Theatre Chess Video - Richard III - Opening Chess Game

Hello chess blog friends, LUTheatre presents: Richard III - Opening Chess Game - From the 2014 production in collaboration with RSC's Open Stages. Enjoy.






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Hollywood Spice to Carlsen, Anand World Chess Championship Memories

Hello chess blog friends, we're missing the excitement of the world chess championship somewhat. So, here's a look back with some Hollywood spice. World chess championship 2014 could have inspired the following Hollywood movie title remakes! Do you agree? Maybe, these photographs could serve as movie poster themes. ;: Just kidding. These photos are from the library of lovely photographs by Vladimir Barsky and Anastasiya Karlovich at the official website. Enjoy.

Sleeping with the enemy

  

When Harry met Sally

Hansel and Gretel

Knights of the Round Table

His Girl Friday

Citizen Kane

The Red Shoes

Black Beauty

The Terminator

The trivia question is can you identify the celebrities in each photo?

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Russian President presides over World Chess Championship Awards Ceremony

Hello chess blog friends, the closing ceremony of the World Chess Championship between Magnus Calrsen (Norway) and Viswanathan Anand (India), won by Carlsen 6.5-4.5, took place on November 25th in the Main Media Center in Sochi. For the first time in the history of the World Chess Championships (which began in 1886) the closing ceremony was attended by a head of the host country: the Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Main Media Center and expressed his gratitude to the grandmasters for their high-quality games. 

Vladimir Putin said: “This match between the two strongest grandmasters of the planet has truly become the focal point of the entire world chess championship. Millions of chess fans from all over the world followed it. As I have just been told, this was about 2 million people in over 100 countries every day. I am certain that the honest and fierce struggle of two equal and respectable players has met the expectations of millions of fans across the globe.

Chess is fairly considered an important part of world culture. In Russia it has traditionally enjoyed special respect.

We are happy and proud that the Olympic city of Sochi hosted the decisive match for the world chess crown.

This city is filled with a festive atmosphere of sports and competition, and the participants in this match have demonstrated the same qualities as the Olympic athletes did during the Winter Olympics.

The match to determine the World Chess Champion will definitely serve to further develop chess in Russia and the world at large.

We in Russia have a special love for chess. Let me remind you that this country gave the world ten champions.

We have about 540 thousand people doing this sport, while the number of those who like to spend their free time over a game of chess runs into millions.

Once again, my congratulations to Magnus Carlsen on his outstanding victory! I wish you success!”

The FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov awarded the players with memorable medals, and then crowned Magnus Carlsen with laurels and gave him the Grand Champion's Cup. “You played a great match, – said Mr. Ilyumzhinov to the players. – Millions of young chess fans follow you and want to become great masters someday, just like you. We are grateful to the Russian Government and the Russian President Vladimir Putin for their assistance in organizing the match. The level of organization met the highest standards. I announce the 2014 match closed. The next one, in 2016, will be played in USA”.

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Black Friday Chess Deal - Which Chess King do you Want?

Hello chess blog friends, are you training with Chess King yet? We now have 4 versions for the PC and 1 version for the Mac. All versions are complete chess software programs, multilingual, and include all features and GigaKing. The PC versions are Windows-8 compatible. The Mac version works for all OS’s from 10.6 to 10.9. The main difference is in the analysis/playing engine between Chess King 2, 3 and 4. Chess King 4/Pro include the major new release of Houdini 4/Pro. GigaKing in Chess King 4/Pro is totally fresh up to December 2013. The Mac version just came out and has games till Spring 2014. At least 1 year of free game updates for all programs.

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YouTube Chess Video: Harry Potter, Ron Play Wizard's Chess

Hello chess blog friends, here's a neat chess video for all you Harry Potter lovers out there. It's Harry Potter and Ron playing wizard's chess. Enjoy. Don't forget to send us your chess videos as well.




