Sochi Challenge

On Saturday 8 November the first game will be played in the three-week long rematch between defending world champion Magnus Carlsen and the man from whom he took the title last year, Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand. When Carlsen seized the title from Anand in Chennai last year, the magnitude of his victory was so immense that it would appear to have terminated Anand’s career at the top. Surprisingly, Carlsen then proceeded to display feeble form as world champion, losing a couple of games to lesser lights in this year’s Olympiad and turning in a lacklustre performance in the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis. Anand, on the other hand, qualified for this championship with a totally convincing performance in the Candidates tournament in Khanty-Mansisk in the spring of this year and recently took first prize in the elite tournament in Bilbao. On paper, Carlsen remains the favourite, but based on this year’s form, Anand’s chances certainly cannot be written off.