Carlsen new Chess World Champiom

The 2013 World Championship Anand-Carlsen match ended with Magnus Carlsen as the new World Champion winning over Viswanathan Anand 6.5-3.5. The last 2 games saw some fighting chess (that were missing from earlier games!), especially from Anand who was in a must-win situation. 

In game 9, Anand played d4 and the Saemisch variation against Nimzo-Indian getting a strong attack, but then he blundered with 28. Nf1?? and resigned directly. In game 10, Anand played a Sicilian against Carlsen e4, and after a long game that saw mistakes from both sides, Carlsen secured the draw and the title.

Draws in Games 7 and 8

After the two decisive games, we are back again to uneventful draws in games 7 and 8 of the 2013 World Championship Anand-Carlsen match. Anand looked cautious after his two losses and Carlsen seemed satisfied to get closer to the title. Both games were Ruy Lopez, Berlin variation, where both players tried it in black and white!

Carlsen wins Games 5 and 6

After starting with 4 draws, Magnus Carlsen wins two games in a row to take the lead in the 2013 World Championship match. The wins are typical Carlsen play, where he enters the endgame with a minimal advantage, but then keeps digging for his opponent inaccuracies, using his great endgame skills to eventually get the point. The current world champion Viswanathan Anand is now in a tough position to come back with 6 games remaining. Anand will need to find a way to confront this strategy and play more actively to reach positions that he can be more successful at.

Exciting Draws in Games 3 and 4

After the quick draws in the first two games, the 2013 World Championship Anand-Carlsen match is getting more exciting. In game 3, Anand with black took the initiative and had winning chances after pushing Carlsen queen to the corner. The game eventually reached a dead drawn position, but they kept playing till the last pawn, maybe due to fans complaints about the earlier short draws!

In game 4, it was the opposite! Carlsen with black had the winning chance, after a pawn sacrifice from Anand that had little compensation. Anand defended well and was able to come with some smart moves to reach a drawn ending.

Second Game also Quick Draw

The second Anand-Carlsen game in the 2013 World Championship match also ended in a quick 25-move draw. This game started with a sharp opposite-side castling Caro-Kann, but then also ended in repetition. Anand had a chance in move 18 to play for an attack with 18.Qg4, but instead exchanged queens and simplified the position to an equal ending.

This was the critical position of the game, where white could have played for a win.

Quick Draw in First Game

The 2013 World Championship match between Anand and Carlsen started with a quick 16-move draw. Carlsen playing white started with a slow non-theoritical opening and Anand responded effectively, reaching a draw by repetition in a solid position. This is a good start for Anand holding easily with the black pieces.

Anand-Carlsen History

In anticipation of the 2013 World Championship match between Anand and Calsen starting in a couple of days, I was looking at the history of games between the two players.

In chessgames.com, I was able to find 62 games between 2005 and 2013, out of those 29 classical games, with Anand beating Carlsen 6 to 3, and 20 draws. The last year of course saw the shift of results in favor of Carlsen.

Here, I show two games: the first game shown between them in 2005, which seems like a rapid game, and the last game this year in Tal Memorial which was a smooth win for Carlsen. These games show how far Carlsen progressed along those years.