Successive defeats leave Anand nervy in World Chess C'ship

November 17, 2013

Anand-carlsenChennai, Nov 17: Having suffered back-to-back defeats in the World Chess Championship, defending champion Viswanathan Anand was today left a bit nervy if the press conference after the sixth game is anything to go by.

Replying to a question about what he planned to do in current situation after two losses, Anand said he would want to the best in the coming games.

However when the defending champ was asked what he meant by 'doing the best', the world champion since 2007 was pretty curt in his reply.

"Doing your best mean doing your best. I do not how you understand English," he snapped at the journalist.

Asked was there pressure after losing yesterday, Anand said: "Yes. Probably."

Moments after suffering the loss, the 43-year-old was even asked by one journalist what was his reaction to Sachin Tendulkar's retirement.

"I had noticed and was following what he was doing. But the other things were in my mind," Anand said.

Anand said he had started off well but committed a blunder in the middle.

"I just pretty much started off well. I gave the check and then actually I was going for a rook-g 4 and a simple idea. Then, I just blundered here with f-4. And, this was lost of course," he said.

"Here, I get rook-c and just draw. When I started it was quite good and I thought if I get queen g4 I could get the major pieces get solid positions. But then, I do not know ... perhaps one mistake after the other," he added.

Carlsen was at his best to tackle the new situation.

"Its good go get a healthy lead the half way stage of the match, we still got six games to play," said the challenger from Norway.

While Anand maintained that he would like to do his best in the remaining games, Carlsen elaborated on the sixth game in depth.

"I wanted to carry on from the last game and exert pressure. The position after the opening is about level and when he blundered or sacrificed a pawn, I thought I have my chances," Carlsen said.

The Norwegian, however, maintained that the position was that of a draw.

"The position was a draw in all likelyhood but then I had set up this trap where Anand fell in," he said.

Anand, for the records, has never suffered two losses in a row in World Championship contest since 2008. The second loss could well mean a curtain for Anand's hopes of retaining the title.

With two down and six to play, Anand needs to strike it in the next one as otherwise it may be too late.

Carlsen, on the other hand, was in his elements after the victory. The Norwegian knows its not far for him to win his maiden world title in his first attempt.

Garry Kasparov, his mentor and trainer in 2009 has been vouching for the new talent for quite some time and Carlsen has thus far proven himself to be worthy of the title.Anand needs a plan 'B' if he has to make a serious impression in this match.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
January 25,2020

Headingley, Jan 25: England have become the first team in the world to score 500,000 runs in Test cricket. They achieved the feat during the ongoing fourth and final Test against South Africa being played at The Wanderers.

On Friday - the opening day of the Test match -- England captain Joe Root's single through the covers took the Three Lions to a landmark 500,000 run-mark in the longest format of the game. They achieved the feat in their 1022nd Test match.

Australia comes second in the list, with 432,706 runs in 830 Tests. India, meanwhile, are third, with 273,518 runs in 540 Tests, followed by West Indies (270,441 runs in 545 Tests).

In the third Test played at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth, England had become the first team to play 500 Test matches on foreign soil. Australia are the second team to play the most away Test with 404 matches they have played so far.

India have played 268 Tests on foreign soil in which they have won 51, lost 113 and 104 have ended in a draw.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 23,2020

Dhaka, Jan 23: Left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who is part of the Bangladesh squad traveling to Pakistan, posted a cryptic tweet before team's departure which raised a few eyebrows.

On Wednesday evening, Rahman took to Twitter to post a selfie along with his teammates before the team's departure and asked his followers to pray for them, writing: "Heading to Pakistan. Remember us in your prayers."

Bangladesh were earlier reluctant to travel to Pakistan. However, the officials of both the teams met in Dubai and it was after many deliberations, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) agreed to send their team for a cricket series.

Bangladesh will be playing three T20Is, two Tests and an ODI in Pakistan between January and April. The T20I series will be played from January 24-27 in Lahore, followed by the first Test from February 7 to 11.

Bangladesh will then return to Pakistan in April for the one-off ODI which will be played on April 3 and the second Test from April 5-9.

Senior players like Mushfiqur Rahim decided against traveling to Pakistan citing personal reasons. After that, five members of the Bangladesh coaching staff also pulled out of the tour.

Pakistan have also recalled the experienced duo of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, along with pacer Shaheen Afridi for the T20I series.

Squads:

Bangladesh: Mahmudullah (Captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Naim Sheikh, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Liton Kumer Das, MD Mithun, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam Biplob, Mustafizur Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Hasan Mahmud.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Ahsan Ali, Amad Butt, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Musa Khan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Usman Qadir.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 20,2020

The International Cricket Council (ICC) today confirmed the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia 2020 has been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

At today’s meeting of the IBC Board (the commercial subsidiary of the ICC), windows for the next three ICC men’s events were also agreed to bring clarity to the calendar and give the sport the best possible opportunity over the next three years to recover from the disruption caused by COVID-19.

The windows for the Men’s events are:

1. ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 will be held October – November 2021 with the final on 14 November 2021

2. ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 will be held October – November 2022 with the final on 13 November 2022

3. ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will be held in India October – November 2023 with the final on 26 November 2023

The IBC Board agreed to continue to monitor the rapidly changing situation and assess all the information available in order to make a considered decision on future hosts to ensure the sport is able to stage safe and successful global events in 2021 and 2022.

The IBC Board will also continue to evaluate the situation in relation to being able to stage the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 in New Zealand in February next year. In the meantime, planning for this event continues as scheduled.

The Board will also continue to evaluate the situation in relation to being able to stage the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021.

ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said: “We have undertaken a comprehensive and complex contingency planning exercise and through this process, our number one priority has been to protect the health and safety of everyone involved in the sport.

“The decision to postpone the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was taken after careful consideration of all of the options available to us and gives us the best possible opportunity of delivering two safe and successful T20 World Cups for fans around the world.

“Our Members now have the clarity they need around event windows to enable them to reschedule lost bilateral and domestic cricket. Moving the Men’s Cricket World Cup to a later window is a critical element of this and gives us a better chance of maintaining the integrity of the qualification process. This additional time will be used to reschedule games that might be lost because of the pandemic ensuring qualification can be decided on the field of play.

“Throughout this process we have worked closely with our key stakeholders including governments, Members, broadcasters, partners and medical experts to enable us to reach a collective decision for the good of the game and our fans. I would like to thank everyone involved for their commitment to a safe return to cricket.”

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.