2013 World Chess Championship
Hey there, and welcome back to Astro's Supercluster!
30th April 2023. The day when a new world chess champion was crowned. Ding Liren of China defeats Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia in the last game of the rapid tie-breaks to become the new undisputed 17th classical world chess champion. End of an era, as Magnus Carlsen, unarguably the greatest chess player of all time, is no longer the world champ.
While Magnus Carlsen continues to be the #1 ranked chess player in the world, his long run as a world champion has come to an end. Not because he lost in a world championship match, but because he quit the title himself. This is the reason why the world championship was contested between the winner and the runner-up of the Candidates Tournament 2022.
Ding and Ian during the World Chess Championship 2023.
In this blog, we will be heading 10 years back in time to 2013, when an almost 23-year-old Magnus Carlsen comprehensively defeated Indian Grandmaster and the reigning world champion of the time Viswanathan Anand, and won his first world title. Pre and post-match scenes, the format, press conferences, and championship games, you will find everything here!
Note: The drawn games will not be shown in the blog, except for the first 2 rounds and round No. 10.
Before any further ado, let's get started!
PRE-MATCH SCENES
Magnus Carlsen got the right to challenge Viswanathan Anand after winning the 2013 Candidates Tournament, finishing ahead of players like Kramnik, Aronian, and Svidler. This time, the Candidates tournament was a round-robin instead of short knockouts, however, Carlsen played in it and won to earn his spot in the 2013 world chess championship.
The Norwegian headed into the championship undoubtedly in the form of his life and was ranked the #1 chess player in the world (he has held the no.1 position in the FIDE rankings since July 2011), with a whopping 60 rating points ahead of the world no. 2, Vladimir Kramnik. Magnus was the clear favorite to win this a long way before it even began, as he was rated 100 points higher than the world champion of the time.
March 2013 FIDE rankings.
Previous Head-To-Head Record
Before the match, Anand and Carlsen had faced each other a total of 29 times, out of which Anand won six, Carlsen won three, and the remaining twenty games were drawn. Even though the stats favored Anand, he needed to bring out his A-game if he was to stand any chance against this beast.
Training Partners
Both the players had a team on their side to help them with the match preparation. Anand's seconds for the match were Surya Ganguly and Radoslaw Wojtaszek, who were also his partners in the previous championship matches he had played. However, during the opening press meet, he revealed his new partners to be Krishnan Sasikiran, Sandipan Chanda, and Peter Leko.
At first, Carlsen declined to reveal his training partners, but after the match revealed that Jon Ludvig Hammer was his main second, who helped him with the opening preparation. Ian Nepomniachtchi (who would have thought that Ian would go on to challenge Magnus for the world title in 2021?), Laurent Fressinet and Pavel Eljanov have been supposed as the other seconds.
Prize Fund
The prize fund for this match was a bit more than 28 lakh US Dollars, out of which 60% would be taken by the winner, and the remaining 40% would go to the loser if the match ended within the total regular games. If there would be a need for the tie-breaks to decide the winner, the 60-40 would be changed to 55-45 for the winner and the loser respectively.
FORMAT, VENUE, AND SCHEDULE
Chennai, the host city of the 2013 World Chess Championship.
Before the championship, a bidding process took place for deciding the host city. The Indian Chess Federation did what they had to do, they put up the money for the prize fund, and FIDE agreed for the match to occur in Hyatt Regency Chennai hotel. However, a small drama and protest took place before the championship as many people around the world argued that FIDE didn't go through the whole process, as Paris was also in the hunt for hosting this prestigious event. On the other hand, Chennai was Anand's home city.
Even after all of the drama, the championship match between Anand and Carlsen was set to take place in Chennai, India, from 7 to 28 November 2013.
The inner view of the hotel.
The opening ceremony was held on 7 November 2013. It was going to be a best-of-twelve classical games fight, and if the scores remained equal, then the tie-breaks were scheduled for 28 November. The games would begin at 3 pm IST, and rest days would be given after games 2,4,6,8,10 and 11.
The time control for the match was similar to the 2023 World Chess Championship. The players were given 120 mins for the first 40 moves, 60 mins were added to their time for the moves 41-60, and if the games exceeded that mark, 15 mins were added to their time, with an increment of 30 seconds.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Click on this video to view the opening press conference and the opening ceremony of the World Chess Championship 2013.
All the pre-match formalities were completed, and the chess world was set to witness a historical world chess championship, whose first round began on the 9th of November. The match gathered record-setting TV audiences in Anand's home country of India, with huge interest around the globe.
Round One
The first two games of the match ended in quick succession, where both the players agreed to a draw on the 16th and 25th move of the games respectively.
One of the shortest games in the history of world championships. Magnus opened with 1.Nf3 (which we haven't seen so often in championship games) and chose a quiet line. However, his middlegame play was slightly inaccurate, and the game ended in a draw courtesy of a three-fold repetition.
Round Two
Both the players again stepped on the battlefield the very next day, the 10th of November. This time, it was Anand who was pressing for a moment, but played a rather shocking move and the game ended in a draw.
