From the press conference as well as the length of time to play his first move, it appeared that Anand was simply not prepared for 1. e4 and thus played if safe. It is hard to make any assumptions from that about his strategy for the rest of the match.

Don't think Anand was upset by the easy draw though.

At least if Carlsen has gone into 'lead protection' mode all he needs is a nice win in the next two games then some nerves to get another one. Still very unlikely of course, but had he lost the match would have been absolutely over.

Although there is the nagging feeling that he might conceivably have had enough and be happy to coast to game 11.

I think Anand is just trying to stabilize his nervous system, draw with Black, send a message to Carlsen that Anand is not afraid of endgames, and strike an independent and in a certain sense defiant note by confronting Carlsen with his own preparation, as Bronstein, Botvinnik, and Smyslov used to do. I expect a sharp White game from Anand to appear on the board soon, unless he's much more demoralized than I thought and is just trying to bring the match in at a respectable 6.5-4.5.

By the way, what in the world happened to this website yesterday? It was blocked.

well, if the selection process 2 years ago would have been different then Carlsen could have been world champion already
it's amazing to see how Gelfand is still winning tournaments at his age, but was he really the most challenging opponent available?

Keano wrote on 11/18/13 at 21:29:20:


Well it's somewhat unbecoming of a world champion to lose that ending, I'll give you that.  But that's why we're about to have a new world champion.  I just don't understand why we call this "psychology."  

To me it's remarkable that Carlsen is using his fav defense to the Kingpawn, and Anand cannot find some sort of stable advantage after months of prep time. 

Based on these developments and the Ushenina - Hou match, it's apparently easier to play Black now in a World Championship match.

Keano wrote on 11/17/13 at 18:40:49:


I don't know why this kind of thing is always called "psychology." Carlsen plays very well and he poses many practical problems for his opponents, very similar to what Karpov used to do.  Eventually they fail to solve one, usually because of fatigue I think.  

It's just very practical chess, set your opponent as many problems over the board as you possibly can, and always choose continuations that give him a chance to go wrong.  It's good technique and results from incredible chess understanding, concentration, and creativity to find all of these little subtleties and tricks without damaging your own position too much.  Calling it psychology makes it sound like a bunch of antics or name calling, which it certainly isn't.  

I missed it today, but gather I didn't miss much.