of key decisions that were

needed in this complicated and difficult game which ended up being the second

longest of the entire match.

Carlsen played the Moscow Variation against Anand's Sicilian and whilst playing

solidly he had a nice space advantage. After 28.a5 Carlsen had a nice position

and Anand had no easy choices but Anand's 28...Qg5 was definitely bad and if

Carlsen had played 30.Nc3 then he would almost certainly have won, instead

Carlsen thought that he was winning easily and miscalculated something after

30.exd6. This lead to a difficult knight and pawn endgame where Carlsen had a

definite but probably not winning edge. Anand quickly played 40...Nf5 but it's

not clear if 40...g5 might not have been better, 41...Ne3 was only played after

a long think, 42...f5 might well be forced. Carlsen's 43.Nd6 may not be the best

winning try but it was played after considering it for a while, 43.Nd2 might have

been better. Carlsen finally decided that enough was enough and his 46.Ng8+

moved towards a draw with 49.Nxf5+, if Carlsen had really needed a win then

he'd have tried 46.Nh5 but that really wasn't the case this time. The game was

quickly drawn after this.

61

Final Game 10 Notes

Carlsen,Magnus (2870) - Anand,Viswanathan (2775) [B51]

WCh 2013 Chennai IND (10), 22.11.2013

[Mark Crowther]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7

[3...Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Nf6

6.Nc3 g6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 9.f3

Qc7 10.b3 Qa5 11.Bb2 Nc6 12.0-0

0-0 13.Nce2 Rfd8 14.Bc3 Qb6

15.Kh1 d5 16.Nxc6 bxc6 17.Qe1

Rdc8 18.e5 Ne8 19.e6 fxe6 20.Nf4

Bxc3 21.Qxc3 d4 22.Qd2 c5 23.Rae1

Ng7 24.g4 Rc6 25.Nh3 Ne8 26.Qh6

Nf6 27.Ng5 d3 28.Re5 Kh8 29.Rd1

Qa6 30.a4 1-0 Carlsen,M (2843)-

Anand,V (2780)/Sao Paulo/Bilbao

BRA/ESP 2012/The Week in Chess

936]

4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 a6 6.Bxd7+

Bxd7 7.c4 Nf6

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 7...Nf6

Anand finally deviates from the

game he played against Carlsen in

Norway earlier in the year.

[7...e5 8.Qd3 b5 9.Nc3 bxc4

10.Qxc4 Be6 11.Qd3 h6 12.0-0 Nf6

13.Rd1 Be7 14.Ne1 0-0 15.Nc2 Qb6

16.Ne3 Rfc8 17.b3 a5 18.Bd2 Qa6

19.Be1 Nd7 20.f3 Rc6 21.Qxa6

Rcxa6 22.Ned5 Bd8 23.Nb5 Rc8

24.Bf2 Kh7 25.Kf1 Rcc6 26.Rac1 Bg5

27.Rc3 Bxd5 28.Rxd5 Rxc3 29.Nxc3

Rc6 30.Be1 Nc5 31.Nb5 Nb7 32.h4

Be3 33.Ke2 Bc5 34.h5 Bb4 35.Bd2

g6 36.a3 Bxd2 37.hxg6+ Kxg6

38.Kxd2 h5 39.g3 f6 40.Na7 Rc7

41.Nb5 Rc6 42.Ke2 Kf7 43.b4 axb4

44.axb4 Ke6 45.Rd3 Rc4 46.Rb3 d5

47.Kd3 Rc6 48.exd5+ Kxd5 49.Rc3

f5 50.Nc7+ Kd6 51.Ne8+ Kd5

52.Rxc6 Kxc6 53.Ng7 Nd6 54.Nxh5

e4+ 55.fxe4 Nxe4 56.Kd4 Kb5 57.g4

fxg4 58.Kxe4 g3 59.Nxg3 Kxb4 1/2-

1/2 Carlsen,M (2868)-Anand,V

(2783)/Sandnes NOR 2013/The

Week in Chess 966]

8.Bg5 e6 9.Nc3 Be7 10.0-0 Bc6

[10...h6 11.Be3 0-0 12.e5 dxe5

13.Nxe5 Be8 and eventually drawn

in Moskalenko,A (2459)-Antipov,M

(2473)/Moscow RUS 2013]

11.Qd3

62

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 11.Qd3

"I was trying to play solidly in the

opening. And I am pretty happy with

what I got. Very solid position. No

weaknesses. As the game went on

he started to drift a bit I thought as

long as there is no risk I should try

and win it. " - Carlsen.

