Carlsen brands his play "not good enough" in World Championship game 4 draw

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World Chess Championship 2014 (4)

Carlsen brands his play "not good enough" in World Championship game 4 draw

Mark Crowther - Wednesday 12th November 2014

Anand and Carlsen discuss game 4 afterwards. Photo ©

Anand and Carlsen discuss game 4 afterwards. Photo © | http://sochi2014.fide.com

The fourth game of the World Chess Championship match between defending champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Viswanathan Anand ended in a draw in 47 moves. Anand played the Sicilian Defence for the first time in the match but with 2...e6 avoiding Carlsen's 3.Bb5 which he's used to lethal effect in the past. Anand's preparation again seemed a little deeper but Carlsen seemed to be the one pressing at least a little bit until move 24.

"Here I sort of missed 24...Be5 and then there's nothing." Carlsen. "After that I started to drift a bit."

"30.Qe2 was very lazy, I should just go 30.Qc2 instead. Force him to exchange rooks after which it's obviously a draw but at least I can claim to be symbolically better. But this was really stupid." Carlsen

"After 34.Qd7 I was a little bit worried I might be worse." Carlsen

The position was nearly equal but Anand was the one who had any chances that were going, especially as Carlsen was down to less than two minutes to reach move 40 after 36. Kg3 and a minute after 37. Nf4 although by then Carlsen thought his problems were over.

"At that point the position kind of clarified, I got this 37.Nf4 then there was not too much danger. I was not too worried but I guess at some point I'll have to start playing a bit faster." Carlsen

"For some reason after 36...Qb5 I thought I could still do something" Anand "Maybe 36...d4 is the best." Carlsen. "36...d4 is better because it stops his knight moving I think. But still after 37.Qe4 he's so centralised I can't believe it's really going to be something but it's easier to blunder with white probably." Anand.

Anand's 39.d4 was based on a miscalculation that 41...Qc3+ 42.Ke4 d3 forces an immediate draw but it is close to losing after 43.Qf3 however

"the same moment I saw 41...Qc3 wouldn't work I saw I could go one square further." Anand

After 43.Qd2 the game quickly finished in a draw.

Anand seemed reasonably happy after the game.

"Just a reasonable game I thought." Anand.

"There wasn't really a moment when I was worried. It is a very complex position to get to grips with and understand it but there wasn't a moment I was very concerned. Obviously except this one when I went d4 and as soon as I went d4 I saw he has Qf3 but by then I'd also seen Qd2 very quickly." Anand

Carlsen didn't seem to have fully got over the his loss the day before. He seemed distracted by noises early on and even more restless than usual at the board. He also only did the mandated FIDE press conference not the usual additional ones with the Norwegian media. This left the NRK to fill the void with an article wondering whether he was acting, at least a little bit. Carlsen dissatisfaction is a psychological game Peter Doggers gave a rather reasonable response.

Carlsen on the game.

"I thought I played terribly but it was a draw so that's OK." Carlsen

"I missed several things. I think over all it just wasn't a very high quality game on my part, I mean there were no glaring blunders, at least I don't think so, but just in general not good enough."

Score (best of 12): Carlsen 2 - Anand 2.

Game 5 Friday 14th November 12pm GMT: Anand-Carlsen

Tal Memorial Blitz in Sochi 13th-14th November.

Carlsen,Magnus (2863) - Anand,Viswanathan (2792) [B40]
WCh 2014 Sochi RUS (4), 12.11.2014
[Crowther,Mark]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6

Carlsen has been so comfortable with Bb5 against d6 that Anand was never likely to risk that.

3.g3

Sidestepping the Taimanov and Paulsen variations. Carlsen has tried a range of moves here but 3.g3 must have been a strong bet for Anand.

[3.b3 b6 4.Bb2 Bb7 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 7.Bc2 d5 8.e5 Nd7 9.d4 cxd4 10.cxd4 Nb4 11.0-0 Rc8 12.Nc3 Nxc2 13.Qxc2 Be7 14.Qd2 0-0 15.Ne2 Ba6 16.Rfc1 Rxc1+ 17.Rxc1 Qb8 18.h4 Rc8 19.Nf4 Rxc1+ 20.Qxc1 Qc8 21.Qb1 Nf8 22.g3 Ng6 23.Ng2 h6 24.Ne3 Be2 25.Kg2 Qa6 26.Ne1 Bb4 27.f3 Bd2 28.Kf2 Bxe3+ 29.Kxe3 Bf1 30.Qc2 Qxa2 31.Bc3 Qxc2 32.Nxc2 a5 33.h5 Ne7 34.g4 Nc6 35.Kd2 g6 36.Ne3 Ba6 37.f4 b5 38.hxg6 fxg6 39.f5 Kf7 40.f6 b4 41.Bb2 g5 42.Nd1 Na7 43.Nf2 Bf1 44.Ke1 Bg2 45.Ke2 Nb5 46.Nd3 Be4 47.Nc5 Bg6 48.Nb7 Ke8 49.Nxa5 h5 50.gxh5 Bxh5+ 51.Ke3 Bd1 52.Nb7 g4 53.Kf4 Nc3 54.Kg3 Ne4+ 55.Kg2 Bxb3 56.Bc1 Bd1 57.Nd6+ Nxd6 58.exd6 b3 59.Kg3 Bc2 1-0 Carlsen,M (2835)-Caruana,F (2770) Moscow RUS 2012; 3.d4 1-0 (28) Carlsen,M (2881)-Potkin,V (2621) Dubai UAE 2014; 3.d3 1-0 (40) Carlsen,M (2848)-Bruzon Batista,L (2706) Mexico City MEX 2012]