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Chess and Art: Ryan Gander's Public Sculpture in Manchester Impresses

Hello chess blog friends, here's a chess and art motif again from Manchester - and a lovely one at that. We picked this up from the BBC News stream: A very interesting piece of art has been unveiled in Manchester!

The public sculpture in Beswick, by artist Ryan Gander, is made up of three giant stainless steel chess pieces with no indication of which side they're on.

The 9ft (3m) work, entitled Dad's Halo Effect, shows "it's not the winning that's important, but the taking part", Manchester City Council said.

It follows an exhibition of the artist's work at Manchester Art Gallery over the summer.

The gallery's director Maria Balshaw said the Beswick work would "provide a source of inspiration for local residents of the area and visitors alike".

While the work represents chess pieces in a checkmate position, it is based on parts of the steering mechanism of a Bedford truck, which Gander was originally told about by his father who worked for General Motors. You can read the full report at the BBC site.

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Qatar Chess Masters: Cool Upsets, Super Website!

Hello chess blog friends, the Qatar Chess Masters - strongest chess open tournament ever - was off to a great a start on Wednesday. Not only were there upsets, but surprising draws as well. Here is the  Round 1 report via the official website (And trust us, that's an excellent site for the event! The reports are excellent, videos and photos cool and all the games are so easily accessible.):

Round 1 and first upsets

The first round on November 26th was definitely a start of the new era in chess open tournaments as the Qatar Masters Open 2014 became the first of a kind, strongest open tournament in the history of chess. 154 players rated 2200 and above are taking part - nearly hundred grandmasters, fourteen are from 2700+ “elite” level, three former World Champions: Vladimir Kramnik from Russia, Antoaneta Stefanova from Bulgaria and Zhu Chen from a hosting country – Qatar. Players from 40 countries are fighting for $110 000 prize fund, including 20 main prizes with $25 000 first prize, which will be decided in Play-Off in case of a tie; 5 prizes for women ($5 000 first) and 5 for best Arabic players ($3 500 first).

Vladimir Kramnik

With such strong participants even the first round didn’t seem like easy-winning for the rating leaders, nevertheless online spectators were amazed and highly entertained by the amount of upsets happened. Almost a half of 2600+ rated players couldn’t win their first game in the tournament, and even second-seeded Vladimir Kramnik couldn’t get more than a half point against GM Stelios Halkias from Greece.

But the biggest surprises were waiting for us in the battles on 7th and 9th boards. Not that kind of a Birthday gift Baadur Jobava probably expected to get from his compatriot, currently second highest rated female player in Georgia GM Bela Khotenashvili.

Known as a tactical player, Bela prepared well in the opening and didn’t try to “dry out” the position with Black pieces but searching for attacking opportunities. After just a couple of inaccuracies Baadur already found himself in positional troubles and was outplayed before the first time-control.

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World Amateur Chess Championship 2015 in Greece April 13

Hello chess blog friends, amateur chess is big in its own rights around the world and is not applied to chess players rated below 2000. The latest tournament announcement by FIDE is about the World Amateur Chess Championships for 2015.

The World Amateur Chess Championships will be held in Porto Carras, Halkidiki, Greece on the northern coast of the Aegean Sea. The dates are 13 April (arrivals, technical meeting) to 22 April 2015 (departures). Entitled to participate are all players from national chess federations who have a FIDE rating below 2000 at the start of the event and have had such a rating for at least 2 years prior to 1 January 2015. They must not hold any title above CM (WCM).

The games will take place in the conference center of the 5-star Porto Carras Grand Resort, on the Sithonia peninsula of Halkidiki, 100 km south of Thessaloniki airport. Porto Carras is an excellent holiday destination, surrounded by pure natural beauty and sandy beaches on the crystal-clear waters of the Aegean Sea.

REGULATIONS (pdf)
Registration: Entries must be sent by 27 February 2015 to the email fidewacc2015@gmail.com or to the fax number (+30) 2641500112.