[11.Rfe1 0-0 12.Rad1 Qa5 13.Qd2

Qb6 14.Nd5 Bxd5 15.cxd5 e5 16.Rc1

Rfc8 17.Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Rc3 h6 and

eventually drawn in 49 moves

Girinath,P (2448)-Sitanggang,S

(2410)/Singapore SIN 2007.]

11...0-0 12.Nd4 Rc8

[12...Qc7 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Kh1 Rfd8

0-1 in 60 moves Kidzinski,L (2001)-

Szczesniak,P/Bartkowa 2002.;

12...Be8 keeping the light squared

bishop surely comes into

consideration.]

13.b3 Qc7

[13...Qa5!?]

14.Nxc6 Qxc6 15.Rac1 h6 16.Be3

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 16.Be3

White of course keeps his bishop

rather than exchanging.

[16.Bf4 Nh5 17.Be3 Nf6]

16...Nd7 17.Bd4 Rfd8 18.h3

Just playing things safe by breaking

the back rank. White is fairly

comfortable here.

[18.Rfd1]

18...Qc7

[18...b6 is Anand's alternative setup.

Both sides have some latitude in

their setups.]

19.Rfd1 Qa5 20.Qd2 Kf8

[20...Bg5 was the clear alternative.

21.Be3 (21.f4 Bf6 22.Bxf6 Nxf6)

21...Bxe3 22.Qxe3 Ne5 is about

equal.]

21.Qb2 Kg8 22.a4

[22.Qd2 offering a repetition was

expected by many at the time.

22...Kf8 23.Qb2 Kg8 24.Qd2 etc]

22...Qh5

63

[22...Bg5 Houdini looks a bit odd to

me. 23.Rc2 Kh7]

23.Ne2 Bf6 24.Rc3 Bxd4 25.Rxd4

Qe5

[25...Nf6 26.Qd2 Qa5]

26.Qd2 Nf6

[26...Nc5]

27.Re3

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 27.Re3

Keeping black bottled in.

[27.Rcd3!?]

27...Rd7

Looks like the best response.

[27...b5?! 28.f4 Qc5 29.e5 Ne8

30.b4 Qb6 31.cxb5 axb5 32.a5]

28.a5

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 28.a5

White's position looks pleasant.

28...Qg5?

Already this position is quite

uncomfortable for Anand. This

however is just a mistake. "I simply

blundered Qg5. I saw the same

tactic for Qc5 but I simply put the

queen on g5. And the same e5

happened. I simply don't know the

evaluation after that." - Anand. It

isn't that easy to offer a move to

Anand. I think he already stands

worse.

[28...Qc5 allowing the same e5

break was seen by Anand. 29.e5

Ne8 is great for white eg 30.b4 Qc7

31.c5 d5 32.Nc3 Re7 33.Na4 g6

34.Nb6 with black having a

miserable position.; 28...Rcd8 is

perhaps best for black but he's still

passive. 29.b4 Qg5 30.f4 Qg6

31.Nc3 is nice for white.; 28...g5

Yermolinsky in his ICC game of the

day broadcast suggests this is a

thematic move but he also

64

recognises how reluctant you might

be to play it. 29.Nc3 is Houdini's

suggestion(29.Kh1 Rcd8 30.Ng1

(30.b4 Kg7 31.Ng1) 30...Qc5) ;

28...g6 29.b4 looks better for white

too.]

29.e5! Ne8

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 28...Ne8

30.exd6?

"Played very quickly by Magnus

Carlsen. "When I took on d6 I

missed something simple. I thought

I was just winning with that. If I

knew this move wasn't so good I

would have taken some more time

and perhaps found a better move

and put even more pressure on him.

That wasn't terribly impressive.

Anyway, it doesn't feel very

important now." - Carlsen.

[30.Nc3 should lead to a winning

position and there are other better

moves than capturing too. This one

seems the best. 30...Rc6 (30...Qf5

31.Na4 Rc6 32.b4) 31.f4 Qf5 32.Ne4

Qg6 33.Nxd6 Nxd6 34.Rxd6 Rcxd6

35.exd6 Qf6 36.Re1 g6; 30.Rg4

Nakamura]

30...Rc6 31.f4 Qd8

Black gets to recover his pawn just

in time.

32.Red3 Rcxd6 33.Rxd6 Rxd6

34.Rxd6 Qxd6 35.Qxd6 Nxd6

36.Kf2

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 36.Kf2

White is better in this ending, but by

how much? Carlsen also only needs

a draw.

