(656) CARLSEN --NEW WORLD CHESS CHAMP AT 22! (TBN-Nov. 25, 2013)

ON THE FRONT PAGE OF NORWEGIAN NEWSPAPER
     A Norwegian newspaper front page celebrates the biggest star in the country --MAGNUS CARLSEN, after winning the World Chess Championship over 5-time defending champ Viswanathan Anand of India. The black and white design is apparantly a tribute to the game.    



                            C A R L S  E N
       NEW WORLD CHESS CHAMP AT 22!

MAGNUS Carlsen has everything you might expect of a superstar athlete: a modeling contract, endorsement deals, a dedicated female fan club, a growing bank balance and millions of fans watching his every move.

But Carlsen is a different kind of sporting celebrity. The 22-year-old from Norway is building his fame and popularity entirely on the brilliance of his own mind rather than physical brawn or dexterity.

Carlsen is a chess player, but he is not just any chess player. He is, according to statistical computations that determine such things, the best player in the history of the game and will be officially crowned world champion if he continues to dominate the reigning king, India's Viswanathan Anand, over the remainder of their ongoing match in Chennai, India.

Carlsen leads 4.5 to 2.5 after the seventh of 12 scheduled games ended in a draw on Monday, leaving Anand to stage a comeback of epic proportions to get back into contention. With the extraordinarily high standards involved at chess' elite level in which ties are very common, a two-point margin at this stage is the equivalent of being a couple of goals in front with 15 minutes to go.

As the Scandinavian edges nearer to a world title, chess aficionados and the game's hierarchy can barely conceal their excitement. For decades, Russian players have dominated world-class chess and the game had long been mired in a dour and uber-intellectual image. Now there is a growing feeling that, with the right social forces and a charismatic champion potentially working in its favor, this could be chess' time to shine.

Save for a surge in popularity after Bobby Fischer's triumph over Boris Spassky in 1972, chess has stayed off the mainstream radar. But the world is a different place now and the technological revolution has allowed for a new kind of cool. Geek chic might be the most powerful phenomenon in modern marketing; heck, even NBA royalty LeBron James and Russell Westbrook along with hip-hop megastar Kanye West have rocked the "nerd" look that was previously reserved for Steve Urkel.

But in 2013 it is not only OK to be smart, but "nerding out" – becoming heavily invested in cerebral hobbies or pastimes – is also no longer social suicide.

"We have found that the reputation of chess has changed a lot," said Jennifer Shahade, two-time U.S. women's champion and editor of the U.S. Chess Federation's website. "Geek chic has been a big thing, nerdy has become cool in its own way and that has resulted in chess being seen in a more positive light."   Carlsen might just be the poster boy for the revolution.

Chess officials have made some concessions to enhance the appeal of the game, too. The 12-game format of the current championship is brief enough to be manageable and a shortened tiebreaker format involving rapid-fire action of speed games was introduced in case matches remained deadlocked at the end. Given the way Carlsen has asserted his authority against Anand, it is unlikely that will be needed.

So is chess really a sport? It doesn't really matter, but the championship has certainly marketed itself like one.

Carlsen and Anand enter the arena in a gladiatorial fashion and compete by sitting in a glass cage. In the months leading up to the matchup, each conducted a rigorous regime of physical workouts, Carlsen embarking on a punishing cross-training schedule and Anand swimming up to a mile per day. And, believe it or not, live television broadcasts in India examine every move, although the announcers earn their money with each player allowed two hours for his first 40 moves.

Thankfully, there has been plenty of action. When Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov squared off for the title in 1985, there was an unbroken string of 17 games that were all drawn. Following four draws to begin this match, Carlsen's back-to-back wins in the fifth and sixth games set the tone for his likely victory and staved off the public relations nightmare of an unbroken run of stalemates.

Kasparov, one of the all-time greats, has launched a bid to become president of FIDE, chess' world governing body, and has promised a sweeping array of positive changes to modernize the game. He has made no secret of the fact he believes a Carlsen victory would be the best possible outcome. Chess officials seem to agree.

