The fourth game of the Carlsen-Anand match is drawn

November 12, 2014 – The match score is still even – 2-2. The fourth game of the FIDE World Chess Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand was played in the Main Media Center in Sochi on November, 12th. The World Champion had White.

Carlsen started the game with 1.e4, same as in the second game of the Match. Anand deviated from the Ruy Lopez and went for an opening considered more aggressive – the Sicilian. Judging by the speed of White’s play, Magnus was prepared for this course of events. On the move 3 he opted for a modest, but poisonous plan with the kingside fianchetto. With this move White does not claim an opening advantage, putting more emphasize on the middlegame. Such strategy often brought success to the World Champion, who is justly considered one of the best technicians of modern chess.

The opening choice of his opponent did not surprise Anand. Black had a wide choice of plans, but the former champion quickly made up his mind. A standard situation with an isolated pawn on d5 arose, in return Black obtained good piece play. In a few moves in a dynamically equal position Anand faced a choice: a more active move, trying to seize the initiative, or a more passive one, leading to a slightly worse position. He went for the latter.

After multiple exchanges Black was left with weak pawns on the queenside, but utilizing it was difficult for White, because his own king needed protection. As usual, the World Champion kept playing as long as he had the slightest chance, but Anand was accurate, and the players agreed to a draw on the move 47.

At the press-conference Magnus Carlsen said that the last two games have been pretty bad and he has to improve. Answering about differences between this match and their first match in Chennai, he joked: “In Chennai after four games the score was 2-2, here also the score is 2-2, so there is no difference”.

Vishy Anand: “The position was very complex, but I was not worried at any particular moment, except when I had to find 41…Qd2”.

The match score remains even – 2-2. Thursday, November 13th is a day off. The fifth game is played on Friday, November 14th, Anand plays White. Admission is free of charge. The official website of the championship http://www.sochi2014.fide.com broadcasts live grandmaster commentary in Russian and English.

The World Chess Championship match consists of 12 games with a classical time control: 120 minutes for 40 moves, then 60 minutes for 20 moves, and then 15 minutes plus 30 second per move until the end of the game. If the match is tied, a tie-break will be played on November 27th.

Tomorrow the V. Dvorkovich Saloon in the Main Media Center in Sochi hosts the Tal Memorial blitz tournament. It is a two-day double round round-robin with $100,000 prize fund, attended by 12 super grandmasters: Vladimir Kramnik, Sergey Karjakin, Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Alexander Morozevich, Ernesto Inarkiev, Alexandra Kosteniuk (all – Russia), Boris Gelfand (Israel), Peter Leko (Hungary), and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan). The live broadcasting can be found at the official site http://www.sochi2014.fide.com.

The 2014 Chess Championship match between incumbent champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Vishy Anand will take place between November 7 and 28 in Sochi, Russia. The World Chess Championship is the most followed event in the world of chess. There are about 600 million chess players all over the world, with such well-known enthusiasts as Sergey Brin, George Soros, Bill Gates and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Tickets for the match can be booked at sochi2014.fide.com.

For more information:
Masha Kunica
Media, World Chess Championship
media@agonlimited.com

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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