36...Kf8 37.Ke3 Ke7 38.Kd4 Kd7

[38...g5 seeking counter-play is the

other option that has to be

considered but it looks very

dangerous for black. 39.Kc5 Kd7

40.fxg5 hxg5 41.Kb6 Kc8 42.c5 Nb5

43.c6 bxc6 44.Kxc6 and I wouldn't

be surprised if white isn't just

winning.]

39.Kc5 Kc7 40.Nc3 Nf5!?

65

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 40...Nf5

Anand played this rather quickly with

plenty of time on the clock. This

ending is terribly difficult and I don't

know the assessment.

[40...g5 may be the time to try the

g5 counter-play. 41.g3 (41.fxg5

hxg5) ]

41.Ne4

Played pretty quickly.

41...Ne3

Only played after a big think.

42.g3 f5

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 42.f5

Probably the best try.

[42...Nc2 43.Nd6 Na1 44.Ne8+ Kd7

45.Nxg7 Nxb3+ 46.Kb6 and white

may very well be winning.]

43.Nd6!?

This may not be the best here. It

depends on the evaluation of

43.Nd2. Carlsen thought for some

time. This is a very tough position.

[43.Nd2 "As far as I can tell after

playing around with the engine,

43.Nd2 was pretty safe and actually

- as an added bonus - winning." -

Jon Ludvig Hammer. This position is

worth analysing at least. 43...Nd1!?

The assessment of this line looks to

hinge on the evaluation of this

move. (43...g5? 44.fxg5 hxg5

45.Kd4 Nc2+ 46.Ke5 Kd7 47.Kf6 g4

48.h4 and although there is still

some way to go this must surely be

winning for Carlsen.) 44.b4 (44.Kd4

is the alternative.) 44...Nf2 45.Kd4

Nxh3 46.Nb3 g5 47.Nc5 gxf4

48.Nxe6+ Kd6 49.Nxf4 Ng5 needs

66

looking at.; 43.Kd4 Nxc4 44.Nc5

Nxa5 45.Nxe6+ Kd7 46.Nxg7 Nxb3+

47.Kc3 Nc5 48.Nxf5 is equal]

43...g5 44.Ne8+ Kd7 45.Nf6+

Ke7 46.Ng8+

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 46.Ng8+

"At some point after the time

control, the variations were simply

getting too complicated. So I

decided to shut it down and force a

draw." - Carlsen

[46.Nh5 was the alternative that

keeps winning chances but Carlsen

only needs a draw and isn't totally

crazy but he did think for a long

time. 46...Kd7 47.b4 Nc2 48.b5 Na3

49.Kb6 axb5 (49...Nxc4+!?) 50.cxb5

Nc4+ 51.Kxb7 Nxa5+ 52.Ka6 Nb3

53.Nf6+ Kd6 54.b6 gxf4 55.gxf4

Nc5+ These lines are better for

white but can easily get out of

control and there is no clear win.]

46...Kf8 47.Nxh6 gxf4 48.gxf4

Kg7 49.Nxf5+

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 49.Nf5+

Very precisely calculated by Carlsen.

This leads to a forced draw where he

eliminates all black's pawns and both

sides get queens.

49...exf5

[49...Nxf5? 50.b4 Kf7 51.Kb6 Nd6

52.c5 Nb5 53.Kxb7]

50.Kb6

[50.b4 Ng2 51.Kb6 Nxf4 52.Kxb7

Ne6 53.Kxa6 f4 54.Kb6 f3 55.a6 f2

56.a7 f1Q 57.a8Q Qxc4 58.Qb7+ Kf8

still a draw.]

50...Ng2 51.Kxb7 Nxf4 52.Kxa6

Ne6 53.Kb6 f4 54.a6 f3 55.a7 f2

56.a8Q f1Q

It's only been about counting for

both sides.

57.Qd5 Qe1 58.Qd6 Qe3+ 59.Ka6

Nc5+ 60.Kb5

Now the game ends very quickly as

all the pieces are eliminated.

60...Nxb3 61.Qc7+ Kh6

67

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 61...Kh6

Black has to come forwards at some

point otherwise the white queen will

continue checking. Now Carlsen

swaps queens to get his draw.

62.Qb6+ Qxb6+ 63.Kxb6 Kh5

64.h4 Kxh4 65.c5 Nxc5

Automatic draw as there is no

mating material! "I think it was a

nice fight and a worthy end to the

match." - Carlsen

1/2-1/2