It's possible, of course, that Carlsen HAS been working hard on opening preparation, and has amassed a whole library of novelties... and that he's saving them all for the World Championship cycle.
Remember that Fischer found a crushing novelty in the Petroff, and saved it for years, hoping to spring it on Petrosian or Karpov in a Candidates match (both of them are known Petroff players).
blueemu What was the crushing novelty Fischer supposedly found and kept hidden for years?
As for Carlsen, I'd be surprised if he doesn't beat Anand this time around - assuming he doesn't walk away like he did the last cycle. And even if he loses this time, Anand is just going to get older and weaker while Carlsen keeps on improving.
Maybe that's a strength of Magnus'? If noone can exploit lack of opening theory, is it really a weakness? He just takes players out of book and forces them to play from move 5 or 6 on their own. Or he plays lines that are almost never seen in grandmaster play. It's ingenious really.
blueemu What was the crushing novelty Fischer supposedly found and kept hidden for years?
There's no "supposedly" about it. In a standard, main-line position in the Petroff, Fischer found a crushing novelty. He kept it hidden for the next Candidates cycle... but then walked out of the Sousse Interzonal while leading the tournament, missing that World Championship cycle. So he continued to hide it. Eventually, he qualified for the 1970-72 cycle, but when he faced Petrosian in the finals, the "booby-trapped" position didn't come up in their games. Eventually, after defeating Spassky and winning the title, he showed the line to his fellow American GM, Walter Browne... after swearing him to secrecy. The next time the position came up in one of Browne's games (vs Bisguier), Browne played the move, and let the cat out of the bag.
Oh yeah, I remember that one! I think Brownie annotates it in this (excellent) book:
Carlsen = Bieber
So you're saying he sings like a girl?
Carlsen = Joffrey Lannister
What about 3...Bg6?
Since almost any White move will recover the piece (eg: 4. Qb4 or Qe3), it's hard to see how Black can hope to survive the end-game.
I got this version with Houdini:
Hello chess fan's, just a thought how long be you think it will be world champ and what part of his game is there a weakness......