Here, Magnus chose the Caro to fight against Anand's 1.e4. Was he trying to take Anand out of his prep? Maybe. We saw an opposite side castling, which a queen exchange offer by Carlsen quickly followed. Anand accepted the trade, which came as a shock to the commentators as well as the audience. White later exerted a good amount of pressure on Black's kingside, but Magnus kept his cool and didn't let his position fall apart. The game ended in a three-fold repetition.
Round Five
The 3rd and 4th games of the match ended in a draw as well. While Magnus was still the favorite, Anand was giving his best too. However, this round (which began on 15 November) was the first decisive game of the championship, where Magnus Carlsen drew the first blood. He again played a shocking line in the opening, but this time didn't fail to convert it into a win.
A perfect piece of play by Magnus here. A game that was decided by each player's pawn structure at the very end. Vishy tried his best to defend with that awful-looking split pawn structure, but a couple of mistakes in the endgame were enough for the eval bar to rise in white's favor, and Magnus Carlsen is that type of a player who never fails to capitalize on his opponent's errors.
Magnus Carlsen has his first win of the match!
Press Conference that took place after Game 5.
Round Six
The 6th round was scheduled for the very next day. Anand was trailing by a point, and he had to fight back. However, the same story got repeated, as Vishy was trying his best to keep the position equal but lost his plot in the endgame.
Magnus Carlsen's brilliant endgame play and his ability to maintain focus and concentration for long stretches at a time are some of the key reasons for his success at chess, which was visible in this game. In another rook-and-pawn ending, both the players were trying their best to keep up with the activity during the endgame play, but one mistake from Vishy, and Carlsen quickly responded with a pawn sacrifice which restricted the activity of the white king and the promotion now was inevitable.
Post-game 6 press conference concluded with one of the most savage chess interviews of all time.
Round Nine
It was time for game No. 9. Magnus headed into the round with a 2-0 lead. The other two games before this round had again ended in draws. Vishy Anand could already feel the pressure. This was undoubtedly the most famous, controversial game of the match. Vishy had a healthy advantage, but a so-called "one-mover" cost him the game.
Wow, just wow! What a game! Viswanathan Anand had put himself in a completely winning position, but failed to capitalize, as one miscalculation completely cost him the game! On the 28th move, Vishy needed to play Bf1 instead of Nf1, as he needed to cover the h4 square. But Nf1 was played by him calculating 28...Qd1 with Ne3 by white in the future, but it wasn't the move Qd1, it was the move Qe1 that took the game away from him (and probably the championship). After 28...Qe1 29.Rh4 Rxh4 30.Qxh4, black emerges a rook up.
Press Conference that took place after Game 9.
Round Ten
Carlsen and Anand during the 10th round (also the final round) of the match.
This was a do-or-die game for Anand. He couldn't afford any more losses, he couldn't afford any more draws, he had to win here. Yes, he had to straightaway win here. On the other hand, even a simple draw in this round would secure the world title for Carlsen.
Another very long game. All of the major pieces got traded by the 35th move, a couple of errors by both the players during the endgame, Magnus sacrificed his knight for 3 pawns, but the game ended in a hard-fought draw.
Final round's press meet.
A draw was all Magnus needed in this game, and now he was the new world chess champion! Yes, the 2013 World Chess Championship saw its end in the 10th round of the match. It ended with a score of 6.5-3.5 in favor of Magnus Carlsen.
POST-MATCH SCENES
Where are these players now?
Magnus Carlsen finished his 2013 WCC campaign undefeated, with 3 wins, 7 draws, and no losses, which wasn't surprising to chess experts and chess fans. He was already on a roll before playing his first-ever world championship, and after seeing him win the world title, the world of chess predicted complete dominance by him in the upcoming years as well. And guess what, he actually did! He went on to become a 5-time world chess champion before giving up his title in 2023. Sheer dominance, wasn't it?
Magnus Carlsen recently participated in the Superbet Classic Poland rapid and blitz, winning the blitz section.
On the other hand, Vishy's reign as a world champion had come to an end. But to be honest, he won't be disappointed at all, because the person he lost the world title to was none other than the GOAT of chess. However, in the following year, Viswanathan Anand won the 2014 Candidates Cycle, and the battle got repeated. But so did the result, and after his back-to-back losses to the same player, he never came so close to the world title again. He isn't active in professional chess these days and devotes his time to coaching and training young talents in India. He is an inspiration and an icon in his country.
Watch out for the closing ceremony of the World Chess Championship 2013.
The match in 2013 was one of the most highly-anticipated championship matches ever, as Carlsen had finally reached this stage despite holding the world's number-one FIDE position for the better part of three years. Chess was all set to go out guns blazing with a new world title holder, who would go on to become one of the greatest if not the greatest chess player of all time in the next decade. It was a heartbreak for Indian fans and Vishy's supporters, but the beast had arrived.
THE "WOW, DID YOU REALLY MAKE IT TO THE END?" PART OF THE BLOG
Wow, did you really make it to the end? Congrats, if you did, and thanks for reading the post! I hope you enjoyed the recap of the 2013 WCC! I don't know if I was successful in actually making you feel like a time traveler to that era, so do let me know your feelings after reading this post in the comments!
This will be the end of this blog, any feedback will be appreciated! Also, do let me know if it was annoying having so many images and videos in the blog, or if you actually enjoyed it. Again, thank you for reading this post, and until next time, I am outta here.
Regards,
@AstroTheoretical_Physics