Tournament Director
FIDE IO Nikos Kalesis: 
Tel. (+30) 6938326161
Fax (+30) 2641500112 
Email: fidewacc2015@gmail.com

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Chess Fan Video: Brothers mix Chess with Basketball!

Hello chess blog friends, here's a cool chess fan video on chess and basketball 'created' by two brothers - one loves chess and the other loves basketball! We're not sure how exactly the rules work, but plenty of running out there. Go for it. Enjoy. Don't forget to send us chess videos you like!




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Russian Chess Superfinal 2014 begins Nov 28

Hello chess blog friends, the Russian Chess Superfinal 2014 is set to be played in Kazan from November 28 to December 7. It's going to be a strong field:

Open: Peter Svidler, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Nikita Vitiugov, Igor Lysyj, Vadim Zvjaginsev, Dmitry Jakovenko, Denis Khismatullin, Boris Grachev , Sergey Karjakin and Alexander Morozevich
Women: Valentine Gunina, Alexandra Kosteniuk ,Natalia Pogonina , Olga Girya, Alina Kashlinskaya, Ekaterina Kovalevskaya Oksana Gritsaeva, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Alisa Galliamova and Anastasia Bodnaruk.

 

This is the 67th edition of the tournament for men and 64th for women. The venue will be the beautiful State Historical and Architectural Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan. The venue has been chosen as part of the special programme 'Chess in Museums' implemented by the Russian Chess Federation and the Charitable Foundation Elena and Gennady Timchenko. The Russian chess superfinal is always a very special chess event as it is the strongest tournament in the strongest chess country of the world!

Start of 1-8 rounds at 15.00 Moscow time, on December 7 last tour will begin at 13.00 Moscow time.
The prize fund will be 7 million roubles. 

You can view the games live via the Russian Chess Federation website link. 

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Strongest Chess Open Ever - Qatar Masters Chess begins in Doha

Hello chess blog friends, the Qatar Chess Masters - strongest chess open tournament ever - has begun in the beautiful city of Doha with Anish Giri as top seed and three former world chess champions in attendance - Vladimir Kramnik, Antoaneta Stefanova, Zhu Chen.

The official opening ceremony took place on November 25th in the Al Manar Ballroom of Crowne Plaza Hotel Doha, the official venue of the tournament. The ceremony was attended by the State Minister Sheikh Saoud bin Khaled bin Hamad Al Thani, Qatar Chess Federation President and Honored FIDE Vise-PresidentMr. Khalifa Al-Hitmi, Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros.Co. Board Chairman Mr. Osama Abdullah Abdul Ghani, Qatar Insurance Group Chief Executive Officer Mr. Ali Al Fadala, Qatar Chess Federation General Secretary and Tournament DirectorGM Mohamed Al-Medaihki and other honored guests.

After a National anthem and a short speech by Mr. Khalifa Al-Hitmi followed by an animated movie about history of chess, the ceremony of drawing of lots was conducted.

Chief Arbiter Panagiotis Nicolopoulos invited the first-seeded Anish Giri tochoose the color for the odd-numbered players in the first round. First game in Qatar Masters Open the Dutch GM will play against Mikhail Antipov from Russia with White pieces.

After the opening ceremony a short technical meeting was held, where page Chief Arbiter announced principal points of the regulations, and players chose the Appeals Committee members: Chairman Khalifa Al-Hitmi, members GM Stefanova Antoaneta GM and Ehsan Ghaem Maghami, reserved member GM Zhu Chen.

The first round has begun and you can watch it at the official website live. (Report inputs via Maria Emelianova, photos by official photographers Dmitry Rukhletskiy and Maria Emelianova.)

For more photos visit the gallery.
For the pairings visit this page.

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Play Alongside World Chess Champions: Bid Last Date Nov 29

Hello chess blog friends, the 6th London Chess Classic will run from (6-14 December 2014 along with several wonderful parallel chess events as always! One of them could have you play alongside world chess champions.

