The World Chess Championship 2013 was a match between reigning world champion
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have ...
and challenger
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...
, to determine the 2013
World Chess Champion
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013.
The first event recognized as a world championship was the 1886 matc ...
. It was held from 7 to 25 November 2013 in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, India, under the auspices of
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
(the World Chess Federation).
Carlsen won the match 6½–3½ after ten of the twelve scheduled games, becoming the new
world chess champion
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013.
The first event recognized as a world championship was the 1886 matc ...
.
This was heralded by
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
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.
Candidates Tournament
The challenger was determined in the 2013
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The w ...
, which was a double
round-robin tournament
A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & C. Me ...
. (This was the first time in 51 years that the round-robin format had been used for a Candidates, though it had been used for the 2005 (FIDE) and
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...
World championships). It took place in the
Institution of Engineering and Technology
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution. The IET was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), dating back to 1871, and ...
,
Savoy Place
Savoy Place is a large red brick building on the north bank of the River Thames in London. It is on a street called Savoy Place; Savoy Hill and Savoy Street run along the sides of the building up to the Strand. In front is the Victoria Embankmen ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, from 15 March to 1 April 2013. The participants were:
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:
Results
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 they were tied for first, one-and-a-half points ahead of Kramnik and Svidler. 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 only Carlsen and Kramnik could win the tournament; they were equal on 8½ points, 1½ points ahead of Svidler and Aronian. Carlsen had the better tie break (on the first tie break the score from their individual games was 1–1, but Carlsen was ahead on the second tie break due to having more wins), and this would not change if they both scored the same in the final round. Therefore, Kramnik, who had black against Ivanchuk, needed to outperform Carlsen, who had white against Svidler. Carlsen played to win, since that would guarantee him the tournament victory regardless of Kramnik's result; similarly, Kramnik knew that the odds of Carlsen losing with white were minute, and he went all-in against Ivanchuk with the
Pirc defense
The Pirc Defence (pronounced ) is a chess opening characterised by the response of Black to 1.e4 with 1...d6 and 2...Nf6, followed by ...g6 and ...Bg7, while allowing White to establish a with pawns on d4 and e4. It is named after the Slovenian ...
. This backfired and Ivanchuk obtained an early advantage, while Carlsen got a level position against Svidler. Carlsen later got into serious
time trouble
In chess played with a time control, time trouble, time pressure, or its German translation ''Zeitnot'', is the situation where a player has little time to complete the required moves. When forced to play quickly, the probability of making blund ...
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. Carlsen's win earned him the right to challenge the reigning world champion, Vishy Anand for the world title.
:
Pairings and results
Numbers in parentheses indicate players' scores prior to the round.
:
:
Championship match
The Championship match between
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have ...
and
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...
was held from 9 to 22 November 2013 in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
, under the auspices of
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
.
Previous head-to-head record
Prior to the match, from 2005 to 18 June 2013, Anand and Carlsen played 29 games against each other at classical
time control
A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can proceed. Time controls are typically enforced by means of a game cloc ...
s, out of which Anand won six, Carlsen won three, and twenty were drawn.
Prize fund
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.
Seconds
Both Anand and Carlsen had a team of
seconds
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...
to aid in their match preparation. Anand's seconds for the match were
Surya Ganguly
Surya Sekhar Ganguly (born 24 February 1983), is an Indian chess grandmaster. His peak ELO rating was 2676 (July, 2016). Ganguly became an International Master at the age of 16 and a grandmaster at the age of 19.
He has won 40 individual go ...
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
Krishnan Sasikiran (Tamil: கிருஷ்ணன் சசிகிரண்; born 7 January 1981) is an Indian chess grandmaster.
He was one of Viswanathan Anand's seconds in the World Chess Championship 2013.
Chess career
Born in Madr ...
Peter Leko
Peter Leko ( hu, Lékó Péter; born September 8, 1979) is a Hungarian chess player and commentator. He became the world's youngest grandmaster in 1994. He narrowly missed winning the Classical World Chess Championship 2004: the match was dra ...
.
