The Week in Chess

The eightth game of the World Chess Championship between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand finished in a draw after just about two and three quarter hours play and 41 moves. This result suits Carlsen as he both leads and was playing with the black pieces today.

Carlsen came armed with a "fresh idea" (Svidler) in a well known position with his 9...Re8 combined with 10..Be7. Anand seemed to be aware of the idea even if it was nowhere near his main preparation for this game.

After 17...Rad8 (a very accurate move according to Anand) Carlsen was clearly still in preparation and after 21...b4 it was obvious the game was going to finish in a quick draw. Anand had a "symbolic" advantage after that but he offered a draw on move 41.

Carlsen looked tired and distracted during the game which was otherwise going very well for him and afterwards said he was tired at the start, although this improved as the game went on, and invited speculation that he either had a small illness or didn't really sleep that well. The press conference was short with the players mostly giving terse answers.

This probably can be put down as a win for Carlsen's team. The next game is on Thursday when Carlsen has white.

"As the match goes on the rest days become more and more about that, rest." Magnus Carlsen

Score Carlsen 4.5 - Anand 3.5

Thursday 20th November 2014 3pm local time 12pm GMT Carlsen-Anand.