The participants of the Candidates tournament were determined during 2017, as follows²:

• The loser of the World Chess CChampionship2016 (Sergey Karjakin)
• Top two finishers of the World Cup 2017 (Levon Aronian and Ding Liren)
• Top two finishers of the FIDE Grand Prix 2017 (Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Wesley So)
• One wildcard nominated by Agon – the company who signed a contract with FIDE to organize official FIDE events, World Chess Championship included (Vladimir Kramnik) ³

The Candidates tournament was held in March 2018. Italian American ⁴ Fabiano Caruana seized the lead early and never let it slip. With an impressive performance, he won the tournament a clear point ahead of the Mamedyarov and Karjakin (9/14). The stage was set for the Carlsen – Caruana encounter.

The match was widely anticipated. In contrast to Carlsen’s previous matches where he was a clear favourite, this time everyone predicted a much closer fight. In the past, Caruana was one of the players who managed to pose Carlsen problems in the past. Indirect evidence was also provided by the players’ ratings before the match: 2835 for Carlsen and 2832 for Caruana. For the first time in a while, the participants in the World Championship Match were clear numbers one and two in the world.

The match was held in London, from 9-28 November 2018. The time control was 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move from move 1. Colors alternated between games except after game 6, so the same player played with White in games 6 and 7. Draw agreements were not allowed before Black’s 30th move.

Already the first game was dramatic. After surprising his opponent with the Sveshnikov, Carlsen quickly obtained a superior position with the Black pieces. As he kept building the pressure, Caruana ran into time trouble and made several inaccuracies. Just as he was ready to reap the fruit of his instructive player, Carlsen missed several winning opportunities and had to settle for a draw.

After the initial excitement, the players managed to steady the waters. Good preparation with the Black pieces became a theme. In the games 2-5, neither player managed to achieve anything with the White pieces. Then in the game 6, Caruana even outplayed Magnus in a queenless middlegame, but missed a study-like win deep in the endgame.

The second half of the match saw players applying different strategies. Fully aware he would have an advantage in tiebreaks due to his superiority in rapid and blitz chess, Magnus decided not to risk to much with White. He tried to achieve a safe advantage, but failed to do so.

In contrast, due to his inferiority in speed chess, and due to the fact Magnus chose the Sicilian for this match, Caruana’s subsequent White games were fighting and complicated. In the game eight, he managed to surprise Magnus with the rare 7 Nd5!? in the Sveshnikov. For the first time in the match, Caruana obtained a serious advantage, but one inaccurate move blew it away at once.

Game ten featured the same Nd5 variation. Once again Caruana was the first to employ a novelty. Magnus reacted well and obtained a double-edged position in which both sides had their chances. Although exhaustive analysis of this game will be featured in many books, at first glance it seems that the evaluation was always within the dynamic equilibrium.

Finally, in the 12th game, Carlsen was the first to deviate and gained an overwhelming position. However, due to his nervous state and eagerness to reach tiebreak⁵, he avoided the critical continuation and then, to the surprise of the whole chess world – offered a draw. Thus, the players set a negative record – for the first time in history, all games of a World Championship match were drawn. ⁶

Although Carlsen was severely criticized for his decision in the final game, the course of the tiebreak shown it was justified. Just like against Karjakin, he completely dominated and swept the challenger with a clear 3-0 victory. Almost three weeks of struggle in classical chess were resolved in the span of a few hours.

Even though the result led to endless debates about the tiebreak format, ⁷ there was no denying that Carlsen’s victory was well-deserved. For the fourth time in five years, he defended his crown and extended his legacy for at least two additional years.

Check our coverage of Candidates tournament 2018 here

Check our coverage of the Carlsen – Caruana match here

Featured image credit: Niki Riga

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By winning the 2016 Candidates tournament, Carlsen’s childhood rival and friend, Ukrainian superstar Sergey Karjakin (once the youngest grandmaster in the world), gained an opportunity to compete for the World Champion title.

