Carlsen vs. Anand | World Chess Championship 2013
Magnus Carlsen had to venture to enemy territory to reach his childhood dream of becoming world champion. On seventh place on our list of the 10 most exciting world championships of all time comes the ascendency of the highest-rated player of all time as he traveled to Chennai to play then-world-champion Viswanathan Anand.
It ended with 31 points and made all but two the panelists' lists for multiple reasons. First, it was surely the only world championship match in history where the winner jumped in a pool fully clothed to celebrate:
Photo: Tarjei Svensen.
Carlsen also showed dynamic play in all facets of the game. He won three and lost none as the match ended after game 10. Carlsen's 6.5-3.5 was insurmountable in the two unplayed remaining games.
Here's the first win of the match in game 5. Notes are by Peter Doggers, who was on site for Chess.com.
The match also represent the beginning of the modern era of Chess.com's news coverage. This site had just aligned with ChessVibes, the all-news chess website, and while Doggers may shudder at the effort, here's a video he produced while on site after this first Carlsen win:
Carlsen then won again the very next game. In another rook-and-pawn ending, he intentionally went from one pawn ahead to a one-pawn deficit to force through his f-pawn.
Again, notes by Doggers:
The game that all-but-clinched the match was game nine. Carlsen won again as Black in the most dramatic effort.
Instead of a technical ending, Carlsen got two queens in the middlegame, seemingly allowing all sorts of mating motifs against his own king. Anand made a late error, and the mates never came:
With a draw in game 10, Carlsen's lead become insurmountable and the match ended. Cue the pool, the champagne, and the five years and counting with his title.
Coming up next: Number 6 on our list!
The 10 Most Exciting World Chess Championships:
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Mike Klein began playing chess at the age of four in Charlotte, NC. In 1986, he lost to Josh Waitzkin at the National Championship featured in the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer." A year later, Mike became the youngest member of the very first All-America Chess Team, and was on the team a total of eight times. In 1988, he won the K-3 National Championship, and eventually became North Carolina's youngest-ever master. In 1996, he won clear first for under-2250 players in the top section of the World Open. Mike has taught chess full-time for a dozen years in New York City and Charlotte, with his students and teams winning many national championships. He now works at Chess.com as a Senior Journalist and at ChessKid.com as the Chief Chess Officer. In 2012, 2015, and 2018, he was awarded Chess Journalist of the Year by the Chess Journalists of America. He has also previously won other awards from the CJA such as Best Tournament Report, and also several writing awards for mainstream newspapers. His chess writing and personal travels have now brought him to more than 85 countries.
