Legendary Garry Kasparov goes Harry Potter-ish About Anand vs Carlsen: Won't be a Walkover for Carlsen...

Garry Kasparov's opinion on Anand vs Carlsen World Chess Championship in Chennai: By the time you read this, there have already been more than 2.5 thousand shares on Facebook of Garry Kasparov's column in the Business Insider (Photos (c) Garry Kasparov). But, chess aside, we know what Kasparov has been reading lately! ;) Most often Garry Kasparov is misunderstood by the Indian media whenever he utters anything against Viswanathan Anand. However, seen in their most chess-logical context, can anyone even refute what Kasparov says?

Garry Kasparov: A Win For Carlsen In The Upcoming World Championship Match Will Be A Huge Win For The Chess World

Kasparov and Anand atop the World Trade Center prior to their 1995 World Championship match in New York City. Mayor Rudy Giuliani made the honorary first move. Kasparov won the match with 4 wins, 1 loss and 13 draws.

 

Garry Kasparov is the 13th World Chess Champion and was the world’s #1-ranked player for 20 years, until he retired in 2005.
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I am about to head to India, where I will first speak at the THiNK conference in Goa before heading to Chennai to visit the much-anticipated world championship match between defending champion Viswanathan Anand, playing in his native city, and young Norwegian challenger Magnus Carlsen.

I won’t be there for the first game of the match on the 9th, but will arrive for games three and four before heading further east with Ignatius Leong on my first tour of Asian chess federations as part of my campaign for the presidency of the international chess federation, FIDE.

I am very familiar with both players, for different reasons, and of course I could not miss this spectacle. Anand was one of my top rivals for what I could call the second half of my chess career if I break it into “Karpov” and “post-Karpov” eras. As the great Anatoly finally slowed, Anand was one of the leaders of the new generation to challenge me at top events like Linares, along with Ivanchuk and Kramnik, to name but two others.

Anand would not wait long before challenging me in a world championship match, in 1995. And everyone realized that despite that loss to me in New York he would be a powerful force for many years to come – although I doubt even Vishy imagined then it would be quite so long! Young tigers do not think decades ahead. When I retired in 2005, I reminded Anand that now he was the “old man” of the circuit, fighting off the kids like Carlsen who were born in the same decade Vishy and I faced off high atop the World Trade Center.

 

Garry Kasparov training Magnus Carlsen in Croatia in 2009

This is one of the most anticipated matches in recent history and it is no insult to Anand, whose credentials are beyond doubt, that most of the anticipation circles around the 22-year-old challenger.

Magnus Carlsen rocketed to the top of the rating list almost without pause, displaying a consistency and tenacity rare in a young player to accompany his limitless talent.

Many gifted youngsters play impressive games; it was Carlsen’s will to win that set him apart. And though I was not exactly looking for a job as a coach when we worked together for a year in 2009, how could I resist?

I am no bearded Dumbledore, but it was impossible not to see Magnus as a type of Harry Potter, a super-talent destined to become one the greatest and to leave a deep mark (a lightning bolt?) on our ancient game. Carlsen enters the match as the obvious favorite despite his inexperience simply based on how superior his chess performance of the past few years has been to that of Anand, who has declined from his peak in every observable way. Nor can history be ignored. Carlsen is exactly half Anand’s age and the new generation is rarely turned back.

But when I was asked at my Stanford appearance last Sunday if I thought the match would be a walkover for Carlsen, my answer was emphatically negative. Carlsen is the favorite because results and objective quality must matter, but it will not be easy and it is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which he loses the match. Anand has deep experience at every level and that carries with it practical preparation advantages as well as psychological preparedness. According to Anand, he has been working very hard for this match, harder than ever in his life.

And while the world champion has never given much attention to matters of chess history or his legacy, he must know that his entire career will gain an extraordinary new dimension should he defeat the Norwegian wunderkind against the odds. Plus, Anand is playing at home, and while this can create negative pressure it is also a very powerful motivational force. It is much harder to end a training session when you know the eyes of a billion Indians will be on you! And with deep preparation there is always the chance of a powerful surprise or two, and in such a short match (just 12 games), an early shock could tip the match.

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.

About the Author: Garry Kasparov is the 13th World Chess Champion and was the world’s #1-ranked player for 20 years, until he retired in 2005. He is the Chairman of the NY-based Human Rights Foundation and his Kasparov Chess Foundation works to support chess in education around the world. For more information, including his comments during the Anand- Carlsen match, see his official site, Facebook and Twitter. 

* All the posts on our site mentioning Garry Kasparov 

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World Chess Championship Patron Jayalalitha to Inaugurate Anand vs Carlsen Match at Gala Event

Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will inaugurate the FIDE World Chess Championship Match 2013 on Thursday at a grand function at Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai. The actual match (of 12 games and tiebreaker if required) between five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand (43) and challenger Magnus Carlsen (22) of Norway will begin on Saturday.

The Chief Minister, who is the patron for the event, allocated Rs 29 crore for bringing the chess championship to Chennai. 

Jayalalithaa Jayaram (born 24 February 1948), commonly referred to as Jayalalithaa, is the Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. She was a popular film star in Indian cinema before her entry into politics, having appeared as main female lead heroine in over 140 films which includes films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and worked in one Hindi film. She is the incumbent general secretary of the political party All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). She is called Amma ('Mother') and sometimes Puratchi Thalaivi ('Revolutionary Leader') by her supporters.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president, Federation of Internationale Des Echecs (FIDE) will preside over the function. Tamil Nadu School Education Minister and Tamil Nadu State Chess Association president P R Venkatrama Raja will participate in the inaugural function, which will be followed by cultural programmes.

The match will take place at Hotel Hyatt Regency in Teynampet. About 400 people can witness the games by being seated in the hall separated from the players by a glass wall.

Last year, Anand successfully defended his title after defeating challenger Boris Gelfand in Moscow. After winning the title in Mexico in 2007, he defended it in Bonn (2008) and Sofia (2010). Anand first became world champion in 2000 after beating Alexei Shirov of Latvia in Tehran. Besides, he won the FIDE World Rapid Championship in 2003.