Carlsen at first declined to reveal his seconds, but after the match revealed that
Jon Ludvig Hammer
Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer (born 2 June 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster and three-time Norwegian Chess Champion. He was the main second for Magnus Carlsen in the World Chess Championship 2013.
Chess career
At the 38th Chess Olympiad i ...
had been doing opening preparation from Norway.
Ian Nepomniachtchi
Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi ( rus, Ян Алекса́ндрович Непо́мнящий, r=Yan Aleksandrovich Nepomnyashchiy, p=ˈjan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈpomnʲɪɕːɪj, a=Ru-Ian Alexandrovich Nepomnyashchij.ogg; born 14 J ...
and
Laurent Fressinet
Laurent Fressinet (; born 30 November 1981 in Dax) is a French chess grandmaster. He is a two-time French Chess Champion.
Career
He won the French Chess Championship in 2010 and 2014. In 2012 he finished second in the European Individual Che ...
have been supposed as seconds. Over a year after the match Carlsen also revealed that
Pavel Eljanov
Pavel Eljanov ( uk, Павло Володимирович Ельянов, translit=Pavlo Volodymyrovych Elyanov; born 10 May 1983) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He has won two team gold medals and one individual silver medal at the Chess Oly ...
had been among his seconds in the Chennai match.
Schedule and results
The match between Anand and Carlsen took place at the
Hyatt Regency Chennai
Hyatt Regency Chennai is an 18-storied five-star luxury hotel located on Anna Salai at Teynampet in Chennai, India. Designed in 1986, the construction of the hotel started in the 1990s. However, the completion was delayed for nearly two decad ...
hotel in Chennai, India, from 7 to 25 November 2013, under the auspices of FIDE. The opening ceremony was held on 7 November. Twelve classical games were scheduled, each starting at 3 pm
local time
Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...
(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 not needed, and the closing ceremony was held on 25 November.
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.
:
Games
The player named first plays the white pieces.
Game 1, Carlsen–Anand, ½–½
Carlsen chose a quiet
line
Line most often refers to:
* Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity
* Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system
Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to:
Art ...
, but his play was slightly inaccurate, and he accepted a
draw
Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to:
Common uses
* Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them
* Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...
after 16 moves in lieu of a
threefold repetition
In chess, the threefold repetition rule states that a player may claim a draw if the same position occurs three times during the game. The rule is also known as repetition of position and, in the USCF rules, as triple occurrence of position.Articl ...
1.e4
The King's Pawn Game is any chess opening starting with the move:
:1. e4
It is the most popular opening move in chess, followed by the Queen's Pawn Game.
Details about the move and the game plan
White opens with the most popular of the twenty ...
, and Carlsen responded with the
Caro–Kann Defence
The Caro–Kann Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. e4 c6
The Caro–Kann is a common defence against the King's Pawn Opening. It is classified as a Semi-Open Game, like the Sicilian Defence and French Defence, although ...
, his first time doing so in a competitive game since 2011. Anand castled
queenside
This glossary of chess explains commonly used terms in chess, in alphabetical order. Some of these terms have their own pages, like ''fork'' and ''pin''. For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see Fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific ...
on move 14, which was followed by a
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
exchange in the
centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
, after which Carlsen advanced his
queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
to d5 (see diagram). This enabled a
trade
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exc ...
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
Pawn most often refers to:
* Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game
* Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral
Pawn may also refer to:
Places
* Pawn, Oregon, an his ...
shield with his
rooks
Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to:
Games
*Rook (chess), a piece in chess
*Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game
Military
*Sukhoi Su-25
The Sukhoi Su-25 ''Grach'' (russian: � ...
king knight
''King Knight'' is a 2021 American comedy film written and directed by Richard Bates Jr.
Plot
As admired leaders of their Wiccan coven, Thorn and his life partner Willow provide couples counseling for eccentric coven members Desmond and Nept ...
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
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...
28.e3 (which chess Grandmaster and commentator
Sergei Shipov
Sergei Shipov (born 17 April 1966) is a Russian chess player, trainer, journalist and writer. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1996.
Career
Shipov founded the chess website Crestbook where, among other services, he provides onlin ...
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.
