What you must know about Anand-Carlsen World Championship

Indian chess wizard Viswanathan Anand faces a stern test in defending his world title against a young Magnus Carlsen as one of the most awaited World Chess Championship matches in the recent history of the game begins in Chennai from Saturday.

In terms of the hype, the match between five-time champion Anand and the 22-year-old Norwegian sensation is comparable to the historic clash between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, way back in 1972.

In all, 12 games will be played in the match under Classical system, in which both players will get 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 and the 15 minutes for the remaining game with an increment of 30 seconds per move effective from the 61st move.

The first to score 6.5 points will win the match and the remaining games will not be played should it happen before the 12th game.

The winner will take home 60 per cent of the prize fund.

In case of a tied score after 12 games, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.

However, if the tie-break stage is reached, the winner will get 55 per cent of the total prize at stake.

The match will be officially opened on Thursday by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha.

The Tamil Nadu government is the official sponsor of the match and has given a cap of Rs 29 crore as the total budget, which is inclusive of a prize fund of around Rs 14 crore.

The first game will be played at the Hyatt on Saturday.

The players will play two games on the trot, followed by a rest day till the 10th game, and for the last two games there is a rest day after each game.

If needed, the tie-break games will be played on November 28, followed by the closing ceremony.

There is a special illness clause which can delay the match. In case a player reports sick, he has the right to postponement for a day.

However, chances of it being used are minimal unless, health-wise, something drastically goes wrong for either player.

Carlsen has come here with a very big team that includes his parents, three sisters, a cook, personal security and, of course, his team of ‘seconds’.

Following him are many more journalists from Norway.

Anand has his team of seconds and his wife and manager Aruna and the usual support squad that was also present in last World Championship match against Boris Gelfand.

The matches will be beamed live on Doordarshan’s sports channel and also through a live webcast coming from the official site.

A few million followers are likely to follow the match through the internet.

For good measure, a partnership with Youtube has also been formed and the enthusiasts can also follow the game there.

In addition, new apps have been made and are widely available for those on the move.