Calling Chess Parents, Chess Kids Worldwide: Play Chess, Celebrate Carlsen's Birthday in Norway Dec 1

There's going to be a huge chess day in Bærum, Norway on Sunday, 1st December! Chess parents and chess kids are invited from all over the world. 

  

Bærum is the region where Magnus Carlsen grew up and took his first steps in chess, and it was only natural that the authorities supported the idea to organize a big chess day for kids in Bærum.

The regional officials have teamed up with Stormester & Stormester - involved in chess teaching at the Norwegian Elite Sports Academy “NTG Sjakklinja” and the chess line for kids “Dragulf”. They arrange after-school chess courses, evening courses for kids and adults, regular rapid tournaments, lectures with GMs, training camps for talented young players, international chess tours and publish books. (More about their activities at www.stormester.no and www.dragulf.no and their FB page in English www.facebook.com/stormester.no)

The organisers also will welcome Magnus at the big chess event on his return from the Chennai World Chess Championship against Viswanathan Anand.

The main event in the chess celebrations will include a team school championship, a rapid tournament over six rounds. The tournament is open for everybody and has many different groups for all the ages (including a separate group for parents).

More chess activities will include the NTG Rapid Grand Prix (a rapid tournament for rated players in 2 groups), different chess contests for kids, and last but not least, a celebration of the World Championship Match and Magnus' birthday.

There will be nice prizes and surprises for everybody!

All the participants of NTG Grand Prix and Bærumsmesterskap 1st Desember will be presented a new edition of Simen Agdestein’s book on Magnus Carlsen!

Your lovely gift if you participate in the big chess festival organised by Stormester & Stormester. 

Remember to sign up: NTG Rapid Grand Prix and Bærumsmesterskap. Or contact Simen Agdestein simena@ntg.no or Olga Dolzhykova olga@chess-destination.com if you need more information.

* Magnus Carlsen book review

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Garry Kasparov Comments on Carlsen - Anand World Chess Championship Game 1

Here are the comments by chess legend Garry Kasparov on Game one at the Carlsen - Anand World Chess Championship 2013 in Chennai. These comments are via Kasparov's twitter account @Kasparov63. 

 Garry Kasparov ‏@Kasparov6311h

- Hello from Goa! Great event today at #THiNK2013. Looks like half of those in attendance were tweeting about. I will share some in a moment.

- First, a few brief comments on today's Carlsen-Anand game. Brief comments are fitting for such a brief game.

- I imagine Anand's 2..g6 was a surprise for Magnus, and 4..c6 as well. Then White has a big choice: to play c4 & sacrifice a pawn, or not.

- Sacrificing the pawn with c4 would not be a typical position for Magnus but Anand (& his second Leko) know those positions well.

- But without c4 by White Black gets a very solid position, even if he plays the Nbd2 I'd prefer to Carlsen's Nc3. Little danger for Black.

- I remember Anand played this in his 1994 NYC candidates match against Romanishin, who played c4 & drew one & lost one. Can be quite sharp.

- First games of big matches are often tentative. Both get a half point but it's great to start any event with an easy draw with black!

- Anand & I drew first 8 games of our 1995 world championship match. But then, boom! Next 4/5 were decisive & the match was basically over.

- So do not get too depressed with a slow start. Of my 7 world championship matches, 5 started with draw in first game.

The links to comments by Garry Kasparov are also in interviews with

BELIEVE MAGNUS: Chess legend Garry Kasparov (left) keeps Magnus Carlsen as the favorite in the World Chess Match
PHOTO: Junge, Heiko / NTB Scanpix

- Aftenposte.no

- VG.no
- The Times of India

* Kasparov goes Harry Potter-ish
* Kasparov India schedule

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The Road to Chennai 2013 – Success at the Top: Magnus Carlsen's Dad Continues Blog Series

A few weeks back, World No 1 Magnus Carlsen's father Henrik Carlsen had updated the Arctic Securities Blog with the first part of the series. it was titled 'The road to Chennai - Early Development'. Here is the second part: 'The Road to Chennai 2013 - Success at the Top'. We posted the first part here.

