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| Defending champion | Challenger |
 |
 |
| Viswanathan Anand (IND) | Magnus Carlsen (NOR) |
| 3½ | 6½ |
| Born 11 December 1969 43 years old |
Born 30 November 1990 22 years old |
| Winner of the 2012 World Chess Championship | Winner of the 2013 Candidates Tournament |
| Rating: 2775 (World No. 8) | Rating: 2870 (World No. 1) |
The World Chess Championship 2013 was a match between reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand and challenger Magnus Carlsen, to determine the 2013 World Chess Champion. It was held from 9 to 22 November 2013 in Chennai, India, under the auspices of FIDE (the World Chess Federation).
Carlsen won the match 6½-3½ after ten of the twelve scheduled games, becoming the new world chess champion. This was heralded by Garry Kasparov and others as the start of a new era in chess, with Carlsen being the first champion to have developed his game in the age of super-strong chess computers.
The challenger was determined in the 2013 Candidates Tournament. For the first time in more than 50 years it was a double round-robin tournament (instead of a knock-out tournament). It took place in the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, London, from 15 March to 1 April 2013. The participants were:
| Qualification path | Player |
|---|---|
| The top three finishers in the Chess World Cup 2011 | Peter Svidler (Russia) |
| Alexander Grischuk (Russia) | |
| Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) | |
| The three highest rated players in the world, excluding any of the above or below (average from July 2011 and January 2012 FIDE rating lists) |
Magnus Carlsen (Norway) |
| Levon Aronian (Armenia) | |
| Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) | |
| Candidates Tournament Organizing committee's wild card (FIDE rating in January 2012 at least 2700) |
Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) |
| Loser of the World Chess Championship 2012 | Boris Gelfand (Israel) |
The tournament had a prize fund of €510,000 ($691,101). Prize money was shared between players tied on points; tiebreaks were not used to allocate it. The prizes for each place were as follows:
Before the tournament Carlsen was considered the favourite, with Kramnik and Aronian being deemed his biggest rivals. Ivanchuk was considered an uncertain variable, due to his instability, and the other players were considered less likely to win the event.
During the first half of the tournament, Aronian and Carlsen were considered the main contestants for first place. At the halfway point Carlsen had a half-point lead over Aronian. In the second half Kramnik, who had drawn his first seven games, became a serious contender after scoring four wins, while Aronian lost three games, and was thus left behind in the race. Carlsen started the second half by staying ahead of the field, but a loss to Ivanchuk allowed Kramnik to take the lead in round 12 by defeating Aronian. In the penultimate round Carlsen pulled level with Kramnik by defeating Radjabov, while Kramnik drew against Gelfand.
Before the last round Carlsen and Kramnik were the only players who had a shot at winning the tournament. Kramnik with black against Ivanchuk needed to outperform Carlsen, who had white against Svidler, to win the tournament, since the second tiebreak favoured Carlsen with five wins against Kramnik's four. (The first tiebreak, the head-to-head score between Carlsen and Kramnik, was 1-1.) Ivanchuk obtained an early advantage against Kramnik, while Carlsen got a level position against Svidler. Carlsen got into serious time trouble and did not defend adequately against Svidler's attack, which gave Svidler a winning endgame. Meanwhile, Ivanchuk had outplayed Kramnik, who resigned a few minutes after Carlsen lost. Thus the tournament was won by Carlsen on the second tiebreak.
| Rank | Player | Rating March 2013 |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Points | Tiebreaks | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H2H | Wins | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen (NOR) | 2872 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 8½ | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2 | Vladimir Kramnik (RUS) | 2810 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 8½ | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3 | Peter Svidler (RUS) | 2747 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 8 | 1½ | 4 | ||
| 4 | Levon Aronian (ARM) | 2809 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ½ | 5 | ||
| 5 | Boris Gelfand (ISR) | 2740 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 6½ | 1 | 2 | ||
| 6 | Alexander Grischuk (RUS) | 2764 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 6½ | 1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR) | 2757 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | - | 3 | ||
| 8 | Teimour Radjabov (AZE) | 2793 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 4 | - | 1 | ||
Numbers in parentheses indicate players' scores prior to the round.