: Réti Opening, King's Indian Attack ('' ECO'' A07) 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. c4 dxc4 4. Qa4+ Nc6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. Nc3 e5 7. Qxc4 Nge7 8. 0-0 0-0 9. d3 h6 10. Bd2 Nd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Ne4 c6 13. Bb4 Be6 14. Qc1 Bd5 15. a4 b6 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. a5 Rab8 18. Re1 Rfc8 19. axb6 axb6 20. Qf4 Rd8 21. h4 Kh7 22. Nd2 Be5 23. Qg4 h5 24. Qh3 Be6 25. Qh1 c5 26. Ne4 Kg7 27. Ng5 b5 28. e3 dxe3 29. Rxe3 (diagram) Bd4 30. Re2 c4 31. Nxe6+ fxe6 32. Be4 cxd3 33. Rd2 Qb4 34. Rad1 Bxb2 35. Qf3 Bf6 36. Rxd3 Rxd3 37. Rxd3 Rd8 38. Rxd8 Bxd8 39. Bd3 Qd4 40. Bxb5 Qf6 41. Qb7+ Be7 42. Kg2 g5 43. hxg5 Qxg5 44. Bc4 h4 45. Qc7 hxg3 46. Qxg3 e5 47. Kf3 Qxg3+ 48. fxg3 Bc5 49. Ke4 Bd4 50. Kf5 Bf2 51. Kxe5 Bxg3+ ½–½
Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. e4 e5
:2. Nf3 Nc6
:3. Bb5
The Ruy Lopez is named after 16th-century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura. It is one ...
. 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
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...
and equalise the play."
:
Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. e4 e5
:2. Nf3 Nc6
:3. Bb5
The Ruy Lopez is named after 16th-century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura. It is one ...
Anand's 45...Rc1+ was called the decisive mistake, after which White was able to defend the a3-pawn, exchange
bishops
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, 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.
:
Queen's Gambit Declined
The Queen's Gambit Declined (or QGD) is a chess opening in which Black declines a pawn offered by White in the Queen's Gambit:
:1. d4 d5
:2. c4 e6
This is known as the ''Orthodox Line'' of the Queen's Gambit Declined. When the "Queen's Gambi ...
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 engine
In computer chess, a chess engine is a computer program that analyzes chess or chess variant positions, and generates a move or list of moves that it regards as strongest.
A chess engine is usually a back end with a command-line interface wit ...
s 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
In chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth ; i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on either the same or adjacent files. A passed pawn is sometimes colloquially called a ''pas ...
, and Anand resigned a few moves later.
:
Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. e4 e5
:2. Nf3 Nc6
:3. Bb5
The Ruy Lopez is named after 16th-century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura. It is one ...
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.
:
Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. e4 e5
:2. Nf3 Nc6
:3. Bb5
The Ruy Lopez is named after 16th-century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura. It is one ...
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.
:
Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. e4 e5
:2. Nf3 Nc6
:3. Bb5
The Ruy Lopez is named after 16th-century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura. It is one ...
Nimzo-Indian Defence
The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. d4 Nf6
:2. c4 e6
:3. Nc3 Bb4
Other move orders, such as 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 Bb4, are also feasible. In the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'', the Nimzo-Indian ...
that gave him attacking chances. Instead of 20.axb4, which according to
Hikaru Nakamura
Christopher Hikaru Nakamuracheck 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
Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.
In chess, the king is ...
) 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.
:
Nimzo-Indian Defence
The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. d4 Nf6
:2. c4 e6
:3. Nc3 Bb4
Other move orders, such as 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 Bb4, are also feasible. In the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'', the Nimzo-Indian ...
Sicilian Defence
The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the following moves:
:1. e4 c5
The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. Opening 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for White be ...
, 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.
:
Sicilian Defence
The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the following moves:
:1. e4 c5
The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. Opening 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for White be ...
There were several changes and controversies in the process for choosing the challenger and hosts for the championship. A timeline is found below.
2011
* ''9 August.'' The All India Chess Federation was given a "first option" of three months following the 2012 World Chess Championship, to make a proposal for the organisation of the 2013 World Chess Championship.
* ''19 September.'' FIDE published the rules, regulations and qualification criteria for the Candidates Tournament of the FIDE World Championship Cycle 2011–13.