Magnus Carlsen's Blog

The Road to Chennai 2013 – Success at the Top

Towards the end of 2008 we discussed a cooperation with Garry Kasparov, and Espen Agdestein, who had already helped us secure the sponsor FAST the year before, agreed to work as a sponsor agent to help finance the cooperation. Espen has been the manager of Magnus from 2011. 

Financial firm Arctic Securities and Simonsen Vogt Wiig lawyers have now been main sponsors of Magnus for four years already. They share with Magnus the emphasis on focused dedication, attention to details and uncompromised quality. 

Espen and Magnus have continued to make sure that new sponsors represent high standards, and later Norway’s main newspaper VG, software company Parallels and recently high tech company Nordic Semiconductor have joined as main sponsors. 

For Magnus interactions with his main sponsors have provided valuable experience and perspectives balancing life as a professional chess player. 

Magnus appreciated the 13 months cooperation with Kasparov, “the one who invented a lot of the modern concepts of chess”. He came close to winning both in Linares and Sofia 2009, and suddenly everything worked out perfectly in Nanjing 2009 resulting in clear first with 8/10 and an above 3000 rating performance. 

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 A sponsoring agreement has been agreed between Arctic Securities and Magnus Carlsen. Magnus became an International Grandmaster at the age of 13, the youngest at the time. In October 2009, during the Nanjing Pearl Spring tournament, he became the fifth chess player in the history to achieve an Elo-rating over 2800 – by far the youngest to do so. That year he also became The World Blitz Chess Champion. On January the 1st of 2010 the new FIDE list was published and at the age of 19 Magnus became the youngest ever chess player to be ranked World Number One. Carlsen is the best representative for top excellence within both analysis and implementation.

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Later that autumn he won the Blitz World Championship with nearly 75% score, and the London Chess Classics. In general, Magnus has preferred to prepare on his own during tournaments. He has worked with other strong GM’s on many occasions, and Ian Nepomniachtchi was also his second during the successful London Chess Classics 2012. 

After the Kasparov cooperation in practice ended early 2010, Magnus scored 7.5/10 in Bazna in June despite less focus on preparation. Maybe the games lost during the 2010 Olympiad and subsequent Bilbao Masters served as a wake-up call. For the last three years his tournament rating performances have all been well above 2800 bringing his rating to an all-time-high of 2872 in February 2013, and securing yearly Chess Oscars from 2009 onwards. 

Among his tournament victories are Tata Steel Chess (former Corus) and London Chess Classics three times, and Bilbao, Nanjing, Bazna and Biel two times. Over the years he has played a few matches. In rapid chess I remember vividly the 5-3 victory against Peter Leko in 2008. Magnus was under pressure in several games, and in one of them he had to find about 20 only-moves with 10 seconds increments to draw. 

In classical chess he participated three times in the World Cup in his youth with shared 3rd in 2007 as his last and best result. In the Candidates earlier that year in Elista in Kalmykia, at 16, he lost a tense and even match against Levon Aronian after equalising three times in the classical stage (3-3) and rapid phase (2-2), before succumbing in the final blitz games. 

Due to changes to the rules in mid-cycle, Magnus withdrew from the Grand Prix in November 2008, and he did not participate in World Championship qualifications until 2013. In March this year he qualified for the match against V. Anand starting November 9th in Chennai, by winning the Candidate Tournament in London on tie-break after a tense finish. 

Peter Heine Nielsen was helping him in London, in addition to a team of other strong grandmasters contributing from home. Kenneth Gvein and Metronet have helped professionalizing Magnus' digital appearance. Online activities will only become more important in the future. 

Thanks go also to Basefarm for providing important hosting support. Somewhat unusual for a chess player, Magnus became a campaign model for G-Star Raw clothes in 2010/2011. It was flattering that they wanted to renew the cooperation for 2014, as announced last week. Magnus’s last tournament before the World Championship match was the Sinquefield Cup in St.Louis in September and he won quite convincingly with 4.5/6. 

Last but not least, we would like to thank all the unnamed, but not forgotten, tournament organisers, organisations, chess colleagues, seconds, spectators, fans and friends that have been supportive and contributed with practical help, encouragement, enthusiasm or otherwise on the long road to Chennai 2013. 

Thank you! 

