Anand's Opinion Of The Candidates

The Indian Express has published an interview with reigning world chess champion Viswanathan Anand, covering his thoughts on the 2013 Candidates Tournament in London, and how he assesses the winner, world #1, and now his title challenger, Magnus Carlsen.

The dates and venue for the match between Anand and Carlsen is not yet known, but November 2013 in either India or Norway is the best bet at the moment.

The full interview can be read here. Extracts are below. 

Vishy Anand...

...on the Candidates Tournament
"It has been maybe the best ever Candidates tournament in history...the fact that anything could have happened till the last day, till the last hour in fact, makes this simply an unbelievable tournament."

...on Kramnik
Kramnik losing out on the tie-break rule was quite tragic...It was not like I was rooting for him as my opponent, but by round 13 I felt he was the one who deserved to win and his chess had impressed me the most...The tragedy of the tournament is in some sense Kramnik, not that Magnus didn't deserve to win, but if Vlady had pulled it off, he would have proven something.

...on the tie-break rule
I do feel it's crazy that two people tied on the same score and it is decided by something which is essentially a lottery...My point is not that it is unfair, it was perfectly fair once everyone knew it in advance. My point is that it is not ideal. That's the distinction I want to make.

...on facing Magnus Carlsen
I'm fully aware of the magnitude of the task facing me, and Magnus' rank and rating speak for themselves. Having said that I don't feel any obligation to follow the predictions. That's what we are playing the match for. To have a chance to write our own script.

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