3...Nc6 4.Bg2 d5

Anand chooses a variation that Carlsen hasn't met before.

[4...g6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Qb6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Be3 Qc7 9.0-0 Bg7 10.Bc5 d5 11.Nd2 Nf6 12.Re1 Bf8 13.Bxf8 Kxf8 14.c4 Kg7 15.Rc1 dxe4 16.c5 Rd8 17.Qc2 e5 18.Nc4 Be6 19.Nd6 Bd5 20.Qc3 Rxd6 21.cxd6 Qxd6 22.Red1 a5 23.Bf1 h5 24.Be2 a4 25.h4 Rb8 26.Rd2 Rb4 27.Qe3 Qb8 28.Rcc2 Bxa2 29.Rxc6 Rxb2 30.Rxb2 Qxb2 31.Kf1 Bd5 32.Rc1 a3 33.Qc3 Qxc3 34.Rxc3 a2 35.Ra3 Ng4 36.Bxg4 hxg4 37.Ke2 f5 38.Ke3 Kf6 39.Ra6+ Ke7 40.Kd2 f4 41.Ke1 Kd7 42.Kd2 Kc7 43.gxf4 exf4 44.Kc3 g3 45.fxg3 fxg3 46.Kb2 g2 47.Rxg6 e3 48.Rg7+ Kd6 49.Rg6+ Ke7 0-1 (49) Carlsen,M (2837)-Svidler,P (2749) Astana KAZ 2012]

5.exd5 exd5 6.0-0

[Relevant: 6.d4 Bg4 7.0-0 cxd4 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Nf6 10.Bg5 Be7 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Qxd5 0-0 13.Qxd8 Nxd8 14.Nd2 Rc8 15.Rac1 Rc7 16.Bd5 Ne6 17.Ne4 Be7 18.Bxe6 fxe6 19.Rfd1 e5 20.c3 Rd8 21.cxd4 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Rxd4 23.f3 Rd7 24.Rc8+ Kf7 25.Kf2 h6 26.Ke2 a6 27.h4 g6 28.b3 h5 29.a4 Ke6 30.Rh8 Rd4 31.Rh6 Kf7 32.Rh7+ Kf8 33.Nf2 Rd6 34.Rh8+ Kg7 35.Rc8 Rb6 Nakamura,H (2787)-Bachmann,A (2644) Tromsoe 2014 ½-½]

6...Nf6 7.d4 Be7 8.Be3 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bg4N

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 9..Bg4

FEN:
r2qk2r/pp2bppp/2n2n2/3p4/3N2b1/4B1P1/PPP2PBP/RN1Q1RK1 w kq - 0 10

Caruana is the only elite player to have had this position before as black and he chose 0-0 both times. This novelty is hardly a surprise in this position.

[Predecessor (11): 9...0-0 10.Nc3 Bg4 11.Qd3 a6 12.Rfe1 Qd7 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Na4 Qf5 15.Bf4 Bb4 16.Qxf5 Bxf5 17.c3 Ba5 18.Bf1 Bd8 19.b3 Ne4 20.h4 Bf6 21.Rac1 g5 22.hxg5 Nxg5 23.Bg2 Nh3+ 24.Bxh3 Bxh3 25.Be5 Bg5 26.f4 Be7 27.Bd4 Rfe8 28.Re3 Bf5 29.Nc5 Bxc5 ½-½ (29) Jones,G (2635)-Caruana,F (2767) Reykjavik 2012]

10.Qd3 Qd7!

Making sure h3 driving away the black bishop with likely advantage to white is hindered. Black has surely equalised and Anand was still well within his preparation.

11.Nd2

[11.Nc3 was expected by a few strong players.]

11...0-0 12.N2f3 Rfe8 13.Rfe1 Bd6

[13...Bd8 is a computer move which actually isn't that outlandish if you take the positional idea that the black bishop is best placed on the a7-g1 diagonal.]

14.c3 h6 15.Qf1 Bh5!? 16.h3!?

