Saturday 1 November 2014

World Championship Match - just a week away

Only a week to go until the 2014 World Championship Match begins. After his surprise win n the 2014 Candidates Tournament, former World Champion Viswanathan Anand is looking to regain his title from Magnus Carlsen. The match is being held in Sochi, Russia, utilising a spare venue left after the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Unlike the previous Carlsen v Anand match, I believe this will be a little more exciting. Anand isn't shackled by being the defending champion, and the last few games of the last match showed that taking the game to Carlsen is probably the way to go. On the other hand Carlsen had a very ordinary Olympiad, and was eclipsed by Caruana in St Louis, but I suspect he will be back in form by next week.
I am tipping Carlsen to retain his title, but only by a 2 game margin. I think Carlsen's willingness to spend as much time at the board as possible will be the deciding factor, with a couple of grinding endgame wins on the menu.
The tournament website is http://www.sochi2014.fide.com/. The opening ceremony is on the 7th of November, with the first game on the 8th.

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