Chennai, Nov 18 (DHNS): How do you strike back immediately would be the question for which Viswanathan Anand and his team would be seeking answers on the third rest day of the World Chess Championships on Sunday.
A two-point deficit after six games against Challenger Magnus Carlsen in the 12-game match for the title would not have been the ideal position to enter the rest day but it should bring out the fighting qualities of the world champion to the fore. The fact that Anand will wield whites in the seventh game should help as he does not have the luxury of many options to get into the winning mode.
The first four games indicated that Anand was in good form and the quality of the games excited the enthusiasts. However in the last couple of games, Anand crumbled after the first time control, his hasty handling of the rook and pawn endings taking him away from drawing opportunities that were spotted by the spectators immediately, courtesy chess engines. Carlsen now leads with a healthy 4-2 score and the player reaching 6.5 points would be the champion.
A worrying factor is that Anand had given up on the games mentally well before the losing positions surfaced on the board, as per his admission in the post game press conferences. The psychological aspect plays a huge part in World Championships and it is important to have a positive outlook and self-belief. Interestingly former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, before the match, had commented that “if Anand gets back to his normal form he can still beat Carlsen but if only if he manages to solve his psychological problems,” and also added that he should not get intimidated by Carlsen.
To give credit to the 22-year-old Carlsen, his end-game handling has been bang on target to say the least, his ability to spot and latch onto the tiniest of edges, his desire in exploring even the tiniest avenue for a victory, has been exemplary. He has ground down Anand in both the games which appeared to be heading towards a draw. Incidentally, this exactly is the reputation Carlsen has built in the last couple of years and it is this ability that has taken his Elo ratings to 2870, the highest ever, leaving Levon Aronian a distant second at 2801.
Team Anand will now have to focus on the opening stages of the game where the Indian is supposed to have an edge over his Norwegian counterpart. Anand has not been able to display anything special in his opening preparation and if he can spring a surprise in the opening stages, it would be interesting to watch how the game and the match proceed.
Anand has a brand new Team of Seconds in Krishnan Sasikiran, Sandipan Chanda, Peter Leko and Radoslaw Wojtaszik, the only player from his previous team. At this crucial juncture, it is important how they rally around him. Of course Anand is the one who takes the ultimate decision but the selection of openings with both colours, the intense and exhaustive analysis they churn out, might make the difference. Anand will wield white in game 7, 9 and 11 and these are the games where Anand would be expected to go for the kill.
Anand has been tactically gifted but in the games played so far, there has been not much of a tussle in the openings. The middle-game too has been contested on an even footing but in the endings, the terrain has firmly been Carlsen’s. It would be interesting to see whether Anand now shifts gears and hits the accelerator hard to steer clear on the home stretch.