Throwing down the gauntlet

Vishy Anand throws down the gauntlet to Magnus Carlsen
Leonard Barden
guardian.co.uk, Friday 3 September 2010 20.47 BST

Vishy Anand set the agenda for top chess in 2010, and probably 2011, when he declared after retaining his world title that his ambition now is to regain the No1 spot in the global rankings. Anand thus laid down his gauntlet to Magnus Carlsen, the Norwegian who leads the international list and whose current rating of 2826 is the second highest mark ever after Garry Kasparov.

Anand’s ambition might seem reasonable for a reigning world champion, but in reality it is highly ambitious and there will be many doubters. At age 40, the Indian’s strength now seems to be increasingly in the slower pace of one-to-one matches rather than in the cut and thrust of tournaments, whereas Carlsen, at 19 less than half his rival’s age, has the stamina and energy to press for full points in almost every game he plays.

Also in Carlsen’s favour is the current rating difference between his 2826 and Anand’s 2800. The gap sounds modest, but for Anand to close it before the end of this year he will most likely need to finish ahead of Carlsen at both the Grand Slam final in Bilbao, Spain, in October and in the London Classic at Kensington Olympia played from 6-15 December. They will meet head-to-head twice at Bilbao and once in London, and the minimum points target for Anand will be 2/3 in these games.

Here is the full article.