Magnus Carlsen (World No 1 in the FIDE rankings) won the Candidates Tournament 2013 played in London to become Anand’s official challenger. Carlsen has the highest FIDE elo rating of 2862 points. -- Agencies

* The Anand timeline

* How Carlsen came to be the one

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Friends to Chess Legends: Ram Bhat on Vishy Anand, Tarjei J. Svensen on Magnus Carlsen

Friends to Chess Legends: World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand and his Challenger Magnus Carlsen are both known as down to earth people who charm everyone they meet. Here are two interesting features: The first is in the Deccan Chronicle with Viswanathan Anand's friend Ram Bhat speaking about their friendship. The second is by
Tarjei J. Svensen speaking about Magnus Carlsen. The feature made it to the front page of the Indian Express. Bhat went on to become a hotelier and has always been at Anand's place for each of the latter's world title wins. Svensen went on to become a journalist and has been with Carlsen right through. 

When they first met... and friendship was forged forever:

Ram Bhat remembers Anand joining Class VI in Don Bosco after he returned from the Philippines. “He brought a fancy box type school bag that had wheels to pull it around. I used to sit on that box and irritate Anand. He will get angry, but he will not show it. Despite feeling displeased, he never raised his voice." Ram Bhat was Anand's bench mate at the Egmore school.

But by class nine, Ram was clear that Anand was in a different league. “Till class 8 or 9, he was a normal kid. Once he won the national junior and senior championships, we saw very little of him in school,“ said Ram, who added that in class 12, Anand's pre-board exam marks were average, but within two weeks, the scores improved and he got 200 in maths and chemistry and 192 in physics in the public exam.

“He was able to score high marks due to his attitude and grasping power. Anand was always in top five in class. We used to wonder what would have happened if he had attended classes as a regular student.

On the other hand, Svensen remembers: When I first saw Carlsen as a nine-year-old in April 2000, I knew he was something special. It may sound like a cliché, but he was different. Not only because he looked around three to four years younger than his actual age, but because he had completely outplayed a strong friend of mine to reach a winning position. 

He made a couple of mistakes and drew the game, but he had already made a huge impression on everyone. Still, the fact that this shy little kid would become the world's best chess player and a possible world chess champion was beyond all expectation. At that time, I attended Grandmaster Simen Agdestein's chess class at the Norwegian High School for Top Athletes.

For complete stories by these friends of the two participants of the World Chess Championship 2013 read Indian Express (Svensen) and Deccan Chronicle (Ram Bhat).

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Memorable Anecdotes by Stewart Reuben: On Organising Major Chess Events

Stewart Reuben (March, 1939) is a British chess player, organiser, arbiter and author. He has also been a professional poker player - one of Britain's foremost. Reuben has officiated at and/or organised a number of high-level chess events held in Britain and elsewhere, including the world chess championship, and was chief organiser of British Chess Championship Congresses for a number of years. 

Here is a special article by Stewart Reuben on the occasion of the Viswanathan Anand versus Magnus Carlsen World Chess Championship 2013. Enjoy.

Memorable Anecdotes by Stewart Reuben: On Organising Major Chess Events

Stewart Reuben is the only person you'll ever have heard of who has a life-sized statue of himself in his living room. He is the figure on the right. Photos (c) John Saunders (We must add for our readers, John Saunders is Associate Editor, CHESS Magazine, writer, photo-journalist, webmaster)

Memorable Anecdotes by Stewart Reuben: On Organising Major Chess Events

This is my Diamond Jubilee Year as a chess administrator. That is, I have been doing various jobs in chess for 60 years, since 1953 when I was 14 years old.

I was too sensible at 14 to attend the AGM of my adult chess club, Islington. It would have been really boring – or so I thought. Then the secretary of the club came to my huse and asked me to captain the Second Team in the Middlesex League, a county which is part of London. I was very flattered. Later, I realised that they had decided to run a second team in the league. Then they asked for volunteers and nobody was forthcoming. Somebody must have suggested, ‘What about that little kid Reuben?’ We lost to the first team in our first match, but finished ahead of them in the league by the end of the season. It took 49 years to replicate that success. Then I captained England II in the European Senior (over 60) Team Championship. Again we lost to the first team and again we finished ahead of them.

The same year I ran the school lunch-time chess club. I don’t remember how that came about. There were boys far older than me in the school and the activity was always very popular. A few years later we played a 100 board match against another London School and won 71½ - 28½. William Ellis School had just 600 pupils and our opponents ‘cheated’, fielding three teachers.. What is the equivalent Indian record? 

World Chess Champion Boris Spassky and Stewart Reuben in Gibraltar

I’ll concentrate for the remainder of the article mainly on major FIDE events as the World Championship is being held in Chennai a few days from now.

I was a tourist at the 1972 Spassky-Fischer Match in Reykjavik. The event had been arranged extremely well in Iceland, but they had failed to arrange for commentary in English. So they asked me to do it for one round. So, on 27 July 1972 I made my debut as a commentator.

World Championship 1972 Fischer – Spassky Game 8 

I had already explained that in this position Spassky had to look out for a standard combination. Then came 19…Nd7? (19…Qe5 was probably best and would have left White with just a small advantage.)

‘But I thought he couldn’t play that.’ I went through the continuation starting 20 Nd5 again. I asked the attentive audience, ‘Can anybody see a flaw in my analysis?’ 20 Nd5 Qxd2 21 Nxe7+ Kf8 22 Rxd2 Kxe7 23 Rxc4. The hall was silent. ‘Well. Spassky has blundered!’ I exclaimed. It takes chutzpah (a Jewish expression meaning nerve) for a 2200 player to say that about the World Champion.

Boris could have resigned after his 19th move blunder, but he played on for some time and I had to keep the audience entertained. Someone suggested that we look again at the position before the blunder; after all I had two demonstration boards. But I had to tell the audience that was impossible. I only had one complete set as people had stolen pieces as souvenirs.

The following round the organisers got Bent Larsen, then World Number 3, to do the commentary. My career in this field was temporarily at an end.

In 1975, I organised The Evening Standard London Chess Fortnight. I introduced commentary there, for the first time in Britain I believe. There was a whole roster of people who undertook this task. But, at the start of each round, there would often be an audience of just one. I would start things off and hand over when more people arrived. Again that takes chutzpah.

During the tournament I had a bet with my friend, David Levy, for $200 whether there would be an English Grandmaster within the next three years. We bet in dollars because there was so much inflation in Britain at that time. The following February I was on holiday in Tenerife with my friend Richard Beville. We were debating whether to buy an English newspaper. Then I saw a headline and exclaimed, ‘I’ve won $200!’ After getting a norm in the Evening Standard event in August, Tony Miles had achieved his second and last GM norm in the USSR in February. The then Secretary of the British Chess Federation has asked Tony to send him a telegram if he got his title – the first for a Briton. Tony did so and it read, ‘A telegram’. 

