Anand gives his fans Anand (happiness)!!

Day 1 at the Candidates 2014 was marked by the Sterling performance of the ex world champion Vishwananthan Anand.

Just when everyone (including myself) had written him off as being too old or lacking motivation or becoming a father etc etc... What does he do? He comes to the first round of the Candidates tournament and destroys the favourite  of the tournament Levon Aronian who is currently rated 2830 and is world No.2.
And mind you it was no ordinary win. It was a convincing victory without any chance given to his opponent. Such consistent was Anand's play that everyone has already started dreaming about Anand-Carlsen match later this year! While we cannot discount that possibility, 13 rounds is a long way to go!
But as of now all the Vishy fans can cheer as their hero is in the sole lead as all other 3 games ended in a draw!

As today was Vishy's day let me not waste your time in explaining what happened in other games. You can have a look at them in the official report . But I would like to focus on Vishy's game.

Aronian's move d5 showed that he was in mood for fighting chess.

The move Ne5 which Aronian underestimated, puts him in an inferior position.

Levon Aronian is visibly tensed after he got into an inferior position!

Each and every piece of the world champion was working hard today!

The dismal knight is trapped and all that Aronian could was resign.

It must have been a pleasant change for Anand to got to the press conference as the victor!

I must say this game of Anand reminds me of the game between Rosenthal-Steinitz 1873 in which the first world champion showed masterly use of the bishop pair. Even after 140 years coaches all around the world show that game to show the power of two bishops and how to take away advanced posts from opponent's knight. I am sure that Vishy's game too will be shown in the year 2154 to many young and budding talents!

For all those who havent seen that game, here it is:

Wasnt it a brilliant performance by Wilhelm Steinitz?!!

WAS IT SUPERSTITION OR MERE CO-INCIDENCE.

Browse through the pictures of all the players playing the Candidates 2014 and you will see that all of them came dressed up in Suit and tie. Except for one man. The man who leads the tournament: Vishwananthan Anand.

Now why would Anand come so casually dressed when all other players were in suit?!!

Have a look at this game:

Does this game ring any bells in your head?!! 

It was one of the most brillinat performance by Vishy Anand against Levon Aronian. So much so that many believed it to be the match of the century.

And guess what was the attire of Vishy Anand when he played the above game in Tata Steel in Jan 2013?

The Same T-shirt!!!

Call it superstition or good luck or whatever, I am sure that Vishy Anand felt more confident when he came dressed in the same t shirt against Levon Aronian today!

As the Indian Superstar gets ready to face the Bulgarian Dynamite Veselin tomorrow, I am sure it will be a cracker of a game! And what can we expect Vishy Anand to wear tomorrow?

A red coloured Shirt with a black suit!!

This is what Vishy Anand had worn when he had beaten Veselin Topalov in Amber tournament in 2011!

Its been a long time since these two players have played each other,Both will be hungry for the full point! Lets see what happens tomorrow!

You can find the PGN file for the above games over here

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Photo credits: Fide Candidates official site
I came across the same t-shirt post from Chandrashekhar Koravi's facebook post. So many thanks to him.