Chennai: Challenger Magnus Carlsen closed in on the crown after defeating defending champion Viswanathan Anand in the ninth game of the World Chess Championship match here today.
On what turned out be a dramatic affair, Anand missed out on his chances in white pieces and suffered a painful defeat that almost sealed the fate of the match.
Carlsen now leads 6-3 and needs just half a point from the remaining three games to become the new world champion.
Match updates: Game 9 of World Chess Championship match between Anand and Carlsen
It was a Nimzo Indian defense that Carlsen chose as black and Anand, realising well that this was his last chance for a strike, went for the Saemisch variation.
Anand had used this system before, in World Championship match against Kramnik and later in a gem of a match against Wang Hao of China.
Carlsen showed some signs of nervousness in the early stages of the middle game after he went for a line that is not favoured in top level chess.
Anand got his chances by way of a King-side attack while Carlsen pushed harder on the other flank. The position in the middle game looked very dangerous for Carlsen but with precise calculations, he kept himself in the game.
Even till the end of the game, Carlsen's queen and one Bishop remained on the initial squares as mere spectators to the proceedings, while he defended his position with all available resources.
On the 22nd move, Anand had about 25 minutes more than Carlsen and optically dominating position, but the Norwegian world number one had calculated that his King was guarded against any checkmate threats.
On the 23rd move, Anand spent nearly 40 minutes and decided to continue the attack instead of equalising once again. This was more to do with match situation as Anand had things under control but another drawn result would not have improved the match situation.Carlsen found the best possible moves from this point and Anand simply blundered on his 28th move by moving his knight to a check coming from a new promoted queen. Another move would have helped continue the game but this was certainly not Anand's day.
With just a draw needed, Carlsen should be able to take home the title in the 10th game itself when he gets white pieces.
"We got a very sharp position from the opening, basically I missed something with the pawn rollers, it was really a very tough game," Carlsen said after the game.
The Norwegian added that he was trying to calculate as best as possible.
"I was trying my best and I could not find a forced win for white," he said.
Anand said he had not seen the blunder. "I just got a little excited and played this knight move. I realised immediately what I had done," the Indian said.
I had to give it a shot, says Anand
I had to give it a shot, says Anand
Chennai: His title defense in tatters after suffering another loss, world champion Viswanathan Anand today said he was left with little choice and decided to go for the kill in the ninth game as he had to drastically change the course of the match.
Going into the ninth game today with a two-game deficit, Anand said he had to give it a shot.
"In general, the match situation did not leave me with much of a choice. I had to give it a shot, I saw a couple of moments where I could exit but I decided to give it a shot. It seemed very dangerous for black," the defending champion said.
The Indian ace mentioned it was a moment of excitement that led to the blunder.
"In a sense it was irresponsible or silly but I spent about 40 minutes on this move and then I suddenly saw his response. And for a second I got excited with this knight move (which was the blunder) and simply missed. As soon as I played the knight move I saw what I had done," the Indian conceded.
Explaining the match situation, Anand said he had no regrets about his choice of opening.
"I needed to change the course of the match drastically that's why I went for this. I had a rest day to get familiar with the lines. Basically this is what I had to do. This was the correct choice so I have no regrets for that," he noted.
When asked whether he still will go for the kill in the last three games, Anand said he will try.
"Of course, I will try but the situation doesn't look very good," he said.
As soon as the ninth game ended, giving Magnus Carlsen an unassailable three points lead, highly regarded British grandmaster Nigel Short came out with a tweet: End of an era.
Carlsen showed to the world that his maturity is not confined to the 64 squares in the post-game conference when the question was posed to him.
After a usual poise, came the answer. "Let's be correct this time", indicating that the match is not over yet.
The Norwegian agreed that he was even scared for the first time in the match.
"Basically all the time I was scared, white's position looks menacing. I had to calculate as best as could and go with that. It seems that there wasn't any mate (checkmate)," Carlsen said.
Speaking about his choices in the game, Carlsen said that it was quite complicated.
"We got a very sharp position from the opening. Basically I missed something with e5, in general I would like to block the pawns but there too he has options," he added.
Looking for the counter play, the Norwegian hit back on the queen side. "I just had to go all out for counter play and there were amazing number of complicated lines, I was not sure what to do. As it happened I had to play the only moves for a long time and fortunately for me he (Anand) blundered."
After his third victory in just nine games, Carlsen is now just a draw away from dethroning Anand who has remained the undisputed world champion since 2007.
