Viswanathan Anand set to represent Asia at Casablanca Chess; Magnus Carlsen to play for Europe
Casablanca Stock Exchange is all set to introduce a new chess variant called Casablanca Chess. The all-new format will have world champions, namely Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand and the world’s top grandmasters like Hikaru Nakamura and Amin Bassin take on each other in an intense showdown under rapid timings.
Notably, the aforementioned stars will be representing their respective continents in the event. The Casablanca Chess tournament is slated to take place on May 18 and 19 in Morocco.
The starting positions of each game will be an equal position inspired by some historical gems. The top-ranked player in the world, Magnus Carlsen will make his presence felt as he will be representing Europe in the event. Meanwhile, World No.3, Hikaru Nakamura of the USA, will be representing the North American continent.
India’s star attraction and the five-time world champion, Viswanathan Anand, will be representing Asia, while the multiple-time continental title holder, Amin Bassin of Egypt will play for the African continent in the event.
The fans are highly anticipating the two world champions, Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand, once again, locking horns with each other in a different but exciting event.
“I didn’t expect him to do this well at the Candidates” - Magnus Carlsen on Gukesh
World champion Magnus Carlsen, recently, heaped huge praise for the Indian grandmaster. The World No. 1 wasn’t expecting him to perform well. Besides, he remarked that his young age has benefited him in not displaying any nerves, which could go in his favor in the World Championship.
“I didn’t expect him to do this well at the Candidates. It’s usually a staple of some of the greatest players ever that they show promise at an early age but then they sort of succeed at the highest level a little bit before people generally expect them to. It’s been an amazing story,” Carlsen said on the Norwegian podcast Sjakksnakk (Chess Chat).
The 17-year-old Indian grandmaster, Dommaraju Gukesh scripted history after becoming the youngest ever to win the Candidates tournament in Toronto. With that, he also became the youngest chess player to qualify for the title clash.
“(Who wins the World Championship) is going to be a very open question. It’s going to be about who’s going to have the best nerves in that World Championship match. Gukesh hasn’t shown that many nerves so far. He’s so young that he doesn’t know any better. He doesn’t understand that you should be nervous (at an event like the Candidates). I think that could be a positive thing for him to play a World Championship match this early,” he added.