Honours were split in game 1 of the World Chess Championship being held in Sochi, Russia. The game was too sharp for an opening game in top level championship. Anand engineered it that way and yet became tense as the game went on.
The opening (Grunfeld Defence) was partially expected since Anand was sure to switch to d4 opening given his excruciating experience with e4 against the world champion. Carlsen was tentative in the opening game though he made a robust comeback in the middle game. Anand could draw the game thanks to a brilliant move towards the forcible end.
The game has ruffled Anand a little more than Carlsen. This has some predictive value. After all, in chess as in life, the more unruffled are the ultimate winners.
Carlsen has a 71-point lead over Anand in the current Elo rating. Overpowering an opponent with such a lead in a 12-game match can only be a trans-Six Sigma event. Anand is now ranked sixth in the rating. The four who rank between the championship players are Caruana, Topalov, Aronian and Grischuk. Interestingly all the top six belong to different countries namely Norway, Italy, Bulgaria, Armenia, Russia and India respectively.
The opening (Grunfeld Defence) was partially expected since Anand was sure to switch to d4 opening given his excruciating experience with e4 against the world champion. Carlsen was tentative in the opening game though he made a robust comeback in the middle game. Anand could draw the game thanks to a brilliant move towards the forcible end.
The game has ruffled Anand a little more than Carlsen. This has some predictive value. After all, in chess as in life, the more unruffled are the ultimate winners.
Carlsen has a 71-point lead over Anand in the current Elo rating. Overpowering an opponent with such a lead in a 12-game match can only be a trans-Six Sigma event. Anand is now ranked sixth in the rating. The four who rank between the championship players are Caruana, Topalov, Aronian and Grischuk. Interestingly all the top six belong to different countries namely Norway, Italy, Bulgaria, Armenia, Russia and India respectively.
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