Kasparov Advises Anand Not to Repeat His Own Mistakes

Friday, 15/11/2013 23:30

"A strange match but oddly balanced. Carlsen plays without openings and Anand without endgames! Statistically, that's in Magnus's favor," Garry Kasparov wrote in his Twitter after Game 5 of the world title match between Carlsen and Anand finished. 

Now the former world champion is in Jakarta, Indonesia. Kasparov criticized the move 13 ... Bc7 : "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 ...

... This is the conundrum. Hard to allow fear of opponent's strengths (or own weaknesses) push you away from objective evaluation of position. 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! Again, is this objectively superior, no. And easy to make recommendations in hindsight of course! But looked more pragmatic vs Magnus.

... Anand is trying to play the best moves. What else? He is world champion! Hiding from equal endgame would be psychological blow. 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. "

FIDE World Chess Championship 2013 Round- 4

Record Breaking World Championship

I am proud to say that for the 1st time ever, chess is more popular than cricket, and even Sachin Tendulkar on twitter, in India!

FIDE World Chess Championship 2013 Round- 3

Magnus Carlsen

I consider him a “real” World Champion, regardless of the fact that the win against Gelfand in the match wasn’t convincing at all. But that’s a peculiarity of chess: your play can be not particularly convincing in tournaments and then once a year you defend the title of World Champion and the chess world continues to consider you the king. - Magnus Carlsen

Vishwanathan Anand

You could say that both Fischer and Carlsen had or have the ability to let chess look simple. - Viswanathan Anand 

A Fight Between Two Lions

Anand, Carlsen not playing cat and mouse game, say experts 

Chennai, Nov 11 (IANS) Drawing their first two matches after enjoying a minor edge in each game does not mean world chess champion Viswanathan Anand and the title challenger Magnus Carlsen are playing a cat and mouse game, say chess experts. 

They are testing each other's match strategies and nerves -- these are some of the views expressed after the two kings of chess signed peace treaty in their first two outings. 

"It is certainly not a cat and mouse game. It is actually a fight between two lions," chess grandmaster R.B. Ramesh told IANS. 

According to him, spectators would love a decisive result but the stakes are high for both the players. 

"They are inside arena to win the title and not to entertain the spectators. For them the end result - title winner or loser - is important," Ramesh added. 

Agreeing with him is grandmaster B. Adhiban who told IANS: "There is no cat and mouse game between Anand and Carlsen. I thought Carlsen was playing for a win." 

"In the first match Anand wanted to play safe. In the second, Anand could have played for complication, moving his queen to g4 square than exchanging it," Adhiban said. 

According to him, Norwegian title contender Carlsen seems to take the game in unchartered territories to unsettle the world champion Anand at his home town. 

"Carlsen does not want to engage Anand in opening moves," he added. 

On Carlsen making his moves faster than the Anand, who was called the `lighting kid' during is childhood days, Adhiban said: "He is normally fast. Perhaps he is trying to intimidate Anand" 

Chess old-timers who have tracked Anand's style of play since his childhood told IANS that the champion had played three styles - aggressive (early days); aggressive and defensive (on his way to the top); and defensive (while at the top). 

"He used to be very aggressive during his school days. Of late Anand avoids risks," V. Ravichandran, a former national player. He has seen Anand playing alongside during his junior days. 

"Perhaps Anand thinks the title belongs to him and does not want to hand it over by going for risky variations," Adhiban added. 

According to grandmaster Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury, who is here to watch the match, Anand and Carlsen may be exchanging information about their strategies with their first two games. 

"I think it is going to be a full-fledged battle between the two in the coming days," Chowdhury told IANS. 

Well, that is what has brought N. Ramesh, who played chess along with Anand decades, ago here all the way from Dubai. 

"I am with an insurance company in Dubai. India may throw up another World Chess Champion. I am not sure whether Chennai would host another event like this. This is a life-time opportunity and I decided to come here," Ramesh told IANS. 

Queried about the expense and the opportunity cost involved, he said "the proximate cause of so-called loss" is nothing as compared to the occasion. 

The third game will be Tuesday with Carlsen playing white. Both the players have one point each after two games. The player who scores 6.5 points wins the title.

FIDE World Chess Championship 2013 Round- 2

FIDE World Chess Championship 2013 Round- 1

Garry Kasparov on Game one at the Carlsen - Anand World Chess Championship

Garry Kasparov ‏@Kasparov6311h

- Hello from Goa! Great event today at #THiNK2013. Looks like half of those in 
attendance were tweeting about. I will share some in a moment.

- 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!

- 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.

BELIEVE MAGNUS: Chess legend Garry Kasparov (left) keeps Magnus Carlsen 
as the favorite in the World Chess Match.