Carlsen
Magnus felt the critical moment in his game today against Anand was Rh6. He felt the missed opportunity on Anand’s part was when he did not take on c6.
Some of Magnus’ answers from the interview today:
Magnus’ plans for the rest of the year include representing Norway at the Dresden Chess Olympiad in November, the FIDE Grand Prix in Doha, Qatar in December, and some other smaller events in between.
As of plans for the upcoming day off, he said he would sleep most of the day and then he’ll see.
Favorite place he visited so far: South Africa (9 years ago).
Both Magnus and Vishy were asked about the rumor that Magnus is in the “Anand team” for the upcoming Anand – Kramnik World Championship match. They both tried hard to avoid the topic. You decide if it is true or not. I will not discuss this further as it is a sensitive issue for top level preparation. I know that I would not want my opponents to know who are in my camp when I am in the same position.
Anand
He said that he totally missed Be3 and was very lucky that still had reasonable counter play after that. When asked if he was surprised about Magnus’ opening choice (one that is quite rare in elite tournaments), he said he was relatively well prepared for it because he was expecting it from Radjabov.
Anand echoed Magnus about enjoying South Africa. He also added that he enjoyed visiting other African countries too, such as Zambia.
Ivanchuk
“I like my position after the opening but not my play after that”
Topalov
When asked about his pre-tournament expectations and his result so far, he said “I am pleased with my play so far, which I consider is even more important than the actual result”.
It is hard for Anand to play and not reveal his repertoire against Kramnik.
Don’t forget that Topalov also has to hide is repertoire for his match with Kamsky- but doesn’t seem to be a problem for him.
I hate to say it, but I think Topalov is going to kick Kamsky’s butt.
That all “hiding his repertoare” talk is greatly exeggerated. He doesn’t have to play the prepared novelties, but he can still play any opening that he wants, and more importantly he can still make strong moves.