For Team Carlsen, 
Henrik C., 

November 3rd, 2013

2013-11-03 20:20:04

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Chennai World Chess Championship Game 1 Carlsen - Anand 1/2- 1/2

World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand began his title defense with confidence, holding off World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway to a 16-move draw in quick time in the first game of the Chennai World Chess Championship this evening. (Photo: Game 1 begins/official website)

Anand, with black pieces, showed the world that he has come well prepared for the most challenging match yet.

The Indian gave no chance to Carlsen who started with the Reti opening and got nothing with his first white game.

The quick draw, lasting a mere 16 moves, proved Anand's preparation right as Magnus spent more time on the clock in the opening and still could not get the complicated and sometimes lifeless positions wherein he famously outplays opposition.

There was much speculation about Anand going for a sharp position and he did not disappoint his backers.

"I know after two moves its Reti, after that I don't know what it is," said Anand smilingly in the post match conference.

After Anand's 10th move Carlsen thought he had no chances and went for the repetition of moves by force. However the highest rated player in the world did not think he was worse at any point in the game.

Video starts 00:08:00



"I would not have minded if he (Anand) had continued, my long term prospects are not bad," Carlsen said.

Anand simply repeated the Knight moves while Carlsen moved his queen a few times to get the same position three times. The players immediately shook hands.

It was a position akin to the Gruenfeld for Anand and he did not opt for a locked structure. His ninth move created the imbalance that the Indian wanted and Carlsen conceded that white had nothing after the tenth move.

The Norwegian superstar said he was quite happy that he could start the match but not with the way it went.

"I am happy that finally the match is on, hopefully we will give you more than one and a half hour," he said mentioning the duration of the game.

With the first match done, Anand will now be playing with white pieces in the second game tomorrow. The 12-game match carries Rs 14 crore as prize money. -- PTI

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Anand, Carlsen Predictions: Truly Fun Video from Streets of Philadelphia by Chess Life Online

The US Chess Scoop went out on the streets to see how much Philadelphians know about chess and their predictions for Carlsen-Anand World Chess Championship 2013. This video is guaranteed to make your weekend and you are sure to watch it twice at the least. The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is the official, not-for-profit US membership organization for chess players and chess supporters of all ages and strengths, from beginners to Grandmasters. Find out more at uschess.org.

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'Pattaya Kelappu Thala' and 'Lick, Maskarlsen, Anand': Only Indian Chess Fans can Help you Understand This!

You got it right: That's a hoarding - pat in the middle of Chennai - for cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. A group of fans have put it up.  

India is a cricket-crazy country with crazier fans. Walk down Chennai streets and there's very little banner space left for chess fans. Either it's cricket fans taking away space to wish their "god" a farewell as he plays his final test series before retirement this November, or it's Chief Minister Jayalalitha's banners announcing the World Chess Championship in Chennai.

It's almost a ritual to cheer for your favourite sports hero. If there's no space on Indian streets, it's elsewhere... on Facebook and Twitter! Considering chess is not all that a street sport, this was expected. Definitely more Indian chess fans in the cyberworld (than the streets of Chennai).

First up was NIIT Limited, Viswanathan Anand's long-time sponsor, who started the #Wish4Vishy (http://www.wish4vishy.com) hashtag for a national movement to enable every Indian to cheer for reigning World Chess Champion and NIIT MindChampion Viswanathan (Vishy) Anand, as he prepares to take on challenger Magnus Carlsen. 

Another NIIT creative poster (though not specifically on Carlsen versus Anand):

Then, we have Amul tweeting away the following poster via @Amul_Coop:

Amul, with the tag line, 'The taste of India' is well known for funny and witty ads featuring the famous 'Amul girl'. Their advertisements are a tradition in themselves featuring the most-talked about event of the week in India. 

Amul is an Indian dairy cooperative, and is sometimes even referred to as Anand (!!!) Milk Union Limited because it is based in Anand, Gujarat.

The text on the Amul hoarding reads, "Lick, Maskarlsen, Anand" a smart pun on the names of the chess players as well as a line that says, "Make your move." 

For the uninitiate, 'maska' refers to butter. Amul is the #1 butter available in India since generations. Bun-maska (bun and butter) is the hottest street breakfast you can find anywhere in India on any given morning.
  