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 16.h3

FEN:
r3r1k1/pp1q1pp1/2nb1n1p/3p3b/3N4/2P1BNPP/PP3PB1/R3RQK1 b - - 0 16

[16.Nh4 was the move many expected here not because it's particularly great but because people were fearing Carlsen might end up worse. Which was probably the case. 16...Bc5; 16.Bh3 Bg4 17.Bg2 Bh5 would have been a very weird way to draw by repetition.]

16...Bg6

Computers thought black was better here but the position is probably just deceptive.

17.Rad1 Rad8 18.Nxc6 bxc6 19.c4 Be4

Anand didn't see the point in the alternatives.

[19...Bb4 20.Re2 Qb7; 19...Qb7; 19...Bc2 20.Rc1 Be4 is a finesse that had to be considered, is the rook better on d1 or c1 from black's point of view?]

20.Bd4 Nh7

[20...Re6!?]

21.cxd5 Bxd5 22.Rxe8+ Rxe8 23.Qd3

[23.Qa6!?]

23...Nf8

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 23...Nf8

FEN:
4rnk1/p2q1pp1/2pb3p/3b4/3B4/3Q1NPP/PP3PB1/3R2K1 w - - 0 24

"I didn't have too much but I thought perhaps I was a little bit better." Carlsen.

24.Nh4

"Here I sort of missed 24...Be5 and then there's nothing." Carlsen. "After that I started to drift a bit."

[24.Bc3 Ne6 (24...Ng6 "Then I think it's very hard to achieve anything at all." Carlsen. "Yeah, black's pieces are doing fine." 25.Qd4 f6 26.Nh2) 25.Nh4]

24...Be5 25.Bxd5

[25.Bxe5 Rxe5 26.Qc3]

25...Qxd5 26.Bxe5 Qxe5 27.b3 Ne6 28.Nf3 Qf6 29.Kg2 Rd8 30.Qe2

30...Rd5 31.Rxd5 cxd5 32.Ne5?

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 32,Ne5

FEN:
6k1/p4pp1/4nq1p/3pN3/8/1P4PP/P3QPK1/8 b - - 0 32

"Here I was still seeing if I could achieve a little bit." Carlsen who admitted this was based on a miscalculation. "I had the feeling he had missed [the refutation of]Nc6 when he went for Ne5." Anand.

32...Qf5 33.Nd3

[33.Nc6? Nf4+! 34.gxf4 Qg6+ 35.Kh2 Qxc6 clearly favours black and was overlooked initially by Carlsen.; 33.Nf3 may have been safer.]

33...Nd4 34.g4 Qd7

"After Qd7 I was a little bit worried I might be worse." Carlsen

[34...Nxe2 35.gxf5 was the alternative.]

35.Qe5 Ne6 36.Kg3

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 36.Kg3

FEN:
6k1/p2q1pp1/4n2p/3pQ3/6P1/1P1N2KP/P4P2/8 b - - 0 36

36...Qb5?!

"For some reason after Qb5 I thought I could still do something" Anand

[36...d4! "Maybe d4 is the best." Carlsen. "d4 is better because it stops his knight moving I think. But still after Qe4 he's so centralised I can't believe it's really going to be something but it's easier to blunder with white probably." Anand. 37.Qe4 "I thought Qe4 probably." Carlsen.]

37.Nf4!

"Very sensible" Nakamura.

37...Nxf4 38.Kxf4

Carlsen was down below a minute but the position isn't all that tricky.

38...Qb4+ 39.Kf3

"Of course here something sensible would have been nice." Anand.

39...d4 40.Qe8+ Kh7 41.Qxf7 Qd2!

Viswanathan Anand

Magnus Carlsen

Position after 42.Qd2

FEN:
8/p4Qpk/7p/8/3p2P1/1P3K1P/P2q1P2/8 w - - 0 42

Holds the draw.

[41...Qc3+? was initially planned by Anand. 42.Ke4 d3 "I thought d3 was an easy draw." Anand before realising his mistake. 43.Qf3 when it is black who is in danger.]

42.Qf5+ Kh8

The game will be drawn.

43.h4 Qxa2

The least complicated way of drawing.

44.Qe6 Qd2

[44...Qa1 45.g5 Qh1+ 46.Kg4 Qg2+ 47.Kh5 hxg5 is nothing either.]

45.Qe8+ Kh7 46.Qe4+ Kh8 47.Qe8+ Kh7 1/2-1/2

WCh Sochi
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	48	D85	Gruenfeld Defence
Carlsen, Magnus	-	Anand, Viswanathan	1-0	35	C65	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Carlsen, Magnus	1-0	34	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Carlsen, Magnus	-	Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	47	B40	Sicilian Classical

WCh Sochi (RUS), 8-28 xi 2014
Name	Ti	NAT	Rtng	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total	Perf
Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2792	½	0	1	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	2	2863
Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2863	½	1	0	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	2	2792

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