Carlsen, Anand, and Magic Hats!

The world championship match is going on right now in Sochi, Russia!

Magnus Carlsen, from Norway, is defending his title. Vishy Anand, the former world champion from India is challenging him.

So far, Magnus is up 4.5-3.5! There are four games left...who are you rooting for?

Carlsen, left; Anand, right; from the official website

This match has been very intense, and I was surprised to see the tables turned a few times -- basically spun right around.

Do you know about "Alekhine's Gun?" I'm not the biggest fan of guns, actually, but in chess it means that the heavy pieces are all lined up. So, not just a battery, but a serious battering ram that will pretty much destroy anything in its path.

Let's call it A.G. for short. 

Even if White could, s/he would rather not put anything on that d-file!


So what happened in the championship? Well, first, Carlsen created A.G. on Vishy, then Vishy, next game, created the A.G. back on Carlsen!

Here's Carlsen first:
His winning A.G. dominated the e-file. After Qb7, the powerful battery on the 7th rank proves too much for Black. Can you find the mate-in-three threat?
That's right! It's a Blind Swine Mate. It is Black's turn after Qb7 of course, but he has no good way of stopping the mate. And giving up material to a world champion is akin to resigning!
There are hat-tricks, Blind Swine Mates, and then, there are cows

And here's Vishy, the very next game! This A.G. is almost a hat-trick (maybe it'll happen again!).

I was really amazed by Vishy in this game. It's like he did the same thing to Carlsen that Carlsen had just done to him! What's the move here?

Here is another tit-for-tat in the match. A psychological one. First Carlsen misses a huge tactic. Then Vishy misses it!

Shocking blunders are very rare at this high level of chess.

Can you find a discovery, then a zwischenzug (in-between move) check?

Fans and players alike were blown away that both players missed this opportunity.

I thought that was hilarious. But then when both players missed it, there were lots of comments. Here is always astute Garry Kasparov:

What could possibly happen next?

Keep asking questions on  the Ask Coach Jessica Forum, and Mrs Jessica E Prescott (aka BoundingOwl) will answer on Wednesdays!

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