"The world championship has been very exciting for us," said Jean Hoffman, executive director of the U.S. Chess Federation. "Both players are very popular, but with Magnus you see a new kind of player who transcends chess. He is attractive, he does modeling – having someone like that playing at such an incredibly high level can only help build the game."(Report from Martin Rodgers- Yahoo Sports)

In an interview on BBC on Nov. 22, 2013, Carlsen said, “I like to put pressure to my opponent. People cracked when under pressure.”

Palau National Masters Roberto Hernandez and Tito Cabunagan met Carlsen at the 2010 World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia (Sept. 20-Oct. 04, 2010). Carlsen is Board 1 of Norway and was defeated twice-- in the 4^th round by Georgian Baadur Jobava and in the 6^th round against England’s Michael Adams.

When Norway won the bid to host the 2014 World Chess Olympiad, Carlsen is just a meter away from Hernandez and Joselito Marcos at the lounge of Twin Hotel Olympiad. Joselito advised Roberto to ignore the world’s no. 1 player and just act normally instead of having photo or autograph session with him in front of his teammates and friends.

Solution to last week’s puzzle: (The same as last week)

This week’s puzzle: Black to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)


Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
             Tia Belau Newspaper
             Pages 9 & 10
             Volume 22
             Issue 94
             November 25, 2013 

                              Game 6  --Viswanathan Anand, right, with the white pieces, against Magnus Carlsen.

The Viswanathan Anand vs Magnus Carlsen World Chess Championship match has the feel of a boxing bout. The players are in the dressing room right about now, with their seconds, going over the fight plan one last time – is it going to be rope-a-dope like Ali? Will one of them go for a quick knockout like Tyson? Or will they, like Rocky Marciano, wait for the opportunity to land the knockout blow?

 Either which way – the idea that chess isn’t a physical sport has been blown out of the water by the manner in which Anand and Carlsen prepared for this match-up. Many would think that preparing for the chess world championship would be all about sitting hunched in front of a computer for hours at end – discussing chess theories and novelties with your seconds – shutting down the room… eating and drinking chess.

 Basically put, chess players are nerds. There is that too. But the physical aspect of chess is often underestimated – try sitting in one place, concentrating on one thing for seven hours and you will know just how draining that can be. Just as in boxing the mental aspect of the sport is often neglected. Many think that boxing is just about hitting your opponent — but it is so much more. They don’t call it the sweet science for nothing. The physical aspect of chess is often underestimated.

 The physical aspect of chess is often underestimated. So to prepare for this match, Anand bought himself a season ticket for the swimming pool in Bad Soden (his base in Germany – just outside Frankfurt — while he prepared for the match) and swam about 1000 meters per day. He also ran 10 km every day and cycled his way around the hills that surround the town. He lost about 6 kilos this summer – and another three by the time he reached India.

 Carlsen – much younger — played tennis, volleyball and even tried his hand at golf. Cross training works for everyone. The Norwegian prodigy became world number one at the age of 19 in the January 2010 rating list and has been at the top continuously since July 2011. He is clearly at the top of his game and stamina isn’t something that worries him. And that also shows in his approach.

 In an interview to the Russian Internet TV channel Chess TV, Carlsen revealed his approach to preparation: “In general I think it is important not to over-focus on the match, and to keep some kind of balance. That was also important before the Candidates Tournament, to have a good training session with some qualified people, but also to maintain a balance – to still have some fun and be relaxed.” 

Anand, on the other hand, older and wiser knows that Carlsen will have the edge because of his youth. The energy needed to get through, even one high-quality chess game takes a toll on the mind and the body. So in his preparation that lasted three months, he gave it his absolute best. “For my match with Kasparov [in 1995], we thought we worked quite hard and now I have to smile at the kind of work we did then. I’m sure I prepare more in one morning these days than I did in my entire camp then,” 

Anand said in an interview to Financial Times. Then come the approaches, Anand will look to make the impact early on. He understands opening and will look to force the advantage there. Take the first few rounds and then keep the advantage.

 Carlsen, however, has stated that he will want to do little more than maintain status quo in the early going. “In tournaments my assumption is that I am the best player there,” he told The Guardian newspaper in an interview in October. And that innate confidence tells him that all he needs to do is get through the opening sequence without giving his opponent too much of an advantage. 

