Anand - Carlsen, the First Week

My previous post, Anand - Carlsen, One Day to Go, was a summary of news stories on *the match*, mainly from Indian news sources. A week later, the 'about 12,700 results' given by a Google News search on 'anand carlsen' has mushroomed to 'about 73,300 results'. Let's make another summary of news from the past week. Here are some pre-match reports.

• 2013-11-06: Rousing reception for Carlsen [thehindu.com]
• 2013-11-06: World No 1 chess star was in Muscat to prepare for face-off with Anand [muscatdaily.com]
• 2013-11-07: Anand to open with black pieces in World Chess Championship [indiatimes.com]
• 2013-11-08: Viswanathan Anand, Magnus Carlsen share cold vibes [indiatimes.com]
• 2013-11-08: Anand reveals his seconds but Carlsen plays coy [indiatimes.com]
• 2013-11-08: Vishy Anand faces tough battle with Magnus Carlsen to keep world title [theguardian.com; Leonard Barden]
• 2013-11-08: It’s Anand’s experience vs Carlsen’s form [thehindu.com]
• 2013-11-09: Anand-Carlsen as seen by cartoonist Jose Diaz [chess.com; some commenters found this offensive]

As I write this, our two heroes have just drawn the fourth game, making four draws in four games, or +0-0=4 in W-L-D parlance. The first two games were short draws that ended in repetition, while the next two had considerable content. Somewhat surprisingly, all four games tipped in Black's favor.

• 2013-11-10: Anand forces short draw against Carlsen in opener [indiatimes.com]
• 2013-11-10: Viswanathan Anand says ‘midly surprised’ by Magnus Carlsen’s opening moves in Game 2 [livemint.com]
• 2013-11-11: Anand, Carlsen not playing cat and mouse game, say experts [business-standard.com]
• 2013-11-11: Anand vs Carlsen match will revive chess: Kasparov [indiatimes.com]
• 2013-11-11: Viswanathan Anand vs Magnus Carlsen: Chess stages biggest game since Fischer vs Spassky [independent.co.uk]
• 2013-11-12: Vishwanathan Anand - Magnus Carlsen duel fires up chess fervour in India [zeenews.india.com]
• 2013-11-12: Anand vs Carlsen: Gauging over, it's time for real battle [indiatimes.com]
• 2013-11-13: World Chess C’ship Game Three: Anand, with black, gives Carlsen a scare [firstpost.com]

The week's prize for bonehead chess reporting goes to a source I can't remember seeing before. The first story ignores the impact of an Anand victory on a nation of 1.000.000.000+ Indians. The second story needs to review the definition of 'disastrous'. What can you say about a news source whose current top featured article is 'Here's What It Takes To Work At Hooters'?

• 2013-11-05: Garry Kasparov: A Win For Carlsen In The Upcoming World Championship Match Will Be A Huge Win For The Chess World [businessinsider.com]
• 2013-11-10: The Most Anticipated Chess Match In Decades Is Off To A Disastrous Start [businessinsider.com]

Considerably better, and another source I hadn't seen before, was the source I used for game two above.

• 2013-11-07: What Anand match means for brand Carlsen [livemint.com]
• 2013-11-08: Few takers for paid tickets to Anand vs Carlsen match [livemint.com]

Also worth noting is the source for game three above.

• 2013-11-12: Anand vs Carlsen Game 3 Preview: Time to take things up a notch [firstpost.com]
• 2013-11-12: Anand vs Carlsen reminds me of the Spassky-Fischer game: Kasparov [firstpost.com]

Where's game four? It should be in next week's news.