Prior to the match, from 2005 to 18 June 2013, Anand and Carlsen played 29 games against each other at classical time controls, out of which Anand won six, Carlsen won three, and twenty were drawn.
| Head-to-head record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anand wins | Draw | Carlsen wins | Total | ||
| Classical | Anand (white) | 2 | 11 | 0 | 13 |
| Carlsen (white) | 4 | 9 | 3 | 16 | |
| Total | 6 | 20 | 3 | 29 | |
| Blitz/rapid/exhibition | 9 | 16 | 8 | 33 | |
| Total | 15 | 36 | 11 | 62 | |
The prize fund was 2,650,000 Euros, of which 60 percent would go to the winner and 40 percent to the loser if the match ended within the 12 regular games. If the match went to tie-breaks, the winner would have received 55 percent and the loser 45 percent.
Both Anand and Carlsen had a team of seconds to aid in their match preparation. Anand's seconds for the match were Surya Ganguly and Radosław Wojtaszek, who had helped him in four previous World Championship matches; his primary second Peter Heine Nielsen had been hired away earlier in the year by Carlsen, under agreement that he would not help Carlsen during this match against Anand. During the opening press conference, Anand revealed his new seconds to be Krishnan Sasikiran, Sandipan Chanda and Peter Leko. Carlsen at first declined to reveal his seconds, but after the match revealed that Jon Ludvig Hammer had been doing opening preparation from Norway. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Laurent Fressinet have been supposed as seconds. Over a year after the match Carlsen also revealed that Pavel Eljanov had been among the seconds in the Chennai match.
The match between Anand and Carlsen took place at the Hyatt Regency Chennai hotel in Chennai, India, from 9 to 22 November 2013, under the auspices of FIDE. Twelve classical games were scheduled, each starting at 3 pm local time (09:30 UTC). Rest days were to take place after games 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 11. Had the match been tied after the 12th game on 26 November tie-break games would have been played on 28 November. As the match was decided before the 12th game, the remaining scheduled games were cancelled.
The time control for the games gave each player 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for moves 41-60 and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting after move 61. Tie-break games were meant to have increasingly limited time controls. Carlsen won $1.53 million while Anand received $1.02 million for this match.
| Rating | Game 1 9 Nov. |
Game 2 10 Nov. |
Game 3 12 Nov. |
Game 4 13 Nov. |
Game 5 15 Nov. |
Game 6 16 Nov. |
Game 7 18 Nov. |
Game 8 19 Nov. |
Game 9 21 Nov. |
Game 10 22 Nov. |
Game 11 24 Nov. |
Game 12 26 Nov. |
Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viswanathan Anand (India) | 2775 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | Not required | 3½ | |
| Magnus Carlsen (Norway) | 2870 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 6½ | ||
The player named first plays the white pieces.
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Carlsen chose a quiet line, but his play was slightly inaccurate, and he accepted a draw after 16 moves in lieu of a threefold repetition.
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Anand opened with 1.e4, and Carlsen responded with the Caro-Kann Defence, his first time doing so in a competitive game since 2011. Anand castled queenside on move 14, which was followed by a knight exchange in the centre, after which Carlsen advanced his queen to d5 (see diagram). This enabled a trade of queens, and, to the surprise of commentators and the audience, Anand accepted it, rather than pressing forward with 18.Qg4. The resulting endgame was balanced; Anand exerted pressure on Carlsen's kingside pawn shield with his rooks, eliciting a repetition of moves and a draw.
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Carlsen opened with his king knight as in game 1, but played 3.c4, and Anand took the pawn on the next move. Anand gained some advantage in the middlegame when Carlsen had to retreat his queen to h1 and became short on time. However, with the temporary pawn sacrifice 28.e3 (which chess Grandmaster and commentator Sergei Shipov described as "the best known, boldest and most debatable" move of 2013), Carlsen opened the position and managed to reactivate his pieces. From then on Anand did not play the most aggressive moves (e.g. he chose 29...Bd4 instead of Bxb2; later 34...Rf8 was possible) but began to exchange pieces, and offered a draw after move 41, which Carlsen declined. After the exchange of queens, an opposite-colored bishops endgame was reached, and the players soon agreed to a draw.
