WCC2013-3: Tiger lets prey escape

The tiger prowled…

…but Thor got away!
Photos by Anastasia Karlovich and Paul Truong respectively.

Things are certainly heating up in Chennai, India! Former World Champion Garry Kasparov was on hand to watch game three amidst a minor controversy that he was being purposely shunned by the Indian hosts. Kasparov is a FIDE Presidential candidate, but India is said to be backing his opponent. After being pressed, India stated that they had not received his itinerary. He was later seen with JCD Prabhakar, President of All-India Chess Federation and DV Sundar, Vice President, FIDE. However, he was not given access to the media room, nor the commentary booth. What’s a world championship without at least one or two controversies?

The third game showed a sample of things to come. The World Champion Viswanathan Anand took advantage of another innocuous opening and pressed for the advantage against Challenger Magnus Carlsen. After Carlsen repeated 1.Nf3, he varied after 1…d5 2. g3 g6 3. c4!? The game veered into a type of Dragon with colors reversed, but black had established a grip in the center after 10…Nd4!? 11. Nxd4 exd4. Carlsen admitted to playing a faulty plan with 13.Bb4?! allowing black to maintain the bishop pair and queenside majority.

Carlsen started to get in a bit of trouble and was forced to play an improbable 25.Qh1 creating quite a buzz (diagram left). Many referred to Carlsen-Karjakin at 2013 Tata Steel (diagram right). In that game, white’s position is much better version since the white has the two bishops and the white queen was not totally entombed. Carlsen went on to win that game.

The commentators and fans roared after 28.e3?! Perhaps The “Tiger from Madras” smelled blood and forged ahead with 28…dxe3 29.Rxe3 Bd4!? Many felt Anand should go for 29…Bxb2. Anand felt that Carlsen’s control of the open file gave him adequate play, but upon review, it appeared that black had enough initiative to press for the point. Anand would finally play 34…Bxb2, but 34…Rf8 may have been for choice. After 34…Bxb2 35.Qf3 white had untangled and pieces liquidated quickly.

Draw!

So there you have it… an exciting battle worth the price of admission. There was a lot of buzz after the game about Carlsen’s lackluster opening preparation. The Norwegian appeared to be a bit flustered at the board, but relieved at the press conference. He realizes that his white game is struggling and he must get a grip on his openings preparation or he will continue to suffer. He gets black and knows that Anand will try to press once again.

On the other hand, Anand has had better positions in two games and was unable to convert. In the second game he eschewed 34…Rf8 because he didn’t want the game to get too tactical. However, this was the right approach. GM Josh Friedel gave 34…Rf8 35.Bxd3 Qd6! 36.Qg2 Rxf2 37.Rxf2 Rf8 38.Rdd2 Rxf2 39.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 40.Qxf2 Qxd3 and Black is up a clear pawn with excellent winning chances.

Score: Anand 1½ Carlsen 1½

Official Site: https://chennai2013.fide.com/
Drum Coverage: https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2013/11/06/2013-world-championship-anand-vs-carlsen/