Game 7 might have given Anand a psychological edge over Carlsen

Game 7 might have given Anand a psychological edge over Carlsen What Anand should take heart from is the accuracy of his defence against Carlsen E-mailPrint Aniek Paul Mail Me inShare 1 inShare 0 Comments Subscribe to: Daily Newsletter Breaking News Latest News 12:01 PM IST India said to take imminent steps to curb surging gold imports 11:45 AM IST Law Commission suggests repeal of 30 laws in its fourth report 11:04 AM IST G20 summit 11:02 AM IST Game 7 might have given Anand a psychological edge over Carlsen 10:36 AM IST India, China to court Pacific nations in Fiji Editor's picks The Nehruvian rate of growth The Nehruvian rate of growth Merchandise exports fall as trade deficit widens to $13.3 bn in October Merchandise exports fall as trade deficit widens to $13.3 bn in October India most attractive market; Modi key: CLSA’s Christopher Wood India most attractive market; Modi key: CLSA’s Christopher Wood States look to plug tax gaps in e-commerce States look to plug tax gaps in e-commerce Women still face choppy waters in shipping and logistics Women still face choppy waters in shipping and logistics Game 7 might have given Anand a psychological edge over Carlsen Viswanathan Anand (seated left) said the line he adopted in defence of Magnus Carlsen’s initiative was based on his study of endgames, though he hadn’t analysed the specific situation he dealt with as part of his homework. Photo: AP Sochi (Russia): It was perhaps poetic justice in the end that it was world chess champion Magnus Carlsen who ran out of patience and gave up his pursuit of conjuring an impossible win to settle for a draw in the marathon seventh game of his world chess title match against challenger Viswanathan Anand. Though Monday’s game was perhaps the most evenly-fought one between the reigning and former world champions in their second head-to-head contest in the space of a year, the rather absurd battle of about an hour in the end somewhat marred its appeal to chess aficionados. Seeking a win, Carlsen fought on without the minimum resources required to beat even a club-level player against accurate defence until he himself ran out of patience and settled for a draw after almost six-and-a-half hours of contest and 122-moves of probing. Asked if he was annoyed with Carlsen for pushing for a win in such a sterile position, Anand said he didn’t mind the “superfluous” ending, adding that he “wasn’t terribly exhausted” either from the gruelling battle. But if this physically extracting game impacts Anand’s performance in the next one on Tuesday, Carlsen will prove a point to all those who said he didn’t show enough respect to a five-time world champion. To be sure, being 21 years younger, Carlsen, more than his 44-year old opponent, can better afford such grinding duels. But in the process, the indefatigable world champion from Norway may have, at the same time, given his Indian challenger a psychological edge in the remaining five games of the 12-game match. “In a twisted way, this game might actually inspire Anand and give him some wings,” Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri tweeted. “Anand very much alive and in the match after that dour defence,” British grandmaster Nigel Short said, commenting on the game on Twitter. Carlsen, however, leads by a point, having won two games—2 and 6—versus Anand’s lone victory in game 3. The rest of the games ended in draws. Though it looked absurd for Carlsen to pursue a win in the last hour of play, he found plenty of supporters among experts for his quest. Grandmaster Susan Polgar tweeted that she had won from such positions and that even at grandmaster level it was “not as easy (to defend) as people think”. Fabiano Caruana, Italian grandmaster and the world’s second highest rated chess player, tweeted he once had to defend a position similar to Anand’s for “100+ moves and it wasn’t much fun”. In his quintessential style, Carlsen said in his own defence that there was “no harm in playing on” though it was obvious that a draw was the most likely outcome. But what Anand should take heart from is the accuracy of his defence against Carlsen, who thought his advantage could surely be converted into a win. “I was convinced that there must be a way to win,” Carlsen said about his prospects in game 7. “If I missed something, I don’t know when,” he added. Anand found for himself the most proactive, if not a radical, way to defend, which most inferior players would consider and ignore. Algorithmic computer evaluation gave Carlsen a chance of winning for the best part of the game, until towards the end. The software analysing the game revealed in the end how fallible it was against human intuition. Anand said the line he adopted in defence of Carlsen’s initiative was based on his study of endgames, though he hadn’t analysed the specific situation he dealt with as part of his homework. The game illustrated why, despite the substantial progress in computing speed, chess engines haven’t yet got the better of human cerebral abilities.

Comment - Comments Subscribe to: Daily Newsletter Breaking News Latest News 12:01 PM IST India said to take imminent steps to curb surging gold imports 11:45 AM IST Law Commission suggests repeal of 30 laws in its fourth report 11:04 AM IST G20 summit 11:02 AM IST Game 7 might have given Anand a psychological edge over Carlsen

sumit kumar singh
pgdm 2^nd year