Anand, Carlsen in an endgame that refuses to end
SOCHI (RUSSIA): After about fiveand-half hours of play in the seventh game of the ongoing world chess title match, Indian challenger Viswanathan Anand was fighting resiliently for a draw against Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, who had the initiative, but perhaps not enough resources to pull off a win. At the half-way stage of the 12-game match, Carlsen has a onepoint lead over Anand.
From a sterile position, Carlsen managed to create complications for the five-time world champion from Chennai, and for the best part of the unfinished battle, computer evaluation gave the Norwegian world champion a slim chance of winning. But Anand always had the resources to defend, and didn’t allow Carlsen to tighten his grip on the game.
“Psychologically, the secret to successful defence (in such situations) is to pretend you are enjoying it,” British grandmaster Nigel Short said on Twitter, as Carlsen continued to pile pressure on Anand and the Indian grandmaster defended resiliently.
Most experts had within the first three-and-a-half hours of play formed the view that Carlsen’s initiative wasn’t enough to squeeze out a win. But typical of Carlsen, he didn’t allow Anand to simplify things and made him fight hard for the draw, which at the time of going to press, looked to be the most likely outcome, according to experts.
Playing black on Monday, Anand switched to new opening moves after Saturday’s loss in game 6. He adopted a solid line of play named after the Berlin Wall, which both he and Carlsen have played several times with both colours. The Indian grandmaster had played a variant of it in the second game of this match, which he lost.
Carlsen looked better prepared in the line of play on Monday and made his first 27 moves in less than half an hour to secure a slightly advantageous position. But most importantly, he thrives on such positions, grandmaster Susan Polgar said on Twitter. Except in game 3, which Carlsen lost, he has always been able to secure positions he is comfortable to deal with.
Anand needs to forget his loss on Saturday to be able to stage a comeback in the remainder of this match, Polgar said on Twitter. This is the second time in this match that he is trailing Carlsen. Anand was able to quickly equalise after his loss in the second game with a win in game 3.
Not that he played very well in the sixth game, but he got an opportunity to swing things in his favour after Carlsen blundered on the 26th move. Such unforced errors are not normally seen at this level of competition, but Anand missed it completely.