As the curtain raises

"Every athlete has a baseline self-image in his subconscious mind that determines how well he plays. It acts like a sensor or thermostat that regulates performance" - Rudi V.Webster

The return of Anand - Carlsen match: Carlsen is sitting on the throne magnificently, awaiting Anand, who earned the match by undergoing litmus test and defying the acerbic prognosis which just chose to ignore him simply! 

Funny how this world is ready to drop someone so great so abruptly... just because he failed……  Agreed certain mistakes during certain phases in that lost match looked very basal. But that has nothing to do with Anand’s ability to play as well as he can! After all he was at the helm for a substantial period playing fantastic chess and has been a serious force with his onboard play and off-the-board preparation. Moreover, Chess or for that matter any sport is never error free - there is nothing called as perfect play.  Every player, even the best of bests is susceptible to errors and the winner is the one who makes the last but one mistake!  The joy of any sport and more so in chess lies in inducing a player to commit mistake and the exploitation of which glorifies the game!   

Vishy Anand is a conjurer and has created innumerable masterpieces.  The spell that he cast on us in the past two decades may be on its wane, but in all probability might still have something up his sleeves to enthral us for some more time!

Anand whom we know!

Carlsen,M - Anand,V : 0-1

Anand took his King for a stroll in the park from g8 to c7, to defy a spirited attack by Carlsen in Corus, 2008!

Anand,V - Topalov,V 1-0

A fine moment in his match against Topalov for World title, in 2010. Anand unleashed a relentless attack in this ultra sharp opening where White sacrifices a pawn for initiative. Such openings despite the help of engines are unfathomably sharp and always offer possibilities to both sides. Anand kept throwing material to keep black pieces discordant and delivered coup de grace with Nh6!

Enigmatic Magnus Carlsen!

Magnus Carlsen is a phenomenon to reckon with and the torch bearer for the future. The pain that his opponents feel when inflicted is not because of how he hit them; more precisely it is because of not knowing what hit them!  Carlsen is an enigma and is yet to be fathomed!

See how Carlsen approaches chess from obscure angles - literally!

Carlsen's greatest strength is his conviction: he seems so sure of himself and what he does.  We call someone a star because he or she outshines others and look very conspicuous by their sparkling talent.  Carlsen is a star of unique order, as he is creating a unique brand of chess: the simplicity of his moves is just a facade covering his deep and unique approach to this game.

Carlsen,M - Anand,V 1-0

(final position from their game in Bilbao, 2012)

One of the finest constriction by the Boa!  Five moves earlier, the knight moved to an innocuous square "h3" to pave way for the queen to h6 and then returned to g5!  Anand's pieces started suffocating and he resigned in the above position, not because he faced immediate mate or material loss, but just because he lacked any purposeful move!

The way Carlsen constructs his position looks deceptively simple at times even naive, but is impregnated with the essence of his unique understanding - the way he enables his pieces spring to life, thereafter!

Take a look at this move against Hikaru in London 2010.

His last move was Rae1!? He commented that he put the rook there because he wasn't sure where to put it!  The rook later assumed purposeful role and so did his other pieces. When in doubt, he does not commit anything and just makes a move which is fairly good enough, postponing the decisive moves till the position gets ripe enough. 

This essentially is the way Carlsen hoodwinks his opponents!

Carlsen made a significant statement in 2011 “not winning a tournament is not an option for me, unless it’s no longer theoretically possible” and is living by it most of the times. His ascent to top was quick and steep and he has been drifting apart, distancing his closest rival by notches………till recently...... when he showed signs of yielding a bit. At least he has proved that he is human and he can lose!  The latest occasion where he failed to win the tournament saw one of his prospective future rivals Caruana, who played a dream tournament, outdistancing him by a huge chunk of points. Probably Carlsen realised that there are others around him to reckon with. Still Carlsen’s tenure is very young and the way he perceives chess, the future belongs to him and whoever manages to outclass his ability to perceive chess at quantum level and seek something that eludes others!

Coming to Anand:  November 2013, Chennai seems a far way behind, which has been dissected and diagnosed and consigned to history. Yet, I would like to dust it out for a prelude before I take a peep into what we might……see, when the November 2014 unfolds in Sochi!

Anand and Carlsen in Chennai - November 2013

The professional lives of great players take-off magnificently and they keep soaring high and high till they reach a cruising altitude and sustain the journey and the magical spell that they cast on others! At times, there may be some turbulence which they overcome by their sheer greatness. But, there comes a time, when the same players start dropping altitude, abiding the law of nature, which does not necessarily mean an unscheduled landing but a warning signal that the cruising is done with and they need to start making few adjustments if they have to continue their journey for some more time.

Roger Federer took him and tennis to a different realm: the tennis racquet was a mere prop in his hands and everything else happened.  The warning came in the form of Nadal and suddenly the great magician started seeing terrestrial objects! People started writing eulogy but he soared high in brief periods and reclaimed his losing grounds. He still has some magic left in him and to cast its spell, he needs to forget his self!

