Chennai: Garry Kasparov’s arrival on Monday may change the mood of the World Chess Championship here.

During the last championship between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand of Israel, in 2012, in Moscow, Kasparov had minced no words during a Press conference held during the 6th game being played at the State Tretyakov Gallery.

While Anand was defending his title against Gelfand, Kasparov termed the the quality of games played till then as ‘poor’. But the contestants then went on to trade victories in the 7th and 8th games.

Kasparov has said that he is stopping over at Chennai for a couple of days during the match, after delivering a lecture at the ‘ThiNK’ conference at Goa.

However, having announced his candidacy for the Fide presidential elections in 2014, this visit is also to further his ambitions in Chess administration as well as a show of support for the challenger Magnus Carlsen, whom he has trained in the past.

Anand and Carlsen have a rest day on Monday with the match poised at 1-1, at the end of two cautious and short draws.

Billed as the most historical match after the legendary Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky encounter of 1972, the match hasn’t really picked up momentum as yet, with the champion and challenger in a safety-first mode so far.

This has been the most peaceful beginning for any of Anand’s World Championship matches. Though first games ended in draws against Vladimir Kramnik (2008) and Gelfand (2012), both were tough fights, and with chances for advantageous positions for the players.

The toughest start was his match against Veselin Topalov in 2010, when both players traded wins with White pieces in the very beginning.

The nature of both games, played over the weekend here, has disappointment the fans who filled the ground floor ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

While the first one ended in a three-fold repetition after only 16 moves, the second one too treaded the soft path to end peacefully after 26 moves. With entry tickets priced at Rs 2500 and Rs 2000, the frustration of the spectators was palpable.

Neither player has come under any criticism for any particular decision taken during the games, but the absence of fireworks has resulted in widespread disappointment.

Former challenger Nigel Short has quipped: “We were expecting the mother of all firework displays, but someone forgot to bring the matches!”

Though apologetic about their cautious play, especially with White, Anand and Carlsen have both justified their actions saying they were “still settling down”.

A slow start suits Anand, who is senior to his challenger by more than 20 years and is billed as the underdog in this match.

It justifies his decisions during the turning points in both the games, when he opted for 13…Na5 (instead of 13…b5) and 18.Qd5 (instead of 18.Qg4), choosing safe continuations instead of going for broke.

Stopping Carlsen from getting any early break in the match is justifiable strategy for Anand.Carlsen had lesser choice than Anand in terms of playing dynamic in both the games.