Carlsen plays to win EVERY game!

Carlsen plays every game to win: Harikrishna
Archiman Bhaduri, TNN | Nov 1, 2013, 01.21 AM IST

KOLKATA: Pentala Harikrishna emerged as one of the top chess talents of the country when he became the youngest-ever GM from India at the age of 15 beating Anand's record of 16.

The record was subsequently broken by Parimarjan Negi, but Hari became only the second Indian after Anand to win the world junior championship in 2004. The India No 2 told TOI about his expectations from the Anand-Carlsen World Championship match.

Excerpts

How eagerly are you looking forward to the World Championship match? As a chess player what do you expect?

The match has generated huge interest not only in the chess fraternity but among the general public also. The fact that the World No1 is playing the current world champion has given rise to great expectations. It can be labeled as a match between two generations. I have not seen such a huge difference of age, characters and styles of play of two players taking part in the championship match.

How do you rate the two players?

They are very different from each other if you compare their style of play in general tournaments. I will say Carlsen is very difficult to beat. He usually plays positions where he has the control of the game. He plays every game to win and his technique is his best quality. On the other side, Anand is very sharp and feels at home in dynamic positions. However I consider his best quality is his adaptability. He can change his style rapidly and plays on opponents' weakness, something that was evident in the last three World Championship matches.

There's a feeling in the chess fraternity Anand will start as an underdog in this match. Do you think this will be Anand's toughest World Championship match?

I do not think Anand is the underdog. He has performed poorly in recent past due to which everyone is saying he is in poor form. But it does not work that way. It's his form during the match that will count. Kramnik, Topalov and Gelfand were all tough opponents to beat.

However, it is true Carlsen is much tougher than them as he is much younger and highly motivated. There is another important difference this time. Anand used to know all the previous three challengers very well as they were from his generation. But Carlsen is a representative of GenNext, something that Anand is not too familiar with.

According to you, what are Anand's and Carlsen's plus points?

In case of Anand, I think it is his opening preparation. He is very good in open and dynamicpositions. He can play positional as well as tactical positions. In case of Carlsen, he is highly motivated to become a world champion at a young age. His plus is that he always plays for a win!

Do you think Chennai will give Anand any home advantage?

Anand has won all his previous world championship matches outside India. So I do not think Chennai will give him any added advantage. I don't see how it will change if they played in a Chennai hotel or in another hotel in some other country. Chess is played indoors!

Suppose you are in the team of seconds, what strategy would you recommend for the players?

I am not in the team of seconds. I am just waiting to see some great games.

What is your view about the illness clause being included for this match?

I think it is a fair clause. There is lot of unnecessary importance given to this clause. I think more importance should have been given to the incident when disclosure of Chennai's bid for the Anand-Gelfand match last time helped Moscow bid higher. Then it was decided FIDE will give a chance to Chennai to host the next World Championship match. If I am not wrong Chennai was awarded the match without bidding. I found that's more interesting. I don't see any need to make a big issue out of illness clause, which by the way I think won't be put to use!!

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com