 "World Chess Championship Game 9- Victory for Carlsen, agony for Anand in game nine")
Magnus Carlsen is overwhelmingly likely become the new world champion on Friday. The Norwegian Grandmaster, who celebrates his 23rd birthday on November 30, leads 6-3 in the 12-match game and he needs only a draw to clinch the title. The game appeared to be excitingly balanced when it ended abruptly after Viswanathan Anand blundered on move 28 and immediately resigned.
There is only a mathematical chance that Anand could bounce back and tie the match with a hattrick of wins. More likely the match will conclude with a draw tomorrow and the title will formally change hands at that stage. It would be a shift of generations as well with the 43-year-old Indian Grandmaster finally conceding defeat to a player who is a generation younger.
The game saw a sharp unbalanced struggle. Anand played the Queen's Pawn 1.d4 for the first time in the match and the challenger responded with the Nimzo Indian defence. Anand chose the very aggressive Saemisch Variation with 4.f3 and built up a menacing pawn storm on the king-side. Carlsen defended coolly and counter-attacked on the queenside. On move 22, Anand thought deeply before committing himself to an all out attack. Carlsen confessed later that he was tense because the white attack looked strong and he took a fair amount of time. However he continued to find the best moves, matching the strongest computer analysis.
Two games down, Anand played a speculative attack. He allowed one of Carlsen's pawns to queen with check and immediately blundered in blocking the check. If he blocked the queen check with his Bishop, it would result in a rather unclear position where both sides still had chances. However, Anand chose to block with his knight and allowed an easy defence where black would be left with a big material advantage, Anand immediately resigned when it became obvious that Carlsen had seen the winning defence.
White: Anand,Viswanathan Vs Black: Carlsen,Magnus
World Championship Match 2013 Chennai, Game # 9
* 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 The very sharp Saemisch Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defence is on the board.
* 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.e3 c4 9.Ne2 Nc6 10.g4 0-0 11.Bg2 Na5 12.0-0 Nb3 13.Ra2 b5 14.Ng3 a5 15.g5 Ne8 16.e4 Nxc1 17.Qxc1 Ra6! Black finds a lateral defence of the King-side. White will charge forward with a pawn-storm on the king-side while black will defend there and push on the queen-side for counterplay.
* 18.e5 Nc7 19.f4 b4! 20.axb4 axb4 21.Rxa6 Nxa6 22.f5 b3 23.Qf4 Nc7 24.f6 g6 25.Qh4 Ne8 26.Qh6 b2 27.Rf4!? b1Q+ This is the diagram position. White has daringly allowed black to queen while threatening to deliver check mate Rh4 etc. But first he must defend the check.
* 28.Nf1?? Qe1! (0-1). Anand resigned immediately since Black will just play 29. Rh4 Qxh4! The alternative 28. Bf1 Qd1 29. Rh4 Qh5 30. Nxh5 gxh5 31. Rxh5 Bf5 32. Bh3 Bg6 33.e6 is unclear.
There is only a mathematical chance that Anand could bounce back and tie the match with a hattrick of wins. More likely the match will conclude with a draw tomorrow and the title will formally change hands at that stage. It would be a shift of generations as well with the 43-year-old Indian Grandmaster finally conceding defeat to a player who is a generation younger.
The game saw a sharp unbalanced struggle. Anand played the Queen's Pawn 1.d4 for the first time in the match and the challenger responded with the Nimzo Indian defence. Anand chose the very aggressive Saemisch Variation with 4.f3 and built up a menacing pawn storm on the king-side. Carlsen defended coolly and counter-attacked on the queenside. On move 22, Anand thought deeply before committing himself to an all out attack. Carlsen confessed later that he was tense because the white attack looked strong and he took a fair amount of time. However he continued to find the best moves, matching the strongest computer analysis.
Two games down, Anand played a speculative attack. He allowed one of Carlsen's pawns to queen with check and immediately blundered in blocking the check. If he blocked the queen check with his Bishop, it would result in a rather unclear position where both sides still had chances. However, Anand chose to block with his knight and allowed an easy defence where black would be left with a big material advantage, Anand immediately resigned when it became obvious that Carlsen had seen the winning defence.
White: Anand,Viswanathan Vs Black: Carlsen,Magnus
World Championship Match 2013 Chennai, Game # 9
* 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 The very sharp Saemisch Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defence is on the board.
* 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.e3 c4 9.Ne2 Nc6 10.g4 0-0 11.Bg2 Na5 12.0-0 Nb3 13.Ra2 b5 14.Ng3 a5 15.g5 Ne8 16.e4 Nxc1 17.Qxc1 Ra6! Black finds a lateral defence of the King-side. White will charge forward with a pawn-storm on the king-side while black will defend there and push on the queen-side for counterplay.
* 18.e5 Nc7 19.f4 b4! 20.axb4 axb4 21.Rxa6 Nxa6 22.f5 b3 23.Qf4 Nc7 24.f6 g6 25.Qh4 Ne8 26.Qh6 b2 27.Rf4!? b1Q+ This is the diagram position. White has daringly allowed black to queen while threatening to deliver check mate Rh4 etc. But first he must defend the check.
* 28.Nf1?? Qe1! (0-1). Anand resigned immediately since Black will just play 29. Rh4 Qxh4! The alternative 28. Bf1 Qd1 29. Rh4 Qh5 30. Nxh5 gxh5 31. Rxh5 Bf5 32. Bh3 Bg6 33.e6 is unclear.