Hello everyone and welcome to the live countdown to the Carlsen – Anand 2014 World Chess Championship match on Chessdom.com!
Just one day is left to the opening ceremony of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2014 and we continue following the events from Sochi live. After the inspection of the playing hall yesterday was not complete, today we will have yet another visit of the players to the area.
We expect an eventful day, with news constantly coming from Sochi. Follow everything with live news updates, we start at 12:00 CET
Live countdown: World Chess Championship 2014 (3 days left) / World Chess Championship 2014 (2 days left) / World Chess Championship 2014 (1 day left) / Carlsen – Anand World Championship News
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Refresh the page for the latest news. The updates appear in reverse chronological order
19:00 CET
Finally we can confirm that the playing hall is in a state, ready to host the World Chess Championship! Although the organizers and the teams agreed there are minor details to be worked on, the conditions are constantly being improved and by the start of the first game all will be at 100%.
17:00 CET
The inspection was postponed two hours and will start right about now, at 19:00 local time.
15:35 CET
In an exclusive e-mail interview with Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com, Aruna Anand, Anand’s wife and manager, discusses his preparation ahead of one of the biggest matches of his career. Aruna says, “He tries to keep a routine before the match. So, it is breakfast, work, light lunch, work and walks. He takes long walks at night and before going to bed he watches Yes Minister and Fawlty Towers, and also wildlife documentaries. He also tells me to remind him the next morning of the Bishop!”
See full interview here
15:15 CET
Magnus Carlsen and Peter Heine Nielsen played basketball this morning in Sochi. We have updated the photo gallery with many photos of Carlsen in action. Click on the images for full size.
Photo gallery: Page 1 / Page 2 / Page 3 / More
Yet another beautiful view from Sochi in the morning, on the way back from the Carlsen’s basketball game
15:00 CET
In an interview today, the German Zeit.de asked Anand, “Do you see yourself becoming a new Kortschnoi, playing on and on, deeply respected by the chess world?” The Indian answered clear and simple as usual, “I don’t think in those terms. I play because that is what I enjoy.” The first question in the interview is emblematic too, “Mr. Anand, is it easier to fight for the title of the champion than to defend the title?” Anand answers, “Both are difficult as in the end there is one happy person: the champion.”
See the full text of the interview here.
14:35 CET
The second inspection of the playing hall is scheduled to start in 30 minutes. Yesterday both teams agreed on a second visit to the playing hall. See the friendly atmosphere in yesterday’s inspection in the photo gallery and stay tuned for news from the second round.
14:15 CET
ChessArena is preparing a broadcast for Carlsen – Anand with a special analysis by the TCEC top engines. Very soon you will be able to replay a Carlsen – Anand historical game as a preview, with the commentary of WGM Soumya Swaminathan. During the match she will be joined by GM Bauer, GM Chatalbashev, GM Kuljasevic, WGM Videnova and many more titled players for live commentary.
What’s more, you can play with the GM commentators of Carlsen – Anand during the World Chess Championship. All you need to have is 10 wins in ChessArena, register today free here and achieve the 10 wins barrier in order to participate.
ChessArena is mostly known for its triple engine analysis, used this year for official broadcast of over 100 events. The playing zone is still in beta, but already 125 000 people have joined and are actively playing on the website.
13:45 CET
From ELO rating point of view, the World Chess Championship is a very dangerous feat for Carlsen. The Norwegian starts with 2863 ELO, much higher than Anand’s 2792 ELO. Each victory will be a small gain for Carlsen, each draw a loss of ELO, and each loss an even bigger ELO loss.
To illustrate this, in a 7,0 – 5,0 hypothetical victory for Anand, the Norwegian will be losing about 22 ELO points. On the other hand a hypothetical victory for Carlsen like the one in Chennai 3,5 – 6,5 will give him only 5 ELO points. In case of a 6 – 6 match going to tiebreaks, Anand would have already gained 12 ELO points.
Last time the pressure was on Anand, playing at home. This time he has nothing to lose and psychologically the match is much easier for him, and much heavier for Carlsen.
13:15 CET
For the fans of top 10 chess, Tigran Petrosian round 3 has started. Grischuk has virtually crossed the 2800 mark, joining the elite club where Carlsen and Anand belong. See the games live here
13:00 CET
The official photographer of the match Anastasiya Karlovich captured Magnus Carlsen in action. In a photo captioned “MagnusCarlsen uses sunny day in Sochi to play basketball”, she gives us a taste of a Magnus day before the match.
Visit Anastasiya Karlovich on Twitter
12:45 CET
The live news coverage on the upcoming match continues, join us on Twitter https://twitter.com/chessdom for additional exclusive materials
12:30 CET
The respected GM Sergey Shipov published a detailed prediction about the Carlsen – Anand 2014 match. He analyzes the current situation from psychological point of view, adds the background factors, takes a historical look and makes a well rounded 5 points analysis
See GM Segey Shipov’s predictions here
12:15 CET
Early this morning the Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Viswanathan Anand good luck for the upcoming World Chess Championship. “Good Luck Vishy! Conveying my best wishes to our pride, Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Championship in Sochi,” said Modi in what can be the account with most followers (7,6 million people) to have twitted about Carlsen – Anand 2014 so far.
Good Luck Vishy! Conveying my best wishes to our pride, Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Championship in Sochi.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 6, 2014
The message was retwitted thousands of times and created serious buzz around Indian media. Last year collected first page paper cuttings proved a penetration of the Carlsen – Anand match in India to over 300 million people. Adding that to the daily constant coverage on national TV, you understand what is the power of Vishy Anand in his home country.
Always nice to have the Prime Minister tweet in support of @vishy64theking! #CarlsenAnand pic.twitter.com/efuHRVfgo0
— Jaideep Unudurti (@Unudurti) November 6, 2014
12:00 CET
Good morning Sochi! Here is a photo from the hotels area this morning. Fresh mountain air and high humidity from the sea are making a special mix in the Sochi atmosphere. And the closer you go to the playing hall, the more dense gets a special feeling in the atmosphere: there is just one day left to the official start of the World Chess Championship!
It is interesting that the history from the Winter Olympics and the recent craze about the F1 Sochi Grand Prix (as you can see from the picture) are still around.
A view from the hotels area in the morning, with a poster of the Sochi Grand Prix still there (click on the image for full size view)
Chess Insider: Carlsen – Anand 2014
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