Sachin Tendulkar, the magical cricketer who has created enough records for later generations to pursue for at least a quarter century to come, denied himself of a solitary hundred, for almost two years, so as to reach hundredth hundred! He was playing as if he forgot cricket - mind you cricket, not his greatness! Even a granny started talking how he does not know to defend the ball from hitting the wickets! One fine day Sachin managed to forget himself to allow that final hundred happen and laid down his bat gracefully on his own terms!

When it comes to showing the doors, this world is merciless and forgets 17 grand slams, or 99 grand centuries, or 5 times world championship title.  People are prepared to get mesmerised and appreciate the magical spell that is cast on them, only till that moment… 

Anand in Chennai 2013

His customary smile disappeared, and his face looked grim, he was circumspect and was more hopeful of avoiding mistakes rather than the conviction needed for outwitting his opposition.

Vishy in Chennai was his own making and Carlsen was only a means. It started probably much before the previous world championship which he played against Gelfand in 2012, but intensified and became conspicuous during 2011-12. Moscow 2011 for example where he struggled and failed to win or even lose one game! 

Around this time Vladimir Kramnik made a perfect remark to a question on Anand by Dirk Jan in NIC: Question: “Anand’s current position is hard to assess. He may be preparing for the world championship match, but I don’t think he dropped below 2800 on purpose. What happened to him?” 

Answer: “He (Anand) should mainly change something in his head. I am pretty sure he is going to do it, because he is an experienced player and he understands everything. Only he knows exactly what happened. What was pretty obvious was that he was not taking too much risk. And his game is one of risking, even being provocative, going for worse positions in a sharp, calculating game. This is his main strength, and when he is not going for it, he wins very few games. It also could mean that he was trying something, that he wanted to see how he would fare if he played a different type of chess. In that case it was a clear indication that it didn’t really work. Or maybe it was something psychological, that he was not ready to take big risks. But whatever it is, it is clear that he should change his game if he wants to win a world championship match and if he still wants to fight for first place in any tournament which, going by his strength, he obviously still can.”

Anand probably tried this ‘different approach’ in his match against Gelfand and in the tournaments that followed and struggled. And this probably blunted his penchant for risk taking, further and further…

Around this time, Anand spoke his mind in an interview: “It’s very difficult to enjoy the World Championship. I think you can enjoy having been in one. Maybe it’s like running in the morning. Nobody is really happy getting out of bed, but when you get back you go, yeah, it’s good that I went for a run…” and how can you expect to play a game with this thought process going inside your mind - forget a world championship! He further mulled over the mistakes that showed up regularly in his games and the disappearance of his records…one by one.

In short, he thought and spoke of everything else other than the way how he forgot playing his natural way! The mistakes happened because he was not playing his brand of chess and when he sat in front of Magnus Carlsen in Chennai, Anand’s fear of mistakes creeping in his play took charge and pulled him down and the world quickly written him off and was even prepared to give him a voluntary retirement!

Resurgence!

And this proved to be the trigger for him to introspect and prick the bubble of self-doubt. After all, greatness is not attained suddenly and hence does not fade suddenly either. Yes, he will lay down his board one day, but it is upto him to decide that day.

For now, he raised literally like a phoenix in Khanty Mansiysk, rediscovering himself and his strengths and continued it by winning Bilbao masters.

Anand,V - Aronian,L 1-0

The final position of Anand's first game in the 2014 candidates; and what a game!  Anand's bishops overpowered Aronian's pieces, especially this knight, which found no place to escape!

Anand,V - Vallejo Pons,F 1-0

(Final position in Bilbao, 2014 )

Anand took a firm grip of the d-file and his knight made subtle hops and assumed a significant outpost on "f5".  Chess mastery is all about making your opponent to respond to your calls and ward of anything that he initiates. This game is a fine example of this aspect.

In the same interview that appeared in NIC 2012/4, Vishy said that, after his play in Tal memorial in 2011, people got a sense that he was completely gone and said, “I will try to do better, but I think I would like to try it in such a way that I will enjoy a Chess tournament again.”

Well, it took him almost two years to actualise what he meant by that last statement! 

Anand now seems to have overcome his psychological barriers and probably must have started enjoying his play, which at this level is a crucial factor. Like circumspection & self doubt, ‘enjoying what you do’ is also infectious and self perpetuating and in all probability this would manifest in his play against Carlsen.

At the least, Carlsen will find the real Anand sitting across the board this time!  

The smiles are back! 

Is that last photo indicating that Vishy is back to "firing mode"!? 

In Sochi, Anand has nothing to lose, and Carlsen has! And with this role reversal from last November to this November, the pressure shifts shoulders. The monkey that Anand offloaded has climbed over Carlsen’s shoulder and Carlsen got a glimpse of what not winning a tournament feels like, at a wrong time. The future may belong to him, but for the moment things look level and I am tempted to give the odds in favour of Anand, but only by the thinnest margin - 51:49, not because I am an Indian but as Kramnik said Anand obviously still can!

Having said that, the player who enjoys his chess the most will win and if both the players enjoy and play to their best, we are in for some treat!

The canvas is ready, the colors and brushes are in readiness, the artists are also ready and so we are - "Let the art begin"!