With the much-followed war of pieces entering what could well be the decisive phase, the psychological battle between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen is gaining added significance.
Even when the two dish out a draw in their world chess title-match in Sochi, Russia, one walks away with more positives than the other.
It is still too close to call with four games to go and just a point separating the players. Both have two whites to play.
The time is ripe to press harder for victory.
For Carlsen, irrespective of the colour of his pieces, it is never too soon or late to try relentlessly for victory. He has the enterprise and energy to work for hours in search of a win. In the last two of the eight games played so far, he has clearly hurt Anand more.
Anand’s gain has been his successful defence of an inferior position for nearly five hours, out of the six-and-a-half hours that took to finish Game 7.
In fact, the 122-move draw was also the second longest game, in terms of moves, ever played in world championship title-matches.
In 1978, the Game 5 between challenger Victor Korchnoi and champion Anatoly Karpov was longer, ending in 124 moves.
Though Carlsen leads 4.5-3.5, it is Anand who has performed better if one was to go by the playing strength reflected by their ratings.
Carlsen, who started the match with a rating of 2863, has performed at 2835 whereas Anand is currently playing to a rating of 2820, after beginning the match at 2792.
Better opening neededWith black pieces, Anand has struggled much more than he has been able to trouble Carlsen with white pieces.
As a result, after Wednesday’s rest day, Carlsen is likely to again put Anand’s defensive skills to test.
Clearly, Anand will have to find a better choice of opening than what he opted for in the last two games while playing with black.
Though Anand’s approach has been far less submissive than the one seen last November, he has not been able to get into a position of comfort with black pieces.
From equal middle-game positions, he has conceded ground to Carlsen who never fails to find moves to improve his prospects.
As a result, Anand repeatedly falls back on his widely-acknowledged defensive skills against a rival who has gained a reputation of playing endgames like very few among his contemporaries.
Carlsen believes that to win at the highest levels, one should be ready to play 40 to 50 good moves.
On the other hand, Anand relies on his abilities to find similar number of accurate moves in order to draw the game, with black.
On predictable linesSo far, Anand has clearly put in more to survive. The inability of the Indian veteran to force double-edged positions, where the Norwegian is considered a bit less versatile, has made the proceedings predictable.
Without doubt, Anand’s self-belief stood out remarkably in Game 7. His expressions were not deceptive as he continuously pulled off defensive resources in the face of some sustained attempts by Carlsen.
However, how long can he defend each time with black pieces? It is not easy to hold inferior positions, for hours, when victory is out of the equation.
Unless Anand finds his way to a comfortable position from where all three results are possible, he will not be able to put any pressure on Carlsen.
When playing with black, if Anand can succeed in making Carlsen worried, the match could well see a whole new dimension.
Thereafter, much will depend on how Carlsen handles the pressure once Anand has sensed his chances.
But going by Anand’s defence-first approach, it should not come as a surprise if he is found looking to draw on Thursday and aiming to strike with white, the following day.