2012
* ''21 February.'' FIDE announced negotiations with the Chess Network Company (CNC) and
AGON
Agon ( Greek ) is a Greek term for a conflict, struggle or contest. This could be a contest in athletics, in chariot or horse racing, or in music or literature at a public festival in ancient Greece. Agon is the word-forming element in 'agony', ...
for the World Championship Cycle. Media, web and software rights of the events of the World Championship Cycle were awarded to CNC. AGON was tasked with organising the events and securing the necessary sponsorship funds.
* ''3 March.'' AGON awarded the Candidates Tournament dated 24 October – 12 November 2012 to London.
* ''28 March.'' FIDE and AGON announced 13–31 March 2013 as new dates for the Candidates matches in London.
* ''30 May.'' Anand won the 2012 World Chess Championship, thus qualifying for the 2013 World Chess Championship. His challenger during the 2012 World Chess Championship Boris Gelfand qualified for the 2013 Candidates Tournament.
* ''30 August.'' Latest deadline for the All India Chess Federation to redeem the three-month option to make a proposal for the organisation of the 2013 World Chess Championship.
* ''25 October.'' ''
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...
'' reported that the All India Chess Federation did not act during the three-month window provided by FIDE to exercise the "first option" to host the final. FIDE Vice President Israel Gelfer commented that "the venue of the match will be decided when AGON, which has the rights and the obligation to organise the cycle, chooses and announces it."
2013
* ''1 April.'' Carlsen won the Candidates Tournament in London and thus qualified for the World Chess Championship.
* ''8 April.''
Jayalalithaa Jayaram
Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...
, the Chief Minister of the state of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
, India, announced that Chennai will host the 2013 World Chess Championship, and said that the event will have a budget of 290 million
Indian rupee
The Indian rupee ( symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 '' paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use ...
s (around €4,000,000).
* ''19 April.'' FIDE, the All India Chess Federation and the
Tamil Nadu State Chess Association
The Tamil Nadu State Chess Association (TNSCA) is the apex body for the game of chess in Tamil Nadu, India. It was formed on 26 April 1947 with a view to identifying upcoming chess players and mould them into world-class professionals. The asso ...
signed a Memorandum of Understanding. FIDE Vice President Israel Gelfer said that the venue of the 2013 World Chess Championship would be set within 21 days.
*''3 May.'' Jøran Aulin-Jansson, the president of the Norwegian Chess Federation, sent an open letter of protest to FIDE, writing "We strongly urge FIDE to facilitate a procedure that enables other interested parties to bid for the 013 World Chess Championship" Just a few hours later
Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë (; born 30 May 1950) is a French retired politician who served as Mayor of Paris from 2001 to 2014. A member of the Socialist Party (PS), he previously served in the National Assembly from 1981 to 1986 and Senate from 1995 unt ...
, the mayor of
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, announced that the capital of France "is ready to host the 013World Chess Championship", offering a budget of €3,446,280 and a prize fund of €2,650,000 (Chennai offered €2,576,280 and €1,940,000, respectively).
*''5 May.'' FIDE confirmed Chennai as the venue for the 2013 World Chess Championship.
*''6 May.'' Carlsen made a statement saying, "I'm deeply disappointed and surprised by the FIDE decision to sign a contract for the 2013 match without going through the bidding process outlined in the WC regulations, and for not choosing neutral ground. The bid from Paris clearly showed that it would be possible to have more options to choose from. The lack of transparency, predictability and fairness is unfortunate for chess as a sport and for chess players."
*''7 May.'' FIDE published a press release according to which on 24 January it and AGON "agreed not to open a bidding procedure, but to grant an option to India, as requested", and claiming that "FIDE tried its hardest to convince India to split the match etween India and Norway but they refused."
*''28 May.'' The
Hyatt Regency Chennai
Hyatt Regency Chennai is an 18-storied five-star luxury hotel located on Anna Salai at Teynampet in Chennai, India. Designed in 1986, the construction of the hotel started in the 1990s. However, the completion was delayed for nearly two decad ...
hotel was announced as the venue for the 2013 World Chess Championship.
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...