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11/19/2013 – Carlsen summarized the game in the following manner: "He played the Berlin. I played the most solid line... yada yada yada we go to the doping control." With only four rounds to go team Anand is in panic mode and they must create complications for Carlsen on the very next game. Anand only has two whites left, and if this is all he can create with black he will have to rely on them. Today's brief analysis.

FIDE World Chess Championship Anand-Carlsen 2013

The FIDE World Chess Championship match between defending champion Viswanathan Anand and his challenger world number one Magnus Carlsen is taking place from November 9 to 28 2013 in the the Hyatt Regency, Chennai, India. The match is over twelve games, with time controls of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 61. The games start at 3:00 p.m. Indian Time, which is 4:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (New York), 10:30h Central European Time (Paris), 1:30 p.m. Moscow Standard Time. Find your local time here.

Round eight video by GM Daniel King

Round eight report by Alejandro Ramirez

If yesterday's round 'wasn't much of a game' then today's was even less so. Anand surprised a few people by choosing a Berlin set-up which Carlsen gladly steered into the ways of dead equality. It is not always the easiest to fight for a win for black and since Anand still has a couple of games with White to try to turn the tides it is possible to just draw with black today. It had been mentioned in yesterdays report that this was a strong possibility to simply stalibize and take the round into the next rest day and try to regroup from there.

A draw is a half a point closer for Carlsen's title

The interest in the match has not dwindled. Interestingly, boring draws are not seen as boring draws anymore because it is obvious that they now favor one side.

What?! The Berlin!?

My own analysis of a duller game seven:

[Event "FWCM 2013"] [Site "Chennai"] [Date "2013.11.19"] [Round "8"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2870"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "IND"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {The Berlin defense. It's a good opening when you want to be solid as white has been unable to find a way for an advantage. That much should be obvious from the past two games in which Carlsen was Black. Anand was not 'surprised' that his opponent chose 1.e4 but at the same time he did mention that he had not prioritized studying against it. He briefly considered the Sicilian but rejected it. "Even in the Sicilian, if you want to play a dry system they are available." - Anand} 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 {The obvious move. The reason this is obvious is that the Norwegian Challenger is happy with a draw, and this is completely riskless for White.} Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 {once upon a time this line was actually fairly popular, as for some reason White thought they could get some kind of minimal edge. However Black has since figured out how to properly equalize.} Re8 11. c3 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 Ne8 {Not the most common but certainly not the only move that will give Black an equal game.} 13. Bf4 d5 14. Bd3 g6 15. Nd2 Ng7 16. Qe2 c6 17. Re1 (17. Be5 Bxe5 18. Qxe5 Bf5 19. Bxf5 Nxf5 {was an even faster way of chopping off the pieces in Rozentalis-Bruzon, 2013.}) 17... Bf5 18. Bxf5 Nxf5 19. Nf3 Ng7 20. Be5 Ne6 21. Bxf6 Qxf6 22. Ne5 Re8 23. Ng4 { The one and only possibility for Black to go wrong is now.} Qd8 (23... Qg5 $2 24. f4 $1 (24. h4 {as mentioned by Anand is also very strong.}) 24... Qxf4 ( 24... Qd8 25. Qe5 {gives White a decisive advantage as there is no backrank mate. You can compare this to the line played in the game.}) 25. Rf1 {and White will pick up an exchange.}) 24. Qe5 {White has all kinds of threats, but an accurate move defends against all of them.} Ng7 25. Qxe8+ (25. Nf6+ $2 Qxf6 26. Qxf6 Rxe1# {is not quite possible. This is the difference between the 23... Qg5? line and this one.}) 25... Nxe8 26. Rxe8+ Qxe8 27. Nf6+ Kf8 28. Nxe8 Kxe8 29. f4 f5 30. Kf2 b5 31. b4 Kf7 32. h3 h6 33. h4 h5 {A dull draw, true, but not a completely unexpected one.} 1/2-1/2

All that is left to do is wait for Team Anand to show us what they have prepared. Meanwhile the players went to doping control today. Anand summed it up well:

FIDE Press Officer: What do you think about the doping control? Do you think chess players has something to do with this?

Viswanathan Anand: Well, it is a bit late for that discussion.

And just in case you think deep thought is neccesary in the World Championship match:

Ole Rolfsrud, NRK TV: Can you explain why you average only 30 seconds per move by your 23rd move?

Magnus Carlsen: With the line I chose there was not too much to think about. The moves very much suggest themself. It has been played before. There wasn't too much to think about. I wasnt in any mood to think either. That influenced my decision.

Not looking good for Anand fans. A lot hinges in the very next game.

Perhaps the following suggestion by Davorin Kuljasevic deserves consideration?

I can't say I disagree. I wouldn't mind a themed World Championship. Three Dragons, two Najdorfs, four King's Indian and there is a coin toss and the loser has to play the white side of a King's Gambit. But in all seriousness solid chess has taken control over the highest level and it's hard to see it going away.

