Viswanthan Anand may watch some EPL football to unwind after playing out two (goalless) draws with Magnus Carlsen, but he indicated that one of his eyes would very much be on the chess positions on his computer screen.
He also promised better action than the two short draws that he and Carlsen had had so far. “I am sorry to have disappointed the fans, but I promise there will be better games than today,” he said at the press meet here on Sunday. “We are still just settling into the match, but I think it will soon start to get interesting.”
Anand said he took more time on the opening because he was trying to recollect all the sharp variations. “I was trying to guess what Magnus might be aiming at,” he said.
Carlsen felt it was hard to get into sharper lines when one was caught in opening preparations. As for the first rest day of the match, he said he would relax.
“After all, it was two tough games,” he said, tongue firmly in his cheek.
When he was asked about if the current system was the best to decide the World champion, he said it was not the time to discuss it.
Anand too completely agreed with him.
“We could chat about it later,” said the reigning champion, who knows a thing or two about various formats of the World championship, having won in every conceivable one of them.
Carlsen admitted that Anand was his toughest opponent in world chess at the moment.
“He has beaten all my main opponents,” he pointed out. “So he is my toughest rival.”
Anand returned the compliment. “Magnus’s results of the last few years speak for themselves,” he said.
Carlsen said his recent successes against Anand did not mean that he had any psychological advantage. “Anand has lost some bad games to me, and I have lost some bad games to him”, he said. “What matters is what is happening here.”