Pro-Biz Cup - 9 December 2014, Olympia Conference Centre
A unique chance to play chess alongside world champions!

The 2014 London Chess Classic features a doubles chess rapidplay knock-out tournament in which eight super-GMs – the Super Six, Fabiano Caruana, Vishy Anand, Vlad Kramnik, Anish Giri, Hikaru Nakamura and Mickey Adams, plus leading English grandmasters Nigel Short and Gawain Jones – partner top business leaders in competition for the prestigious Pro-Biz Cup currently held by Barclays Bank. Now what we are looking for are their doubles partners!
 

The first partnership which will compete in the 2014 Pro-Biz Cup has already been settled: Rugby World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward (left of picture) will play alongside English grandmaster Gawain Jones (right of picture) and the two are currently preparing themselves for the fray. The race is now on to match the other seven top chess players with partners from the world of business. For anyone interested in taking part, they can apply via a form on the website. There is field in the form which allows you to state your preferred partner – so bid quickly and generously to secure the super-grandmaster of your choice! All proceeds from this fun mini-tournament go to the Chess in School and Communities charity.

Doubles Chess Competition format: knock-out rapidplay with 25 minutes for each two-player team. In doubles chess, the four players each make a move in turn on the same board, hence the two players of a team play alternate moves without conferring. A new rule this year allows teams to take two one-minute time-outs in order to confer during a game. Play takes place in the auditorium. The three rounds are webcast at 10.45, 12.00 and 14.00.

All proceeds from this fun mini-tournament go to the Chess in School and Communities charity. Interested business people should register their interest and bid for a player via the form on the website.

Sir Clive Woodward is a rugby union international. After coaching club teams from 1990, he became England rugby coach in 1997 at a time when the game was transforming from amateur to professional status. Under Sir Clive’s management, England went on to win the Six Nation’s Grand Slam in in 2003 and the Rugby World Cup later the same year, beating the hosts and holders Australia in the final. To date, this is the only time that a European rugby team has won the sport’s most prestigious competition. Sir Clive has an interest in chess and how it can improve performance in sport, business and life.

Pro-Biz Cup page | Register a bid for the Pro-Biz Cup | Video of the 2013 London Chess Classic Pro-Biz Cup |
Find more deails at the official website of the London Chess Classic.

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US Chess Record: Sam Sevian Youngest US Grandmaster at 13!

Hello chess blog friends, s chess record is specially for the US. A nice report by Brian Jerauld on the youngest-ever Grandmaster in US history. Can you guess who held that record before him?

Sevian, 13, Youngest-Ever American Grandmaster
Report via USChess.org

The 13-year-old Sam Sevian -- or, for history’s sake: 13 years, 10 months and 27 days-old Sam Sevian -- just dropped the bar on one of America’s highest records.
 

On Saturday night at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, Sevian toppled International Master Andrei Gorovets in the fourth round of the Club’s invitational norm event -- for a win that proved far less-important than the moment. The rating boost he received from the victory, his fourth-consecutive win of the event, pushed Sevian past a FIDE 2500 rating, notching the last requirement needed to achieve chess’ most-elite title.

Sevian set the new record for the youngest American Grandmaster in history, besting the record previously set by Webster University star Ray Robson by nearly a full year. Sevian had already achieved all of his necessary Grandmaster norms, his third coming at the Washington International earlier this year, and needed only for his rating to crest FIDE’s necessary watermark to earn the elite title. The completion of all requirements immediately dubbed Sevian as “GM-elect,” with the official title to be approved at the next FIDE Congress.

Setting a special footnote to the moment was the presence of GM Hikaru Nakamura, also at the CCSCSL for a headlining match against World No. 4 GM Levon Aronian. Nakamura was a previous holder of the record Sevian now owns, lifting it from the legendary Bobby Fischer by three months.

