Result after seven games, but leaves Viswanathan Anand trailing

A result finally after seven games. But the win came not from the man, all expected to win, but from the underdog. Though Boris Gelfand had held a slight advantage in a game or two before the seventh, Viswanathan Anand’s loss in the seventh game was a bit of a stunner. He was struggling through the better part of the game.

In a Slav defence – the fourth time in four game when Anand had black – Gelfand deviated ever so slightly early in the sixth move. Gelfand opted for a change in sixth move with 6.c5 as opposed to 6.b3 and 6. Qc2 which he chose in his earlier games. That early discomfort grew and it soon became a pain (in the form of a bad bishop) in the middle game. By the time it reached the endgame, it had become a noose and it strangled him.

It was very complicated, agreed Anatoly Karpov and Peter Leko, the two GM experts for the day. Anand had problems but he was close to equality after 15th move Qb8. But doubled rooks by Gelfand and Anand’s bad light coloured bishop compounded the problems.

Two errors g5 and f6 on 23rd and 25th moves spelt disaster and the agony ended on the 38th move just before first time control.

Anand admitted, “I started to drifted in the opening and then as Boris mentioned, the game revolved around the bad bishop (light coloured).”

GM Peter Leko had a lovely way of describing Gelfand’s style: “With age he (Gelfand) is getting better. He has a style and he is faithful to it and keeps improving and it is giving him results.”

Anand has come back from an early loss in the past – he lost the first game in Sofia in 2010 but went on to beat Veselin Topalov with black in the 12th and last game. In 1998 Anand coming to Lausanne after a grueling qualifier in Groningen, lost the first game in the final to Anatoly Karpov but bounced back to level the match in the sixth game, only to lose in rapid games.

Leko still held out hope for Anand: We could still see a high class fight back by Anand. A loss can often change a player. So one should not draw any conclusions (that the match is over).”

***

Never easy for champions, says Karpov

Champions never have it easy. More so if they are playing underdogs. In chess an opponent 64 Elo rating points below you is just that. Add to that the pressure of being the World champion for last five years, an age of 42 and the recent joy of becoming a father. After years of making Europe his residence for better part of the year, he has more recently shifted back to Chennai, India where his ageing parents are located and where he wants his son, Akhil, to grow up.

Such changes in life can turn the sternest and most focused of supermen into mere mortals and make them susceptible to human failings like emotion.

On the day Anand was engaged in the seventh game with Boris Gelfand, the legend Anatoly Karpov, to whom Anand lost in a World Championship final in 1998, said that the reigning world champion is always under pressure.

Karpov quoted Boris Spassky, while saying that champion is expected to win and he is expected to come up with something new and extra but the same pressure does not apply to the challenger.

A couple of hours later, Gelfand had beaten Anand to take the lead. The last time Gelfand had Anand resigning was 19 years ago – the current World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen was then two years old!

A couple of days back Garry Kasparov had warned us all that this was not the same Anand we were used to seeing. In the last couple of years he has not won any major event like Wijk Aan Zee, Linares, Tal Memorial or M-Tel Masters.

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Karpov, Kasparov and Anand

The past few days have seen a stream of chess legends arriving and hold centre stage at the Tretyakov Gallery. Garry Kasparov came during the sixth game and then on the day of the seventh game – with a rest separating the two game – it was Anatoly Karpov’s turn to visit the venue. A few days from now Vladimir Kramnik, too, is expected.

For various reasons, comparing Anand with Kasparov and Karpov is my favourite pastime.

Anand at his best has never been a loquacious person. His answers are precise and sometimes too precise – journalists like longer quotes! Each line is measured and gives little away and if you are not listening carefully, you could miss the point.

He is reserved; likes privacy and zealously guards his personal life. Yet he is not robotic. He smiles, laughs and every now and then cracks a quip, but never gives away more than what you may already know.

Fast-talking Kasparov will give an answer long enough for you to mull over for even longer. When you ask him about a chess game, he will also tell you about preparations, the opponent and the history. He may even add politics to it.

Slow and deliberate, Karpov in comparison, will add things like how the state backed chess in his country and these days he loves talking about his work with UNICEF and in Siberia, where he is promoting chess. His answers, usually in Russian, can continue for long. But Karpov steers clear of controversy.

The thoughts and opinions shared here are of the author.