GM Gormally on the other hand is a little more critic:

"Maybe I'm being harsh but the fact that Anand agreed to play the London Classic, and Carlsen did not, suggests to me that Anand already resigned himself to losing his title before the match even began."

A ridiculous statement. But if even grandmasters are starting to think like that, then something truly wrong is going on.

If you speak French don't forget to tune in to the live commentary on playchess.com on Wednesday as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who just won the Silver Medal at the European Team Chess Championship with France, will be the commentator. If you don't speak French, you will have to wait until Thursdsay as he will pair up with Daniel King for round 10.

Report by Alejandro Ramirez, photos by Anastasiya Karlovich

Report in Hindi by Niklesh Jain:

अब आनंद ने खेली बर्लिन ,आठवीं बाजी भी बराबर,कार्लसेन ने ली 5-3 से बढ़त !!

आठवाँ मैच,रोमांच चरम पर और परिणाम ड्रॉ , जी हाँ कुछ ऐसा ही हुआ चेन्नई भारत में खेली जा रही फीडे विश्व शतरंज चैंपियनशिप के आठवें मैच में ,आज हर किसी को यह उम्मीद थी की मौजूदा विश्व चैम्पियन अपने खिताब को बचाने के लिए किसी भी सूरत में मैच जीतने की कोशिश करेंगे पर लगा शायद आनंद खुद इस मैच को ड्रॉ खेलकर आगे के चार मैच में प्रयास करने के इच्छुक हैं । वंही कार्लसन के लिए आज सब कुछ वैसा ही हुआ जैसा वो चाहते थे । एक और ड्रॉ के साथ कार्लसन विश्व खिताब के और करीब पहुँच गए है । अब कार्लसन को अगले चार मैच में सिर्फ 1.5 अंको की जरूरत है । जो की उनके मौजूदा लय को देखते हुए बहुत आसान नजर आ रहा है । इसके विपरीत आनंद को अगर अपना खिताब बचाना है तो उन्हे अगले 4 मैच में से 3 जीतने होंगे और एक ड्रॉ करना होगा या टाई ब्रेक मे खेल को ले जाने के लिए कम से कम तीन अंक जुटाने होंगे । जो की अभी के हालात में काफी बहुत मुश्किल नजर आ रहा है । हालांकि जैसा की आनंद का पुराना प्रदर्शन रहा है अगर कोई वापसी कर सकता है तो वो सिर्फ आनंद है । आज के मैच की शुरुआत कार्लसन ने पहली बार प्रतियोगिता में 1. e4 खेलकर की और सभी को उम्मीद थी की शायद आनंद आज c5 खेलकर जबाब देंगे आनंद ने e5 चलकर सभी को चौंका दिया । आगे का खेल एक बार फिर राय लोपेज के बर्लिन डिफेंस में पहुँच गया ।

2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5

8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 जैसा की इस लाइन में होता है मोहरे लगातार खेल से बदलकर बाहर होते जा रहे थे । 11. c3 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 Ne8 !? आनंद और कार्लसन का खेल थ्योरी के हिसाब से आगे बढ़ता जा रहा था 13. Bf4 d5 14. Bd3 g6 15. Nd2 इसके साथ ही कार्लसन ने अपने सभी मोहरे बाहर निकाल लिए जबकि आनंद के कुछ मोहरो ऊंट और हाथी का अभी खेल में आना बाकी था Ng7 16. Qe2 कार्लसन ने अपने हाथी को e1 खाने में लाने के संकेत दिये और अब यह साफ था की आनंद को जल्द से जल्द कार्लसन के e फाइल पर बढ़ते प्रभाव को रोकना होगा c6 17. Re1 Bf5 18. Bxf5 Nxf5 सफ़ेद खाने के ऊंट के खेल से बाहर जाते ही यह साफ था की खेल अब ड्रॉ की और बढ़ रहा था । 19. Nf3 Ng7 20. Be5 Ne6 21.

Bxf6 Qxf6 काले खाने के ऊंट के खेल से बाहर जाते ही दोनों का खेल एकदम बराबर नजर आ रहा था 22. Ne5 Re8 23. Ng4 Qd8 24. Qe5 Ng7 25. Qxe8+ Nxe8 26. Rxe8+ Qxe8 27.

