Chennai: It was a curious case of reverse strategy here on Tuesday.

Viswanathan Anand chose the Berlin Defence to secure a safe draw against Magnus Carlsen, in the eighth game of the World Championship atch on Tuesday.

The quickest game of the match also left the capacity crowd disappointed, as the game was drawn in a record time of about an hour and a quarter.

After Tuesday, Carlsen leads by 5–3, with just four games to go. He now needs just 1.5 points to become the new world champion. Carlsen threw the first surprise with White pieces, by opting to play 1.e4, a deviation from his Reti and English Opening from his previous White games of the match.

But Anand’s reply caught the spectators and commentators completely baffled, as for the fourth time in the match, it was the Berlin Defence of the Ruy Lopez which figured on the board. Only, instead of Carlsen who was using it as a strategic defensive weapon, it was Anand himself who seemed to have borrowed the system from his adversary for this crucial game.

Anand himself took a long time to reply with Black pieces when Carlsen opened with his King pawn, which was a surprise. This was the move of a player who was making it clear that he was as ambitious as he can be, to play for a full battle.

“In general in a match you should not be surprised, but I had not prioritised (1.e4),” admitted Anand after the game.

Coming at a juncture when he already has a two-point lead with just five games to go, Carlsen’s strategy was difficult to understand. It was anyone’s guess, if he was showing to Anand that he was ready for another open battle thus trying to crush Anand in the match, or just a slight variation of the opening move without any necessary connection to the strategy.

In such a situation, it was reasonable to expect that Anand would reply with his favourite Sicilian Defence, and employ his pet Najdorf Variation, which has given him so many crucial and tactical victories in his long career.

However, Anand chose the Ruy Lopez, which has also figured in the world champion’s arsenal, but not as sharp as the Sicilian.

The surprise came from the audience in the tournament hall itself, as there were audible gasps on looking at the Berlin Wall appearing on the two monitors inside the auditorium, for the fourth time, but with reversed colours in the current game.

Explaining the reason for not choosing the Sicilian Defence, Anand said: “I didn't really know his intentions were against the Sicilian… And even in the Sicilian, if you want to play a dry system they are available. There were no clear options”.

Anand said he will come back harder in the next game. “Of course, the match situation explains itself and I guess it's my job to liven things up. I will definitely try in the next game...”

Elaborating on the game, Anand said it was “generally a fairly solid system for White”, but not entirely without chances if black played inaccurately.

“The only may be interesting moment was if I go Qg5, h4 is strong but after just Qd8 we liquidate to a drawn ending,” he said. When asked if he could have tried any other way, Anand said he had to be ready for all situations. “Obviously I had to be ready for any scenario that turned up but after d4 and c3 this is what I could do.”

Commenting on Anand’s choice of the Berlin Defence, Carlsen asserted: “It was not a major surprise.”

Carlsen chose a very dry and solid line with 5.Re1, sidestepping any attempt to get into a complicated battle in the endgame. But this was understandable, as he wants no unnecessary complications over the board even with white pieces, relying on his solid technique to hold ground against Anand’s remaining two white games.

Anand’s choice of the Berlin Wall was widely criticised among the Grandmaster community, with the former challenger Nigel Short even going as far as to comment that Anand has given up fighting for the title. However, with so much at stake and complicated psychological warfare inside their minds, it was not difficult to understand Anand’s strategy also.

GM Sundararajan Kidambi pointed out the very same possibility, opining that Anand probably wants to throw the proverbial kitchen sink in the ninth game.

“If Anand somehow manages to win the next White game, the pressure will get to Carlsen, with a real tense finish to the title”, Kidambi said. This was agreed by Grandmaster Ramesh also, who said, “He is buying time“, on Anand’s motive behind taking it easy today.

Nothing much happened in the actual phase of the game, as there was much shadowboxing for the hour of duration after the opening phase, before the contestants exchanged all the pieces around the only open e-line and signed peace treaty in a completely blocked pawn ending after 33 moves.

The Defining moment

Curiously, the defining moment on Tuesday actually didn’t have any strategic and tactical depth, but was simple psychology. It came in the opening phase itself, and made it clear to all the spectators and his opponent what Magnus Carlsen’s ambitions were in this particular game.In the diagrammed position, by choosing 5.Re1, Carlsen clearly announced that he was not going to enter into any semblance of the fight by getting into the main variations with 5.d4. He also made it clear that, he was willing to concede the advantage the White pieces but gain another half a point on the scoreboard thus inching closer to the World Champion title. Thus, he also made it clear that it was up to Anand to fight against his water-tight defence.