I organised my first British Championships in 1981 and continued to do so until 1997. I was also involved in its organisation in 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2013. Vaidyanathan Ravikumar, at that time Asian Junior Champion had asked to play in the Championship in 1980, but was turned down as his rating wasn’t high enough. He contacted me in 1981 and I phoned the President of the BCF asking whether we should let him in. We decided to do so and Ravi was a pioneer as the first Indian player in modern times to play in the British (Of course Sultan Khan had previously won it three times.) 

Later Indians used to come for the whole summer, to the British, the Lloyds Bank Masters (which I also organised) and the Benedictine International. I first met Viswanathan Anand when he was 13. I am very proud of the fact that I did a little to help Indian chess develop to the great powerhouse that it is today. In 1987 I even arranged a short match in London that Vishy won 2.5-1.5 against Jonthan Levitt.

Unfortunately the British became overwhelmed by the number of Indians. In 2003 there were over 100 and since then the event is open only to players from the British Isles. But we still see Ravi at the British and this year he did coaching and commentary. 
In 1982, I introduced earphone commentary at the Phillips & Drew/GLC Kings. This enables people to watch the games and hear analysis. One has to be very careful not to tell too many jokes. Of course I pioneered this development myself. 

In 1983, we organised the Acorn Computer World Chess Championship Semi-Finals in London. This featured the matches Kasparov – Korchnoi and Smyslov – Ribli. We arranged the whole event at very short notice, but nonetheless with considerable panache. The Opening Ceremony was held at 11 Downing Street; that is where the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) lives. But Florencio Campomanes, then FIDE President and I noticed they had got the drawing of lots ceremony wrong. Of course we said nothing, except to each other. 

I had asked the director of Acorn why they were sponsoring the match. He answered, ‘What do you want to know that for?’ It turned out later that their shares were being floated on the stock exchange at that time. Of course they wanted positive publicity during that period. I realised the company wasn’t going to last. Virtually all the money for the event went through my bank account as they only had two signatories for their accounts and simply signed a cheque to me for each tranche of money. How it was all ever audited, I have no idea. Indeed, it wasn’t long afterwards that they had to be rescued with a take-over. I did like a term the Managing Director coined at the Closing Ceremony. This was ‘a concentration of chess players’. Years later, I devised another one, ‘an argument of arbiters’.

The event took place just before Christmas. In those days matches were open-ended. If one had been drawn, there would have been a playoff lasting several days. GM Dr John Nunn calculated it was about 3/1 against that happening. This would have taken us through Christmas – and the hotel where the event was staged was closing down for the period. ‘What’s going to happen?’ I asked. The manager said, ‘Then we’ll keep the hotel open’. I strongly believe good organisation is in the pre-preparation. See the problems in advance and prepare to avoid them.

With matches it is not unusual for some games to be very short. It was also possible to take a time out. So we devised events such as Exhibition Games, Any Questions sessions and chess film shows to keep the paying spectators reasonably happy.

In 1984 we organised the London Docklands USSR v Rest of the World Match at just five days’ notice. The event took place in June, the busiest time of year for London hotels. Ray Keene asked me to find a hotel to put about 40 people. After about 50 phone calls I found one that had space because it had only just reopened. But they need confirmation and a deposit before 5 pm. I had to contact Ray, but had no idea where he was. Remember, that was before the days of mobile phones. Two phone calls later, I had him on the line and everything was arranged. But some of the accommodation was so cramped it seemed the bed was bigger than the room.I phoned the public relations company and heard the person to whom I was speaking call across the room. ‘I’ve got somebody on the line who knows something about this event’. At the Opening Ceremony the then President of the British Chess Federation said, ‘I don’t know why anybody would want to come here.’ Of course that was the whole point of the exercise. The London Dockland Area was in the whole process of being redeveloped. I apologised to the director of the development corporation. ‘We could take him out and shoot him’. ‘No, no need, he said, ‘Just attach a cement bucket to his legs and throw him off the dock.’ 10 TV stations attended the event from all over the world. The LDCC said this was the first time they had ever received positive publicity and they supported several other chess events in the next couple of years. 

I said that next time they would ask us to organise the Olympiad at one days’ notice. One of my members of staff, Jill Triggs, said, ‘Oh no, Stewart; we’ll need at least three days to get it right’.

In 1986, we organised the first half, 12 games, of the Greater London Council World Championship match between Kasparov and Karpov. The second half was held in Leningrad (now St Petersburg). This time there was ample time for advance planning. But I had a major problem. I was also in charge of The British Championships which were due to start the same day in Southampton. I telephoned my predecessor Gerry Walsh and explained the situation. He immediately said the nicest thing anybody has ever said to me. ‘Just ask, I’ll do whatever you need.’ So he acted as onsite manager of the British and I visited the event whenever possible. This resulted in my having three bedrooms for the first two weeks, one at home, one in Southampton and one in the Park Lane Hotel where the World Championship was taking place. I just looked it up and only eight Indians played in the British and Ladies Championships in 1986. The juniors had yet to discover the lure of playing in the age group events.

As usual the event was covered by the national BBC TV station. A few weeks before the event, I was telephoned by a researcher for commercial TV. They were interested in also doing programmes. Ray and I met him at the hotel. ‘We would like to do 45 minute programmes the following day and be the first to announce the results.’ I responded immediately, ‘Give us a million pounds and we’ll think how that can be achieved.’ Ray chipped in, ’45 minutes it too long; chess gets boring. You should have 25 minute programmes as soon after play finishes as possible. That way the first announcement about the results will be made on your own news programme.’ 

He thanked us and went off. Ray exclaimed, ‘Well, that’s blown chess on commercial TV for another 10 years!’ But a few weeks later Ray telephoned me and said the director had rang back and wanted 25 minute programmes shown the same evening. I would have said, ‘Like we suggested.’ But Ray, much more of a salesman than me, just said what a wonderful idea. It was a real breakthrough that chess started being shown on commercial TV. Apart from 26 programmes they did on the World Championship; they also did about 100 more on other events.

London mounted a real chess festival in 1986. ‘Chess, The Musical’ had its premier then. ‘I’m the arbiter, I know the score, from square one, I’ll be watching all 64. I’m the arbiter, I know best. Don’t push me, I’m unimpressed.’ When I met Sir Tim Rice shortly after the album was released I asked him, ‘You’ve written this song about an arbiter who is abrasive, dogmatic and self- opinionated. Is that me?’ He responded immediately, ‘Of course it’s you Stewart. You’re the only arbiter I’ve ever met.’ Truth to tell, it was more about Florencio Campomanes, then FIDE President. 

