World Chess Championship: After yet another draw, Viswanathan Anand believes he still has some chances

November 21, 2014

World Chess2Sochi (Russia), Nov 21: Despite being down 4-5 with just three more games to go, Viswanathan Anand on Thursday said he was fine with an easy draw in the ninth game and insisted that he still has a chance of posting a win in the World Chess Championship match.

"You have to just play the positions you get, the situations you get. I can count, I know the score but I think I still have some chances," Anand said at the post-match conference after the ninth game ended in a quick draw.

Asked about the level of confidence at this point, the five-time world champion said, "Quite reasonable"!

"I mean also an easy draw like this with black, I just have to try harder with white," Anand said, pointing to his remaining two white games in the last three rounds.

"A lot of this (theory) is known, this idea is often met with Bishop move, but I didn't really expect it. But when it happened there is not really much that black can do."

Anand refused to draw comparisons to his match in Chennai.

"I am going to focus on this match, I don't sit and think about Chennai a lot, even though we are off early (today) there is a game going to be played tomorrow, so I will go and focus on that now," he said.

Meanwhile, calling it a pretty even match so far, world champion Magnus Carlsen said nerves will play a part in the remaining games. Carlsen agreed that this was a much tougher match than he played against Anand in Chennai a year back.

"Going in to the last games when the score is pretty even, its always going to be tough, it's a pretty even match so far. In Chennai, I was up three at this point. This is much tougher," Carlsen said.

On the shortest game in the match so far, lasting barely an hour, Carlsen said, "It was very short indeed, I didn't quite see what to do in this (final) position, he is better prepared than I am."

Asked if he was happy with the outcome, Carlsen said he was not really thrilled with the draw. "It's always better to be able to press a bit with white of course. On the other hand, every half a point brings me half a point closer to 6.5 (the winning score in this 12-game match) so that's not too bad. It's a tough match, right now its look like it's going the distance," said the 23-year old.

Carlsen also agreed that Anand was better prepared today.

"He was better prepared than I was today, it's also been the opposite a couple of times. If there is any disappointment in a short draw with white it's easier to swallow when you are up in the match," said Carlsen, needing three draws to retain the crown now.

Carlsen was a bit critical of himself, saying, "Apparently it was not good enough today to get a game but its not a disaster, my play has been quite inconsistent both in terms of preparation and play, but let's see," he said.

On the psychological warfare, Carlsen said his mind was at ease.

"I think you can never be completely prepared, the nerves are always going to be there. I have been in this situation before. After all, the rules are still the same regardless of the match situation and regardless of what part in the match you are in."

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has slammed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for not allowing recreational cricket to resume.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had described the cricket ball as a 'natural vector of disease' and ruled out recreational cricket's return in the country.

Hearing Johnson's argument, Vaughan tweeted: "Hand sanitiser in every players pocket. Use every time you touch the ball ... SIMPLE ... Recreational Cricket should just play from July 4th ... utter nonsense it's not being allowed back ... #Cricket."

Johnson was responding to a question from Conservative MP Greg Clark in the House of Commons, and it was then that Johnson said that it is too soon to lift current restrictions to allow the return of recreational cricket.

"The problem with cricket as everybody understands is that the ball is a natural vector of disease, potentially at any rate. We've been around it many times with our scientific friends," ESPNCricinfo had quoted Johnson as saying.

"At the moment, we're still working on ways to make cricket more COVID-secure but we can't change the guidance yet," he added.

Johnson had announced various relaxations on Tuesday, but the return of recreational cricket was not a part of them.

However, this statement given by Johnson will have no impact on the Test series between England and West Indies, scheduled to begin from July 8.

However, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has said that it is looking to resume recreational cricket in the country around July 4.

The board has also said that cricket is a low-risk sport as it is a non-contact sport.

"We believe that cricket is a non-contact sport, with very low risks of exposure, and that it can be played as safely as many other activities being currently permitted," the ECB said in an official statement.

"It is our strong desire to work with Government to see the return of recreational cricket on or around 4th July, as they continue to lift other restrictions more broadly across society," it added.

All international cricket has also been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, it is set to resume to from July 8 as England and West Indies will lock horns in the three-Test series.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Bangladesh clinched their maiden ICC U-19 World Cup title after beating favourites India by three wickets in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Set a revised target of 170 after a brief rain interruption, Bangladesh won the match with 23 balls to spare.

Sent in to bat, India's batting wilted under pressure as a superb Bangladesh bowling attack shot the defending champions out for a paltry 177 in 47.2 overs.

Yasashvi Jaiswal (88 off 121 balls) was once again a standout performer but not for once did he look like dominating the Bangladesh bowling unit whose new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam (2/31 in 10 overs) and Tanzim Hasan Shakib (2/28 in 8.2 overs) literally stifled the Indians for runs.

The third seamer Avishek Das (3/40 in 9 overs) was the most successful bowler in terms of figures but it was Shoriful's first spell with channelised aggression that put the Indians on the back-foot from the onset.

After a short rain break towards the end, the target was revised to 170 from 46 runs but Bangladesh reached 170 for 7 in 42.1 overs to win the match.

Opener Parvez Hossain Emon top-scored for Bangladesh with a 79-ball 47 while captain and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali was not out on 43 from 77 deliveries.

For the India U-19 side, Ravi Bishnoi was the most successful bowler with figures of 4/30 while Sushant Mishra had 2/25.

India thus missed out on a record fifth title in their seventh final appearance.

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News Network
April 4,2020

New Delhi, April 4: India skipper Virat Kohli has said that the 2014 Test series against England was the lowest point of his career.

He made the revelation during a candid Instagram Live session with former England batsman Kevin Pietersen.

To date, the 2014 Test series in England remains one of the worst Test series for Kohli as he averaged just 13.40 from 10 ten innings with his highest score being 39.

"I felt like as a batsman, you know you are going to get out in the morning as soon as you wake up. That was the time I felt like that there is no chance I am getting runs. And still to get out of bed and just get dressed for the game and to go out there and go through that, knowing that you will fail, was something that ate me up," Kohli told Pietersen.

However, just four years later, Kohli made a triumphant return to England as he scored a century in the opening Test of the 2018 series and finished as the highest run-getter in the series.

Kohli told Pietersen that the performance in 2014 came because he was just thinking about his own batting.

"2014 series happened, for all the younger guys listening, because I was too focused on doing well from a personal point of view. I wanted to get runs. I could never think of what does the team want me to do in this situation," Kohli said.

"I just got too engulfed with England tour - if I perform here, Test cricket, in my mind I am going to feel established and all that crap on the outside, which is not important at all," he added.
During the chat, Kohli talked about his favourite format in cricket and he also revealed the main reason for turning into a vegan.

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