World Chess Championship: Carlsen draws first blood against Anand

While Anand bounced back in the previous two world championships against Veselin Topalov and Boris Gelfand after a loss, it remains to be seen whether the five-time world champion can do the same against the challenger, who is 95 elo rating points higher than him.

 

After starting with a knight move in the first two games, Carlsen chose to play the pawn in front of his bishop in the queen side two squares (c4) on Friday. Anand, who was prepared to face any surprise from his younger opponent, quickly moved his pawn in front of the king one step (e6) forward. The reply was typically a waiting move. Intriguingly, the Norwegian played another pawn move immediately, this time pushing the one in front of his queen two ranks (d4) up. Anand responded with d5 and later successfully got the game transposed to his liking (Slav defence). Finally, it looked like the opening variation was unclear and out of theory.

 

The position remained sharp from the beginning with Carlsen holding two volatile pawns in the centre. But after exchange of queens, the game seemed equal though Carlsen claimed advantage for him in the post-game press conference. “It was relatively an interesting opening and I got some plus. It was not huge, but there was a static advantage. The pawn structure looked good for me,” he said.

 

However, the challenger agreed that Anand’s mistake on the 34th turn, when he played Rd4, helped him seize the initiative. “After the first time control, I ended up with a clear advantage. But it turned out to be a little bit difficult, as rook endings are tough. I am happy that I fought well and was able to break the deadlock,” he added.

 

Anand, too, accepted that rook endings are complicated. “I could have played another move instead of the rook move on my 45th turn. I thought I would be able to generate some counter play. But Carlsen took his chances well,” Anand said.