Carlsen not too safe!?

I am surprised by this poll. Carlsen has looked incredibly strong and determined, while the players in the candidates are all showing their “human” sides. Anand today looked not very good for the first time, but I am not sure people were thinking he would have a big chance in a rematch. A question is if he would even enjoy one…

28 thoughts on “Carlsen not too safe!?”

  1. Carlsen has imposed his style in the first match and it’s very difficult to change during the match itself…but this time Anand would change style…don’t forget the rematch Tal-Botvinnik…

  2. You could say that Mamedyarov is the joker in this years tournament like Ivanchuk was last year. It is worth checking who he will play in the last round!

  3. … but don´t forget what the joker Ivanchuk did to Kramnik in the last round last year 🙂

    Playing for high stakes in such a strong tournament must be a brutal experience. Having lost my nerves in a 6th league game last sunday I have to pay tribute to everyone exposing himself to such pressure.

  4. wok64 :

    Playing for high stakes in such a strong tournament must be a brutal experience. Having lost my nerves in a 6th league game last sunday I have to pay tribute to everyone exposing himself to such pressure.

    I second and applaud these sentiments. We need more sympathy in this world—and, really, I can relate more to chess failure than success. It is a great accomplishment to be in the field, even DFL.

  5. I personally think the tournament is fantastic and I am greatly enjoying watching it. This does not mean that the comparison to Carlsen does not make the 8 players look a bit …

  6. I agree with that— I voted “unlikely to be unseated” even though I am not really an MC fan (indifferent not hostile).

  7. Obviously today´s Aronian – Anand Encounter will be a key game for further tournament progress. It will be interesting to see whether Anand remains as solid with the black pieces as he was in the first part of the tournament.

  8. @katar
    The idea that it is going to be a really close match is seductive, but I do not think it would have improved the poll a lot to include this.

    For example: I would happily put money at odds 1.20 that Carlsen wins against Anand again; and at the moment Anand is the leader. I would love for Anand to beat Carlsen; mainly because he is closer to my age and also a bit because it looked so bad in November… I just do not believe for a second that it is going to happen.

  9. It is not the right post but I want to share my satisfaction concerning the training section of Jacob Aagaard in the New in Chess magazine (NIC).

    Some weeks ago when NIC request the advice of current suscribers I remember that I comment that I was interested in seeing articles by Jacob Aagard; else, I suggest them a training section. Right now I’m very pleased to see that my suggestions where considered.

    Good continuation with your good work.

  10. @manuel
    They asked me in December. They had apparently considered it for some time. But I am sure they are happy to be backed up in their decision :-).

  11. garryk :
    Carlsen has imposed his style in the first match and it’s very difficult to change during the match itself…but this time Anand would change style…don’t forget the rematch Tal-Botvinnik…

    I do not think Carlsen has been severely Ill and suffered Soviet medicine since he crushed Anand last year so do not hold your breath waiting for a rerun of 1961

    The most telling game for me to indicate Carlsen’s superiority was the last Game of the Carlsen Anand match when Carlsen could have took a draw any where to clinch the world title but was still grinding away going for another win

  12. @SovietSchool
    This is the reason why Anand will hurt him bad. Carsen looks invincible because nobody has hit him till now. Let’s see what happens when somebody will kick his ass at least once.

  13. If there is an Anand – Carlsen rematch, I think it would be at least more competitive than the first. I look forward to it it if it happens.

    As I said on another forum, none of the other players have shown anything to suggest they would fare any better than Anand did.

  14. It is quite interesting how people have been criticising Anand for years for not trying to win tournaments and only focusing on the matches. At the same time they were saying based on these tournaments that he was too weak to be a worthy world champion.

    Well, now we see how he plays when he focuses on the tournaments. And it is not bad indeed…

  15. Anand back on rank 3 in the live rating list. “Primus inter pares” as the romans used to say. Who would have expected such a comeback?

  16. I really attribute Anand’s form to the zen of having nothing to lose or prove—he can relax and be the chess player he is (a very strong world champion). The question is IF he wins (I think this is not a certainty) how will this carry over to the match with MC?? Will pressure return with the same results?? Or will he arrive a new man and earn a different result?? I don’t know, but I think he might well prevail. As in golf, I believe victory at these super high levels has a large psychological dimension—a combination of a will to win and relaxation.

  17. One may argue that Anand actually had a lot to prove after his performances in Chennai and Zurich and he delivers (although I didn’t find his position very convincing today – but who am I to judge …).

    Another bad loss by Kramnik today, maybe he prepared too hard for Anand and Aronian in the next two rounds. It seems he’s almost out of the race now, very sad. I voted for him in the first poll and I’ll never stop admiring his chess skills. I keep sympathizing with “the old guys”, so fingers crossed for Vishy …

  18. Kramnik again shows himself vulnerable to “offbeat crap” that takes him out of his preparation early. That is quite a well established pattern nowadays and it seems like his opponents are paying attention. It’s not that he is necessarily lost out of the opening (as against Karjakin), but it is one thing to be up on the clock and in a better position from early on (as he was used to be) and quite another to have to fight on equal footing for a long time.

    My theory is that Anand is on the upswing because of the hard work he put into the Carlsen match. Of course Carlsen is about 100 Elo points stronger than his current opponents. Still, if he manages to keep this boost of confidence ’til autumn, he might keep the match open for more than four games …

    Phille

  19. Shurlock Ventriloquist

    One of the traps facing Carlsen could be without significant competition pushing him he will fail to improve making himself ripe for the plucking come next WC go round in 2016. Beginning to look as if Nakamura may be closer to truth than people would like in his comments that he is perhaps the real threat as certainly these candidate games makes it clear there is no rising threat in the short term. In addition, being able to observe all these ‘weakies’ expose their weaknesses will make it easier for whomever (Caruana ?) to plot and scheme the most efficient path through the weeds.

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