A film called ‘Dangerous Moves’ opened in London and went on to win the Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film. The subject matter was a fictitious World Chess Championship match. There was an exhibition of chess sets at the British Museum. We set up a stall at Waterloo Station where commuters could play chess. 

We were given permission to have chess activity in Green Park, just across the road from the hotel. The evening before it all started a Black and White disco was held at a major nightclub; I was able to introduce the person who played the arbiter in the show to no fewer than 7 international arbiters. The event and drawing of lots ceremony was conducted by the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher; the caviar reception had several sponsors, but primarily Duncan Lawrie, and was organised by the person who was then in charge of the Edinburgh Tattoo. We also ran the Commonwealth Championship and the Lloyds Bank Masters while the main event was on, but in a different hotel. David Eustace, who has made a welcome return to chess administration, was my deputy at the Lloyds Bank Masters when I was busy with the World Championship.
There are always problems with a large event. Anatoly Karpov came to inspect the setup, quite separately from Gary Kasparov. He was extremely scathing about the arrangements made for the retirement rooms during play. There were a large number of people at that meeting. I asked them all to be quiet, while I thought. I asked the hotel manager whether we could build such rooms to the left of the playing hall. He agreed and another problem was solved. 
Of course, I arranged for a roster of illustrious grandmasters to do the commentary. But the hall wasn’t large enough to cope with the numbers. So we hired another hall and hired more commentators. The numbers for these events tends to build up during it due to the publicity. Two commentary rooms still wasn’t enough and there were no more rooms available. So I took an audience of about 200 people into the park and conducted impromptu commentary there. Why me? Well, I had one great advantage, my voice is very penetrating and there was no microphone. But why, oh why did I get landed with game 9, the most boring of the match? 
There was a separate box in the gallery for the earphone commentators. When I found time, I sometimes wandered in and chatted. One game had the strong players perplexed. They asked my view and I made a suggestion. It was the move actually played. 

We registered approximately 700 members of the press in the five weeks of the event. Nowadays people don’t bother. They can view the event on the internet. At Karpov’s opening press conference he insisted on speaking through an interpreter. The media needed a soundbite and were becoming very agitated. At its end I asked the chairman whether I could ask a question. It was the most anodyne I could think of. ‘What can Mr Karpov say about playing again in London?’ Of course he responded flatteringly and in English. Several members of the press came and thanked me. 
Karpov asked me how the Save & Prosper Best Game Prize of £10,000 was going to be presented. I told him in gold. ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ ‘What do you mean? It’s going to be given in gold.’ 

At the closing ceremony, Lord Callaghan, the immediate previous prime minister, made the presentation in gold sovereigns. It was just as well there was an even number of coins; they shared the prize for their draw in Game 11. Gary wanted to dance at the closing party with the female representative of Save & Prosper. He tossed the small bag of coins to his mother and off he went. Later I went to Leningrad as a guest of the Soviet government for the second half of the match. Jill Triggs said a book could have been written about organising 1986. 

Later in 1986 Annette and Ray Keene were at a cocktail party. Annette was chatting to Kevin Packenham. ‘We may be interested in sponsoring chess’. ‘Come and meet my husband’, Annette exclaimed. Thus Foreign and Colonial started a six year sponsorship of Hastings, the longest running international tournament in the world. Whether that was sparked off by the earlier events in London that year, I don’t know. Ray and I became members of the committee and I have been involved in the organisation ever since. Lord Callaghan came to the closing dinners a couple of times. He knew his job and told the sponsor, no longer Kevin, what good value it was. 

Nigel Short qualified to play for the World Championship title against Kasparov in 1993, winning matches against Karpov and Timman along the way. I arranged a small party to celebrate his triumph. Although he was in London, he refused an invitation. This boded ill, but I didn’t know in what way. Later that week I visited Manchester to inspect a possible venue. Then everything fell apart. Gary and Nigel refused to play the match under FIDE’s auspices. 

Eventually it was sponsored by The Times newspaper and held in London. In my opinion, had they turned to me and everybody asked me to unravel the mess, the event would have been held in Manchester, sponsored both by Manchester Airport and The Times. The players would have made more money, it would have cost The Times much less money and Northern chess still smarts about the event being taken away from them. Also the mess caused by the schism with FIDE wasn’t cleared up that century, indeed not until Vishy became the undisputed World Champion.

The Times had some very ambitious ideas about the match and I was in charge of the special events. Most of this came to nothing as the receipts from ticket sales was disappointing, so that the event lost money and most non-essential events were cancelled. I was asked by poker players what the betting was on the match. I said there were no odds, Kasparov was going to win. Unfortunately Nigel lost the first game on time in the superior position, possibly confused by the flag fall on the Garde clock. Remember this was before digital clocks became popular. He then went ½ to 3½ behind and the event thereafter lacked sporting credibility. He did recover and carried the match to Gary who won 12½-7½. Indeed, unlike most World Championship matches, all the games are worth playing through.
But two TV stations again carried the match and it was held in the magnificent, refurbished Savoy Theatre. Why Ray allowed the first broadcast on commercial TV to be right at the start of each game and then to last an hour, I don’t know. It was boring, just as he had predicted in 1986. Of course they should have started the programme at least one hour after the game commenced. 

Interestingly enough, I was Chief Arbiter at the Commonwealth Championship in Mumbai. A TV station wanted to broadcast the whole round live. Fortunately they were dissuaded from this foolhardy idea. I have always presumed the viewing figures in 1993 were disappointing, because that was basically the end of chess events being televised in Britain. But I did get to do some earphone commentary, keeping intact my record from 1972. There was no room suitable for good live discussion of the games with an audience. I had asked about what would happen if the match finished prematurely. I was assured they would play four exhibition games. I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Instead they played a number of rapidplay games; a consultation game and a player won a competition to play a blitz game against Nigel. 
Some of the TV programmes broadcast from 1981 to 1993 can be purchased from amazon or Impala. 

Then, 2000 saw the Brain Games World Championship between Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. It was held at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith in London. Again that wasn’t a FIDE event and there were no TV programmes. I did the first texting commentary on the games. People could phone a telephone number and get the moves of the game and some, if they wanted commentary, that was a different number. It is possible this is the only time this has been done. Nobody ever said to me that they accessed my messages so it was a bit like writing a message, putting it into a bottle and casting it into the sea. Unfortunately Gary played very insipidly and it wasn’t an exciting match. 