He believes that if he can enter the middle game on an equal footing, he will be able to win. It is a method that has worked for him and he isn’t about to abandon it any time soon.

 The venue of the competition can make a difference – just ask Anand about his match against Veselin Topalov and he will concur. But India won’t be that bad – in fact, they might be really nice hosts. On Thursday, the players got to the venue – checked out the playing arena, selected the chairs they will sit on and were shown the way to their personal elevators. The players will get to the playing hall on Saturday precisely 10 minutes before the start of the game in their elevator, accompanied only by a security officer. By then, they will have their game face on.

 Anand will be at his absent-minded best and Carlsen will look relaxed… probably even manage a smile. Still, they will both know that there will be no turning back – it will either be kill or be killed. Either which way, just like boxing, there will be a victor. Carlsen was once asked which animal he would like to be, his answer was crocodile. “It seems to have a good life. A crocodile just lies there and relaxes, and it can more or less kill any other animal. Crocodile without a doubt,” he said. Carlsen likes being king of the hill, he may look like he relaxing but he’s ready to strike at a moment’s notice just when the prey look away.

 But Anand isn’t about to step aside for him. The Indian super grandmaster will use every little ounce of experience to gain the winning edge. “What you can concede outside the chessboard will eventually haunt you in the chessboard as well,” Anand had said in the interview to the Financial Times. “A match is really a contest of space between two people, and you can’t give the other one any quarter.” The match has already begun in the minds of Anand and Carlsen; truth be told… it probably began three months back. We shall only be witness to the finale.

Unpredictable Anand vs Carlsen match will revive chess: Kasparov

                                                              Nov 11, 2013

 

 Predicting a close finish in the ongoing World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen, chess legend Garry Kasparov today said the massive hype and publicity surrounding the match could revive the game across the globe. “I am amazed by the publicity for the match and reminds me of my match with Anatoly Karpov and the Spassky-Fischer game.

 I hope Anand vs Carlsen match will be the revival of chess, it shows the importance of the title and is an amazing clash of generations,” said Kasparov who arrived here today to watch the 12-game match.

Having worked with Carlsen earlier, Kasparov felt the 22-year-old Norwegian challenger has a slight edge but said the experience of the 43-year-old defending champion Anand could come into play. “I have a very good relation with Carlsen and his team but my talk will be limited to wishing him good luck. I cannot hide the fact that my sympathies are with Carlsen, not because we have worked before but because I believe that I am believer that future belongs to younger generation and Carlsen is half of Vishy’s age,” said the 50-year-old Russian.

 “Having said that, World Championship is a highly unpredictable event and Vishy has plenty of experience and is on his home turf. The match will be very close and I would not share the optimism of many commentators saying Carlsen will have an easy job. There is no easy walk to World Championship,” he said.

Kasparov, a former world champion, also would not read too much in the first two games ending in quick draws and said that match will become exciting later on. “I wasn’t critical because there is too much at stake. When you look at heavyweight boxing it very often starts slow.

It could be dramatic but normally they find to find a weakness but eventually it gets faster. Nobody wants to make a mistake or give the opponent an early lead. The match will become exciting,” said Kasparov who is contesting the 2014 FIDE Presidential elections.

                                               Carlsen breaks Anand to win chess world title

                                                                         Nov 23, 2013

            Five-time title-holder Viswanathan Anand’s reign as the world champion came to a heart-breaking end today with Norway’s Magnus Carlsen taking the crown after a hard-fought draw in the 10th game of the World Chess Championship match, which ended in Chennai today.

            Carlsen, who will be 23 years on 30th November, closed the championship with two games to spare by taking his tally to required 6.5 points out of a possible ten, winning three and drawing seven games. In what could be marked as the dawn of a new era in the chess world, Carlsen showed stellar effort yet again by not going for a tame draw when one was enough for him to take the title home.

            Instead, the Norwegian made Anand suffer for a long and grueling four hours and forty five minutes before the Indian could heave a sigh of relief in what was the most one-sided world championship match in modern history.             

