Anand will need 'fire in his game' to beat Carlsen: Polgar

At age 21, Susan Polgar became the first woman to earn the title of grand master through tournament play. Now, 44, the Hungarian GM resides in the United States and has become a reputed chess coach. She has also written books — Chess Tactics for Champions and Breaking Through: How the Polgar Sisters Changed the Game of Chess. She has hosted her own DVD set, Winning Chess the Easy Way With Susan Polgar. She also runs a popular chess blog, Chess Daily News. For those who came in late, she is the eldest of the famous Polgar sisters, Zsuzsa (Susan), Zsófia, and Judit, who blazed a trail in the male-dominated game and she will be the official commentator when Viswanathan Anand takes on challenger Magnus Carlsen in the long awaited World Championship 2013 match. The opening ceremony of the Anand–Carlsen match is on Thursday, 7 November but it will only be on Saturday, 9 November, that the clock will start running. The city of Chennai was confirmed as the venue for the match back in May. On current form, many give Carlsen – the younger of the two Grand Masters at 22, the edge. His ELO rating is a phenomenal 2870 – the highest ever in history (Kasparov had previously claimed that his record rating of 2851 was impossible to beat) but that wasn’t going to stop Carlsen. The Norwegian sensation took up chess at the age of five and became world number one by the time he was 19. [caption id=“attachment_1206579” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Anand will count on experience and Carlsen on form. Getty Images[/caption] Anand, on the other hand, is a veteran. At 43, he is one of the oldest players in the top 50 FIDE rankings, and will be hoping that his experience allows him to retain the title. He retained the world title after defeating his challenger, Boris Gelfand, in the FIDE World Championship Match 2012 in Moscow, Russia. Before that, after winning the Mexico 2007 World Championship tournament, Anand successfully defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn 2008 and against Veselin Topalov in Sofia 2010. Simply put, he’s done this before. Polgar, in an email interview, gave Firstpost a quick breakdown of the match-up before the battle begins in earnest. Carlsen has mentioned in an interview that he would rather not face the Anand of 2008 in the match. What is the difference between that Anand and the one we see now? Perhaps the fire in his game and his energy level. It will be interesting to see if Anand will be able to get it back, at least temporarily for this upcoming match. Carlsen’s strength, they say, is the end game. Can he use the same strategies against the same opponent is a world championship match? I think that Magnus is an all-around style of a player. His strengths are his energy level and fighting spirit. His relative weak point is his opening repertoire. Anand knows how to win these matches. Will experience matter? Or is it all in the mind? Will playing at home matter? As they say ‘past performance does not guarantee future results.’ Jokes aside, the vast match experience that Vishy has is certainly a significant plus for him. I think it is extremely important to get the lead first. While ideally such matches are best played in a neutral territory, I don’t believe that ‘home court’ matters that much to determine the outcome of the match. Garry Kasparov had used the Sicilian Dragon variation to burn Anand in 1995. How important are novelties going to be? This is a quite an important question. Depending on the impact of the novelty, those at times can be extremely important. I recall a famous game from a past World Championship match (between Kramnik and Leko) when Kramnik practically lost game 8 without making a single move at the board. He simply got out prepared by Leko’s team. Of course, that being said, not all novelties have such powerful effect. Vishy has the reputation to be very well prepared in the openings, better than Magnus. It will be interesting to see if Vishy will be successful in catching Magnus off guard. People are making a lot about age. Will youth be as big an advantage for Carlsen as they say? Korchnoi played at a high level for a long time… I think if Magnus succeeds to get out of the openings safely (especially having the Black pieces) and reach a playable middlegame, his youth and energy will play an important role in such a tense match. Of course, it will all largely about who can control his nerves better, given the importance of the match and the huge interest worldwide. Finally, can you break down the games of Carlsen and Anand. Strengths, weaknesses, and your pick to win! Being an official commentator, it would not be right for me to make this prediction. Obviously by looking at the ratings, Magnus is the favorite. But ratings may not that important when it comes to a match like this. Here are some known strengths and weaknesses of both players: Strengths: Anand: Match experience, Opening preparation, Strong Seconds. Carlsen: Motivation, Energy, Self Confidence. Weaknesses: Anand: Age, Energy. Carlsen: Openings, Lack of Match Experience.