This poster comes from 'Veni, Vidi, Vishy' - a social media chess campaign that will also run on Facebook and Twitter through the World Chess Championship. 

The creative idea, copy and design are all by Qruize's marketing team. Qruize Technologies Pvt. Ltd is a young research driven Information & Communications Technology Company based out of Chennai.
Qruize decided to first wish Viswanathan Anand in the local language Tamil with: Pattaya Kelappu Thala. That roughly translates to "Rock on boss". They will upload more cool posters on their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/qruize throughout the World Chess Championship.

Here's another of Qruize posters, a little easier for international chess fans to understand!

Ram Vellayan of Qruize says, "Initially, we wanted to run the poster campaign because we love Anand. We are proudly made in Chennai. But, then we also feel there is lukewarm response to the World Chess Championship in the national media."

Vellayan says, "For example, on Friday, on the eve of the first game, top Indian newspapers do not have the chess match on their front pages for their North India editions! It's only for their South Indian editions. Look at top news sites like Rediff, NDTV etc. They have one chess story for every 100 cricket stories. That's when our resolve to run this creative campaign got stronger."

As a chess fan, you just need to do a small social media search. You will be checkmated by the options available.

One particularly hot chess page is Chess Club Live on Facebook. They have a massive, massive, massive following of over 43,000 Likes (or people who have enlisted for their updates). There's a chess news update on the page every two minutes in all time zones. Phew!

There are thousands of chess groups on Facebook, and we cannot even start listing them. A single search will leave you zapped at the very number of chess groups you could join right now what with virtually each one of them talking about the World Chess Championship in Chennai.

For twitter, you have the excellent Twitter guide by Eric van Reem on MateinChennai.com. The official hashtag for the Anand versus Carlsen World chess Championship is #FWCM2013. There's another very popular one #AnandCarlsen and much more easier to remember as well. Let's hope one of them trends on Twitter in India during the World Chess Championship this November.

Magnus Carlsen has himself been tweeting a little via @MagnusCarlsen and Vishy Anand has tweeted a little via Vishy64theKing. 

If you like our selection of stories surrounding the Anand versus Carlsen Chennai World Chess Championship, do like our Chess Magazine Black & White Facebook page as well. ;)

Online, or offline, right now majority of chess lovers in India are rooting for Viswanathan Anand. At least everyone in Chennai is. 

However, no matter where you are, and no matter whose side you are on, let's cheer for chess. 

This Anand versus Carlsen Chennai World Chess Championship 2013 is going to bring great joy to all chess lovers for sure. -- Rajat Khanna

(Photo (left): Outside the venue Hyatt Regency in Chennai)

* When World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand supported cricket

* World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand the credible brand ambassadors (videos of advertising)

* Summary of watching Carlsen versus Anand Chennai World Chess Live links

* Sachin Tendulkar is playing the first Test against the Caribbeans in Kolkata from November 6 to 10 and the second - Tendulkar's 200th - is in Mumbai from November 14 to 18.
* Anand vs Carlsen World Chess Championship schedule 
* No Pressure, Anand tweets away
* Two Indian Legends: Sachin Tendulkar and Viswanathan Anand
* Anand on SportsKeeda List of Indian Sportspersons

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VG TV Promotional Video for World Chess Match Challenger Magnus Carlsen

Here is a nice video by VG TV for Magnus Carlsen ahead of the first game of the World Chess Championship versus Viswanathan Anand in Chennai on Saturday, November 9, 2013. Live schedule and championship timings listed here.




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Anand, Carlsen Chennai World Chess Championship 2013 Official Match Promotional Video

Viswanathan Anand versus Magnus Carlsen World Chess Championship 2013 in Chennai. The first game will be played on Saturday: Here is the official match promo video by All-India Chess Federation




- Summary of Live Telecast links plus times around the world for the World Chess Championship the world

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Anand - Carlsen Chennai World Chess Championship: Carlsen gets to begin with White in First Game

Anand - Carlsen Chennai World Chess Championship Opening Ceremony: Defending champion Viswanathan Anand will start his campaign with black pieces against Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the first game of the 12-round World Chess Championship on Saturday.

