Battle Royale: Anand vs Carlsen
The stage is set for the upcoming Fide Chess World Championship match between current champion, India's Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen - a Norwegian former chess prodigy and the highest ranked chess player in the world.
It promises to be an exciting match. A clash of different styles. Carlsen's youth and energy versus Anand's vast match experience. Surely chess fans could not have wished for a better tie. Magnus Carlsen, the top ranked chess player for over three years, is seen as the heir apparent to Anand's crown. And for many, the match might be just a formality in the transfer of the Chess mantle to the younger generation which Carlsen represents.
Both players started their careers as attacking players while Anand has kept some of that style as time went on, Carlsen completely evolved to a solid player with a preference for the end game.
The importance of the match cannot be over-emphazise. A victory by Anand who cement his place in chess history. Were Carlsen to emerge victorious, it would spark a frenzy of sponsorships and big money that the sport clearly needs.
Match Experience
No doubt Anand has a massive advantage over Carlsen in terms of match experience.
That experience consists of victories over very strong players such as : Kramnik, Shirov, Topalov.
Match play against the same person is different from Tournament situation where one could focus one's energies in winning weaker players and drawing direct rivals.
A chink in Anand' armor has appeared lately; he seems to have become vulnerable to the younger generation creative and energetic play with recent loses to Nakamura,Wang Hao and a hoodoo with Levon Aronian.
Climate
The match is taking place in Anand's Indian home town of Chennai. No one is sure if there is any commensurate advantage to be got from playing at home.
Topalov lost his World Championship match to Anand on home soil.Earlier in the year, Carlen placed second in a tournament hosted in Norway. Unlike Soccer where vociferous fans can be an extra man providing that additional motivation, chess players are alone in the company of their opponents in quiet halls.
Ability to handle Pressure
The Candidates tournament showed that Carlsen was human after all. Who can blame him? He was touted as the clear favorite to coast to an easy victory and was even crowned in some circles based his impressive tournament results. The shock of meeting a Kramnik, playing his best chess in years, coupled with the trepid challenge of the bottom three of Radjabov,Ivanchuk and Grischuk, led to the high drama of the last round, where he could only crawl to the finish line when Kramnik was "kind" enough to reciprocate his loss to Peter Svidler.
Anand seems to cope with pressure better. The quick recovery to equalize in round 8, in his match with Gelfand in the World Championship in 2012 and the final round victory over Topalov in Bulgaria come as clear evidence that Anand is able to produce the goods at critical points in a match.
Head to Head
Anand holds a clear 6-3 advantage of his opponent. However majority of those victories came when Carlsen had not become a top 5 player. In the last 18 months, Carlsen has the edge over the World Champion and has been slowly closing the gap. +5 -0 =8 to Carlsen in all formats, with +1 -0 =3 to Carlsen in classical time control.
Preparation
Magnus Carlsen does not focus much on opening theory. He relies more on his ability to outplay his opponent in the middle and end game. Carlsen has described his style as a crocodile waiting patiently for his prey.
Anand like other grandmasters, is extremely well prepared in the openings and is hardly surprised in that part of the game.
Though Carlsen's vast opening repertoire gives him the element of surprise.
Also physical preparation and conditioning aids the mental prowess of a chess player. That is where Carlsen with youth holds a clear advantage over Anand.
Prediction
If Anand draws first blood, it would be interesting to see how Carlsen reacts. I fear that he might not recover in a short 12 game match. Carlsen would play his normal pragmatic chess and predictably justify his 69 point Elo rating over his opponent and secure victory.
The Official Site: http://chennai2013.fide.com
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by Chinedu Efoagui
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