 "Carlsen dethrones Anand, becomes new World Champion")
With this win, the Norwegian, who celebrates his 23rd birthday on November 30, has become the second youngest world champion in history.
The game itself saw a certain amount of nervousness on both sides. Carlsen got a solid position with no weaknesses, playing the Rossolimo Variation against Anand’s Sicilian Defence. According to him, Anand started drifting a bit – Anand concurred saying he blundered on move 28. After that, Carlsen had a winning advantage but he also blundered with a hasty pawn capture. Nevertheless, the Norwegian retained some pressure and he played out a complex knight ending. Anand defended well and ultimately Carlsen decided to force a draw rather than enter murky complications.
At the press conference afterwards, Carlsen said his strategy was to play long games and try to keep up pressure. He felt the emotional turning point for him was Game 4, a hard-fought draw when he realised Anand was also nervous and vulnerable. He settled down and started playing normal chess.
After the win in Game 5, he felt the match was going in his favour with positions that were in his areas of strength. As he said, history suggests that even world champions can crack if there is sufficient pressure and Anand’s errors must be seen in that context. Carlsen also paid fulsome compliments to Anand as a great champion and said he felt Anand would soon bounce back in the 2014 Candidates tournament.
Anand apologised to his fans for his loss saying Carlsen had clearly dominated and deserved to be congratulated because he had forced errors by generating pressure. Anand said his slide in form came in Game 5 when he lost control of a good position and errors started creeping in while playing long games. In a typical wry statement he said, “Maybe, I didn’t understand myself or him well enough when planning the strategy for the match.”
| GAME SCORE |
| White: Carlsen,Magnus Vs Black: Anand,Viswanathan Game 10, World Championships, Chennai 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 10.0-0 Bc6 11.Qd3 0-0 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? Rc6 Black blundered on 28.-Qg5 allowing the pawn thrust 29.e5. White returned the compliment on move 30 when 30.Ng3 or Nc3 retains a winning advantage. 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 The diagram position. White sacrifices his knight but the subsequent endgame is drawn. 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.a8Q f1Q 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 is the new world champion |
TALE OF TWO CHAMPS
A look at the careers of the former world champion and his successor
Viswanathan Anand
Date of birth: December 11, 1969
1984: International Master
1987: World Junior Champion & India’s first grand master
1991: Loses quarter-finals of the world championship to Anatoly Karpov
1995: Challenger for world title; loses to Garry Kasparov
2000: Wins world title for the first time
2003: Wins world rapid championship
2007: Wins world title in round-robin format in Mexico; gets world No 1 ranking
2008: Wins world title match against Vladimir Kramnik
2010: Defends title against Veselin Topalov
2012: Defends title against Boris Gelfand
2013: Loses title to Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen
Date of birth: November 30, 1990
2003: International Master
2004: Grand master at 13, third youngest in history
2010: Youngest to be rated World No. 1
January 2013: Becomes highest-rated player in history, beating Garry Kasparov’s 11-year-old record
April 2013: Qualifies as challenger by winning Candidates tournament
November 2013: Beats Anand
Has been ranked World No. 1 for a world record of 29 periods
A look at the careers of the former world champion and his successor
Viswanathan Anand
Date of birth: December 11, 1969
1984: International Master
1987: World Junior Champion & India’s first grand master
1991: Loses quarter-finals of the world championship to Anatoly Karpov
1995: Challenger for world title; loses to Garry Kasparov
2000: Wins world title for the first time
2003: Wins world rapid championship
2007: Wins world title in round-robin format in Mexico; gets world No 1 ranking
2008: Wins world title match against Vladimir Kramnik
2010: Defends title against Veselin Topalov
2012: Defends title against Boris Gelfand
2013: Loses title to Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen
Date of birth: November 30, 1990
2003: International Master
2004: Grand master at 13, third youngest in history
2010: Youngest to be rated World No. 1
January 2013: Becomes highest-rated player in history, beating Garry Kasparov’s 11-year-old record
April 2013: Qualifies as challenger by winning Candidates tournament
November 2013: Beats Anand
Has been ranked World No. 1 for a world record of 29 periods