All Photos: Anastasiya Karlovich (full album at official website)

After declaring the 'FIDE World Championship Match-2013' open, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa picked the photograph of Anand from the first bowl and a Black King piece from the other during the draw of lots for the match to be held at Hyatt Regency hotel.

Instantly, it brought loud cheers from the almost packed Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, with the spectators wishing Anand the very best.

Anand will get back-to-back white games in round six and seven when the changing over would be done. As per rules, the player getting white in game one has to get black in game seven to make it even for both participants.

Anand, who has won World Championship matches in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012, is used to beginning with black pieces in World Championship matches. (Anand World Championship Timeline)

In the campaign against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in Bonn in 2008 and against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in 2010, Anand had started with black, which is known as a slightly unfavourable colour in the game, and yet won in style.

In 2012 though, Anand had white in game one against Boris Gelfand of Israel.

Jayalalithaa inaugurated the event at a glittering function in the presence of both the players, FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Tamil Nadu sports minister KC Veeramani, All India Chess Federation president JCD Prabhakaran and FIDE vice-president DV Sundar.

Seven budding state chess players escorted Anand and Carlsen to the dais and the two contestants exchanged pleasantries with the chief minister. Both Anand and Carlsen got huge cheers from the crowd.

Jayalalithaa hailed Anand as the greatest sportsman India has ever produced and Carlsen as 'Mozart of Chess' whose precocious talent has captured the imagination of chess lovers across the world.

Jayalalithaa described Anand as the epitome of chess in India and a role model for aspiring chess players of the country.

Official AICF video of opening ceremony


"This astoundingly modest personality from Chennai has made us all proud with his resplendent ability to deftly navigate expertly around this complex maze of 64 squares," she said.

Talking about Anand's love and hunger for mastering his craft, Jayalalithaa said "consistency, versatility and single-minded focus have always been Anand's forte".

"He gained national recognition at an early age when he won National Sub-Junior Chess Championship in 1983 at the age of 14. In the following year, he became the youngest Indian to be entitled to the International Master Title," she said.

The Chief Minister went on to list the achievements of Anand, including becoming of first Indian Grandmaster in 1988, winning of Rajiv Khel Ratna, Chess Oscar and then India's most prestigious civilian awards, Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan.

"Anand was the only chess player to have won the World Chess Championships in all three formats -- knock-out in 2000, tournament in 2007 and classical in 2008."

Jayalalithaa said Carlsen's precocious talent has captured the imagination of chess lovers across the world.

"He was totally fascinated by chess and became deeply engrossed and involved in chess to the point of obsession from early childhood and by the age of 13, he was an International Grandmaster," she said.

"At the age of 20, he became the youngest number one of the FIDE rating list in history. On February 1 this year, he achieved 2872 points in FIDE ratings, the highest score in world chess history so far."

The chief minister said "Carlsen has experienced one of the fastest ascents to elite stratosphere of chess, the pinnacle of which we are all assembled to witness, as he challenges world champion Viswanathan Anand for world title".

"The entire atmosphere here is charged with intellectual voltage as both prepare vigorously for the epochal battle," she said, adding that it was a proud moment for Chennai to host the historic event. -- PTI

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The Main Anand - Carlsen Chennai World Chess Match Battle will be in Middlegame: says GM Elizbar Ubilava

World Chess Championship 2013 GM interview: Grandmaster Elizbar Ubilava worked withViswanathan Anand for nine years between 1994 and 2005. The 63-year-old Spanish grandmaster of Georgian origin spoke to Times of India about the Anand - Carlsen Chennai World Chess Championship: 

On the favourite
It's natural that Carlsen has been deemed the favourite, being the No. 1 player in the world. But World Championship is a different event demanding specific skills. Ranking spots won't matter much here. Anand has not only the experience of playing many such matches but also special skill to motivate himself. His tournament record of late has suffered a bit. But that's perfectly understandable. For his age, it's quite difficult to recover and be in your best condition tournament after tournament. But for these matches, Anand can motivate himself, he can play strong and show he is the best.

Match expectations
Everybody is expecting a great battle, at least interesting games. I'm not expecting a theoretical battle between Anand and Carlsen. Carlsen is a master of avoiding set lines on the board, special preparation, especially the computer preparation (of opposition). The main weight of battle will be in the middle-game. Vishy doesn't like long games. He prefers to rest and be ready for the next game if it looks like a draw. But Carlsen fights on and I'm sure Anand is prepared for that.

