by Ted Welch
Fri Nov 15th, 2013 at 01:43:07 PM EST
Carlsen beats Anand in Game 5 of World Chess Championship Nov 15, 2013
CHENNAI: The worst fears for the chess fans backing defending champion Viswanathan Anand came true as the Indian blundered in a drawn endgame to go down against challenger Magnus Carlsen in the fifth game of the World Chess Championship on Friday.
...
The hallmark of Carlsen's play has been to mesmerize opponents from seemingly innocuous positions and to make them commit mistakes. This was exactly what happened at the Hyatt.
You can follow game 5 move by move here:
http://www.chessvibes.com/carlsen-beats-anand-in-world-championship-game-5
and there's detailed analysis here:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/chess/Anand-vs-Carlsen-Moves-in-the-fifth-game/articleshow
/25839822.cms
But you'll have to look hard to find much about it in UK media - even the Guardian hasn't reported it yet, despite this yesterday:
Despite there being 20,000 committed club chess players in the UK, several hundred thousand casual players and a strong chess presence in schools, especially at primary level, this great event is being seriously under-reported. What coverage there has been is of Carlsen, who is portrayed as a kind of geeky Matt Damon. There is no attempt to get to grips with the actual chess.
The game has slipped off the mainstream media agenda in the UK. In India and Norway, there is of course huge excitement about the match ...
But in the UK, one of the top chess-playing nations in the 1980s and 90s as a result of the generation of players led by Nigel Short who were inspired by Fischer's victory in Iceland, it has been marginalised. Hence my Amis-like fantasy of Premier League games being played in front of a handful of spectators at tatty grounds, while chess is shown live on TV with Alan Hansen bemoaning the inadequacies of the Sicilian Defence.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2013/nov/14/chess-world-championship-fallen-out-of-love
Kasparov on why he's rooting for Carlsen:
Some have suggested my rooting loyalties should lie with my fellow "old man," Anand, and not with the 22-year-old who broke my rating record and who will share my record as youngest world champion ever should he prevail in Chennai. But while I cannot say I feel joy when one of my records falls, a win for Carlsen will also be a win for the chess world. Changing of the guard, new blood, a fresh face - all these clichés are clichés for a reason. Magnus is a dynamic young man eager to promote the sport, to raise its profile along with his own, and who can inspire a new generation of chess kids (and chess sponsors!) around the world.
Anand is a fantastic chessplayer who brings honor to the sport and to his nation with his skill and his boundless good nature. If he wins this match his high place on chess Olympus is assured. I am predicting a Carlsen victory because of his talent, his results, and the tides of chess history. I am rooting for a Carlsen victory because a new generation deserves a new champion. Most of all, I am hoping for big games, a hard fight, and a great boost for chess around the world as a legend and a legend in the making do battle in Chennai.
http://en.chessbase.com/post/kasparov-on-anand-vs-carlsen