            Anand had won the world championship title five times – 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012 — but ironically was dethroned in his home town of Chennai. In a dubious first, this was the only time that Anand failed to win a single game in a world championship match.

            Starting with his journey in 1991, Anand had always scored at least one victory in each of the match that he played in the last 22 years.

            Carlsen, was in his elements right through the tenth game getting what he wanted out of the opening and then pursuing on his favorite mission on grinding out opponents. Anand this time did not collapse and came up with the fantastic defense he is known for to steer the game to a draw.

           Anand vs Carlsen Game 10: All the moves explained I was simply unable to execute my strategy: Anand

          Anand vs Carlsen Game 10 as it happened.

         Anand, on expected lines, employed the Sicilian defense and faced the Moscow variation that Carlsen had employed before. There were no surprises earlier as both players opted for routine theory and it was a Maroczy-bind structure on board after Carlsen came up with a check on move three, parting with his light squared Bishop for a Knight.    

          On move 14, Carlsen took back Anand’s light Bishop to even things up and it was again a slow grind thereafter that has been a hallmark of Carlsen’s play in this match. With two minor pieces off the board, the position had only a minuscule advantage for white but Carlsen did not go for the draw.

           It was on the 21st move that many pundits believed both players will be happy to repeat moves — Carlsen for obvious reasons and Anand because there was not much hope. However, the Norwegian was the first to deviate from a possible repetition.

           Anand found some solace after trading another set of minor pieces but the pressure remained on the Indian. Carlsen went for his final liquidation plan on the 28th move when he pushed his king pawn to fifth rank.

           Anand temporarily parted with a pawn and recovered it some moves later but this led the game to a pure Knight and pawns endgame. To make matters worse for Anand, Carlsen retained his small advantage as his King quickly walked over to the king side and penetrated the fifth rank. Anand’s Knight and King were confined to the defense and to stop further damage.            

           The players reached the first time control in just three hours when 40 moves were completed but by then it was also clear that either Carlsen will win or it will be a draw. In either case Anand’s campaign was coming to an end and it was a pretty unpleasant task for the five times world champion.

              As the game progressed both the players were engrossed in their own ways. Anand showed some signs of nervousness while Carlsen at one point leaned like ‘the Crocodile’ he wants to be if he was an animal — relaxed but ready to eat the prey when they came its way.              

             The situation took another dramatic turn on the 46th move when Carlsen sank in to a long thought. The Norwegian looked at the possibilities of sacrificing his last remaining pieces and this is what he did a couple of moves later.

           In return, Anand lost all his pawns and the players promoted new queens on the board. Anand had an extra Knight but Carlsen had Queen and a couple of dangerous looking pawns on the queen side.

           Finding just the right moves, Anand forced an exchange pretty soon leading to a forced draw. The epic lasted 65 moves. Apart from the winning the title, Carlsen will also take home 60 per cent of around Rs. 14 crore as part of his winner’s purse.

           THE MOVES 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 a6 6. Bxd7+ Bxd7 7. c4 Nf6 8. Bg5 e6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. O-O Bc6 11. Qd3 O-O 12. Nd4 Rc8 13. b3 Qc7 14. Nxc6 Qxc6 15. Rac1 h6 16. Be3 Nd7 17. Bd4 Rfd8 18. h3 Qc7 19. Rfd1 Qa5 20. Qd2 Kf8 21. Qb2 Kg8 22. a4 Qh5 23. Ne2 Bf6 24. Rc3 Bxd4 25. Rxd4 Qe5 26. Qd2 Nf6 27. Re3 Rd7 28. a5 Qg5 29. e5 Ne8 30. exd6 Rd6 31. f4 Qd8 32. Red3 Rcxd6 33. Rxd6 Rxd6 34. Rxd6 Qxd6 35. Qxd6 Nxd6 36. Kf2 Kf8 37. Ke3 Ke7 38. Kd4 Kd7 39. Kc5 Kc7 40. Nc3 Nf5 41. Ne4 Ne3 42. g3 f5 43. Nd6 g5 44. Ne8+ Kd7 45. Nf6+ Ke7 46. Ng8+ Kf8 47. Nxh6 gxf4 48. gxf4 Kg7 49. Nxf5+ exf5 50. Kb6 Ng2 51. Kxb7 Nxf4 52. Kxa6 Ne6 53. Kb6 f4 54. a6 f3 55. a7 f2 56. a8=Q f1=Q 57. Qd5 Qe1 58. Qd6 Qe3+ 59. Ka6 Nc5+ 60. Kb5 Nxb3 61. Qc7+ Kh6 62. Qb6+ Qxb6+ 63. Kxb6 Kh5 64. h4 Kxh4 65. c5 Nxc5 ½-½

