Magnus Carlsen Won the 11th Game of the Match and Secured the Title with One Game to Spare. The Final Score is 6.5-4.5 in Carlsen’s Favor
November 23, 2014 – The eleventh game of the World Chess Championship match between Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and Viswanathan Anand (India) was played on November 23rd in the Main Media Center in Sochi. Magnus Carlsen had White.
For the sixth time in this match the champion opened the game with е2-е4. The players continued the theoretical discussion in the Berlin variation, however, this time Anand chose a different 9th move, evacuating his king on the queenside and opting for a more aggressive game. In this line Black attempts to connect rooks as soon as possible, and sometimes can seize the initiative, if he neutralizes White’s pressure in the center.
The former champion demonstrated a new and interesting idea – he carried out g7-g5 in order to stop White’s pawn advance of the kingside, not worrying about the weakened square on f6. Black successfully solved his opening problems, and when the World Champion got somewhat carried away maneuvering his knights, Anand made a nice break b6-b5, sacrificing a pawn for the initiative. The champion declined the offer and switched to defending.
The critical moment occurred on the move 26. After a lengthy consideration Anand decided that quiet play does not give Black enough winning chances, and sacrificed an exchange, obtaining a dangerous passed pawn on the queenside in return. Generally this sacrifice is typical in similar positions, however in this position it was refuted tactically. Carlsen broke through in the center and invaded the 7th rank with his rook, forcing Black to defend. The World Champion was very precise during the technical stage, and on the move 45 Vishy Anand congratulated his opponent on winning the match.
The grandmasters agreed that the match was very tense. Vishy Anand said that “Magnus is very strong and I have to admit that he was better. My nerves gave up first, and psychologically Magnus was holding up well.”
Magnus Carlsen: “Anand played better than in previous match and this time he really pushed me.” He also said he is very happy with the way the match was organized, and his whole team was treated well.
Magnus Carlsen won the match 6.5-4.5 and held the title.
The World Chess Championship is the most followed event in the world of chess. There are about 600 million chess players all over the world, with such well-known enthusiasts as Sergey Brin, George Soros, Bill Gates and Mikhail Gorbachev.
For more information:
Masha Kunica
Media, World Chess Championship
media@agonlimited.com
Anand choked.
Says some guy on the internet.
over the last 20+ games in WC it has happened to anand in one form or other – either he missed a move, or blundered or did not spot a blunder etc, etc. Honestly it is a miracle how he qualified in the candidates – that too a clear first. So he wins as long as it is in his home prep.. and he has tons and tons of home prep.. the way the rest play .. boy are we going to see this played out again next nov? hope not.. carsen vs caruana should be interesting.
Because of yesterday’s loss, we forget that V.Anand is a five time World Champion. For few weeks we will continue to forget this, and is a normal scenario when one looses. Home preparation is Anand’s one of the specialty(like many GMs). He took risk like Topalov did against him, and it bounced back. Even Carlsen will loose one day like this with some challenger. This is how people loose in any sport. This same Anand defended a 122 moves game against so called the endgame magician. And by the way Anand showed that he was in his usual in playing end games without Chennai effects which some experts had predicted. If others could not beat Anand in candidates, how can they beat Carlsen?. Although Anand may not able to repeat the candidate success again, he can actually play chess freely and win strong tournaments he once used to .