We were surprised to see that at one point (around move 30 or so) in the game today versus Aronian, Anand had only half the time of his opponent. It is especially surprising as Anand has been known to be as one of the fastest top players in the world.

When we asked him about it after the game, he said this was the second worst time-pressure in his life. The worst was against Svidler when he was left with two minutes for two moves to reach the time control.

Regarding today’s game, Anand said he totally overlooked 21.Bxa7. He blamed his 24…Bf5, but he said he didn’t feel like playing passively.

I asked Vishy about how chess has changed in India since I first met him back in the 80’s. He said back then India only had 4 IMs. Now they are a chess powerhouse, including recently winning the World Junior and the World Girls, etc.

They are putting special emphasis on chess in rural areas, where over 170,000 children get chess education.

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Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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