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Magnus Carlsen retains World Chess Title with Win in Dramatic Game 11

Hello chess blog friends, World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen retains his world title by beating five-time champion Viswanathan Anand in Sochi today. Carlsen won the 11th game to take his total to 6.5 in the 12-game match despite Anand putting up a gutsy, valiant fight. Ultimately, it were the nerves that mattered as they do in such a high-voltage match. Anand admitted that his nerves cracked first and Carlen could hold himself to take home the title second time in a row. Anand scored 4.5 in the match including a win in Game 3, Carlsen had won Game 2. The other games were drawn.
  

Game 11: Photo by Anastasiya Karlovich

Anand had the pressure going choosing to play a sharp line in the Berlin and got out of the opening with plenty of scope for a ballistic attack, but he overestimated his chances on the Queenside, went for a faulty exchange sacrifice and could not handle the passed, connected pawns whose power backfired. Carlsen, known to calculate long and hard, found the 'only move' step after step to win the dramatic Game 11 after 27. ...Rb4. 

In the post-game press conference, Anand was all praise for his opponent. Carlsen said he and his team enjoyed their stay in Sochi. Both the players held separate press conferences today which you can replay at the official website along with all the game videos and press conferences.

You can replay the game with Chess King.

FIDE World Chess Championship Carlsen-Anand 2014
The FIDE World Chess Championship match between defending champion Magnus Carlsen and his challenger Viswanathan Anand was held from November 7 (and was to run until November 27, 2014) in Olympic Media Center located in the Adler City District of Sochi, Imeretinsky Valley, on the Black Sea.
The match included twelve games, with time controls of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 61. The first person to score 6.5 was to be declared the champion. A tiebreak of faster-time control games would have been held in case of equal scores by both the players after 12 games.

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Frasier Season 3 Episode 18 'Chess Pains' Video

Hello chess blog friends, here's a cool chess episode for all Frasier fans. Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, premiering on September 16, 1993, and concluding on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (as Grub Street Productions) in association with Grammnet (2004) and Paramount Network Television. Enjoy the video:




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Chess Queen Kosteniuk Official Ambassador SportAccord World Mind Games

Hello chess blog friends, 

Two ambassadors per World Mind Games discipline to take centrestage in Beijing

Every sport needs a hero- one who the youngsters can look up to. And SportAccord is proud to present the 10 ambassadors for the 2014 edition of the World Mind Games to be held in Beijing in China from the 11th to the 17th of December. Representing the best practices in their respective sports discipline, the following ambassadors would be the faces of their respective sports at the World Mind Games this year.

 

CHESS
International ambassador - Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk
Chinese ambassador - Wenjun Ju

BRIDGE
International ambassador - Fulvio Fantoni
Chinese ambassador - Wang Wenfei

DRAUGHTS
International ambassador - Viktoriya Motrichiko
Chinese ambassador - Ala Tenghua

GO
International ambassador - Hajin Lee
Chinese ambassador - Jiaxi Tuo

XIANGQI
International ambassador - Hok Him Wong
Chinese ambassador - Sinan Tang

The SportAccord World Mind Games ambassador programme is a step taken towards increasing the profiles of the constituent member sports at the annual event. Chosen carefully by the international federations, the ambassadors are the representatives of their respective sports, tasked with helping reach out to a wider audience of mind sports. Also part of their responsibility is community outreach at the World Mind Games, where they are supposed to conduct sports clinics with young children, inspiring them to consider the pursuit of mind sports through informal and formal means.

Each sport has 2 ambassadors, one international and the other Chinese. The purpose of this classification is to ensure that the appeal of each sports does not remain restricted to either the international or the domestic audience.

Some like Fantoni have fulfilled this role in the past, and speaking of his nomination as the international bridge ambassador again, Fantoni said,"After a very positive and interesting experience in the 2013 World Mind Games, I am ready to promote the sport and the event anew."

