Underdog at home
Bangalore Mirror Bureau | Nov 6, 2013, 09.51 PM IST
By: RS Raghavan

Carlsen will start favourite against Anand in world chess championship which begins tomorrow

One only can dream to have a CV with five world titles, six Chess Oscars and an ominous presence in the top bracket for over 20 years. Despite the stupendous achievements, Viswanathan Anand will begin his world title defence as an underdog against Magnus Carlsen, the highest-rated chess player in the history of the game. The World Championship match gets underway in Chennai on Saturday.

The young Norwegian is the favourite in the 12-game contest and one can attribute this to his outstanding performances in tournaments over the last two years. The 22-year-old (with a rating of 2870) leads the second-placed Levon Aronian by 69 points and Anand by 95 points in the latest ratings. That is a margin reflective of not dominance but monopoly.

Anand’s strength is his record in the match format. He has defended his world title thrice since 2008, a remarkable achievement when one takes into account Garry Kasparov’s reign. The Russian is the only other player to have defended the world titles more times in the last 25 years.

Anand goes into the match with a better head-to head record in the Classical games against Carlsen (6 wins, 3 losses and 20 draws) but the world No 1 is in better form, having won three tournaments in 2013.

Both players have adopted different ways to prepare for the match. The Indian was in training mode for the last four months. He was closeted with his seconds in Bad Soden, a suburb in the outskirts of Frankfurt. Besides working on his game, he reportedly did walking, running and swimming to get himself into top shape.

Intense preparation Carlsen has mixed his preparations with a visit to Chennai in August and winning the Sinquefield Cup in September. The Norwegian prepared intensely for the last one month. He also had a training stint in Muscat. The idea of training in the Omani capital is to get familiar with the climate in Chennai.

Excellent preparation, handling pressure and peaking for the matches has made Anand the most successful world champion among the current players. The first phase of the matches will throw up an idea as to how the battle will pan out. If Anand gains an early edge in the openings and plays to his full potential, winning the sixth title is a realistic possibility.

Carlsen’s success over the years has earned him the reputation of being the most difficult player to beat. He has not lost a single Classical game to three of the best players – Anand, Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian – in the last three years. Added to that is his ability to win from drawn positions which instils fear in the opponents.

Former world top 10 player Teimour Radjadov lost from two drawish positions this year. He has few weaknesses but showed signs of vulnerability in the Candidates, losing two games in the last three rounds to almost stumble at the final hurdle. He sneaked through via backdoor with a favourable tie-break over Kramnik.

In a nutshell, it will be Anand’s experience vs Carlsen’s all-round skills. As in any high-voltage contest, the player handling the pressure better will walk away with the crown.

India will be hosting the world title match for the first time, thanks to the initiative of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who sanctioned Rs 29 crores to put Chennai on the world chess map. Hyatt Regency will be the venue which can accommodate 400 spectators.

DD Sports will telecast all the games live. There will also be live streaming on the official website, besides plenty of chess literature on the web during the match.

The big battle will start with the inauguration on Thursday at the Nehru Indoor Stadium. 

Source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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