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Carlsen chose the solid Berlin Defence to the Ruy Lopez. He grabbed a pawn at move 18, and a complex position developed. Black remained a pawn up, but "Anand found a fantastic resource in 35.Ne4! which helped him to finally open up the black king and equalise the play."
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Anand's 45...Rc1+ was called the decisive mistake, after which White was able to defend the a3-pawn, exchange bishops, and win a second pawn. Instead, 45...Ra1, attacking White's a3-pawn, would have kept the balance. With this win, Carlsen took a 3-2 lead.
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After a solid opening, a series of exchanges brought about a heavy-piece endgame that was reckoned to be drawn. With 38.Qg3, Anand sacrificed a pawn in order to reach a drawn rook endgame, and a second pawn was sacrificed with 44.h5 in order to disconnect Black's kingside pawns. Carlsen continued playing and sacrificed both of his extra pawns in order to advance his f-pawn. The decisive error was 60.Ra4; instead, 60.b4 was suggested by analysts and chess engines as the only move that leads to a draw with best play, since the advancing b-pawn gives White queening threats that yield counterplay and make an exchange of rooks acceptable. After 60.Ra4, Carlsen's pawn sacrifice 60...h3 turned his f-pawn into a decisive passed pawn, and Anand resigned a few moves later.
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In the opening, Anand exchanged his bishop for a knight, which led to a structure similar to that of the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez where Black has doubled pawns. Carlsen defended accurately, and after further exchanges the two players settled for a repetition of moves around move 30.
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Carlsen opted for 1.e4 for the first time in the match and the game developed into a Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence in which he managed to trade pieces and reach a symmetrical position with a draw in 33 moves. Many were disappointed that Anand chose the Berlin Defence instead of trying a more combative opening, given that he was down two points. After the game, Anand said he "had not prioritised 1.e4" in his preparation. He also said that the match situation was "fairly clear" and that he would "liven it up" in the next game.
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Anand played a sharp line against the Nimzo-Indian Defence that gave him attacking chances. Instead of 20.axb4, which according to Hikaru Nakamura "was not in the spirit of the position at all", either 20.a4 or 20.f5 were suggested as more promising continuations for White. Afterwards, Carlsen defended accurately, creating counterplay on the queenside, and ultimately queening his b-pawn with check while Anand was shifting his heavy pieces over to his mating attack. Anand should have answered 27...b1=Q+ with 28.Bf1. ChessBase gives the best line as 28.Bf1 Qd1 29.Rh4 Qh5 (Black must sacrifice his new queen in order to stave off checkmate) 30.Nxh5 gxh5 31.Rxh5 Bf5 32.Bh3 Bg6 33.e6 Nxf6 34.gxf6 Qxf6 35.Rf5 Qxe6 36.Re5 Qd6, which is probably a draw. Instead, Anand blundered with 28.Nf1 and resigned after 28...Qe1, since after 29.Rh4 Qxh4 30.Qxh4, Black emerges a rook up.
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Anand played the Sicilian Defence, but with 3.Bb5+ Carlsen avoided the sharpest main lines. Anand's 28...Qg5 was a mistake, allowing Carlsen to play 29.e5 with strong pressure on Black's d6-pawn. Maintaining the tension with 30.Nc3, 30.Ng3, or 30.b4 should have given White a winning game, but Carlsen erred with 30.exd6, releasing the tension and allowing Anand to recoup the pawn soon after. The players traded down to a knight endgame where White had some advantage, and Carlsen may have missed a win by playing 43.Nd6 instead of 43.Nd2. The game ended in a draw due to insufficient mating material.
With this draw, Carlsen won the World Championship match 6½-3½, becoming the new world chess champion.
There were several changes and controversies in the process for choosing the challenger and hosts for the championship. A timeline is found below.