Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by ajay »

Time to warm up for another Anand-Carlsen world championship. Coming up in Sochi (Russia) starting from Nov 7. Who thought Anand will be again running for World championship after losing it in his hometown Chennai. But here he is once again with role reversed, Carlsen defending and Anand trying to unseat him.
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by jaydeep »

This match will be more entertaining than last time.
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by jayakris »

Really? He is again in that championship thingy? For all the ridicule I have showered on the man, Viswanathan is not letting me be unimpressed of him. Though I don't follow chess to know any better, I thought he might have been done, once he lost the world champion title. I guess not! Credit-worthy.
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by Sin Hombre »

Anand is a lot fitter and in much better form coming into this one.

As always, Carlsen will try and grind him down by making him play for 4+ hours in the first few games.
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by ajay »

jayakris wrote:Really? He is again in that championship thingy? For all the ridicule I have showered on the man, Viswanathan is not letting me be unimpressed of him. Though I don't follow chess to know any better, I thought he might have been done, once he lost the world champion title. I guess not! Credit-worthy.
Jay, whether you classify Chess as a sport or not, (OK it's a game), it does not matter. Accept it, Anand has not only excelled in Chess, he is one of all time great in Chess :) .

Chess has gone through a revolution in this new computer age. Anand is from previous era when he reached the top, and he is still there competing among all the new age kids.
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by jayakris »

From all I see (which is not much, in chess), Viswanathan is indeed one of the all-time best. And he certainly deserves credit for for the longevity and fighting spirit too. Motivational for Indians, for sure. To keep the mental sharpness this long cannot be easy.
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by Saniapower »

But Anand is/was not bigger/better than Garry Kasparov.
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by ajay »

Website for the coming Sochi 2014 World Championship
5-time World Chess Champion, Vishy Anand is considered one of the most versatile chess players in the world. He is the only world champion who won titles playing in all different formats (match, tournament and knockout). He is the first Indian grandmaster.
Incumbent World Chess Champion (Since 2013) is one of the youngest ever to become a Grandmaster. Dubbed 'The Mozart of Chess' by the fans and media alike, he is known for his amazing chess skills in the endgame. It's the first time he is defending his title.
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by ajay »

The physical and mental bags are now getting packed for sochi... the man in blue is getting ready :)

Check out Youtube link for an interesting (although long) conversation with Vishy. He discuses three recent games, two from last candidate tournament, and one real classic game against Aronian which is one of his best game he has ever played. (And I remember quite clearly following all three games)
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by ajay »

Current thinking in the chess world is that this time the match will be closer although Carlsen is still favorite. (However, even the last time everyone was saying the same thing.)

Anyway, here is one article Pawn Brokers analyzing the current form of the two players.
With only six days remaining for his second title fight against Carlsen in Sochi, Anand looks primed for the battle. The uncertainty, doubts and mistakes that had crept into his game before and during the Chennai match is a thing of the past. The last eight months have seen a different Anand. His quality of games, results and rise in ratings vindicate the fact.
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by Prashant »

I too think Carlsen will win again, but it will be closer. Carlsen will definitely try to grind Anand down with some long early games. Also, he remains much harder to prepare for/anticipate than any other major player in recent times.

BTW, slightly off topic, but it is a refreshing change to have a major chess event with a good website. They are usually beyond useless.
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by kujo »

Carlsen has been training in the Swiss Alps with seconds Peter Heine Nielsen and Ludvig von Hammer. Having Nielsen as second should help him because the Dane was Anand’s trainer for a long time.
Don't forget the above little nugget there.... Last year, Nielsen supposedly stayed out of the match. this year he is part of the official Carlsen team....

All said and done, there is a good chance for Carlsen to defend his title with a score line worse than last year....
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by ajay »

Check out this interesting video (with English subtitles) to peek in Magnus Carlsen's life as a champion.
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by ajay »

Anand wins another tournament - London Chess classic, albeit on tie-break ahead of young guns Caruana and Giri, and old fox Kramnik. In 6-player round robin match, the other players were Nakamura and Adams.
Everyone played five games and no one won more than one game. Anand won with black that put him ahead of Kramnik and Giri in tie-break. And another achievement for Anand was that he string of losses against Nakamura.

Well, Anand may no longer be world champion, but he is still continues to be among the top elite players even at this age.
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Re: Viswanathan Anand - World Champ for 8 Years.

Post by sameerph »

Anand is currently playing Shamkir Chess tournament in Azerbeijan. Pretty good field here with most of the top players playing including world champion Magnus Carlson.

Currently, Anand is in third place after 5 rounds behind Carlsen and So Wesley of USA with 3 points. He had draws with Carlson and Kramnik and a crushing win over So Wesley.

This is the website of the tournament -

Shamkir Chess
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