Why is Carlsen dangerousHe is amazingly strong mentally. When asked which facet of chess brings him joy, he had said the suffering of the opponent! Bobby Fischer had spoken on similar lines. His level of resistance in inferior positions is quite high too. I feel Carlsen has not showed his real strength. I have not seen a talent like him, at least in this generation. You look at the history of chess - Alekhine, Capablanca, Fischer, Karpov, Anand - Carlsen represents the first line of chess champions.

Crucial factors in the match
How they react to situations during the championship. Can they surprise their opponent in his preferred opening variation? Once that happens, you not only get the psychological advantage but also more time on the clock because you keep your opponent busy: thinking and guessing. And in some positions, you can use this clock advantage decisively.

Mental toughnessWill their minds be fresh enough? Not only to memorise the prepared lines with precision but also to bring in new ideas to the table. It's not easy to remember everything that you have learnt or seen. Remember Anand himself confessed that he missed a move sequence during his first game defeat to Topalov in 2010. Some of Anand's team members have the experience of handling World Championship matches. But that won't necessarily result in creation of fresh ideas. Sometimes, even less experienced youngsters can come up with good ideas. I remember a 17-year-old helping Karpov with ideas during his World Championship battle with Kasparov.

On the battle of characters
It's not just about the chess, it's about the person - his fighting spirit, his character. During the match both players will face their set of problems. But you have to come back (on the board) and play with your concepts. The computer preparation, home preparation will help only to a certain extent. There is also this challenge of bridging the gap between preparation and memory.

Carlsen-Anand historyThis is an important point. But it works both ways. Both players are aware of a lot of things about each other besides preparation level and habits. Kramnik helped Kasparov during his match with Anand in 1995 and it became important when he went on to dethrone the legend five years later. Even Vishy can use his knowledge about Carlsen but I guess their association helps Carlsen more than Anand.

* More GM opinions on Anand vs Carlsen World Chess Championship 2013

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Few Takers for Paid Tickets to Anand vs Carlsen World Chess Championship in Chennai

Not even 100 tickets for first game sold until Friday, while 6,000-odd people attended Thursday inauguration ceremony, writes Arundhati Ramanathan in Live Mint.

Chennai: When World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand and his Norwegian Challenger Magnus Carlsen face each other in the opening game of their much-hyped 12-game world chess championship match on Saturday, they will be playing before a packed audience.

But very few among the spectators would have bought their tickets—although the cerebral sport is more popular in Tamil Nadu than nearly anywhere else in India.

Tickets for the match aren’t selling, said an official in the organizing committee, asking not to be named.

The 435 square metre hall on the ground floor of Hyatt Regency Hotel in central Chennai, where the match is going to be played, can seat as many as 350 people.

But not even 100 tickets for the first game had been sold until Friday—a far cry from the 6,000-odd people who turned up for the inauguration ceremony on Thursday. Then again, most of them were schoolchildren, ferried to the venue at the insistence of the state government—the principal sponsor of the event.

To be sure, chess is not a spectator sport and the pricing of tickets is steep: Rs.2,000 each for every game, going up to Rs.26,000 for a premium seat for all 12 games, compared with Rs.500 for a season pass for the just-concluded cricket Test match—Sachin Tendulkar’s penultimate—between India and the West Indies at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Conversely, the Eden Test was sold out, though the stands weren’t full.

“Steep, is it?” said Bharat Singh Chauhan, chief executive officer of the All India Chess Federation (AICF), referring to the ticket prices. “But for such matches in Europe, people pay up to €200 (or around Rs.16,800, a game).”

Organizers had to give away most of the tickets to government officials, sponsors and chess play ers—both local and foreign—he added.

The organizing committee decided to keep the ticket prices high because the venue cannot hold too many people and a lot of chess players from India and abroad were expected to gatecrash the event, said another AICF official, asking not be named.

However, those who cannot afford tickets but want some of the atmosphere of the venue, can go to the hotel and watch the games on giant screens installed outside the playing hall, he added.
In fact, people don’t need to step out of their homes at all to watch Anand and Carlsen play, state-run Doordarshan will telecast the games live, and the organizers will be streaming them live on the Internet at chennai2013.fide.com.