In contrast to his matches against Anand, which were regarded as the battle of the generations, this time Carlsen faced his contemporary. For only the second time in the history, both participants in the World Championship Match were younger than 30 (the first one being Kramnik – Leko 2004 match).

The match was held in the New York City from 11th to 30th November of 2016. Similarly as with the 2016 Candidates tournament, FIDE’s decision to partner with the AGON broadcasting company caused major controversy. During the Candidates tournament, AGON decided to forbid the live transmission of the games to other chess broadcasting sites and make the viewers pay the fee on their own website. Other chess companies sued Agon, went to court and won the case, gaining the right to broadcast the moves regularly.

Before the beginning of the match, Carlsen was regarded as a better player and as a huge favourite. Few remembered the psychological difficulties he encountered in his previous match against Anand; his dominance in tournament play and 4-1 head to head score against Karjakin reinforced the belief about his invincibility, especially among his fans.

However, a match turned out to be even more dramatic than the Sochi encounter. Karjakin, famed for his defensive skill, frustrated Carlsen with holding several inferior positions over the first seven games.

It would appear that this tenacity unnerved Carlsen and affected him psychologically. In the 8th game, playing the White side of the Colle system, he impatiently searched for tactical chances out of nothing.

Karjakin, in time trouble, failed to punish his opponent’s lackluster play immediately. However, instead of settling for a draw, Carlsen went on to continue the game, risked to much and was punished in spectacular fashion.

Thus, 4 games before the end of the match, Karjakin took the lead. In the 9th game, he gained a serious opportunity to increase his lead, but his 39 Bxf7+, although attractive, proved to be only the second best, and Carlsen managed to save the game.

In the 10th game, Carlsen leveled the score after finally managing to tear down the challenger in his typical grinding style. However, earlier in the game, both players missed a forcing continuation that would have led either to a forced draw or to an inferior position for Carlsen. Had Karjakin found 20… Nxf2, the whole match might have ended quite differently.

Nevertheless, after this decisive game, two quick draws followed and the Rapid Tiebreak followed. It was the first match after Anand – Gelfand 2012 to be decided on the tiebreak system.

In the tiebreak, Carlsen dominated, and by winning the 3rd and 4th game he won the match and retained his crown. The finish of the 4th game, featuring the fantastic 50 Qh6+!! sacrifice will definitely be remembered in the chess history.

You can check our complete coverage with game analysis of the Carlsen – Karjakin match here

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In contrast to the first match, which was played on Anand’s home soil, in Chennai in India, this time the venue was the city of Sochi, in Russian Federation.

Anand gained the right for a „return match“ by winning the Candidates tournament held earlier in the 2014 In a star studded lineup consisting of Anand (the loser of the 2013 World Championship Match), Topalov and Mamedyarov (top two finishers of the FIDE Grand Prix Series), Kramnik and Andreikin (2013 World Cup finalists), Aronian and Karjakin (two highest rated players) and Svidler (FIDE Wild Card), Anand finished a full point ahead of the nearest competitor. Although many have written him after the match with Carlsen due to his age (Anand had already celebrated his 44th birthday), Anand proved that he can still play on the highest level.

The result of the Candidates tournament was already a warning sign for the newly crowned champion. And indeed, the 2014 Sochi match proved to be a much tougher and closer match then the one played a year before, which was a relatively smooth cruise for Magnus.

This is not surprising.  Garry Kasparov wrote extensively about psychological difficulties that the champion has to overcome when playing a return match (as his 1987 Seville match against Karpov demonstrated). History is full of similar examples, with Botvinnik matches against Smyslov in 1957 and against Tal in 1961 being most notable.