In 2002, I received a phone call from Franco Ostuni, general manager of the Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar. They were interested in organising a chess tournament at their hotel. I asked why. It is always very important to get that clear; otherwise you won’t provide a sponsor with a good service. He told me they wanted to make more use of their facilities in the off-season. I told him the most suitable event would be a master Swiss. He had never seen a chess tournament in operation so he came to Hastings to get an idea of what goes on. I went to the hotel to inspect it and, the first, rather small, event started in January 2003. Now it is recognised as the strongest open tournament in the world. But that is down to Brian Callaghan, proprietor of the Caleta, not me. It is he who has raised the money. 

Spot Stewart Reuben!

Last year I was deputy arbiter for the FIDE Grand Prix in September in London. There were no problems, but being an arbiter is not my forte – although I have been an international arbiter since 1976. Three Grandmasters asked me how I was going to stay awake during the games and, yes, this is a problem!  I am an organiser, commentator, writer, player as well as being an arbiter. 

(c) Stewart Reuben, November 2013

(Chess Magazine Black & White thanks the writer for this special article written on the occasion of the World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen) Please send comments to stewartreuben@aol.co.uk

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No Pressure, World Chess Champion Vishy Anand Tweets away Merrily from Hotel Room

So what's the World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand doing right now? We know he's already checked into Hotel Hyatt Regency in Chennai - the venue of the World Title Match - with his team. Anand is merrily tweeting away about India's Mars Mission, being the astronomy fan that he is. (The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Tuesday successfully launched India's Mars mission, which is country's first inter-planetary space mission, from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.)

Tweets
Viswanathan Anand ‏@vishy64theking 2h
Looking forward to the #WorldChessChampionship this week.Thanks once again to everyone who sent their wishes at http://www.Wish4Vishy.com 

Viswanathan Anand ‏@vishy64theking 2h Congrats ISRO proud to see lift off. The red planet in our sights .as for me

Viswanathan Anand ‏@vishy64theking 21h Greetings and wishes to all who sent in their wishes at http://www.Wish4Vishy.com for #WorldChessChampionship. Every wish is really special

Viswanathan Anand ‏@vishy64theking 3 Nov
NIIT has always been like a family to me. Thank you for the fantastic support and your love #Wish4Vishy.

Viswanathan Anand ‏@vishy64theking 1 Nov There is no feeling better than representing your country. Thank you all for the amazing support at #Wish4Vishy happy diwali everyone....

Viswanathan Anand ‏@vishy64theking 31 Oct To all the friends who have entered the #Wish4Vishy initiative, every single wish means a lot to me. Thank you so very much

Viswanathan Anand ‏@vishy64theking 30 Oct The preparations for the World Chess Championships are in full swing. Hoping to make you all proud #Wish4Vishy

Viswanathan Anand ‏@vishy64theking 29 Oct Thank you everyone, who have sent in your best wishes. Overwhelmed with your support at #Wish4Vishy

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60 Hours of Magnus Carlsen Footage Still Left for Next Part of Documentary, Lots Not Shown: Benjamin Ree

Benjamin Ree (second from right) at work shooting the fantastic documentary on Magnus Carlsen (c) Benjamin Ree 

They truly needed super servers like those at VGTV to prevent a crash ever since the fantastic documentary, by Benjamin Ree on World Chess Championship Challenger Magnus Carlsen, went online yesterday. 

Ola E. Stenberg, managing editor, VGTV, (photo left) says in 24 hours the documentary on Magnus Carlsen had logged more than 200.000 views on VGTV :) ... and the views' counter continues to roll up like crazy.  You can watch the documentary right here on this page if the embed code works for you in India, or at the original link.




Documentary: Magnus Carlsen's Last Big Title

The complete video of Magnus Carlsen's Last Big Title (Copyright VGTV)

Prize-winning documentary filmmaker working for VGTV - specializing in web documentaries - Benjamin Ree has shown his work on Reuters TV, BBC, CNN, The Guardian, NRK, TV 2 og VGTV. He has directed several documentaries for The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Here's a quick chat with the man who gave us this remarkable footage on the World No. 1.

Q: When and how did this documentary idea come up

Benjamin Ree: I have always been fascinated by Magnus Carlsen and how his brain works while playing chess. When it was clear that he was going to play in the FIDE World Chess Championship Match 2013 I approached his manager with a documentary idea. I thought this was a great time to do a documentary on Magnus Carlsen, to follow him up to the goal he has talked about since he was 13 years old. From a wonderkid to the number chess player - highest-ever rated human on the planet at that...

Q: Your team and how you planned the project

Benjamin Ree: I have been working with a really good film team

Producer Ola E. Stenberg, managing editor, VGTV adds: When we got the opportunity to follow Magnus Carlsen we put a lot of effort into the project. From early on we wanted it to be a special piece and we knew that this was going to be of interest for an international audience. Benjamin worked on this documentary full time for several months. Today, we are bringing the first English documentary on a true genius and an important story for the history books. We can´t wait to see how the story continues with the World Chess Championship game coming up.

Q: Some memorable moments while making this documentary


Benjamin Ree: I knew that Magnus had a great memory, but I didn't know that it was so great. The quiz he gets in the film shows what he is capable of. Also the simultaneous blindfolded chess at Harvard. It is so impressive. No one can do the same.

Q: Something that you have not been able to show in the documentary?

Benjamin Ree: I have over 60 hours of raw stock. So there's a lot that I havn't shown. This will be shown in an upcoming documentary after the World Chess Championship.

Q: A secret about Magnus Carlsen that the world doesn't know

Benjamin Ree: More secrets will come in the upcoming documentary :)

Q: The hard work?

Benjamin Ree: It has been a lot of work, but hugely rewarding and fascinating.

Follow Benjamin Ree on twitter: https://twitter.com/Benjamin_Ree and do 

visit the talented journalists' webpage: ree.no

For those in a rush, check this Chessbase article with nice screen grabs from the documentary.

P.S. We also thank all our readers - Raja Ganeshan of New Zealand being the first - to send us the VG TV link to this fantastic documentary on Magnus Carlsen since yesterday and wondering why we were not posting about it ;) - Now you know.

