Chess - The Scotsman 25/04/13

THE dream world championship between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand is starting to turn into a nightmare, as the game’s governing body, Fide, tries to bounce the young Norwegian challenger into playing in the champion’s backyard.

Many predicted a protracted global tussle to stage such a marketable match-up of the generations, with cities such as London, Paris and New York being touted to stage it. But last week, government officials in Chennai, Anand’s home city, announced that they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Fide to host the match from 6-26 November, with an overall budget of $3.5m (£2.3m).

It seems that Fide president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov had promised the Indian state first refusal on the match, without a bidding process, after they lost out to Moscow last year for Anand’s successful title defence against Boris Gelfand of Israel. But already there’s rumours that Carlsen won’t play on Indian soil, and his manager, Espen Agdestein, is questioning the decision and demanding there should be an open bidding process and a neutral venue.

“There is huge interest worldwide for this match,” said Agdestein. “And there are other cities and organisers interested in hosting it. I have asked them to contact Fide…the picture will be clearer after the Fide meeting in Baku next month.”

M Vachier Lagrave - Ding Liren

Alekhine Memorial, (2)

Caro-Kann Defence

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 Bf5 4 h4 h6 5 g4 Be4 6 f3 Bh7 7 e6 Nf6 8 Bf4 Qb6 9 Nc3 Qxb2 10 Kd2 Qb6 11 Nge2 a6 12 Rb1 Qa7 13 Na4 b5 14 Nc5 Bg8 15 Be5 fxe6 16 Nf4 Nbd7 17 Nxd7 Nxd7 18 Ng6 Nxe5 19 dxe5 Rh7 20 h5 c5 21 f4 Bf7 22 Qf3 0–0–0 23 Be2 c4 24 a4 Kc7 25 axb5 axb5 26 Rxb5 Qd4+ 27 Ke1 Ra8 28 Rb1 Ra2 29 c3 Qd2+ 30 Kf2 Rc2 31 Qe3 Qxe3+ 32 Kxe3 Rxc3+ 33 Kd4 Rc2 34 Rhe1 Kc6 35 Rb8 Bxg6 36 hxg6 Rh8 37 Reb1! Rd2+ 38 Ke3 Ra2 39 R8b6+ Kd7 40 Rb7+ Kc6 41 R1b6+ Kc5 42 Rb5+ Kc6 43 R7b6+ Kc7 44 Rxe6 d4+ 45 Ke4 d3 46 Bf3 d2 47 Kf5 1–0