Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand, in Chennai, on Friday

Chennai: Magnus Carlsen drew first blood in the World Chess Championship here on Friday, inflicting a defeat in his typical style on Viswanathan Anand, in the 5th game of their contest.

Carlsen now leads 3-2.

Like earlier World Championship clashes against Veselin Topalov and Boris Gelfand, Anand is the wounded one staring at a point deficit in the scoreboard early in the match.

The methods employed by the challenger here are his trademarks that have catapulted him to the top of world rankings.

A non-too special opening play, maneuvering to gain a complex pawn structure, create a state of mutual flux where the opponent is forced into the defensive, and finally moving in to kill with application of pressure – that’s his ploy.

The challenger’s father Henrik Carlsen revealed that Carlsen “charged the batteries on the rest day with football and basketball”. The top up did come in handy.

Playing the last white game before he hits the double-black barrier in the 6th and 7th games, Carlsen’s characteristic grinding was very much on the cards.

Anand threw the first change of opening choice in the match, abandoning openings with a king’s bishop fianchetto as in earlier black games, and preferred his favourite defensive wall, the Slav structure.

When Carlsen played the unorthodox 10.Qd3 and 12.0-0-0 with white, it raised the temperature of battle, prompting Australian GM Ian Rogers to comment that he “has gone ultra-violent”.

However, the game slipped into Carlsen’s familiar territories, and a complex endgame arose after Queens were exchanged on the 15th move.

American GM Varuzhan Akobian termed the position as “not indefensible but much easier to play for white”.

From a slightly inferior position, Anand kept liquidating the pieces and pawns to reach a defendable endgame with a rook and bishop apiece by the 41st move, with characteristic grit.

Having passed the first wave of pressure by reaching the time control and just when a draw was in sight, Anand’s initial mistake came at 45…Rc1 which made his quest difficult.

Anand’s expression showed he recognising his mistake immediately. It was probably the same feeling which made him commit another crucial mistake with 47…Kc6.

Initially 45…Ra1, and 47…Rd4 at the later occasion, were both analysed as draws by the British endgame expert Jonathan Speelman, though a result of complicated and precise analysis.

The two mistakes in a row in the fifth hour of play sealed Anand’s fate, giving a clear advantage in the endgame to Carlsen, who made no mistake in conversion.

Anand threw in the towel after 5.5 hours of play. Curiously, the final position was an exceptional win for a side with two Rook pawns from a Rook ending.

A beaming Carlsen was modest in victory, admitting that his position wasn’t very promising in the early endgame and it was Anand’s slip that gave him a chance to win.

Anand on Friday conceded that his counter play did not work well in the fifth game that the Indian lost after a long and typical grind against Carlsen.

“Somehow my counter play did not materialise. There are many continuations, Rd4 was the decisive mistake,” said Anand, who played with black pieces on Friday, in the post-game conference at the Hyatt here.

The 22-year-old Calrsen said he was quite happy to have gone one up with seven games to go.

“It was a relatively interesting opening. I have some strategic advantage, like the better Bishop and a better pawn structure, it's not huge,” said Carlsen who took a 3-2 lead in the 12-game match.

“It was kind of messy, but I am happy. But winning one game does not mean I have won the match. It means I have to work harder,” the Norwegian world No. 1 said.

Anand, who will have white in the sixth game on Saturday, appeared only a little nervous in the Press conference that's mandatory to attend for both players. There was the usual calm on his face that showed determination.

“Anand makes some small minor mistake and it accumulates in a win for Magnus,” said former women world champion Susan Polgar, who is a part of the commentary team here.