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A thoroughly exciting clash between Vishwanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen for the 2013 World Chess Championship awaits us in Chennai this November. Here are the top five reasons why chess fans are going to love this chess show:
1. Master Shifu vs Kung fu Panda
File photo of a match between Magnus Carlsen (R) and India’s Viswanathan Anand during the Bilbao Final Masters in 2010 (RAFA RIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
The greatest excitement exists in this competition as the two players come from polar opposite chess styles. World Champion Viswanathan Anand is the senior and more grounded warrior. He will stay patient and count on all that he has learnt over the many years of match experience. World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen will be all nervous energy, ready to fire on all cylinders, fighting until the last ounce of mental energy is expended. Anand will strike when the enemy has withered a little. Anand will be Master Shifu, watching and waiting; Carlsen will be Kung fu Panda, walking in the wake of destruction at every step. The magic of chess will overwhelm us all and a new chapter in chess history will be written.
2. Glamorous image of chess
Magnus Carlsen is one of the most flashy chess champions ever (Getty Images)
A beach blitz, 2,000 girls screaming a welcome to Carlsen, sophisticated arrangements in the five-star luxury of the Hyatt Regency in Chennai, Carlsen the model, Anand the master…. What else do you need to make chess more glamorous in the Indian sub-continent?
3. Chess goes into mainstream media
Vishwanathan Anand has to a great degree driven up the interest in chess amongst the Indian media (Getty Images)
Viswanathan Anand has single-handedly inspired the mainstream media to cover chess in India. Carlsen added the jazz by taking on modeling assignments on an international platform. The image of chess as an incomprehensible activity involving two asocial intellectuals is gone. Anand is the regular guy, devoted family man, hard-working gentleman inspiring typical Indian cultural values. Carlsen brings the joy of youth and freshness of the next generation to the table. The media is going to be lapping this one up for sure.
4. Technological Treat
The 2013 edition of the World Chess Championships promises to be one of the most well covered events (Getty Images)
The organisers are putting in place the best possible high-speed Internet link for live broadcast of the entire event. Commentators and guests would include the who’s who from the chess world. The 2012 Chess Championship between Anand and Boris Gelfand was an excellent affair which was also telecast live right from the opening ceremony to the closing one. The Indian organisers will be hoping to better that. You will be getting all the best shots and best moments straight to your desk, which can be saved (onto your hard drives) as keepsakes. There will be interviews, sound bytes, video treats and press conferences. You won’t miss a moment of the grand affair even if you so choose.
5. Human and computer integration at its finest
Actress Liv Tyler,chess player Magnus Carlsen and chess icon Garry Kasparov attend the G-Star RAW World Chess Challenge at The Cooper Square Hotel on September 10, 2010 in New York City. (Getty Images)
Earlier this year, Carlsen broke Garry Kasparov’s record by gaining the highest Elo rating of all time—2,872 (Anand is fourth on the all-time list, with 2,817). In 2009, at the age of 19, Carlsen became the youngest World No.1, breaking the record previously held by Vladimir Kramnik. “He conserves the mystique of chess,” Kasparov has said about Carlsen. Carlsen has gone where no chess player has gone before. Both Anand and Carlsen are known to have trained with computers. Lots of chess players feel that computer learning has ruined the art of chess. Before the coming generations of chess players increase their dependence on computers, this would be the moment when we witness the best integration between man and machine in chess.
