Given the statistics, Anand holds the advantage. The two have played 29 games so far in the Classical format with Anand winning six and Carlsen clinching three while the remaining 20 ending in draws.
The November 9 to 28 match can be best described by a famous line -- An unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.
Carlsen is the unstoppable force, having broken all records, scaled one peak after the other like no one else and won almost everything except the World championship at a young age of just 22 years.
It was in 1991-92 that the Tiger from Madras won the Reggio Emilia tournament ahead of Soviet greats such as Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov and announced his arrival in a fitting manner in the elite chess circles.
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Carlsen was one year and one month old then.
Anand's perseverance, ability to adapt to new challenges and creativity has helped him stay on top for all these years.
This has resulted in five World Championship victories coming in knockout, match tournament, and three one-on-one matches, making him not only the undisputed champion of the world but also one of the legends of the game.