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Magnus Carlsen was relieved after winning game 6 since he had made a blunder which could have cost him the title, and escaped unscathed. This was a devastating loss for Viswanathan Anand since he took Magnus head on by opting for a passive setup in the opening by giving White an edge right at the start which was akin to fighting a crocodile in its own habitat.
Viswanathan Anand’s dubious opening choice
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The Indian’s response to Carlsen’s king pawn opening, was for some reason the relatively dull Kan variation of the Sicilian defense. White went for the Maroczy bind set up which gave him a healthy edge and good attacking chances in the middle game.
Magnus Carlsen was at his best as he went for a deep plan with 13. h4 and h5 and castling long. The idea was to gain space and target black’s king-side pawns. The Indian had no choice but to passively defend his position. White had a healthy advantage and soon the fans were ready to watch the Norwegian slowly grind the position. Unfortunately for Anand, he soon found himself in a very uncomfortable position, which required precise defending and suffering for a long time so as to be able to earn a draw.
Magnus Carlsen’s howler on move 26
White was in full flow, slowly building his position, while Black was just a mute spectator trying to pass time by making a lot of waiting moves. It was a treat to watch Magnus display his impeccable technique as he shuffled his pieces around to deliver the final blow. The plan was clear – move the king close to the king-side pawns and then slowly hunt down Black’s king-side pawns.
On move 26 Magnus unexpectedly made the move which could have cost him the title. His move Kd2 overlooked a neat tactic which even a club-level player would have noticed.
The move totally tilted the position in favor of Black and gave the Norwegian media a collective heart-attack. But to the relief of Magnus and his fans, Anand simply overlooked the move 26... Nxe5 which would have given him a decisive advantage. He must have realised it a move later which would have made him kick himself for missing a golden opportunity.
The Indian, frustrated with his passive position, went for a counter plan with a5->a4->a3 which simply was too slow as the Norwegian started his pawn hunt on the king-side.
Once White had his Bishops co-ordinated, Black’s position simply collapsed as the White rooks went on a pawn hunting spree. Black’s counter was slow and never posed White any danger and soon it was time for the Indian to throw in the towel and look forward to the next game.
The Norwegian was clearly relieved to have won the game after his blunder on move 26. Anand on the other hand would have been shattered by the loss, and to add insult to injury, he will once again have black pieces in game 7 after the rest day tomorrow.
Magnus Carlsen leads the points race 3.5–2.5 after six games. Although all is not lost for Viswanathan Anand at this point with the second-half of the championship still to be played, it will be interesting to see what his strategy will be in the second-half since his repertoire with Black needs a thorough review.
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