Carlsen-Anand 2014

Reinfeld · Post by **Reinfeld** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 10:18 am

Just starting the inevitable thread. I demand predictions from you people. We can debate as the match goes on and have all sorts of fun.

My prediction: Anand 6.5 - Carlsen 5.5. Maybe a slightly higher tally with tiebreaks.

I don't pretend to understand chess at this level - the chunks of moves are too big. But I can plug in a chess engine just like anybody else and read evaluations. It's stupid to guess from the gut - but it seems to me that Anand has more motivation this time around.

Go!

- R.

Reinfeld · Post by **Reinfeld** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 10:50 am

First thought - if you go here...

http://www.sochi2014.fide.com/

...you see nice pics of the two combatants, but I can't stop looking at the knights. Terrible, cheap-looking knights, like the set for Novag Obsidian...

- R.

ricard60 · Post by **ricard60** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 11:12 am

I believe the only way that Anand can keep up in a close match is to play in safe mode any risk by his side it will lose. Carlsen is the new Capablanca his undestanding of the endings is very deep.

Carlsen 6.5 Anand 5.5

xchessg · Post by **xchessg** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 12:06 pm

ricard60 wrote:I believe the only way that Anand can keep up in a close match is to play in safe mode any risk by his side it will lose. Carlsen is the new Capablanca his undestanding of the endings is very deep.

Carlsen 6.5 Anand 5.5

Hi,

Capablanca had a reputation too of being unbeatable with superior endgame skills etc. Alekhine analysed Capa's game and concluded to his own surprise that there were in fact flaws to be found in Capa's endgame, however so slightly. In their 1927 match Alekhine chose to play Capa's game, and beat him on his ground, much to the amazement of the crowd and especially Capa himself, who honestly believed himself to be unbeatable. Capa took on a lot of social obligations during the match, stayed up all night between games, etc. In a way, he dug his own grave.

In this way Capablanca was an amateur compared to Carlsen, but these were different times... I'm certain that Carlsen takes Anand serious to a point that we amateurs can't even begin to understand....

During the last match Anand seemed without chances, hopefully he will fare better this time. The best thing that can happen is that Carlsen suffers an early loss, to make him work... If not, it will be Berlin Walls and Caro-Kann's over again to the bitter end.

I won't bother to predict a score, it's the games that count for me...

Xavier

Post by **Harvey Williamson** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 1:24 pm

Live video and comments here http://new.livestream.com/accounts/7928 ... s/3553668/

If you have Hiarcs Chess Explorer:

http://www.hiarcs.biz:8300/live/live.pgn

Simply copy the link above and select File->Open URL...

Click Ok and the games will be loaded including any games currently being played live. Starts at 13:00 GMT/UTC.

fourthirty · Post by **fourthirty** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 3:44 pm

Reinfeld wrote:...you see nice pics of the two combatants, but I can't stop looking at the knights. Terrible, cheap-looking knights, like the set for Novag Obsidian...
- R.

Thanks for the link.

Regarding the knights, it is the DGT Timeless set.

http://www.digitalgametechnology.com/si ... meless-set

It is the set that I purchased with my DGT board, mainly due to the cost. Unfortunately, the Knight is the Achilles' heel of the set.

Greg

Post by **Harvey Williamson** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 5:22 pm

Game 1

[Event "WCh 2014"]
[Site "Sochi RUS"]
[Date "2014.11.08"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Anand,V"]
[Black "Carlsen,M"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "2863"]
[ECO "D85"]
[EventDate "2014.11.08"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 Bg7 6.e4 Nxc3 7.Bxc3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Nf3 Bg4 10.d5 Bxf3 11.Bxg7 Kxg7 12.gxf3 Ne5 13.O-O-O c6 14.Qc3 f6 15.Bh3 cxd5 16.exd5 Nf7 17.f4 Qd6 18.Qd4 Rad8 19.Be6 Qb6 20.Qd2 Rd6 21.Rhe1 Nd8 22.f5 Nxe6 23.Rxe6 Qc7+ 24.Kb1 Rc8 25.Rde1 Rxe6 26.Rxe6 Rd8 27.Qe3 Rd7 28.d6 exd6 29.Qd4 Rf7 30.fxg6 hxg6 31.Rxd6 a6 32.a3 Qa5 33.f4 Qh5 34.Qd2 Qc5 35.Rd5 Qc4 36.Rd7 Qc6 37.Rd6 Qe4+ 38.Ka2 Re7 39.Qc1 a5 40.Qf1 a4 41.Rd1 Qc2 42.Rd4 Re2 43.Rb4 b5 44.Qh1 Re7 45.Qd5 Re1 46.Qd7+ Kh6 47.Qh3+ Kg7 48.Qd7+ 1/2-1/2

ricard60 · Post by **ricard60** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 6:51 pm

Great first game but once more Carlsen was better in the endings and Anand was saved by a perpetual check.

