Game 9
The ninth game of the Carlsen-Anand Match ended in a draw.
The overall score after the ninth game is Carlsen 5 – Anand 4.
The ninth game of the World Chess Championship match between Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and Viswanathan Anand (India) was played on November 20th in the Main Media Center in Sochi. The World Champion had White.
The players went for the Berlin Variation of the Ruy Lopez, the same opening that occurred in the seventh game. That game ended in a draw on 122nd move, and Anand was on the ropes for the most part of it. This time the scenario was completely different.
The Norwegian deviated from the seventh game on the move 11. Apparently he was confident the opponent analyzed their previous game carefully and will make a draw with ease. However, his new move also did not surprise Anand, who demonstrated a paradoxical idea: he developed the light-squared bishop to a6 first, provoking an active centralizing move of the white knight, and modestly retreated the bishop from a6 to b7 on the next move.
At first glance such waste of a tempo looked like a complete ignorance to the opening principle of not moving the same piece twice. Black was still undeveloped and his king was stuck in the center. According to the same general principles White opened the central files immediately in order to get to the enemy king, however Anand turned out really well prepared for such course of events. His king was surprisingly secure, while the pieces quickly joined the action. Carlsen realized that White has no opening advantage, and if the game continues, Black can seize the initiative thanks to his bishop pair. Therefore White utilized an opportunity to force a draw by perpetual.
Magnus Carlsen acknowledged that his opponent was better prepared in the opening and added: “Always better to be able to press with White, but draw is okay with the current score in the match”.
Vishy Anand: “An easy draw with Black is good for confidence, I just have to press harder with White”.
The match score is now 5-4 in Carlsen’s favor. The tenth game is played on Friday, November 21st at 15:00 local time. Viswanathan Anand plays White. Admission is free of charge. The official website of the championship www.sochi2014.fide.com broadcasts live grandmaster commentary in Russian and English.
Anand will win for sure.
I wish Anand had taken an poker idea and down played his preperation in order to trap Carlsen, (keeping his hand hidden and let the his opponent enter into the situation). I know Anand did well in shaking up the situation with his quick play but if he spaced his moves out a bit might Carlsen have been less hurried for an early repetition? I don’t know. Not anywhere near their level but it seems like these types of ideas would do well in tournament/official play… An interesting match so far, still hard to let go of Anand’s gift to Carlsen…