* I am the favourite in any tournament I play; Magnus Carlsen (our video post earlier in case you missed it)

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Carlsen vs Anand Anything Can Happen: GM Simen Agdestein, the Man who Programmed Carlsen 1.0

World Chess Championship 2013 GM interview: It's going to be the athlete meeting the scientist or scholar of chess, says Grandmaster Simen Agdestein, World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen's former chess coach. And, GM Agdestein is not too sure who's going to win! He is not willing to bet on either at this stage.

Speaking to NTB - Norway's national news agency - GM Agdestein said the two players of the World Chess Championship have a very different approach towards the game of chess. He was quoted as saying, "I would think that Anand has prepared with three or four Grandmasters in recent months. He has probably put a lot of hard work into preparing openings for the games. Besides human help in this training, he has probably also made use of computers. So, he is as well prepared as possible for the opening moves Magnus comes with."

Agdestein said, "Until now it has been tough preparation for Magnus. He has worked very hard, I know, but the key until the first game starting this Saturday, is to relax. It is about recharging his batteries."Agdestein expects an unorthodox and practical play by Magnus with his strategy of long games that have already brought him thus far. Agdestein said he was quite excited by the match, but dare not bet yet on either of them. 

On Anand's strengths, Agdestein said, the World Chess Champion has the experience to fight at this level, while Carlsen likes to do his own thing. 

For all Grandmaster views we've posted so far check here.

* The Carlsen Chess Story
* Carlsen got Kasparov's database of 20 years' work

-- Rajat Khanna

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Nothing Special about Pop-Star Welcome to Magnus Carlsen... Special is: It's Happening in Chennai!

There's nothing special about World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen receiving a pop-star welcome from a huge crowd of fans and journalists on reaching Chennai this evening! 

We're used to that on a daily basis for our movie and cricket stars at airports around the country. Fans of celebrities function as part of the paparazzi in India by self declaration.

What's special is that this huge welcome has taken place in Chennai - where chess is a religion and Viswanathan Anand the reigning deity!

Namaste! This is India: Forever welcoming, with great hospitality. Meanwhile, the report on Magnus Carlsen reaching Chennai:

World Chess Championship Challenger Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen from Norway arrives in Chennai on Monday. Photo: K.V. Srinivasan/The Hindu

World number one and challenger Magnus Carlsen of Norway arrived here tonight to a grand welcome by FIDE and All India Chess Federation officials for the much-awaited November 9-28 World Chess Championship against Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand.

Carlsen, who faces defending and five-time world champion Anand in a 12-game contest, was received at Kamaraj International Airport by FIDE vice-president D V Sundar, AICF President J C D Prabhakar and World Championship Organising Secretary V. Hariharan.

The formal inauguration of the FIDE World Championship will be done on November 7 by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. The first game is scheduled for November 9. The sponsor of the tournament is the Government of Tamil Nadu which has allocated a record budget of Rs. 29 crores.

The colour for the 12 games would be known at the draw of lots which would be done by Ms. Jayalalithaa during the inauguration ceremony. The player who gets white in games 1, 3 and 5 will get white in games eight, 10 and 12. So, one player will get white in games 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11. Each player will play six white and six black games.

Although the game lasts about six hours, it can go longer as there is an increment of 30 seconds per move. The first player to reach 6.5 points wins the match. The prize fund will be about Rs 14 crores and the winner will get 60 per cent and the loser 40 per cent.

Anand, his wife Aruna and son Akhil and his team members, who will be assisting the Indian wizard, have checked in at Hotel Hyatt Regency, the venue of the World Championship last Friday itself.

There were reports in the media that Carlsen would be staying at an undisclosed resort but Sundar said, “We do not have any official information on that and that Espen Agdestein (Carlsen’s manager), who had a meeting with us this afternoon had not informed us about Carlsen staying at a resort for couple of days. As far as we are concerned, he will be staying at Hyatt“.

Sundar said Anand and Carlsen will address a joint press conference on November 7. -- PTI

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Secret of Magnus Carlsen's Chess Intuition: Hours and Hours of Trying out Things on Chess Board as a Kid

A Norwegian Winner’s Attitude

We thank Kristine Kleppo and Cappelen Damm for help with this insightful understanding of the World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen's chess from the text excerpted from the book 'Norske vinnerskaller' by Arne Riise Jorstad, Bjorge Stensbøl and Anne Marte. (Release Date:10/16/13 Language: Norwegian/Book purchase)

About the publication
The book interviews 30 top Norwegian sportsperson on how they have practiced the mental skills to succeed, growing up, relationships and environments that have been important for their development, and they share thoughts about self-esteem, motivation, stress management and good performance culture. 

Of course, one of the interviewees is chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen. The intro to the book goes: Americans were first on the moon, but we have the all-time world no. 1 in chess, begins the section on Magnus Carlsen. It talks about how Carlsen has held the top slot in chess ratings since 2010 and gone on to become the highest-rated chess human ever. Then follows a short history of chess and, of course, the mention of the 1972 Bobby Fischer versus Boris Spassky World Chess Championship followed by mentions of Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. 

"Chess is a game, but symbolises in many countries also national pride and politics," say the writers, quite rightly at that. 

Photo (in the book for Magnus Carlsen interview) (C) Photographer and Cinematographer Hans Kristian Riise.

Then follows the interview in which Magnus Carlsen explains exactly why HE IS GOING TO be the next World Chess Champion!

"I will be world champion because I'm going to be in my best shape ever. I'm going to be better prepared than I ever have been, in all respects: chess, practical and physical. Not least, I'm the best player. I have the best understanding of the game and the best sporting qualities at the board," explains the Norwegian prodigy.

Carlsen's motivation has always been that he plays for fun.
"The main motivation factor in my career has always just been playing chess, having fun and learning more about the game," says Carlsen.

Carlsen says his motivation is to learn more about the game even when there are errors (which even if only he knows about) and he has learned a huge amount of chess over the last three years. 
"The fact that there are so many new things to learn is motivation enough for me. In each case now, I think it's fun to play. It is not always as fun to prepare and stuff like that. But it's always fun to play," says Carlsen.


Here are excerpts from the main interview with Magnus Carlsen in the book:

Q: Which mental abilities are required for a winner, or what does he think is the winning mentality?
- I do not know if it is a mental trait, but optimism. It is a very important quality. It is both that you have faith in yourself in general, in the sense you always have the belief that you are the best, and that it is always up to you whether you
win or not. If you yourself are performing at top, you will come to win. I think that it is always better to be optimistic than pessimistic. For, if one is pessimistic, one sees limitations, and does not always see the opportunities. It does happen often that my optimistic assessments are wrong, but I think it is better to make this mistake than by being the other (pessimistic).


