1. Magnus plays QGD often but it is still not his main opening, just one of the possibilities (focus of preparation from Anand - high, but not highest)
2. Anand plays Bf4 very rarely (focus of preparation for Carlsen - pretty high but not highest)
3. Carlsen plays Nbd7 very rarely, I got just two games, one of which he lost as black to a 2600 GM (focus of preparation for Nbd7 from Anand - definitely low, focus of preparation for black's c5 - fairly high)
4. Anand has never played c5 himself. (focus of preparation for Carlsen - decently high, because it's increasingly popular, but definitely not the highest)
5. Carlsen has never played c6 (focus of preparation for Anand - definitely much lower compared to the main Nh5).

You can see that the likelihood of this happening was super slim and YET, despite Anand playing Bf4 so rarely and never having played c5, Carlsen was decently well prepared in the c6 line, knowing about 20 moves of this line. It is, IMO, pretty natural that caught by surprise with Anands c5, he opted for a more obscure c6, thinking that the majority of Anands preparation should have went to Nh5.

Now Anand, despite Carlsen not playing QGD as his main, despite him himself not playing Bf4, despite Carlsen very rarely and unsuccessfully playing Nbd7, despite himself never playing c5, despite Carlsen never playing c6, knew that line to a ridiculous depth.

I don't see how you can judge Carlsen's preparation based on this game as bad with all the factors listed above. The fact that Anand knew this line to such ridiculous depth is a testament to him and his team, but Carlsens preparation was not bad. He rolled the dice with c6 over Nh5 and there is definitely logic there, he was just unlucky that Anand knew the c6 line ridiculously well, while he didn't really have any business doing that.

You make some valid points, but regardless of what Anand has played previously (I'll take your word for it, not checked the databases myself) it's still careless to be lost so quickly in one of the most topical main lines of the moment - especially in a World Championship match - if you play this Black system with Nbd7 surely you should be ready for c5, given its current popularity? If nothing else, it was a bad choice.

I'm not judging anyone's preparation, all I said was that Vishy was better prepared in this game, I don't see how that can be in dispute.

Absolutely agreed about Vishy being better prepared in this game. I was attempting to refute lkasigh's claims that Carlsen has been poorly prepared in this match in general, which I cannot agree with. That Anand is even better prepared (or at least was at this game) might be true, but that does not automatically mean that Carlsen is not well prepared, like he seemed to suggest. Can we agree on that?

Haha, yes I think we can agree, also I think pretty much everything that Carlsen did wrong today also applies to Vishy in game 2... I'm just glad we have a proper match now, not supporting anyone in particular

Of course, all we're doing is speculating here, none of us knows what's going on inside Carlsen's head.

Still, I think it's a strange opening decision from Carlsen. I mean the line that Anand played is pretty much the only line in this opening where you're at risk of being crushed by the opponent's preparation - I don't see how you play this variation without having at least this line worked out.

But yes, I was probably reading too much into it by saying that Carlsen is not well prepared for the match. It's too early to tell based on one game.

Anyway Anand looks to be in good shape and it looks like it will be an interesting match.

carlsen's done some weird stuff these past few moves and is short on time as well

I do not like the look of that d pawn.

Svidler is just great. They had him commenting a bit last year, too, but then quickly switched back to Short. Now, Short is undoubtedly a great player, but I can't listen to him for more than five minutes without feeling the urge to do some very mean things to little kittens. At least they did better on that front this year, but I still think the coverage is sub-par for the biggest Chess match of the year.

Oh, and they had serious problems last year with relaying the moves from the board to the commentators. They are doing WAY better with that this year, too. Maybe I'm too harsh. Overall I'm enjoying the coverage a lot more than I did last year.

I guess maybe some of it depends on where you are in your chess development. I actually have preferred Nigel's commentary in the past because he explains things in a more beginner-friendly way. Svidler is great but he talks fast and I have a hard time keeping up with it at times.

Svidler dropped a *quality* Warren Zevon reference today, though.

I suck at chess and haven't even played in ages. So I suck even more most likely. It's more a personal thing really. I can't stand Short's voice and the way he acts. He could be the best chess teacher on the face of this earth and I'd still prefer someone like Svidler.

Preferring Svidler to Short is not particularly controversial. Svidler is ultra elite.

This has been my assumption as well. Svidler seems just super good at explaining chess in real-time. In some ways he's almost too good b/c it makes the WGM superfluous at times.

I felt she's gotten better. It's not really her fault, either, I'd want to just sit there and listen to Svidler the whole time, too.

The only way I really see making the broadcast better is maybe replacing the WGM with Kramnik but Kramnik is only allowed to just deadpan humorless responses to Svidler's jokes and analysis. He can't do or explain analysis himself, only Svidler gets to do that. Would be epic.

Yeah, game 1 in particular Svidler might just have been there on his own, Sopiko did/said nothing of value. I agree she's slightly better now, it seems Svidler is making more of an effort to involve her in discussions too (he mentioned trying to do that on twitter after day 1 feedback).

I feel like this pairing has potential to be splendid if Sopiko takes a page out of Jen Shahade's book.

Even though Jen is a strong player herself, during the commentary she sometimes "plays dumb" so to speak, asking her strong-GM colleague to explain some rather simple things, thus making the commentary more appealing to the lower rated audience. Or better yet, she takes the initiative and talks about those simpler things herself. Sopiko leaves most of the complex lines for Svidler and that is natural and good, but she has to take more initiative and explain (or ask Svidler to explain) some simple stuff.

i mentioned this about jen in another thread a while back actually. i think she's actually gotten a lot better about recognizing that, even though she's not at yasser level, she doesn't suck at the game and most people would rather hear smart commentary from her than playing dumb. she definitely has also gotten better about phrasing those questions about simple things that you mentioned so that it's more of a lead-in than coming off as a "i'm just a simple girl so i don't know anything about this smart stuff" type statement.

Svidler throwing out a few poker terms. Not sure if he could get any better as a commentator!

hope anand wins it

yeah, let's delay the carlsen/caruana match that everyone wants even further

Amazing stuff.

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/tka...arlsen-anand-2
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/tka...blems-in-sochi

I'd like that panel to rate the rest of the world top-20. I wonder who'd come out on top in each category.

worst chess player in the world, but just wanted to check in and say this is all fascinating to me.

first time I've ever paid attention to a chess match (vaguely remember deep blue), maybe first time I ever even realized I could follow along with a match (let alone that there are 12 games).

whoever writes the business insider articles every day is awesome, makes the games come alive.

anyway yeah, just wanted to give a thumbs up. the depth of knowledge these two seem to possess is amazing to me...

Great links! Why use a 1-8 scale and not 1-10...

Looks like the remainder of Anand's life just got defined.