Carlsen draws first blood in World Chess C'ship as Anand falters

The worst fears for the chess fans backing defending champion Viswanathan Anand came true as the Indian blundered in a drawn endgame to go down against challenger Magnus Carlsen in the fifth game of the World Chess Championship in Chennai today. With seven games to come in the 12-games match, Carlsen now leads 3-2, drawing the first blood in his trademark style. It started with a Notebbom opening that went in to the Marshall gambit that never happened. Typical to his style of getting a position wherein he can just continue playing for a long time, Carlsen chose something that has not been seen in elite chess. [caption id=“attachment_1232725” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  With seven games to come in the 12-games match, Carlsen now leads 3-2, drawing the first blood in his trademark style. PTI[/caption] Anand equalised easily with some timely manoeuvres and it appeared that he had nothing to worry about while Carlsen was still pressing for some advantage. The hallmark of Carlsen’s play has been to mesmerize opponents from seemingly innocuous positions and to make them commit mistakes. This was exactly what happened at the Hyatt. Anand had a perfect balance on the board even after losing a pawn but what saved him in the previous game with his clock ticking away caused him the game today. The world champion had said he was lucky to get some checks to the king before each time control in the fourth game, it was exactly a check that came to haunt him back on the 47th move. While another move would have kept the balance Anand decided to buy a move and push the king away, but in the haste overlooked that the ensuing rooks and pawns endgame was simply lost for him. Anand could not make corrections thereafter as Carlsen was simply at his best. The Norwegian is known to make things work for him and he was at his technical best to find the best moves, something that he missed in the fourth game. Anand’s defense was not as good as it is known to be and the Indian ace will now have to strike back fast. As the trend has been in the last few world championship clashes, Anand has won the next game after a loss. It happened in 2010 against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria when Anand won the second game after losing the first. And then in 2012, he won the eighth game after losing the seventh against Israeli Boris Gelfand. Moves 1. c4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 c6 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 c5 7. a3 Ba5 8. Nf3 Nf6 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Qd3 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Ng4 12. O-O-O Nxe3 13. fxe3 Bc7 14. Nxc6 bxc6 5. Qxd8+ Bxd8 16. Be2 Ke7 17. Bf3 Bd7 18. Ne4 Bb6 19. c5 f5 20. cxb6 fxe4 21. b7 Rab8 22. Bxe4 Rxb7 23. Rhf1 Rb5 24. Rf4 g5 25. Rf3 h5 26. Rdf1 Be8 27. Bc2 Rc5 28. Rf6 h4 29. e4 a5 30. Kd2 Rb5 31. b3 Bh5 32. Kc3 Rc5+ 33. Kb2 Rd8 34. R1f2 Rd4 35. Rh6 Bd1 36. Bb1 Rb5 37. Kc3 c5 38. Rb2 e5 39. Rg6 a4 40. Rxg5 Rxb3+ 41. Rxb3 Bxb3 42. Rxe5+ Kd6 43. Rh5 Rd1 44. e5+ Kd5 45. Bh7 Rc1+ 46. Kb2 Rg1 47. Bg8+ Kc6 48. Rh6+ Kd7 49. Bxb3 axb3 50. Kxb3 Rxg2 51. Rxh4 Ke6 52. a4 Kxe5 53. a5 Kd6 54. Rh7 Kd5 55. a6 c4+ 6. Kc3 Ra2 57. a7 Kc5 58. h4 Kd5 1-0 PTI