Post by **Steve B** » Sun Nov 09, 2014 11:14 am

Back in 1990 i attended two games of the WCC match between Karpov and Kasparov

in those days no chess computer could give the top players a decent game
today you can buy any number of chess programs that would crush any of the top players including Anand and Carlsen

for me...the fact that a $50 chess engine can crush the very best human players has in some way diminished my interest in today's chess scene and in the WC in particular
i am not suggesting that chess is dead because of computer chess or anything close to that
still love the game ..its the human competition that i am discussing
yes i know all of the analogies...
"folks are still interested in human's setting world records in foot races even though cars can go faster...etc.etc"

Still..in the past the winner of the WC was generally considered the strongest chess playing entity in the world
today this is no longer true

what odds would i have to give to the winner of this match Vs.Hiarcs running on a 16 core computer??
move and P?
a 2 game spot in a 12 game match?
for me...the WC simply doesn't hold the meaning and interest it once did

IMHO Regards
Steve

ricard60 · Post by **ricard60** » Sun Nov 09, 2014 2:30 pm

xchessg wrote:
ricard60 wrote:I believe the only way that Anand can keep up in a close match is to play in safe mode any risk by his side it will lose. Carlsen is the new Capablanca his undestanding of the endings is very deep.

Carlsen 6.5 Anand 5.5
Hi,

Capablanca had a reputation too of being unbeatable with superior endgame skills etc. Alekhine analysed Capa's game and concluded to his own surprise that there were in fact flaws to be found in Capa's endgame, however so slightly. In their 1927 match Alekhine chose to play Capa's game, and beat him on his ground, much to the amazement of the crowd and especially Capa himself, who honestly believed himself to be unbeatable. Capa took on a lot of social obligations during the match, stayed up all night between games, etc. In a way, he dug his own grave.

In this way Capablanca was an amateur compared to Carlsen, but these were different times... I'm certain that Carlsen takes Anand serious to a point that we amateurs can't even begin to understand....

During the last match Anand seemed without chances, hopefully he will fare better this time. The best thing that can happen is that Carlsen suffers an early loss, to make him work... If not, it will be Berlin Walls and Caro-Kann's over again to the bitter end.

I won't bother to predict a score, it's the games that count for me...

Xavier

Today we can see a rematch between these great players. Sadly there was no rematch between Alekhine and Capablanca. I wonder why Alekhine never gave this rematch?.

one of the greatest rematch lost in Histroy regards
Ricardo

Post by **Harvey Williamson** » Sun Nov 09, 2014 3:51 pm

Game 2

[Event "WCh 2014"]
[Site "Sochi RUS"]
[Date "2014.11.09"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Carlsen,M"]
[Black "Anand,V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[ECO "C65"]
[EventDate "2014.11.08"]
[WhiteElo "2863"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.Re1 O-O 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.h3 Re8 9.Nbd2 Nd7 10.Nc4 Bb6 11.a4 a5 12.Nxb6 cxb6 13.d4 Qc7 14.Ra3 Nf8 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Nh4 Rd8 17.Qh5 f6 18.Nf5 Be6 19.Rg3 Ng6 20.h4 Bxf5 21.exf5 Nf4 22.Bxf4 exf4 23.Rc3 c5 24.Re6 Rab8 25.Rc4 Qd7 26.Kh2 Rf8 27.Rce4 Rb7 28.Qe2 b5 29.b3 bxa4 30.bxa4 Rb4 31.Re7 Qd6 32.Qf3 Rxe4 33.Qxe4 f3+ 34.g3 h5 35.Qb7 1-0

xchessg · Post by **xchessg** » Sun Nov 09, 2014 5:03 pm

Harvey Williamson wrote:Game 2

[Event "WCh 2014"]
[Site "Sochi RUS"]
[Date "2014.11.09"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Carlsen,M"]
[Black "Anand,V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[ECO "C65"]
[EventDate "2014.11.08"]
[WhiteElo "2863"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.Re1 O-O 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.h3 Re8 9.Nbd2 Nd7 10.Nc4 Bb6 11.a4 a5 12.Nxb6 cxb6 13.d4 Qc7 14.Ra3 Nf8 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Nh4 Rd8 17.Qh5 f6 18.Nf5 Be6 19.Rg3 Ng6 20.h4 Bxf5 21.exf5 Nf4 22.Bxf4 exf4 23.Rc3 c5 24.Re6 Rab8 25.Rc4 Qd7 26.Kh2 Rf8 27.Rce4 Rb7 28.Qe2 b5 29.b3 bxa4 30.bxa4 Rb4 31.Re7 Qd6 32.Qf3 Rxe4 33.Qxe4 f3+ 34.g3 h5 35.Qb7 1-0

....and that was it. Carlsen played perfect chess, and Anand not quite so. This match already turns out exactly like the last one. Ah well, in the past they used to play 24 game matches and now 2x 12 games.

I wouldn't like to be Anand this night.

Xavier

ifekali · Post by **ifekali** » Sun Nov 09, 2014 6:23 pm

fourthirty wrote: Regarding the knights, it is the DGT Timeless set.

Look again. Carlsen's set (on main photo http://www.sochi2014.fide.com) is a horrid mix of low-budget pieces.

I guess it's an intentional joke. Norvegian humor I don't get.

-Izmet

ricard60 · Post by **ricard60** » Sun Nov 09, 2014 6:28 pm

Before 34..h5?? the game was close , probably 34..Qd2 could still hold. Maybe the time trouble.

Larry · Post by **Larry** » Sun Nov 09, 2014 11:04 pm

Steve B wrote: today you can buy any number of chess programs that would crush any of the top players including Anand and Carlsen

No need to even buy... free programs would crush Anand or Carlsen,
even if both Anand and Carlsen were sitting as a team one one side of
the board.
L