April 3,
2013 to DNA
Anand: In my opinion, Carlsen is the greatest talent I have seen. He is
really unique in that sense. And that I think is absolutely huge. It will be a
very, very big challenge. I understand the magnitude of my task....
The broad outlook of our game is similar. The prospect of facing Carlsen
is a new one for me in many, many ways. I will have to figure out my strategy.
April 3,
2013 to The Indian Express
Is there a favourite going into the match?
Anand: I have to say that most people who look at the two of us will
conclude that Magnus is the outright favourite. I'm cool with that. It doesn't
really worry me. I'm fully aware of the magnitude of the task facing me, and
Magnus' rank and rating speak for themselves. Having said that I don't feel any
obligation to follow the predictions. That's what we are playing the match for.
To have a chance to write our own script.
How different will this be from your previous WCC matches?
Anand: Firstly, he is not from my generation. There is a difference in
age and outlook. When I played Kramnik, Topalov and Gelfand, I read them in a
certain way. And even then, I thought that if I end up playing Vlady this time,
it would be a different Vlady from the one I played before. Carlsen is from a
different generation and he is also one of the most talented players from any
generation. He will be ridiculously difficult to play against, yeah.
July 4,
2013 to The Indian Express
Anand: Carlsen has shown himself to be a resourceful and dangerous opponent,
so I'll have to work really hard. I felt that the tournaments indicated a lot
of problem areas, even ones I haven't mentioned or revealed. You feel some
concerns at the board and it is difficult to replicate them at home. You play
these tournaments and have lots of thoughts and ideas about what you want to do
afterwards. That's the most I can take away from them.
The loss against Carlsen (Tal Memorial), how difficult was that to take?
Anand: That was one of the worst. Not only did I lose, I lost
embarrassingly. The game was over in just a couple of hours. It was a really,
really off day. It's a pity. Something clearly just went wrong and I have some
idea what it is. I will work at fixing that problem, but it is one among many
problems that have cropped up.
The significance of the loss?
Anand: What can I tell you... It has some significance. In the end I
would say the match (world championship) begins at 0-0. I'm happy I got it over
with in June rather than it happening in November. Ideally, I would have played
a better game, a better tournament. A good tournament result would definitely
have been better than what I had but that is life. I don't want to fret about
it.
Surprisingly, Carlsen was caught out in a couple of end games (against
Wang Hao and Fabiano Caruana) this year, his supposed strength. What did you
make of it?
Not only were these tournaments an experience for me, but for him as
well. I have a lot of material to work on, a lot of material from my games and
a lot from his. I noticed some of the things you've mentioned but I'll have to
take a much more complete look and spend a lot of time on that.
January
10, 2008 to Spiegel
In recent times the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen has been in the headlines.
He is seventeen and at the beginning of the month he was, for five days, the
number one in the unofficial world rankings. How good is he?
Anand: He will sooner or later become World Champion. I like him, he is
a Monty Python fan, just like me.
We don't know what notes about Monty Python the two have been exchanging
lately, but this is for sure. Chennai is Carlsen's best shot yet. Carlsen will
have to win the 2014 World Championship candidates if he loses in Chennai and
wants to try a crack at the top title once again. Winning the 2014 World
Championship Candidates might not be easy second time in a row for Carlsen
considering the line-up!
Anand and Carlsen are sure to showcase their best in Chennai. If Carlsen
were to win, Anand would be happy enough to pass on his mantle to a worthy
candidate whose success he himself has predicted. If Anand were to retain his
title, chess fans would know the next chess generation has not arrived!
some reviews about upcoming chess championship. . . . . .