Initially, it seemed that Anand again won’t be able to withstand’s Carlsen’s grinding style as he suffered a terrible loss in his first Black game. In the 4 d3 anti-Berlin, Carlsen went for exchange on c6, carried out the favorable d4 plan and displayed great ingenuity with the Ra3 inclusion of his rook in the game. Anand was unable to cope with his problems and lost pretty much without putting any serious resistance.

However, already in the very next game he leveled the score by beating Magnus in the Bf4 Queen’s gambit with the help of some deep opening preparation. This immediately led to a different situation compared to the previous match, where Anand was unable to score a single win. This loss put Carlsen in a difficult psychological situation.

The subsequent course of the match proved that Carlsen was slightly shaken. After two quiet draws, the crucial sixth game of the match happened. After building typical Carlsen pressure in a typical queenless position, Magnus suddenly committed a horrible 26 Kd2??.

   [Event "?"]  [Site "?"]  [Date "????.??.??"]  [Round "?"]  [White "New game"]  [Black "?"]  [Result "*"]  [SetUp "1"]  [FEN "6rr/1k3p2/1pb1p1np/p1p4R/2P3R1/2P1B3/P1BK1PP1/8 b - - 0 26"]  [PlyCount "1"]   {Magnus has just played 26 Kd2??} 26... a4 $4 {Played instantly by Ananad} (  26... Ne5 {Could have exploited Magnus' mistake. After} 27. Rxg8 Nxc4+ 28. Kd3  Nb2+ 29. Ke2 Rxg8 30. g3 Rd8 31. Rxh6 Bb5+ {Black is a clear pawn up}) *   

Who knows which course would the chess history take if Anand exploited this chance.

After this glimpse of luck, the remainder of the match resembled the Chennai encounter. Magnus clearly gained confidence, and after a couple of draws also won the 11th games, by breaching Anand’s Berlin endgame. Thus, with the score standing at 6.5-4.5 (or 3-1 in terms of decisive games), Carlsen won the match before the end and managed to retain his crown.

The post Anand – Carlsen World Chess Championship 2014 appeared first on Chessentials.

Therefore, his match against the new challenger, the Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen in 2013 was awaited with great anticipation. Magnus has been a serious contender already in the previous World Championship Cycle. But back in the day, he took a surprising decision – he withdrew from the Candidates tournament, as a way of protesting against the knock-out format.

In 2013, though, the format of the Candidates tournament was changed to round-robin. This time Carlsen participated, after qualifying via average rating. Together with Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk and Vassily Ivanchuk (Chess World Cup 2011 qualifiers), Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik (other two rating qualifiers), Teimour Radjabov (Organizer Wild Card) and Boris Gelfand (runner-up of the previous World Championship), he gathered in London in March to determine Vishy’s challenger.

Carlsen and Aronian were considered as the main pre-tournament favorites. And indeed, after the first half of the tournament, they were tied for first, one and a half point ahead of Kramnik and Svidler. But then, an incredible turn of events started unfolding.

First of all, Levon Aronian lost three games in the second half. On the other hand, Kramnik started berserking and won four games. Carlsen managed to maintain his lead until round 12, when he lost to Ivanchuk, allowing Kramnik to overtake him by half a point.

In round 13, Carlsen ground down Radjabov in an epic endgame, while Kramnik drew with Gelfand. Before the last round, the players were tied, but Carlsen had a superior tie-break (more wins). Carlsen was playing White, but incredibly enough – lost against Svidler. Alas, since Kramnik didn’t think such a result is very probably, he played for the win with the Black pieces and went for a risky Pirc. His opponent, Ivanchuk, gained a firm advantage and went on to outplay him from the beginning of the end.

This dramatic turn of events allowed Carlsen to win the tournament and challenge Anand.  The match took place on Anand’s home soil, in the Indian city of Chennai, from 8th to 22nd November 2013.

Although Anand had a huge support of the home crowd, Carlsen has been regarded as a huge favorite. The Norwegian has been the youngest player ever to break the 2800 rating barrier, has been the World number one since 2010 and has been dominating tournament play, while Anand hasn’t won a super-tournament for quite some time.