Full details of the SportAccord World Mind Games ambassadors can be found here.

 

Also Read




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World Chess Champion Legends Trivia: Name them!

Hello chess blog friends, here's a most memorable world chess championship photo - can you name the event and, of course, the legends?




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$100,000 Chess Showdown - Nakamura vs Aronian in St Louis

Hello chess blog friends, there's a superstrong chess event taking place in St Louis, US. On Friday began a chess match between two of the world’s chess heavyweights.
 

The United States’ super Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura is set to square off against GM Levon Aronian, the World No. 4, in the Showdown in Saint Louis, a five-round contest for the lion’s share of a $100,000 purse. The special head-to-head exhibition will include four classical games of chess and a final round featuring 16 games of Blitz. The event will run from Friday, Nov. 21 to Tuesday, Nov. 25, with each round’s first move made at 2:00 p.m. daily.

Nakamura, the top American player ranked No. 9 in the world according to FIDE’s November 2014 rating list, is in the hunt for his first Candidates Tournament appearance and today holds second place, halfway through the 2014-2015 FIDE Grand Prix cycle. Aronian, a veteran to the world ranks, has long-been regarded as the main rival to World Champion Magnus Carlsen and reached his career-peak rating of 2830 earlier this year. Along with providing both players with elite head-to-head match experience, the Showdown in Saint Louis will also settle the score from the players’ last meeting: drawing twice at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup in the U.S. Capital of Chess last September.

GM HIKARU NAKAMURA vs. GM LEVON ARONIAN, SHOWDOWN IN SAINT LOUIS
Friday, November 21, 2:00 p.m.
Classical Round 1
Saturday, November 22, 2:00 p.m.
Classical Round 2
Sunday, November 23, 2:00 p.m.
Classical Round 3
Monday, November 24, 2:00 p.m.
Classical Round 4
Tuesday, November 25, 2:00 p.m.
Blitz Round (16 games, one every 15 minutes)

Alongside the Showdown are two specialized invitational tournaments designed for up-and-coming players attempting to earn chess’ elite master titles: International Master and, the superior, Grandmaster. The 2014 GM/IM Invitational events are two 10-player, round-robin tournaments designed to award title “norms,” or superior performances required by FIDE for player titles.

Of special focus in the GM norm event is Samuel Sevian and Ashwin Jayaram, two players who have already collected three Grandmaster norms and need just a handful of rating points to pass the necessary FIDE watermark of 2500. If Sevian clears the mark, the 13-year-old will become the youngest American Grandmaster in the history of chess.

The Showdown in Saint Louis will be streamed live in its entirety on www.uschesschamps.com, featuring live play-by-play commentary and analysis from the renowned commentary team of GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Maurice Ashley and WGM Jennifer Shahade. Live spectators may take in all the action as it unfolds in the upstairs tournament hall of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, with admission free-of-charge for annual, monthly and day members.

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Blindfold Chess - How to Master it Video

Hello chess blog friends, we found this very nice chess fan video on learning blindfold chess. This video presented in a can't-be-shorter format shows you a very effective way to master blindfold chess.





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World Chess Match Sochi 2014 G10 Drawn: Can Anand force Tiebreak in two Games?

Hello chess blog friends, in tennis terminology you could say World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen is on match-point. Carlsen leads the World Chess Championship after 10 games 5.5 - 4.5 against Viswanathan Anand. Saturday being a rest day, Games 11 and 12 will be played on Sunday and Monday. Carlsen could win Game 11 and retain his title or even draw both the last two games to remain World Chess Champion. Vishy Anand has to win one game to draw level and draw one game to force a tiebreak. Of course, if Anand wins both the last two games, he becomes the World Champion.