CARLSEN RICHER BY Rs 9.90 CRORE AFTER WINNING CHESS WORLD TITLE

                                                                  Nov 25, 2013

 Newly-crowned world chess champion Magnus Carlsen on Monday took home the prize money of Rs. 9.90 crore after he beat India’s Viswanathan Anand in a keenly watched contest that spanned over 10 days.

 Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa gave away the prize money and trophies to the Norwegian sensation and the Indian veteran at a short ceremony in Chennai that lasted about ten minutes.

Carlsen is the second youngest player after Garry Kasparov to win the coveted chess title, was awarded a gold-plated trophy, whose design was handpicked by Jayalalithaa, gold medal and an olive wreath at the private hotel where the two players had vied for the championship last week.

 Anand, a five-time world champion, whose title was wrested by the young challenger with a stupendous 6.5-3.5 score, had to settle for the runner-up prize money of Rs. 6.03 crore, a silver plaque and silver medal.

 FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov presented the respective medals to Carlsen and Anand.

        MAGNUS CARLSEN’S MYSTERIOUS SECONDS REVEALED!

                                                         by Ashish Magotra

Who were Carlsen’s seconds? Who were the men who helped him beat Viswanathan Anand? Who helped him prepare? These are all questions that were asked at various times during the World Chess Championship match between Viswananthan Anand and Magnus Carlsen.

And the Norwegian champ’s response to most of those questions has been a shake of the head or a simple ‘No.’ This even while Anand came out an revealed K Sasikiran, Sandipan Chanda, Radoslav Wojtaszek and Peter Leko as his seconds before the start of the match.

 In an interview with The Hindu after claiming the title, the 22-year-old stuck to his guns and kept a wrap on the identities of his seconds. “It’s mainly my decision. That’s the way I’ve understood it. It’s nice that I am going to play another World championship match (in 2014),” said Carlsen. “It doesn’t mean that I’m not very grateful for their hard-work. They have done a wonderful job. I think it is nice for the future matches not to reveal too much.”

The only name that has come out in the open is GM Jon Ludvig Hammer, who is also from Norway. On Norwegian television — they have talked about what Carlsen looks for in a second: It’s really more on having people around him that puts him in the right mood.

Their ELO rating or strengths are of not as much consequence. Hammer has known Carlsen for a while and he was perfect for the job. Carlsen also took help from computers to help in his preparation.

 Oslo firm Basefarm used a program that ran a powerful calculator which helped him analyze games. In fact, he had been connected to these powerful servers in India too, and while training in Norway.

But there is another human element that is just as important. Seconds can help you prepare for human opponents a lot better than computers. Computers don’t feel the stress of a moment and they can’t pile on any visual pressure on the opponent — which is why Carlsen also depended on two others GMs – Ian Nepomniatchi and Laurent Fressinet.

Sources close to the Anand camp have told Firstpost that they already knew who the seconds were before the start of the match, so there was no mystery there for the Indian GM.

            Fressinet, 32, is a good friend of Carlsen — which is evident from his Youtube video (a must watch by the way). He is France number 3 and he finished second in the European Individual Championship in Plovdiv in 2012. He usually plays for France in team events but gave the European Team Championship a miss this year.

           Nepomniachtchi is a 23-year-old Russian chess grandmaster and the 2010 Russian Chess Champion. As of November 2013, he was listed by FIDE as having an ELO rating of 2721. He has worked as a second for Carlsen before (the 2012 London Chess Classic and the Candidates tournament in March) and like Fressinet, he also didn’t play in the European Team Championship this year.