Q: In a sport like football there is talk about how important it is to play one's own game regardless of what the other team does. Does this kind of thinking transfer to chess?
I would say it is important what your opponent does. I think it is
important in chess, but not always. For I think it is a bit like that in chess as in football, if you feel you are the best player you can just hold on and play your own games. But, there is always some small adjustments you need to make in relation to your opponent.


Q: What is your greatest mental strength as a chess player?
- I do not know.(But his manager Espen Agdestein knows. He has been with the world number one planning everything right down to the last millimeter as the run up to the World Chess Championship versus Viswanathan Anand in Chennai. Espen says, Magnus will to win is very strong and his ability to withstand stress and strain.)

Q: Does Magnus Carlsen even agree?
I think it is very difficult to assess oneself. I do not think I can handle stress and pressure particularly well. But I think in a way, there are times I think I can do it. Because, if you only have a few unpleasant experiences and you succumb then you yourself might not even be sure you can handle it so well... I think it 's hard to say I can handle pressure very well.


Authors: Espen Agdestein fills happily into his impression of how Magnus Carlsen tackles pressure:
- For very many players it is so that when they lose a game, it starts to go downwards. They do not sleep at night. The tournament goes bad, the trend is negative. But Magnus is different. It is typical of him is that he is horribly irritated, and may have trouble dealing with the emotions. But he manages to turn his annoyance into greater focus for the next game, and manages to turn things around to great play after a loss instead of sliding down a negative path.


Q: Magnus Carlsen is described often as an intuitive chess player. What does he think? 

The fact that I can be considered an intuitive chess player, I think, partly comes from my early experiences (as a child), where I put all those hours with myself on the chess board and tried out things. It meant that I eventually got a feel for chess, an understanding of the game. General good players use more long-term memory than short-term memory during a chess game. You use past experiences. It is the intuition that is largely based on the past experiences. So it is your experience that gives you a different impression of the new situations before you (on the chess board) and then you have to consider what impression you can use. You must be able to continuously make up your mind about which past experience that can be used. It may be that you use them exactly in the situation you are in, or if there are any nuances that are different. I think that I largely am able to make good decisions based on past experience. There are of course many who have a lot of the same knowledge that I have, but who are unable to make good decisions based on the knowledge.

 -- Chess Magazine Black & White

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Kasparov wants Carlsen to Win. Karpov has no Clear Preference. Kramnik thinks Anand can Win

World Champions Three: Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Anatoly Karpov - all of Russia, but of course: Photo: Chessbase.com.

World Chess Championship 2013 GM interview: Kasparov backs Magnus Carlsen; Karpov neutral and Vladimir Kramnik think Viswanathan Anand can win provided he does certain things. Here's the verdict of the Big Ks by Rakesh Rao for The Hindu.

“For the greatest part of my life, I’ve been fighting the three Ks — Karpov, Kasparov and Kramnik — I have played no fewer than a hundred games with them” — Viswanathan Anand on Moscow Radio in 2009

With less than a week to go for the World chess championship match, fans in over 150 countries have reasons to pick their favourite — champion Viswanathan Anand or World No.1 Magnus Carlsen. Going by form and rating, the majority surely favours the Norwegian.

For now, leave out the lesser mortals.

Here is what some of the Russian greats — Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov and Vladimir Kramnik — who know more about playing for the World title than most, have to say about the clash.

Kasparov wants Carlsen to win. Karpov has no clear preference. Kramnik thinks Anand can win provided he does a few things right.

Kasparov, who helped Anand during the 2010 World championship match against Veselin Topalov, attracted the champion’s ire for being openly critical of him during the 2012 title-clash against Gelfand in Moscow. Since then, Kasparov has offered to help Carlsen to prepare against Anand.

Last month, Carlsen declared that he would be happy to get help from the man under whom he had trained in 2009.

The 22-year-old is 95 points ahead of Anand on the world rating list, but Kasparov has a word of caution.

“There is no such thing as an easy win against the World champion. I think Vishy will be quite happy that he is the underdog. He’s got huge experience. As we saw (in the Candidates tournament in London in March-April) there are problems (for Carlsen), there are still clear problems. The match is for Magnus to lose, clearly, but it’s a 12-game match, and whatever you’ve got from the first nine games, may not count.

“He (Carlsen) has to work on a lot — (on) psychological preparation. His opening preparation should be more precise. Anand is an expert. Those who say that Magnus will win easily are doing him a great disservice.

“It’s all or nothing, and that’s a big challenge. The psychological pressure will just keep growing, and he will have to learn how to cope with it.”

Karpov, another former world champion, has a different take.

“Taking into account historic parallels, I would perhaps support Anand because I have defeated him in the matches twice.

“Although I’ve not been competing (laughs) for the crown for 10 years, it is still pleasant when the guy who sits on the throne has been defeated by you twice. From a self-importance point of view — although it’s not the time to talk about my significance — it’s somehow pleasant.

“I think the appearance of Magnus is a good sign for the progress of chess.

If he becomes the world champion it will give a tremendous boost to the development of chess, especially in European countries. That’s why from the point of view of the future of chess, I would like Carlsen to win.”

Kramnik, who was the only man to beat Kasparov in a World championship match (in 2000) before suffering his only defeat in match-play to Anand in 2008, asserts the champion is not badly placed.

“I believe Anand definitely has his chances. It is absolutely realistic. The only problem, I think, Anand faces is that he — this is just my opinion — is somewhat intimidated by Carlsen. He is scared of him, I would say.

“Anand should relax and not be afraid of Magnus. If Anand manages to prepare himself this way, then the chances will be equal.

If not, then his chances will be very (poor). If he manages to hold the pressure of Magnus for (the first) six games, then Anand will become a favourite in my eyes.”

For all Grandmaster verdics on the Viswanathan Anand versus Magnus Carlsen World Chess Championship 2013 check this collection of posts on our site.

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World Chess Championship @ Chennai Hyatt Regency: All the Behind-the-Scenes Hard Work

As Chennai awaits with bated breath India's first ever World Chess Championship starting this Thursday, organisers at the match venue on Sunday were overseeing the construction of the player’s enclosure. (Left: Photo R Raghu)

An 11-ft.-long partition made of glass panels is coming up at the grand ball room of Hotel Hyatt Regency. In three days, the noise-free, elevated play area enclosed by this partition will see five-time world chess champion, Viswanathan Anand defend his title against the Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen.

