World Chess Championship: Anand vs Carlsen II

Or maybe he didn't until 16...Na5, which took an interesting queen sacrifice off the board (16... Rad8 17. Bxf6 Qxf6 18. dxc6). He played it very quickly, so it might have been prep (or counter-prep).
 
Carlsen is clearly well prepared today. If he manages to apply some pressure now Anand could very easily get into time trouble and he will have a chance. Otherwise it will be a draw.
 
Carlsen will have to be at his precise best in the end game (he often is) to get a draw out of this game. Vishy turning on the screws.
 
Slightly wimpy finish by Anand. Or was the a pawn doomed anyway? Overall both players are probably reasonably happy with their play.
 
pillory said:
Slightly wimpy finish by Anand. Or was the a pawn doomed anyway? Overall both players are probably reasonably happy with their play.
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Not wimply. Carlsen defended correctly. Ra4 was very hard to find on the board.
 
I don't think it was hard for him to find it, Vishy found harder moves in game 3 to win. I think it has more to do with the belief that it won't lead to much more, and I think Carlsen would have drawn even if Anand played Ra4. The reason I think that is because almost all trades are in Carlsen's favor, so it will make his job easier to draw because he will have the option to trade at any point. The game was drawn imo the moment the queens were traded.

If Anand believed it was a draw either way then it makes sense to save his energy and have more time to prepare for game 6.

Now Carlsen has 2 consecutive games with white, a big chance for him to get in front in this match.
 
Yeah, he must have seen it. Ra3 and Ra4 were the only moves that didn't instantly draw or lose. I think Danny has it right.
 
Carlsen is playing with white and at home in this game (the kind of position he likes and excels in).
 
Amazing thing just happened. Carlsen blundered and may have thrown the game away, but Anand played quickly and didn't analyse Nxe5! (almost winning!), and went for a4? giving Carlsen the chance to reinvigorate his attack on the king side with Ke2!

Carlsen emerged better from that sequence of blunders, than he was before the first blunder.

I think Carlsen will now win this game, and this will prove to be a big turning point in the match.
 
What makes it worse, from the look on Anand's face, he did realise what he missed! Which is a terrible thing to face when you're still playing the game.
 
The game might not go for more than 10 moves now. It looks like Anand is so devastated psychologically that it won't take that long for him to collapse.
 
And as expected, 6 moves after the crucial blunder, Carlsen is now completely winning, and Anand will resign soon.
 
Such a shame that the championship will be decided this way. Carlsen definitely deserves to win it, but we were hoping for a much more exciting match (especially after the first 5 games), and I can't help but feel that all the excitement was killed now by that move. 26. ... a4, which will definitely be how the whole match will be remembered.

I know there are still 6 games to go, and I know there is still a lot of chess to be played, but it will be pretty impossible for Anand to recover from this loss psychologically (not because of the loss itself, but because how it happened) and that will definitely decide the match at such a high level (where the margins of error have to be very very small).
 
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He will recover. He recovered from the 2nd game defeat. However, Carlsen is simply the better player right now.
 
NM said:
He will recover. He recovered from the 2nd game defeat. However, Carlsen is simply the better player right now.
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This one is different. In game 2 he just lost a game. He did blunder in the end but he blundered in a very difficult position he was supposed to lose anyway. This game is very different. This game was pretty much a 2 point swing in one move. Anand was very close to objectively winning after that blunder (not even taking the psychological impact on Carlsen into account).

You can see today that he collapsed completely after realising his mistake. I sure hope he can somehow find the strength and level of concentration needed to continue the struggle, but I very much doubt it. It will be impossible for him to forget about this move and game for years to come, let alone days to come.
 
Poor game from Anand,something wrong from the beginning.
I think carlsen might hold on to the lead.
 
manikandan nair said:
Poor game from Anand,something wrong from the beginning.
I think carlsen might hold on to the lead.
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Yeah, he seemingly walked willingly into just the kind of position Carlsen wants. Strange. I think Kramnik suggested it might have been computer prep that didn't take the practical difficulties into account.
 
I found a blog with a ranked list of WC blunders, which Chigorin deservedly tops. He was winning, which would have tied the match 9-9, and a two seconds later he had lost the match 10-8 after overlooking mate in two. The Alekhine - Euwe one is good too, with the players overlooking a simple winning tactic four times in a row.
 
The video (scroll down) from the critical moment is amusing, although it only shows the board and the hands. Things could have been very different if Anand had paid attention to Carlsen's hand. "Kd.............OH SHIT OH SHIT......................2."
 
pillory said:
I found a blog with a ranked list of WC blunders, which Chigorin deservedly tops. He was winning, which would have tied the match 9-9, and a two seconds later he had lost the match 10-8 after overlooking mate in two. The Alekhine - Euwe one is good too, with the players overlooking a simple winning tactic four times in a row.
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I was thinking about the exact same thing (biggest blunders in WC games). Thanks for the link.
pillory said:
The video (scroll down) from the critical moment is amusing, although it only shows the board and the hands. Things could have been very different if Anand had paid attention to Carlsen's hand. "Kd.............OH SHIT OH SHIT......................2."
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He did well though to keep as much of a poker face as he could until Anand moved.
 
He claimed in the presser that he didn't keep a poker face at all, but Anand probably wasn't looking at him anyway. Where's player cam when you need it?
 
This look more like a rapid chess,both played it so quickly.
 
Danny1982 said:
Is the Berlin the worst opening ever in chess?

I really hate it.
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It is.

Even the most imaginative and creative players can't deliver a game with some genuine entertainment, never mind excitement when playing it.

As we know, Bobby Fischer, despite his dynamic style, enjoyed playing the exchange variation (4.Bxc6), one of the driest and boring lines in Ruy Lopez. However, those games look like fireworks now compared to the contemporary Berlin.
 
Anand should hold as long as he doesn't mess up now.
 
Draw. Big game with white for Anand tomorrow.
 
lonelyred said:
It is.

Even the most imaginative and creative players can't deliver a game with some genuine entertainment, never mind excitement when playing it.

As we know, Bobby Fischer, despite his dynamic style, enjoyed playing the exchange variation (4.Bxc6), one of the driest and boring lines in Ruy Lopez. However, those games look like fireworks now compared to the contemporary Berlin.
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Hopefully we won't see it again in this match, but I have a feeling we will.
 
Confused as to why this is in other sport and not the general?
 
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