A shorter draw in terms of time consumed but a little longer in terms of moves. The second game of the 2013 FIDE World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen ended in 25 moves on Sunday. That’s nine more than Saturday’s opening game, but 24 minutes shorter than the 90-minute duel which had also ended in a draw.
The third game will be played on Tuesday with Carlsen holding white pieces. Monday will be a rest day. The match is now tied at one 1-1. The first player to score 6.5 points in 12 games will be crowned world champion.
The plot of the second game was not much different from the first. Carlsen seemed to have prepared for this game, though he had probably expected a slightly weaker defence from the five-time world champion. Interestingly, the end of the game was almost similar, the players repeating the moves in identical fashion.
Anand agreed after the game that he was surprised that Carlsen chose this opening, a sharp line of the Caro-Kann Defence. Carlsen confidently played the opening moves of his Caro-Kann Defence and made them rapidly. The opening entered one of the sidelines of Caro-Kann, the Spassky variation and once Anand castled on the queen-side, Carlsen, who had a 14-minute lead on the clock, started thinking, often making faces.
It was a sharp line and the Norwegian had to be careful as Anand had got a good post for the knight in the centre. Carlsen managed to see off the knight with his own knight.
Analysts said this was not a new idea, though Spassky popularised the variation in the 1960s during his matches against Tigran Petrosian. Indian Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay recalled some games played by former world champion Alexander Alekhine in this line. But a more recent exponent of this opening was Anatoly Karpov, who often played the Caro-Kann, but the main line.
After the knight exchange, Carlsen offered a bigger trade off: on move 17, the 22-year-old World No. 1 forced the exchange of the queens and after that it was a matter of time before the players shook hands. “I am sorry that I did not go forward in that position,” Anand said after the game. “But I was a little more prudent to take the draw.” Anand had spent 41 minutes to Carlsen’s 25 in the second game.
The choice for Anand when Carlsen offered the queen exchange was to move his queen away but the Chennaiite reckoned that would have led to an unpleasant situation, as he was losing a queen-side pawn but with some counter. “It was a very complicated position,” admitted Anand. “I spent most of my time on moves 13, 14 and 15.” Anand admitted he reckoned Carlsen would have done more homework on this opening than him. And in that sense, it was important for him to defuse the position. “I am sure he would have gone into more details on this game,” he conceded.
Carlsen said he was not unduly perturbed by the two draws. “It’s a bit similar to my start in the Candidates Tournament in London. What’s happened has happened. In the past, too, I have played some bad games against Vishy and lost. He has also played some bad games and lost to me,” the Norwegian said. Carlsen was quick to add that “he shared only an information and not explanation”.
Anand thought the two games basically gave both players some information about each other. In other words, the world championship has just begun. As Carlsen said, “We are just settling in.”
Anand promised is a lot of action. “It has started to get interesting,” he said. So what plans for Sunday night? Well, the world champion said he would watch Manchester United take on Arsenal!
Good move, that.
The moves
Caro-Kann Defence (Game 2)
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 e6 8.Ne5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nd7 11.f4 Bb4+ 12.c3 Be7 13.Bd2 Ngf6 14.0-0-0 0-0 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.Qxe4 Nxe5 17.fxe5 Qd5 18.Qxd5 cxd5 19.h5 b5 20.Rh3 a5 21.Rf1 Rac8 22.Rg3 Kh7 23.Rgf3 Kg8 24.Rg3 Kh7 25.Rgf3 0.5-0.5
The third game will be played on Tuesday with Carlsen holding white pieces. Monday will be a rest day. The match is now tied at one 1-1. The first player to score 6.5 points in 12 games will be crowned world champion.
The plot of the second game was not much different from the first. Carlsen seemed to have prepared for this game, though he had probably expected a slightly weaker defence from the five-time world champion. Interestingly, the end of the game was almost similar, the players repeating the moves in identical fashion.
Anand agreed after the game that he was surprised that Carlsen chose this opening, a sharp line of the Caro-Kann Defence. Carlsen confidently played the opening moves of his Caro-Kann Defence and made them rapidly. The opening entered one of the sidelines of Caro-Kann, the Spassky variation and once Anand castled on the queen-side, Carlsen, who had a 14-minute lead on the clock, started thinking, often making faces.
It was a sharp line and the Norwegian had to be careful as Anand had got a good post for the knight in the centre. Carlsen managed to see off the knight with his own knight.
Analysts said this was not a new idea, though Spassky popularised the variation in the 1960s during his matches against Tigran Petrosian. Indian Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay recalled some games played by former world champion Alexander Alekhine in this line. But a more recent exponent of this opening was Anatoly Karpov, who often played the Caro-Kann, but the main line.
After the knight exchange, Carlsen offered a bigger trade off: on move 17, the 22-year-old World No. 1 forced the exchange of the queens and after that it was a matter of time before the players shook hands. “I am sorry that I did not go forward in that position,” Anand said after the game. “But I was a little more prudent to take the draw.” Anand had spent 41 minutes to Carlsen’s 25 in the second game.
The choice for Anand when Carlsen offered the queen exchange was to move his queen away but the Chennaiite reckoned that would have led to an unpleasant situation, as he was losing a queen-side pawn but with some counter. “It was a very complicated position,” admitted Anand. “I spent most of my time on moves 13, 14 and 15.” Anand admitted he reckoned Carlsen would have done more homework on this opening than him. And in that sense, it was important for him to defuse the position. “I am sure he would have gone into more details on this game,” he conceded.
Carlsen said he was not unduly perturbed by the two draws. “It’s a bit similar to my start in the Candidates Tournament in London. What’s happened has happened. In the past, too, I have played some bad games against Vishy and lost. He has also played some bad games and lost to me,” the Norwegian said. Carlsen was quick to add that “he shared only an information and not explanation”.
Anand thought the two games basically gave both players some information about each other. In other words, the world championship has just begun. As Carlsen said, “We are just settling in.”
Anand promised is a lot of action. “It has started to get interesting,” he said. So what plans for Sunday night? Well, the world champion said he would watch Manchester United take on Arsenal!
Good move, that.
The moves
Caro-Kann Defence (Game 2)
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 e6 8.Ne5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nd7 11.f4 Bb4+ 12.c3 Be7 13.Bd2 Ngf6 14.0-0-0 0-0 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.Qxe4 Nxe5 17.fxe5 Qd5 18.Qxd5 cxd5 19.h5 b5 20.Rh3 a5 21.Rf1 Rac8 22.Rg3 Kh7 23.Rgf3 Kg8 24.Rg3 Kh7 25.Rgf3 0.5-0.5
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