Viswanathan Anand
Reuters

Read Game 8 Preview Here

The Game 7 of the World chess championship tie between defending champion Viswanathan Anand and World No 1 Magnus Carlsen will take place at Hyatt Regency Chennai, India, on Monday. All eyes are focused on the result of the decisive game that could make or break the fading champion's fortunes in the tournament.

Where to Watch Live

Play starts at 9:30am GMT. Live coverage of Game 6 will be available on the official FIDE website.

For Game 7 result, click here

Overview

The Grandmaster comes into the seventh game of the World chess championship after losing Game 5 and Game 6, after the first four rounds of the competition ended in draw. The Norwegian is leading 4-2 after he crushed the Indian veteran in a superlative display of endgame prowess on Saturday.

Anand was struggling with his white pieces against the Norwegian almost half his age on Saturday as the game saw 67 moves being played. The Indian and the 22-year-old were even until 50 moves as the local man made his first mistake in the 57<sup>th move, before making successive errors later, playing to the trap laid by Carlsen, whose strategy was to force errors from the ageing champion.

The defeat in Game 6 has put pressure on Anand as Carlsen needs only two-and-a-half points from the remaining six games to push the Grandmaster from the World championship title.

Magnus Carlsen
Reuters

Anand is looking to finish the game in less than 50 moves while things have not been going as planned for him. As the game goes beyond more than 50 moves, it is likely to give the world No 1 an edge over the Indian, whose classical moves have come withering in the face of the puverising anti-computer strategies deployed by the rising star.

The Grandmaster needs to find a victory in Game 7 against Carlsen, whom many experts have begun to see as invincible at this point. A defeat for Anand would jeopardise his chances of retaining the world championship title. Avoiding a defeat, and settling for a draw on Monday would give Anand a much-needed psychological boost for the remaining games.

The remaining matches take place from today to 26 November. If the match remains tied after Game 12 on the final day, tie-break games will be played on 28 November. Meanwhile, there would be rest days after Game 8, 10 and 11.

What They Say

Viswanathan Anand: "Magnus' manoeuvre with the knight [in Game 6] was quite good. Then I started wondering what to do. Then I thought with Qg4 with the major pieces I could get a solid position. Then I don't know ... one mistake after the other."

Magnus Carlsen: "It is good. Today [After Game 6] I got a pretty solid position early on. But I thought I should cut glass and win yesterday and to press him today. Today there was not much to risk. Fortunately I was little bit lucky and I won in the end. Obviously I am in a good mood now. I won two games and with six games to go that's obviously a healthy lead."

What Experts Say

Pendyala Harikrishna: "It is a huge psychological play on the part of Carlsen. Even though the position is drawish, Carlsen will continue to play to make Anand to think four variations for each and every move. Tire your opponent out or drain your opponent's energy seems to the Carlsen's strategy."

Garry Kasparov: "No doubt Carlsen will suffer some nerves as the end nears, it is unavoidable. But so far the quality difference at the board is too great. Carlsen is a combination of Karpov & Fischer. He gets his positions & then never lets go of that bulldog bite. Exhausting for opponents."

READ: The Review of Game 6 Review Here.

India