Preview: World Chess Championship 2014

Anand – Carlsen will be facing off in the World Chess Championship 2014, Sochi

The World Chess Championship re-match between the incumbent World Champion, Magnus Carlsen of Norway and five-time World Champion Viswanthan Anand of India, is all set to commence from the 7th November 2014. Fresh from his triumph in the Bilboa Masters tournament, Anand will be looking to avenge his loss to Carlsen in the previous World Championship which was held in Chennai.

The loss fueled a lot of speculations about Anand’s form and commitment, however the aging Tiger from Madras bounced back in style winning the Candidates tournament to set-up another title clash with the young upstart from Norway.

Venue: The Match will be played at the Olympic Media Center in the picturesque city of Sochi which organized the recently concluded Winter Olympics.

Format: The match consists of 12 games, played with each player starting as White and Black alternatively. The scoring is 1 point for a win, half-a-point for a draw and 0 for a loss. The player to reach 6.5 points will be the winner of the event, however if the score ends 6 points each then the players will have to contest in a tie-breaker.

Time Control: Each player will have 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for moves 41–60 and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting after move 61.

Player Profiles

Magnus Carlsen		Viswanathan Anand
@MagnusCarlsen	Official Twitter Handle	@vishy64theking
23	Age	44
Norway	Country	India
2863	FIDE Rating	2792
1	FIDE World Ranking	6
1	World Championship Titles	5
Versatile(Leaning towards a positional style.)	Playing Style	Versatile(Leaning towards a tactical style.)
Stamina and Engames.	Strengths	Openings and Complex Middlegame positions.
Lack of depth in openings.	Weaknesses	Stamina and defending passive positions.

Prediction

The question on everyone’s mind is that if the result this time around is going to be anything different. Magnus Carlsen looked rock solid and was rarely in danger of losing a game in the previous world championship whereas Anand seemed to crumble under pressure often.

The overall head-to-head score is not relevant anymore as Anand hasn’t beaten Carlsen in the classical format for 4 years now. The only thing in Anand’s favor yet again is his World Championship match experience; he has been there done that time and again, both as a challenger and as a champion.

Can Carlsen handle the pressure of being a World Champion and defend the title in a grueling match?

Both parties have kept their seconds as a secret this time, and if rumors are to be believed, Vladimir Kramnik, the guy who beat Garry Kasparov in the London World Championship Match, will be aiding Anand in his preparation.

If true this could come as a serious blow to Carlsen since he idolizes Kramnik – two players with very similar styles – Carlsen, like Kramnik relies mostly on accumulating and nursing slight advantages and eventually converting them to a winning endgame. Having Kramink in his camp will surely give Anand a different perspective and help him streamline his opening repertoire.

The Age factor is not on Anand’s side and hasn’t been for quite some time, but the amazing thing about him is the way he bounces back out of nowhere when people write him off. Once again the question lingers if Anand can last 12 grueling games since he seems to lose composure as the event progresses.

Magnus Carlsen is once again the clear favorite to win the championship, however we can expect the score to be much closer this time.