Most of the forecasts ignored their head-to-head score, which was the only thing standing heavily in Anand’s favor (6-3 in terms of decisive games). Anand won many games long before the match when Carlsen was much younger and still under development.

The match itself confirmed the pre-match forecasts. After the first four games, in which Carlsen played cautiously with White (1.Nf3) and solidly with Black (the infamous Berlin Defence), he managed to open his account after outplaying Anand in typical Carlsen style in a Queen Gambit endgame.

Carlsen immediately built-up on his success in the sixth game, where he outplayed Anand in yet another endgame. This time, Anand avoided the Berlin endgame in favor of 4 d3, but didn’t gain any substantial advantage. In a resulting rook endgame, Carlsen skillfully built pressure, sacrificed his queenside pawns for activity, and exploited Anand’s error by creating a strong passed f-pawn that ultimately decided the game.

This win put Carlsen firmly in control. Anand, not giving up completely, switched to d4 and chose the very sharp 4 f3 system in the 9th game, obtaining precisely what he wanted; a sharp position with mutual chances.

However, Carlsen didn’t falter, defended brilliantly, and went on to win that game as well after Anand blundered in a very complicated position.

After a quick draw in game ten, Carlsen won the match ahead of schedule and became the World Champion. The chess public saw this as a logical outcome of his dominance established over the preceding couple of years.

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After the 2010 cycle, FIDE decided to change the qualifying format once again. Instead of the World cup followed by a final challenger match, an eight-player Candidates tournament, held in the form of the knock-out matches, was introduced.

A number of players and associations protested against the new format. The world number two (and the future World Champion) Magnus Carlsen even withdrew from the tournament (and was replaced by Grischuk). In the official letter to FIDE, he stated that:

„Reigning champion privileges, the long (five year) span of the cycle, changes made during the cycle resulting in a new format (Candidates) that no World Champion has had to go through since Kasparov, puzzling ranking criteria, as well as the shallow ceaseless match-after-match concept, are all less than satisfactory in my opinion.“

(Source: Chessbase: Magnus Carlsen drops out of World Championship Cycle)

The other participants were determined on the basis on the several criteria:

• Loser of the World Chess Championship 2010
• Winner of the World Cup 2009
• First three prize winners in the Grand Prix Series 2008-2010
• Two best rated players (based on average of July 2009 and January 2010 ratings)
• Tournament organizer wild card

Despite Carlsen’s absence, the tournament was held as planned. Boris Gelfand, the number four seed, emerged as a somewhat surprising winner after beating Veselin Topalov, Gata Kamsky and Alexander Grischuk, respectively. Thus, he gained the right to challenge Anand in a match for the World Title.

The Anand – Gelfand match took place between the 10th and 30th May of 2012 in Moscow, Russia. The same format from the previous matches was retained: 12 classical games were played with the traditional time control, with the potential blitz/rapid tiebreak in the event of the tie.

Despite being one of the „oldest“ World Championship matches in the history (both players have crossed the 40 year age barrier), the match was extremely close and hard fought. By employing Grünfeld defence and Sicilian Sveshnikov with the Black pieces, Gelfand neutralized Anand’s White pieces rather effectively. On the other hand, with the White pieces, he kept probing Anand’s customary Semi-Slav Meran Defence After series of six draws, he managed to open his account with a win in the game seven.

The turning point happened in the 8th game. Anand switched to the sharp 3 f3 system against the Grünfeld. Gelfand answered with the somewhat rare 3… c5 move. He quickly miscalculated a tactical trick, got his queen trapped as early as move 17 and was forced to resign. This game was the shortest lost in the history of the World Chess Championship.

After the eight-game, a series of four draws followed.  Once again after Kramnik – Topalov, a rapid tiebreak ensued.  Anand probably had nothing against such a turn of events, as he has always been considered as a very strong player with the faster time controls.