For some chess aficionados, however, Anand playing at home is too big a sporting event to miss.

Vijay Narayanan, a former chess player and an automobile engineer who now works in Chandigarh, is visiting his hometown specially to watch his childhood hero Anand defend his title against the world’s highest-ranked chess player.

“Anand can’t lose in Chennai,” said Narayanan, who may stay on till the end of the event if the local hero wins.

There should have been many more spectators such as Narayanan, considering India is home to no less than 35,221 internationally rated chess players—more than any other country. A large number
of them are from Tamil Nadu, where the sport has been included in the compulsory curriculum of state-run schools.

Of the 34 Grandmasters in India currently, 12 are from Tamil Nadu.
The popularity of chess in Tamil Nadu can be traced back to the 1960s, when Manuel Aaron became India’s first International Master and the national champion. The sport grew in popularity after Anand won the world junior championship in 1987 and became the first Indian to secure the Grandmaster title the next year, said K. Murali Mohan, a former general secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association.

Even so, the popularity of chess in India remains confined largely among active and former players, having failed to permeate to the masses, even in Tamil Nadu.

* Sachin Tendulkar posts

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Both Anand, Carlsen Confident, Stay Unprovoked, Remain their Natural Fun Self at First Press Conference

World Chess Championship with Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen in Chennai - first press conference: As a stern test awaited his quest for a sixth title, Indian chess wizard Viswanathan Anand was a picture of confidence and he promised an attacking game against Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the much-awaited World Championship match that begins on Saturday.

Anand, the undisputed world champion since 2007, faces a strong challenge from the 22-year-old Norwegian sensation Carslen in one of the most awaited World Chess Championship matches in recent history.

Asked how well he has prepared for the event, Anand said, "I worked as I always did. Couple of months of training and I think I am ready to attack. We will see how it goes but I think I am ready to play." 

"I am really excited to play in my home city. I am looking forward to the match starting and getting on to that," he said after the inauguration of the event by Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

In terms of hype, the match between five-time champion Anand and world number one Carlsen is comparable to the historic clash between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky way back in 1972.

Here is the VG TV video. Official press conference video in earlier post.

The two players sought to play a bit of mind games in their first press conferences ahead of the match, with Carlsen refusing to disclose the names of his seconds after Anand said Indian Grandmasters K Sasikiran and Sandipan Chanda, Hungarian Peter Leko and Poland's Radoslav Wojtaszek would assist him in the November 9-28 event.

"I appreciate Mr Anand's openness about his team but I will say I am not going to return the favour," Carlsen said.

"I am happy today. It is good to be here. Everything is good so far and I am looking forward to the match starting," said the current world number one Carlsen who won the right to contest against Anand after winning the Candidates Tournament earlier this year.

Asked about his response on Carlsen refusing to name his seconds, Anand said, "Since he cannot believe the whole truth about it and either of us, it does not really matter. I mean, I can answer a question honestly but you will never know whether it was the whole truth or not. The same goes for him. So, it does not really matter too much."

When a scribe asked a question to Carslen in Norwegian, the FIDE media officer requested him to translate it into English before answering in English, but the Norwegian refused.

"I really do not know if this question should be really translated into English but I will have to reply," Carlsen said before replying in Norwegian.

Anand was also not to be left behind as he answered a question in Tamil a couple of minutes later.

Anand said that he was not perturbed by suggestions that he would begin as the underdog in the match.

"I don't know. In general, I get ready to play against certain opponent. That is it. As for whether some thinks I am a favourite or not or the percentage that I enjoy, I do not know what you can do with that information any way."

Having won five world titles, Anand said his experience could come in handy in the 12-game match which will be played at the Hyatt Regency here.

"Obviously, it is one factor among many. I will bring to bear those factors into my game. Definitely it is one of my resources I would like to draw from. We will have to see."

Carlsen also sought to downplay the view of some experts that he will start as favourite in the match.

"I do not know if everyone considers me a favourite but in general I expect to do well in tournaments. If I manage to do well to my abilities and levels, I can win and that will be my mind set here as well," he said.

