Sicilian sounds like far too well trodden paths to me. 
Also not sure how well it's gonna work against Closed/Moscow/Stuff; I severely doubt Carlsen is gonna run into a mainline Najdorf.

I expect either another Berlin draw and trying to go all-in in G12, or something like French/Scandinavian/Alekhine, to land in a position where he's sure he'll have the better preparation.

Overall, I'd expect a draw today and in G12 Carlsen equalizes, followed by Anand trying /something/, which then backfires and has Carlsen win the last game; for a +2 end result.

IsaVulpes wrote on 11/22/14 at 13:08:47:


thank you sir.

is today a rest day?

tbh. I am pretty disappointed how magnus plays the openings with white ... I think you can only play e4 if you know openings ... Maybe he should try 1.d4 and play the tromp? At least tromp has more winning chances than his g3 sicilian and berlin stuff he is playing ...

I don't know if anyone would be willing to take on a monumental task, but this article on the endgame from game 7 deserves translation into as many languages as possible. There's a .pgn at the end of the page.

http://ruchess.ru/news/report/igra_v_klassiki/

ErictheRed wrote on 11/21/14 at 21:16:32:



cannot see the connection. momentum in chess is integral.

I think Anand has to stick to the Berlin and try make another draw in game 11. If he gets ground down in some endgame it would still have been the right thing to do because it's better to go for it with White than Black. If he does opt for the Sicilian I think it will end up being a 3.Bb5+ anti-sicilian and I don't think Anand's chances are better there than in the anti-Berlin or Berlin endgame.

Assuming game 11 is drawn I don't think Anand should play 1.d4 unless they have something really good against the Gruenfeld. Assuming they do find something and Carlsen allows the Nimzo I expect them to accept the Nimzo and play 4.f3. I think a Catalan is another option but it's unlikely they will unless they prepared something before the match in case of an emergency. Tromp is another option to try mix it up. 1.Nf3 must also be considered but will he want to end up playing against some solid symmetrical english set-up or transposing back into a QGD. Perhaps even 1.f4 to really get a double-edged game.

Tbh there's many reasonable possibilities to really go for it with White. I hope we do get to see a 12th game because Anand deserves it for making this match competitive. Most people wrote him off and Anand has shown that he's still a force to be reckoned with in elite chess.

Seth_Xoma wrote on 11/21/14 at 15:45:36:


I bet!  I hope that the St Louis Chess Club posts some good videos of the match on YouTube this year, I loved Ronen's commentary from last year's match.  Ronen Har-Zvi is probably my favorite video lecturer, but I don't know if they have any plans for that this year (or who the GM in residence currently is--Seirawan I think?).