Before we talk about the Game 10 draw - here are the tiebreak rules:The Match is played over a maximum of twelve games and the winner of the match shall be the first player to score 6.5 points or more. If the scores are level after the twelve games, after a new drawing of colors, four tie-break games shall be played. The games shall be played using the electronic clock starting with 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds after each move. In case the match is still drawn, a match of 2 games shall be played with a time control of 5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment after each move. In case of a level score, another 2-game match will be played to determine a winner. If still there is no winner after 5 such matches (total 10 games), one sudden-death game will be played.

Meanwhile, Game 10 was drawn in 32 with Anand unable to do much with Magnus Carlsen's Gruenfeld Defence as in Game 1. Anand played the Russian Variation though both players said at the press conference that the position needs to be further studied and evaluated. You can replay the game with Chess King.

Score Carlsen 5.5 - Anand 4.5.Sunday 23rd November 2014. Game 11 Carlsen vs Anand. If Carlsen were to win this game he would win the whole match.

The seven-time Russian champion Peter Svidler shared his thoughts about the game:
“Unfortunately they didn't go for my pet line in Gruenfeld, so I was little bit unsure about the correct move orders and stuff. I play 7…а6 and haven't played 7…Na6 for quite a while, so my book knowledge is a bit outdated. However, we discussed the opening with Ian Nepomniachtchi, who also analyzed it at home and with computer. Carlsen showed an interesting new idea 15…Bxe4, which can be critically tested only by 16.d6 instead of 16.Qс1. Probably they either missed or underestimated the drawing tendencies after Black's strong reply 16…Qf6!

Later it felt like Vishy had some microscopic pressure, but a slightest inaccuracy from White, and the game immediately became dead even. We were a bit surprised by 24.Rd2 – first of all, one can even play 24.а3, but the strongest is 24.Rfe1 – the а2-pawn is not so crucial, so we can ask Black a couple of concrete questions first. Yes, after 24…Nc6 White's advantage is not easy to prove, but without the e-file it becomes simply impossible. When Vishy realized it, he quickly forced a draw, otherwise White could end up being worse. Of course, there was 26.g3, preventing 26…Be5, but it is hard to believe White can squeeze anything of it.”
You can read a nice report by Vladimir Barsky at the official website as well.

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World Chess Match Game 9: Carlsen draws 'better prepared' Anand

Hello chess blog friends, World Chess Championship game 9 was a short draw. It might have been a tad frustrating for World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen as he appeared to have come for a rout with White. However, he admitted that Anand was better prepared. 

“You finished so fast today that the journalists didn't yet finish their coffee”, joked Anastasia Karlovich at the start of the press-conference. However, Magnus Carlsen did not pick up her tone:
“I have no idea when your journalists drink coffee.”

Magnus Carlsen chose to avoid any risks considering the pressure and high stakes in the match. The 13th World Champion Garry Kasparov continues to observe the match closely and shares his impressions on twitter:

“Berlin aside, I also learned that this is a dangerous path. Giving up quick draws with white is a betrayal of Kaissa & she does not like it! Carlsen has a lead and only 3 games to go. But if he starts to believe he can coast to the title it is very dangerous psychologically. The last match was already over by now, a blowout. He may feel very uncomfortable pressure in the final games if it is still so close. This is true with any stressful decision. You just want it to be over, to feel relief, and it can overwhelm all your critical thinking.”

Magnus Carlsen: “Yes, it is frustrating when the opponent is better prepared at this point in the match, but it has been the other way around too.”

Of course, it is in Carlsen's favour to steer all games to draw considering he has a one-point lead, but Anand cannot be discounted. The Indian Grandmaster is known to fight with patience until the very last and could strike at any moment on the smallest of weaknesses. Anand is known to have a fantastic theoretical understanding of chess. Carlsen did well not to risk it at all in Game 9 as he could have been saddled with a weaker positional endgame. 

The match goes on as Carlsen keeps lead. Hope you are enjoying all the excitement watching live and tweeting with chess fans around the world during the match. You can replay the game with Chess King.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
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