Carlsen's Reti!

Magnus Carlsen is using an opening that is quite rare at the top level, but it suits his style. Will it lead to the world title?

Nope, it wont!

Carlsen has really few openings which he's using regularly, and I expect the same for his Reti. It's apparent that he settled for a draw at the first game because he overlooked in his initial calculations a strong Black reply (13.Qe1?! Nb4!), and the third game didn't bring some joy, either- the game is quite level around move 25.

Magnus may lose today. Looks good for Anand right now.

At move 33, the game looks level, perhaps. I would not favor Anand in this position, though. I don't think that pawn on d3 is going anywhere. The pawns on e6 and g6 are targets.

...Rf8 coming soon. Either win for Black or at worst, a draw.

Maybe Anand's b-pawn is something. I was not looking at 33...Qb4 when I wrote post #5. Last rooks have been swapped.

I found myself rooting for Carlsen in the wee hours this morning. That's my bias with respect to the Reti.

As I take my first sips of coffee, I recall that I want Magnus Carlsen to become World Champion in 2016.

The official iPad app has issues. The White king keeps moving to f3, bishops disappear from the board, and right now White has two queens.

28.e3!! was a brilliant move.

Engines may tell you that Black could get an advantage after that, but matters were not simple-at all. Quite typical of Carlsen, who was not satisfied with the bold 28.Nxe6+ with a totally level position. Heck, white is (temporarily) dropping a pawn, and damaging his own pawn structure, to create a tactical mess- simply brilliant concept!

Equally understandable that Anand did not take the "free" b2 pawn, and enter crazy complications, but opted for the safe 29...Bd4 instead.

28.e3 seems to be the move of the game. If I have one year at my disposal I could not think of it. Perhaps that separates Super GMs from club players... My move would have been Nxe6+... Calrsen took some time perhaps he calculated it to the end