Six panels of laminated acoustic material, each six feet wide, have already arrived at the hotel. “The glass is not only toughened but also laminated, keeping the sensitive acoustic requirements in mind — no noise can enter this area. The audience can watch the moves from outside the partition,” said D. Rajan, project manager, Buildcraft Interiors, who is in charge of the construction. An elevated, carpeted false floor will also be placed where the games will be played, he said.

Inside the glass partition are doors at each end that will lead the players to their refreshment rooms and service areas. “This is to prevent all distractions so that the players can focus on their game alone,” said Mr. Rajan.

In the next two days, a VIP lounge and a room from where officials will monitor the game are to be built. “Nearly 20 workers are on the job today and many more will join tomorrow. We need to finish everything by Wednesday,” Mr. Rajan said.

An audience of 400 will witness the event that will go on till November 28. The audience will be seated in sofas, boxes and chairs. “The seating arrangements are done in such a way that even those seated in the last row can see the moves being made,” said Pratiti Rajpal, marketing communications manager, Hyatt Regency.

V. Hariharan, secretary, All India Chess Federation, said the demand for tickets at http://wcc.delhichess.com, sales of which started a month ago, had been good.

The hotel is planning to entertain visitors from Carlsen’s country as well. “We plan to have Norwegian cocktails in our menu,” said Ms. Pratiti.

Magnus Carlsen, along with his parents and two sisters, is expected to arrive at the hotel on Monday by an Oman Air. The hotel has planned a traditional welcome for the 22-year-old. -- Vasudha Venugopal/The Hindu

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World Chess Championships: Role of Seconds

As the final countdown to the World Chess Championship clash between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen begins, the chess fraternity is abuzz with speculation on who is working with whom as seconds.

But what do the ‘seconds’ do?

For decades now, creating a good team for preparation of an important match is considered as important as the match itself. World champion Anand learned this through immense experience he got while playing matches at different levels.

Anand first played a world championship candidates match in 1990s and has since then worked with many experts.

His seconds have included players like Swedish Grandmaster Ferdinand Hellers, who doesn’t play competitive chess anymore, and Uzbek Rustam Kasimdzhanov, who won the FIDE world championship in 2004.

Garry Kasparov of Russia had one of the best teams in 1980s and till much later as the Russian kept coming out with one opening idea after another stunning his opponents with awesome ease for over two decades.

In 1995, Kasparov defeated Anand in game 10, arguably the turning point of the match through a very famous piece of research work that led to a winning endgame with the Russian spending just three minutes on the clock.

Apparently, this had tremendous impact as Anand was no match in the second half of that match despite leading after game nine.

The role of the seconds is to bring out new ideas, work on them in detail till they are worthy enough to be usable.

It is clear that a lot of work and huge assistance from the computer engines is required for such a job and ironically 95 per cent of the work done remains unseen during the match.

It’s that deep research paper that doesn’t see the light of the day in its entirety and comes out only in patches, when the situation presents itself.

One of the great ideas that Anand produced against Wang Hao of China during the Tata Steel Chess tournament of 2012 was worked out during the champion’s preparation for the match against Russian Vladimir Kramnik at Bonn in 2008.

There have been countless such instances in case of all top players.

The men behind the scene have a lot to attend to not only during the preparation of the match but also when it’s on as they have to be battle-ready to attend to many new facts.

For example, if Carlsen plays something in game one that he has never played before or which the team did not expect him to play, they have to get down to business and start working on it and have a solution ready when the next game arrives.

The champions do not like to divulge information about the people they work as the guess work becomes easier.

If Anand is seen working with the expert of an opening system, it is likely that he wants to play that particular opening very soon.

For the match against Carlsen, Anand has retained the services of his two trusted men the bespectacled Bengal Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Radoslav Wojtaszek of Poland while Sandipan Chanda is the new man in.

There is likely to be a fourth second about whom no information is available as yet. Kasimdzhanov had informed long back he won’t be assisting Anand this time.

Carlsen, on the other hand, has been totally mum on the issue. He was seen playing and sharing jokes with France’s Laurent Fressinet so it is assumed he is one of the team members while Jon Ludvig Hammer, his friend and compatriot will most likely be there.

Speculation is also rife about the presence of Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia who was seen working with Carlsen during some events in the past.

The Carlsen-camp has been expectedly quiet about the team as this might give the opposition camp an idea of what to expect. Much would be revealed when Carlsen lands in Chennai on Monday evening. -- PTI

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NRK to Telecast Anand vs Carlsen World Chess Championship Live on TV NRK1, Web NRK.no

The Magnus Carlsen chess wave is truly blowing away Norway as well because NRK has obtained rights from Doordarshan to telecast the World Chess Championship 2013 between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand live from Chennai. They obtained the World Championship live telecast rights after a tedious negotiation process. 

NRK (an abbreviation for Norsk Rikskringkasting AS - the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest media organisation in Norway. 

"It has been a complicated negotiation process over several months with various groups in India, but in the end we managed to reach an agreement with the owner of the TV rights. There was competition for rights on the Norwegian market, and we are obviously pleased that we eventually won at NRK," Runar Østmo, Head of Sports Rights at NRK Broadcasting, was quoted as saying in a press announcement.

He added, "It's a little crazy to feed nearly 100 hours of chess live on the largest TV channel in the country, but we think the Norwegian people would like to finally be able to follow Magnus Carlsen's outstanding achievements up close," said Sports Director NRK, Rune Haug (photo below via NRK).

NRK will broadcast the Carlsen versus Anand World Championship on NRK1 and NRK.no. 

Haug said, "With hours and hours of chess playing, it will be a challenge for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation to provide a good telecast for chess enthusiasts. We have little time for us to develop a good show, but fortunately we have many talented people who see this as a fun challenge."

NRK will also have a panel to discuss and analyse the games live. There will also be plenty of room for suggestions and comments from viewers who follow the World Chess Championship on the Internet, he said. 

Even Liv Mette Harboe, principal secretary of the Norwegian Chess Federation, is excited about how chess will do on television in Norway. She was quoted by NRK as saying that there are several who have great memories of World Chess Championship 1972 in Reykjavik (Bobby Fischer vs. Boris Spassky) on radio. Being able to see the live footage makes her feel "incredibly excited". 

Harboe said they had already noted an increased interest in Carlsen's chess exploits and now expected a further boost in chess popularity across Norway with this epic Carlsen versus Anand World Chess Championship in Chennai. -- Rajat Khanna

* Post with links to updates on World Chess Championship Live telecast
* Doordarshan with Worldwide rights 

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