And indeed, the rapid tiebreak was dominated by Anand.  After winning the second rapid game (game 14 overall), he won the match and retained his title.

Despite losing by a very narrow margin, Gelfand remained a true gentleman. Even though he felt he wasn’t inferior in the course of the match, he congratulated Anand. He also revealed that he declined the help of Garry Kasparov before the match because Kasparov was Anand’s helper in his previous match against Kramnik.

A true class act.

SOURCES

Wikipedia: World Chess Championship 2012

Magnus Carlsen drops out of World Championship Cycle

ChessVibes: Boris Gelfand Interview – Part 1

ChessVibes: Boris Gelfand Interview – Part 2

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As you might recall, after he lost the 2006 match, Veselin Topalov also lost the right to participate in the 2007 World Chess Championship Tournament. In return, FIDE decided to grant him special privileges in the next World Championship Cycle. He was seeded directly in the final of the qualifying cycle, where he had to face the winner of the World Cup 2007 tournament – Gata Kamsky. By winning this final Candidates match in February of 2009, Topalov gained the right for yet another shot at the World Crown.

Anand – Topalov match took place in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 24 April to 13 May 2010. Considering that Sofia is the hometown of Topalov, Anand was granted the opportunity to change the venue of play before the match, but he didn’t have any objections and opted not to do so.

Initially, the match was supposed to start a day earlier, but the ash emissions from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull delay Anand’s flight to Sofia. When the match finally began, it turned out to be as entertaining and fighting as the aforementioned Kramnik – Topalov and Anand – Kramnik matches.

Already in the first game, there was a decisive result. Anand chose to surprise Topalov by employing the Grünfeld defence, instead of the Semi-Slav variation he played exclusively in his match against Kramnik. However, Topalov seemed prepared and opened his account after Anand forgot his preparation on the move 23 (!). After this, Anand would revert back to Slav, employing the Grünfeld only once in the remainder of the match.

However, immediately in the 2nd game, Anand leveled the scores by displaying his mastery in a Catalan endgame. Then after a draw in the 3rd game, he again won with the White pieces, after producing a nice 10 Na3! novelty in another variation of the Catalan.

In the 8th game, it was Topalov’s turn to equalize the score. In a Slav endgame, he held the advantage for a long time, then threw it away. But Anand was the last to make a mistake and Topalov managed to win after Anand blundered heavily in seemingly drawn opposite bishops endgame.

Thus, the intrigue in the match was maintained until the very end. Before the 12th game, the score was equal. Anand deviated from his beloved Slav and employed the drawish Lasker defence, indicating his willingness to play the rapid tiebreaks.

Topalov, who lost to Kramnik on tiebreaks in 2006 didn’t want to settle for a draw. He chose to play riskily, grabbed a pawn and subjected himself to an attack. In the end, he lost a very complicated battle. Therefore, with the only win for the player with the Black pieces in the match, Anand defended his title and remained on the throne.

After the match, Anand disclosed the long list of seconds; except from his regular helpers that also helped him in the previous match with Kramnik (Peter Heine Nielsen, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Surya Ganguly and Radoslaw Wojtaszek), he also received help from Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. The last name on this list shouldn’t be surprising, after the infamous „toiletgate“ in Elista in 2006, Kramnik wasn’t on speaking terms with Topalov. Even though he lost to Anand only two years ago, he was more than willing to help him.

On the other hand, the names of Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen were less expected. In an interview after the match, Anand himself admitted he didn’t expect Garry’s call. As for Magnus, he served as a training partner already in 2008. But with hindsight, it is still somewhat strange Anand played training games against a player he would face in a „real match“ only three years later.

Alas, sometimes Caissa’s ways are rather strange.

Sources:

Wikipedia: Chess World Cup 2007

Wikipedia: World Chess Championship 2010

Chessgames: Anand – Topalov World Chess Championship 2010

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