World Chess Championship: Anand - Carlsen: Game - 8: "Game, set, Championship point"

Game - 8: "Game, Set, Championship point"

"There are places where the mind dies so that a truth which is its very denial may be born", said Albert Camus. 

I would like to substitute "places" with "times" and extrapolate Camus words to the match situation. The truth is probably hours away from being born!

The much awaited storm brew and looked promising, but was weakened before nearing the coast by an anti-storm phenomenon called "Magnus Carlsen".

This was a match where one side made certain critical unforced errors and the other capitalised on it, on every occasion.

Perhaps, the match of the wits amongst these two players were seriously equal and therefore, when one side tried side-stepping to tilt the scale…it failed!

Was it not that a world championship match like this expected to strive and showcase serious dissertation - which if not radically redefining certain aspects, at least show a few new path…?

We shall indulge in a study of what was done, after the match; for now let us agree that the scale is seriously imbalanced and impoverished.

This game, and the defence by Magnus Carlsen, where he dodged Anand's sword with the sole strength of a pawn… his seemingly carefree disposition… his seemingly carefree but deceptive moves… Are we seeing some new pattern and patent emerging!?

Napoleon, they say, won the war at Grenoble by simply showing his hat!!

And what shall we say about Carlsen!?

Is the metamorphosis of this pawn into a new queen, a prognosis to the birth of a new king!?

Except the playing arena, everywhere along side the game on the computer screen, engines were deployed to 'evaluate' the position and the countenance of those who deployed them bore the impact of the assessment made…

The joy element in 'discovering' a line, a lightning flash of a move out of the blue, a sudden spark in the faces for finding a denouement… am I talking history!?

But chess, my friend, is at cross roads: a war between the engines and human minds is being waged and there is an imminent danger of the "human element" being plucked cruelly out of the scheme of things, which would render the game, lifeless, like machine cut diamonds.

Perhaps, you might say the machine cut is immaculate, in its size and proportions. But, beauty is not weighed over the scale of perfection and proportion!

Goethe said, "Reality must give the motive, the points to be expressed - the kernel; but to work out of it a beautiful animated whole, belongs to the poet."

The postmortem will commence and the moves, opening choices etc would be dissected and will be laden with opinions. But, I would prefer to at least mock a Goethe's "Poet", tomorrow or a day or two later!