Viswanathan Anand's virtuous display once again underlined that it will be almost impossible to produce another Anand.
The 52-year-old Indian uncorked a novelty (13. Nd5) in the classical game and although the final fizz was missing, he brought reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen to his knees in the over-the-board Norway chess tournament.
It was worth the trouble for those who watched the webcast on their phones inside the restrooms to ensure that their colleague's sleep won't get disturbed or to those who secretly watched in the darkness of their bedrooms after their wives dozed off.
Anand rallied after a slight disappointment of only drawing the classical game and used the tournament's radical-but-justified regulation of playing an Armageddon game in a bid of not awarding equal points to both players at any cost.
In a 40-move game of Two Knights Defense in an Italian Opening, Anand punished Carlsen in the opening and middle-game. His two active rooks, nice queenside attack and a clear b-pawn opened visions of victory. The computer evaluation gave a huge edge to Anand, but once he played 32.
Rc6, Carlsen also showed why he is the undisputed monarch of the cerebral game. Anand would have probably converted this chance against any other rival but the 31-year-old Norwegian. Anand was upset for not winning in classical. He told the official site; "It's a pity because I really played a good game. I outplayed him. . . " At the same time, he was super gracious to praise his opponent's tenacity by saying: "He is very, very impressive. You just have to look at his tournament record and that he consistently pushes his limits so much. I've no words, he's just fantastic!"
The players re-started afresh after a 20-minute break where Anand had to win with White pieces and the clock advantage of 10 minutes vs seven minutes. And they played another symphony in Giuoco Piano lasting 50 moves. Anand won here but admitted that he didn't hit all pristine notes and deliberately went for some unobvious moves at the end since Carlsen had practically two seconds to make every surviving move.
Anand led the 10-player nine-round tournament with 10 points after five rounds, half a point ahead of Carlsen. A classical win carried three points and an Armageddon result gives 1.5-1 scoreline in favour of the winner.
Anand once again showed his fine judgment in cooking a 'Deep Bluish' line with human touch. When the Tiger is well prepared, he may not kill, but he will still leave a scar. The verbal bubble of 'someone following Anand's footsteps' can of course be enjoyed.
