World Championship, Game 4: A Drawn Sicilian
(Hmm, kind of a mobster-y title there - but at least the Sicilian wasn't then quartered.)
I think the likelihood that Viswanathan Anand reads my blog is extremely close to zero, and the odds that someone on his team reads it is only infinitesimally greater. But it's still a happy coincidence that he acted in accordance with my advice to scrap the whole Berlin business and try a Sicilian with 2...e6. Magnus Carlsen, as chess fans everywhere surely expected, went for a sideline - in this case 3.g3. Soon Black had an isolated d-pawn, which is, I think, a nice structure for this match, as both players get what they want. The side facing the isolani can hope to positionally massage the opponent until the pawn eventually drops - just the sort of thing Carlsen likes to do (though not the only thing he is adept at, obviously) - while the side with the isolani gets to play actively and to fight for the initiative - the kind of chess Anand thrives on.
As far as I can recall, this is their first IQP (isolated queen's pawn - the d-pawn) game against each other, at least in a world championship, and it wound up drawn. First Anand was a tiny bit better, and then Carlsen had a slight edge, but ultimately neither player experienced any serious problems before they split the point after 47 moves. Thus this match, like their previous one, was tied 2-2 heading into the second rest day.
After the game Anand was basically satisfied with his play, except for a late oversight in his calculations that he was able to correct beforehand, while Carlsen seemed fairly disgusted by his own play. Does this mean that Carlsen will head for this line again, thinking he should do better next time? My advice to Anand & co. is that they repeat this. The opening was fine, and a return trip will let them work out the details even more effectively. As White objectively achieved nothing from the variation, and didn't saddle Anand with the kind of position where he must morosely and passively defend forever, there's no obvious reason why he shouldn't go for a second dose of this. And if Carlsen goes for an Open Sicilian, that's definitely playing to Anand's strength. So my prediction is that Carlsen will switch first moves next time, maybe going for the vague world of 1.Nf3.
The game (with very light annotations) is here; subscribers' material will be sent later.
Reader Comments (5)
Carlsen back to the Reti with Nf3/g3? Very boring, but if so, I see no reason Anand should deviate from his d5/g6 Grünfeld setup from last year. Do you? 1 c4 seems more likely to me, with many transpositional possibilities. Might Anand go 1...e5 in that case?
[DM: I think 1.Nf3 is more likely, but I wouldn't be surprised if both moves show up sooner or later in the match, especially if it goes to rapid tiebreaks. Your suggestions for Anand make sense, but I wouldn't be surprised by other moves in either case.]
The nice thing about the Sicilian is that every time Carlsen plays anything except 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 Anand can pause, look up at Carlsen, give Carlsen the "You're ducking me again, what are you, chicken?" smile, and then play 3...d5 because you can almost always play 3...d5 (although it isn't recommended against 3 b3!). Playing for a win - or at least for the ability to play for a win if the opening goes well - is a big advantage for Anand. I think that since 2010 or so his World Championship preparation became too focused on safety (I thought this in the Topalov match too!).
2...e6 rules out 3. Bb5 and a lot of the other options are either sharp (2. f4 or 2.Nc3 and 3.f4), harmless (today's game), or simply bad (2. d3 and 3. Nd2). It was great advice Dennis (also a main reason why I took up the Paulsen myself in the first place years ago).
I guess the prediction for the next game has to be another Grunfeld, where Carlsen got much more "his" type of position than in the Queen's Gambit. Although the disaster in Game 3 was very much preparation rather than style, it is unlikely that Carlsen will want to enter that variation again, especially since the line is by no means forced for White and Anand may well have other surprises in the QGD prepared.
I am wondering if Carlsen's camp somehow thought they could go into mainline territory and surprise Anand that way. It is pretty easy to dismiss this argument as it doesn't make sense :). However, maybe the thinking was that if Anand is really preparing only for Carlsen, he doesn't need the main lines. Of course this is pure speculation, but I get the feeling that the mistake of game 3 from the Carlsen camp was really one of (partial) match strategy.
I think that Anand fans are getting over excited because their guy is still level after 4 games. The thing is though Carlsen's white openings seem a little blunt he is the one who can win games with black.
. If Carlsen equalises or better he can drag Anand over the coals for a while.
still I agree that Anand has a good set of openings for this match. It does seem to me that Anand is much more focused on WOrld Championship matches and qualifiers than he is on 'run of the mill supertournaments' so the rating difference may flatter Carlsen.
Very glad to see this turn into a real match, and congrats on the recommendation, Dennis! No doubt the consultant check is in the mail (but seriously, you never know -- maybe someone did pick up on it -- stranger things have happened).
If Carlsen ventures 1. Nf3 in Game 6, I wonder if we'll see 1. Nf3 d5 2. b3, à la Zurich? And if so, will Anand dare Carlsen to play that reversed Budapest again?
I still think Anand will hit Carlsen with something really left-field at some point. You have to assume Anand's done deep prep against safe-looking "tranquilizer" moves in certain lines, and will have an unexpected pawn sac, ...g5!?, positional sacrifice, or other massively unbalancing move waiting to be unleashed.
(Just as long as it's not the Pirc -- it seems like every high-level GM who uses it as a surprise weapon loses badly!)
As for Game 5, my prediction is another QGD, maybe a Semi-Slav or Lasker.