

Magnus Carlsen wins Game 6; leads Viswanathan Anand 4-2 - wslh
http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report-magnus-carlsen-wins-game-6-leads-viswanathan-anand-4-2-1920322

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Joona
If anyone is interested watching the games live, I can recommend
ChessNetwork[1], or alternatively the official stream[2].

[1] [http://www.twitch.tv/chessnetwork](http://www.twitch.tv/chessnetwork)

[2] [http://chennai2013.fide.com/anand-carlsen-video-with-
comment...](http://chennai2013.fide.com/anand-carlsen-video-with-commentary/)

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amix
Here's some great commentary of game 6:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvToX22oG8s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvToX22oG8s)

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andrzejkrzywda
This kind of chess battle doesn't happen very often. We can compare it to
Fisher-Spasski or Kasparov-Karpov.

If Carslen wins, this will be a generation change in the chess world.

Given the popularity of chess in Asia, it is estimated that about a billion of
people are following this match[1].

[1] [http://www.gq-
magazine.co.uk/comment/articles/2013-11/14/mag...](http://www.gq-
magazine.co.uk/comment/articles/2013-11/14/magnus-carlsen-
games-2013-viswanathan-anand)

~~~
Aqueous
It is insane that chess is a worldwide sport/game and still Carlsen only made
about $1.2 million USD last year(a lot for me and anyone else I know but for a
professional competitor it is quite low). For a sport that a billion people
watch you'd think there would be a lot more sponsorships, media attention,
etc. It seems professional eating has more invested in it.

Provided the Wikipedia article is correct.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Carlsen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Carlsen)

~~~
pi-rat
Probably has a bit to do with the fact that Carlsen doesn't care about money,
he only cares about chess. There was a tournament recently where he was
offered a draw during the match, taking the draw would be a sure way for him
to win the tournament and win the 1. place price money. He didn't, he went
into an all in fight to win instead (risking his 1. place) - and pulled it
off. Also, his father takes cares of his finances so that he doesn't have to
deal with it, AFAIK.

~~~
asdfologist
Well, in my view that win also sent a message to Anand - perhaps that factored
into the decision.

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deletes
Oh wow, the games lasted 5-6 hours on average. I though the normal time is
0.5-1.5 hour for a game. The players level of concentration must be immense.

~~~
richardw
One of Carlsen's advantages is that he can keep focused after others have
become tired and start making mistakes. At elite level where everyone is able
to last many hours, this must be quite a feat. I've seen him referred to as a
"grinder".

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pi-rat
The last two games have been really exciting, ending in two straight
psychological blows to Anand in situations that should have been clear draws.
Shows just how incredibly strong Magnus' end game is.

I wonder how Anand will come back after this, I recon if he does not get a
good win in one of the following matches (he is white again on Monday) he
won't be able to come back.

~~~
byambatsogt
I would say Carlsen's stamina is what bringing him the victories. Anand is not
being able to keep his concentration on high level after 5 hours of battle.
Clearly shows the age difference.

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petegrif
His stamina is undoubtedly a major strength. And this is allied with his
uncanny ability to keep pressure on his opponents in even the most apparently
even positions. This pressure mounts and the psychological impact is
devastating because his opponent knows that the most tiny inaccuracy will be
noted and he will immediately be under still more pressure. This pressure to
play perfectly is gruelling over 6-7 hours. The thing that most people don't
appreciate is that a player like Carlsen, even against the most phenomenal
opponent like Anand, is like a python, the slightest pause for breath, the
most minute inaccuracy, and the coils tighten. It's suffocating.

~~~
pk2200
Agree 100%. In this regard, Carlsen's playing style reminds me of Bobby
Fischer, who was legendary for playing on (and winning) from equal positions.

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skore
If you want to check out the games so far:
[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=81142](http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=81142)

Phew, game #2 is a real blood bath:
[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1736633](http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1736633)

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djb_hackernews
Is there anywhere to see the moves they play? I know they publish the moves in
text format, but I'd like to see the movement visually.

~~~
kbelbina
All the games with commentary / analysis:

[http://www.youtube.com/user/thechesswebsite](http://www.youtube.com/user/thechesswebsite)

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rfnslyr
Chess is the one game I've tried dedicating time to yet I feel like I still
make 0 progress.

~~~
demallien
I don't know what you mean by progress (you may already be at a level that is
considered quite strong by a non-chess player), and I'm not a brilliant chess
player myself, but my personal experience was that I very quickly progressed
at the beginning, just by learning a decent selection of game openings. If you
know enough of them to a decent depth, you first 5-6 moves can be made very
quickly without sacrificing position. If you're playing against someone that
hasn't studied openings, you have a good chance of creating an insurmountable
lead in those first 5-6 moves, as well as saving time for thinking later in
the game.

If you're playing against a good player, at least you won't immediately cede
the game in the opening.

The next step that I found helpful was to play against a computer, but to have
a real board set up, where I could play through different options to see where
they lead. Here you have no time limit, so you can really take your time. I
found that if I forced myself to take a minimum of five minutes of doing this,
I could regularly beat the computer (in this respect it seems a bit binary -
at a given difficulty setting, the computer beats you every time, until one
day you skill edges past the computer, and now you beat it every time - there
doesn't seem to be a phase where the outcome is unsure).

These two tactics advanced my game to a point where I could win about 50% of
the time on blitz-chess sites - the good players would still thrash me, and I
would completely thrash novices. Getting better from that point seems more
difficult though, and seems to revolve around sinking massive amounts of time
into the habit. Increasing your opening library knowledge gets exponentially
expensive. Improving your mid-game analysis speed also seems to be very slow
(although this seems to be linear, not like the opening library). I stopped
developing chess at this point because I realized that I wasn't prepared to
spend the time needed to become a competitive chess player - I'm good enough
that I can beat most non-regular chess players, and that's good enough for
me...

~~~
ritchiea
I actually found playing against a computer to be extremely frustrating from
the perspective of trying to learn & better my game. Computers simply do not
play chess in a style that's comparable to human chess players. Human chess
players that are far better than I am and will win 90% of games against me
still occasionally miss tactics or fail to evaluate a position properly.
That's absolutely not true of a computer by default.

Playing long games was fantastic for improving my chess. Most chess teachers
also advocate long games as the best way to improve your game. The two ways I
found to play long games, were to go to my local chess club and sign up for
tournaments and to play in leagues on ICC, the internet chess club.

~~~
danmaz74
Chess is as much a psychological battle as it is a technical one. Playing
against computers is really a different thing.

~~~
ritchiea
Agreed, a computer doesn't have intentions. Playing against a real human
player you can disrupt their intentions and/or surprise them. That's obviously
not possible with a computer.

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known
Anand should retire and pass on the baton to younger generation.

~~~
middleclick
I have never understood what such statements mean. I mean, he is not holding
people back by saying, "hey! you don't get to play till I am here!"

~~~
amogh10
Exactly my point.

