‘Sleeping’ Magnus Carlsen Denied Anand a Win

Magnus Carlsen drew Game 8 of the World Chess Championship with Viswantahan Anand to retain his one-point lead. However, he created a buzz on Twitter after a picture of him dozing off appeared on the social media. (Game 8 Report | Highlights)

After the exhaustive and enthralling draw on Monday in the seventh game, which lasted for more than six and half hours (122 moves), Tuesday’s game lasted a mere 41 moves. Carlsen leads the 12-game Match 4.5-3.5 going into the rest day on Wednesday. Was there some subtle psychology at work or was Carlsen genuinely unwell? These were the questions doing the rounds on Twitter.

Carlsen wore a sleepy look throughout the game and even appeared to have dozed off on occasions.

Interestingly Peter Heine Nielsen, who works for Team Magnus now said “Today we have prepared an interesting idea. Lets’s see how it goes?”

There were reactions on Twitter after the 23-year-old Carlsen was caught napping, against a much older opponent. Carlsen had won the title against Anand in Chennai last year.

However, Carlsen admitted he was not in top shape when the eighth game started: “Wasn’t in best of shape at start but I felt I managed to be fresher as the game progressed.”

The rest day will do both players a world of good. With only four games to go and a point separating Carlsen and Anand, the stakes will be high.