Anand was emotional when asked about his quest of winning the sixth title in his home city.

"For me, I am happy to play world championship match in Chennai in this life, which is my home. I thank J Jayalalithaa for helping me and making it happen in Chennai. It would not have happened without the Chief Minister's interest in the matter. I am really grateful to her for that.

"Now that has come to true that I am to play at home, I must now try and play my best. At this moment, I am only thinking as to how I am going to play," he said.

In a recent television interview, Carlsen had said that Anand enjoys good food and he (Anand) is somewhat lazy even though much more serious for a match like this. But asked about this, the Indian refused to react.

"I enjoy good food, that is for sure. As for the rest, you say lot of things during interviews. It makes no sense to response to everything," said Anand.

Asked about the media hype for the event, Carlsen said, "I am happy that there is so much interest for chess in India. Anand is a star here and I am hoping there will be lot of chess fans and media in general and lot of positive interest around the match."

Both Anand and Carlsen are staying at Hyatt, and when the Indian was asked about staying at the venue itself, he said, "This is very convenient, especially since you do not have to reckon with traffic hazards at all. Obviously for the players it is extremely comfortable. That is how I feel."

Carlsen, however, did not fully agree with Anand's statement and said, "It is not so much, of course there are some obvious advantages like logistical and on the other hand perhaps it is tough staying in the same place for a long time but overall I am happy with the arrangements."

Meanwhile, FIDE vice-president D V Sundar said some side events are being held during the World Championship match.

"Chennai is considered as the Mecca of Indian chess. We are hosting exclusive Women GM tournament, Open Women GM tournament and Under-17 tournaments and others," he said.

FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said, "First of all, I thank the chief minister for hosting and sponsoring the event. I thank GM Anand and Carlsen."

Tamil Nadu government is the official sponsors of the match and has given a cap of Rs 29 crore as the total budget which is inclusive of a prize fund of around Rs 14 crore.

In all, 12 games will be played in the World Championship match under Classical system in which both players will get 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 and the 15 minutes for the remaining game with an increment of 30 seconds per move effective from the 61st move.

The first to score 6.5 points will win the match and the remaining games will not be played should it happen before the 12th game. The winner will take home 60% of the prize fund.

In case of a tied score after twelve games, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner. However, if the tiebreak stage is reached the winner will get 55% of the total prize at stake. --PTI

* Official video of first press conference
* At the gala opening ceremony, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalitha picked first a photo of Viswanathan Anand then a black chess piece, so Magnus Carlsen begins with White in the first game on Saturday. (More on that later)

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Summary of Anand vs Carlsen Live Links and Schedule: World Chess Championship 2013 in Chennai

Here are most of the links we could gather for live streaming of the World Chess Championship 2013 (More as when our readers alert us). 

Some time zones: When in Chennai it is is 15:00, it is 1:30 am in California, 4:30 am in New York and Bogota, 5:30 am in Santo Domingo, 7:30 am in Rio de Janeiro, 9:30 am in London and Reukjavik, 10:30 am in Prague, Belgrade, Oslo and Paris, 11:30 am in Athens and Sofia, 13:30 pm in Moscow and Dubai, 17:30 pm in Beijing, 18:30 pm in Tokyo, 20:30 pm in Sydney.

On the web

* Official Website: http://chennai2013.fide.com/#
* Official YouTube Live Streaming: http://www.youtube.com/aicfofficial
* PlayChess: http://www.playchess.com/ (paid)
* Internet Chess Club: http://www.chessclub.com/ (It's free first two days)
* Doordarshan Sports TV Channel online http://www.turbotv.in/dd-sports-live/
* Chess TV from Russia http://chesstv.com/en
* Chessdom: http://www.chessdom.com/carlsen-anand-2013-live/
* NRK.no: http://www.nrk.no/
* Chess Network http://www.twitch.tv/ChessNetwork
* Chess.com TV http://www.chess.com/tv
* VG.no http://direkte.vg.no/

On television

* Doordarshan
* NRK1

Additional reading for live links, social media feeds:

* A Twitter Guide to the World Chess Championship by Eric van Reem

* GM Ian rogers' Guide for Couch Potatoes on Anand vs Carlsen World Chess Championship 

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