Vishwanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen - Smiling assassins on a mission to kill

Vishwanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen

A prince is in town, long hailed as the heir apparent, and he seems eager to assail the emperor and snatch the crown. But the battle has drawn him far away from home to the muggy climes of Chennai. He has made his discomfort known, but the desire for battle has lured him to set aside his preferences and stride into the enemy’s lair.

Meanwhile, the emperor remains assured even though his fort is under siege. Surrounded by friends and family in the familiar embrace of his home, the reigning lord of chess is eager to prove that he still possesses the sharp nous needed to trounce the aspirant.

It promises to be a battle for the ages. As soon as Magnus Carlsen started the match moving his knight to f3, and got up very soon to hang his coat on the chair, it was clear this was going to be a heated battle for the ultimate honour in chess.

Chess historians seem unanimous in agreement that the excitement surrounding this intense combat for supremacy reminds them of the mood that prevailed during the legendary 1972 clash between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. The former world champion Gary Kasparov has joined the debate too – giving the edge to the 22-year-old upstart from Norway. There is enormous interest from both media and fans, leaving no doubt that the chess community in India did not have it this good for a long time.

Amidst the rising crescendo in the build-up to this contest between two acknowledged geniuses, the players have chosen contrasting methods to prepare for this once-in-a-lifetime battle. The precocious Carlsen chose the rough and tumble of the sea in Oman to purchase some humidity and replicate the weather in Chennai. The Norwegian has reportedly indulged himself in beach volleyball and soccer in trying to calm his nerves ahead of this definitive assault for the biggest honour in the game of chess.

Meanwhile, the ageing monk chose a quaint little town in Germany to draw himself far and away from the madness that might have engulfed his life in Chennai. The master of preparation, it is understood, has taken a more yogic approach even as he huddled with a team of seasoned experts to simulate and postulate over the methods needed to keep the assailant under check. Seeking a relaxed workout, Vishwanathan Anand waded into the pool waters in Bad Soden, clocking at least a kilometre of swimming each day among other things.

If you still have any doubts about the immense fitness needed to pursue the art of mastering a 64-square maze, try sitting in a chair for seven hours staring at a chess board. Let us not even worry about making moves; just attempt to stay put and keep your eyes on the board. At some point you might either give up and walk away or collapse in sheer exhaustion.

The warriors though have trained for years to present a picture of serene calm. But the exterior is just a red herring, for beneath the surface is a raging storm that enables these genial men to collect copious amounts of information, store and retrieve, analyse and plot moves at the speed of thought to try and scar the mind of the opponent.

Chess is a brutally devious game that hurts the player in a manner that is sometimes not immediately apparent or perceivable on the outside. A classic example of that was delivered with stunning efficiency by Anand last year. In a keenly contested championship match, Boris Gelfand and Anand had drawn the first six games in a $2.5 million duel at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

Gelfand dealt a blow when he scored a 38 move victory in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead in the 12-game match. Anand responded in blazing fashion, bleeding Gelfand immediately with a brutally violent 17-move attack that brought the Israeli down to his knees. The gory nature of that match is a good example of the ruthless mind that lurks behind those warm inviting eyes of the five-time world champion.

Carlsen is no exception – the fun-loving 22-year-old is known to play pranks with his three sisters and lead a deceptively casual life when he is not hovering over a chess board looking to destroy opponents with unrepentant regularity. He has been a Grand Master for an incredible nine years already and the world’s top chess player for nearly three years now.

Anand was a runaway winner in matches between the two players in the early days, but Carlsen has done well to recover ground in the past two years. In fact the Indian, currently rated 2,775, had won their first four encounters but it is the Norwegian who has won three of their last five encounters. Carlsen has put daylight between him and Anand, earning decisive victories in their last two matches.

The ratings suggest that this is a contest that should be easier for Carlsen, but the young man does not have a patch on the experience of Anand who has played several championship matches in the past 15 years. Still, at 2,870 (down from the all-time high of 2,872) in the ELO ratings, no one has ever scaled larger heights in the world of chess.

So we are certainly in for an intriguing fight between the match play experience of Anand and the adventurous style of Carlsen. Stay glued and enjoy the excitement.