Nf6+ Kf8 28. Nxe8 Kxe8 29. f4 f5 30. Kf2 b5 31. b4 Kf7 32. h3 h6 33. h4 h5 और इसके साथ ही पहली बार बोर्ड पर पैदल और राजा को छोड़कर कोई भी मोहरा नहीं था । दोनों खिलाड़ी एक बार फिर ड्रॉ पर सहमत हो गए।इसके साथ ही अब कार्लसन जंहा 5 अंक पर पहुँच गए है वंही आनंद 3 अंको पर है । हालांकि कई विशेषज्ञ आनंद के आज के ड्रॉ करने को उनकी रणनीति का एक हिस्सा मान रहे है और अब एक बात साफ है की आगे अंतिम बचे कुछ मैच आर या पार की लड़ाई की तरह होंगे और पूरा विश्व यह देखेगा की एक विश्व विजेता किस तरह अपने खिताब को बचाने के लिए अपना बेहतर से बेहतर कुछ अलग खेल दिखाते है । एक दिन के विश्राम के बाद आनंद सफ़ेद मोहरो से शायद अपने शतरंज जीवन को सबसे बहुप्रतिक्षित मैच खेलेंगे जो शायद इतिहास में अपनी जगह बनाने के लिए अभी से लालायित है । एक और नार्वे और कार्लसन के प्रशंसक जंहा उनके विश्व विजेता बनने को लगभग तय मानकर उस पल का इंतजार कर रहे है तो वंही दूसरी और सम्पूर्ण भारत और दुनियाभर से आनंद के चाहने वाले उनसे एक बार फिर इतिहास दोहराने की उम्मीद लगाए हुए है । परिणाम चाहे जो भी हो शतरंज की जीत निश्चित है । खैर भविष्य का सिर्फ इंतजार किया जा सकता है । जो की हम और आप बेसब्री से कर रहे है । आपका ...निकलेश जैन

Score

Game: Rtg 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Score Perf. V. Anand 2775 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 3.0 2781 M. Carlsen 2870 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 5.0 2864

Tournament details

Schedule: the match will be played over a maximum of twelve games, and the winner of the match will be the first player to score 6.5 points or more. If the winner scores 6.5 points in less than 12 games then the closing ceremony will take place on the day after the World Championship has been decided or one day thereafter.

07 November 2013 – Opening Ceremony

09 November 2013 – Game 1

10 November 2013 – Game 2

11 November 2013 – Rest Day

12 November 2013 – Game 3

13 November 2013 – Game 4

14 November 2013 – Rest Day

15 November 2013 – Game 5

16 November 2013 – Game 6

17 November 2013 – Rest Day

18 November 2013 – Game 7 19 November 2013 – Game 8

20 November 2013 – Rest Day

21 November 2013 – Game 9

22 November 2013 – Game 10

23 November 2013 – Rest Day

24 November 2013 – Game 11

25 November 2013 – Rest Day

26 November 2013 – Game 12

27 November 2013 – Rest Day

28 November 2013 – Tiebreak games

29 November 2013 – Closing Ceremony

Live commentary on Playchess in English

Day Round Live Playchess commentary in English Nov. 09 1 GM Daniel King + GM Simon Williams Nov. 10 2 GM Daniel King + GM Yasser Seirawan Nov. 12 3 GM Yasser Seirawan + GM Maurice Ashley Nov. 13 4 GM Yasser Seirawan + GM Alejandro Ramirez Nov. 15 5 GM Daniel King + GM Maurice Ashley Nov. 16 6 GM Daniel King + GM GM Alejandro Ramirez Nov. 18 7 GM Yasser Seirawan + GM Alejandro Ramirez Nov. 19 8 GM Daniel King + GM Chris Ward Nov. 21 9 GM Daniel King + GM Simon Williams Nov. 22 10 GM Daniel King + GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Nov. 24 11 GM Daniel King + GM Maurice Ashley Nov. 26 12 GM Chris Ward + GM Simon Williams Nov. 28 Tiebreak GM Daniel King + GM Chris Ward

Live commentary in other languages

Day Round French German Spanish Nov. 09 1 GM Fabien Libiszewski GM Klaus Bischoff Leontxo García Nov. 10 2 GM Fabien Libiszewski GM Klaus Bischoff Leontxo García Nov. 12 3 GM Christian Bauer GM Thomas Luther Leontxo García Nov. 13 4 GM Christian Bauer GM Klaus Bischoff Leontxo García Nov. 15 5 GM Fabien Libiszewski GM Thomas Luther Leontxo García Nov. 16 6 GM Fabien Libiszewski GM Klaus Bischoff Leontxo García Nov. 18 7 GM Christian Bauer GM Klaus Bischoff Leontxo García Nov. 19 8 GM Yannick Pelletier GM Klaus Bischoff Leontxo García Nov. 21 9 GM M. Vachier-Lagrave GM Klaus Bischoff Leontxo García Nov. 22 10 GM Sebastien Mazé GM Klaus Bischoff Leontxo García Nov. 24 11 GM Sebastien Mazé GM Klaus Bischoff Leontxo García Nov. 26 12 GM Yannick Pelletier GM Klaus Bischoff Leontxo García Nov. 28 TB GM Sebastien Mazé GM Klaus Bischoff Leontxo García

The commentary will commence around 30 minutes after the start of the games. The schedule and commentators may be changed before the start of the Championship on November 9th, with long and short castlings possible.