Game Two Press Conference
The 2nd game of the FIDE World Chess Championship Match finished in a draw.
Replay the game with analysis and video commentary
Anand: First of all, I would like to express my apology (perhaps to his fans for having played a short drawn game).
The position that was today …. I had studied it in the past, that was a very complicated position. And I did not expect it, that is clear. So, I had to decide whether I wanted to play blind or allow him to catch me in to much more, into details that I would have had.
I closed at something like on the solid lines thinking that, when you got there… there are alternatives. There was nothing terribly convincing for him. He went straight to the queen exchange and so on.
Well, I think I have a taken a prudent decision today. Yes, after the queen exchange there was nothing much happening. It was sharp. I thought he had more details than me in the line.
Q: After the first two rounds can you sum up what you were expecting and what you were getting?
Carlsen: I did not expect anything. I think it is little bit similar to my start in the Candidates tournament, I had an easy draw and opened with black pieces and my opponent opened with the black pieces in the second game. And that took off quite quickly. I say what happened here, like Vishy said so far we are settling in a bit, especially when you are caught out in preparations.
Question to Carlsen: Do you consider Anand as the toughest opponent for you?
Carlsen: I mean, he is the world champion for many years and he has beaten my other main opponents in the matches. To answer your question, I say yes.
Question to Anand: Is Carlsen the toughest opponent?
Anand: I must say that Magnus results during the last few years speak for themselves. I definitely think he is the toughest opponent at the moment.
Question to Carlsen: You have the better ratio of wins over Anand during the last two years. Do you have a psychological upper-hand?
Carlsen: I do not think it matters much as to what we have done in the past. Obviously I lost some bad games against him and he lost some bad games to me. I think what matters most is what is happening here.
