Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen

Chennai: At half way stage of the World Chess Championship match here on Sunday, the score stands at 4-2 in favour of Magnus Carlsen, much to the disappointment of the fans of Viswanathan Anand.

Sunday was the third rest day of the match.

The frustration and disappointment in Anand were for all to see, when in uncharacteristic fashion he retorted when provoked by a television reporter at the Press conference after the 6th game.

Not only is Anand trailing by two points, which is a huge deficit in a short match of just 12 games, he also has to solve the problem of withstanding Carlsen’s persistent pressure tactics in long drawn out endings.

He also has to take his chances in tactical situations when the opportunity arises and create a strong position while playing with white.

Both Carlsen and Anand are victims of an all-pervading problem in modern chess - of having effective opening preparation with white.

As pointed out by Grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna, anyone who plays king pawn on the first turn has the paramount question to answer – how to face the two defences designed to steer the game towards the quietest quarters, the Petroff and the Ruy Lopez Berlin ‘wall’.

Thus, having chosen to play 1.e4 in this match so far, Anand surprisingly seemed to come to the board with empty hands, not planting any special opening ‘mines’.

This virtually made it difficult for the reigning champion to pursue the traditional competitive path of a puritan chess player – create chances with white pieces and equalise with black pieces. But far from creating chances, Anand lost the sixth game with white pieces.

However, Anand can take heart. Carlsen too had problems with his initial two white piece games – the first and third. He didn’t create even playable positions worthy of a fight. In fact, both games presented rare opportunities for Anand, more in the third game, from the black side of an English Opening structure.

Though wisdom comes with proverbial hindsight, Anand must be kicking himself for not injecting a little more effort in those two games and pushing for more when the opportunity arose.

The next major area of concern for Anand is that he is unable to face Carlsen’s persistent pressure in quite positions. Anand was in such a scenario in both the games he lost – 13…Bc7 in the 5th game, and allowing of minor pieces inserted with a tame 23.Qg4 in the 6th game.

There was a pattern in both the games after these crucial turning points.

When the match resumes on Monday, on an extremely favourable position for Carlsen, Anand will have to focus on these crucial points – aggressive play taking his chances in dynamic play, and creating chances with white pieces.

If he is unable to avoid getting caught in Carlsen’s nagging grip in long drawn out positions, then he has to have the ability to withstand sustained pressure.

These are possible targets, but definitely not easy when facing a two-point deficit and trying to fight back from a desperate situation.