Wall Street agog as Anand-Carlsen chess championship begins

Some of Wall Street's biggest names are focused on India this week – but for a reason far (or perhaps not so far) removed from finance or investment opportunities. It is the World Chess Championship in Chennai, with defending champion Vishwanathan ('Vishy') Anand facing off against fast-rising prodigy Magnus Carlsen of Norway today.

Harvard professor and author of This Time Is Different Ken Rogoff, financier Chris Flowers and hedge fund manager Doug Hirsch of Seneca Capital are among the business honchos who are chess aficionados.

It is expected that billions around the world will follow what is the most highly anticipated chess match since American Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky of the USSR at the height of the Cold War.

The young Carlsen, aged 22, is the odds-on favourite to wrest the title from three-time champion Anand. Carlsen has performed consistently well in tournaments, and his chess rating is well above that of Anand.

The Indian however is known to bring out his best in an one-on-one match rather than tournament play; and his vast experience cannot be discounted.

"Many people regard Carlsen as the greatest chess talent to come along since perhaps Bobby Fischer," Rogoff told CNBC.

Hirsch knows Carlsen personally and travelled to see him play last month in St Louis at the Sinquefield Cup.

Hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein of Saba Capital, who is well known for being on the winning side of the JPMorgan "London Whale" trade, said he thinks "Magnus Carlsen will win handily, despite Anand's home-field advantage." Anand grew up in Chennai.

But Rogoff isn't convinced of Carlsen's invicibility. "He's not nearly the prohibitive favourite that many of his followers think. He doesn't have the experience of playing these matches. Anand has seen it all. It's always hard for the person who's trying to win the first time. It's much easier for the person trying to win the fifth or sixth time."

Besides being so far apart in age, the competitors are also far apart in style. Rogoff used a tennis analogy to compare the two. "Anand has the bigger serve, and Carlsen is more of the baseline, persistent player," he said.

"Carlsen in particular just has an indomitable will to win. He aims for quiet positions where nothing seems to be going on and says, 'Well, nothing's going on, but you're going to lose.' Whereas Anand sparkles at everything, but particularly in very complicated positions, and he'll try to steer Carlsen into these messier things, where Carlsen maybe has less of an edge than in simpler positions."

Chess is not a spectator sport – and probably never will be, as it is a mind game. However, it remains the one truly global sport; and games played hundreds of years ago can still be followed as the moves are noted.

Today, thanks to the internet, the promoters of the event say it will be the most watched chess match in history. Hirsch said he will watch online.

In all, 12 games will be played in the match under the Classic format in which the players will get 120 minutes each for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20, and 15 minutes for the rest of the 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 any remaining games will not be played. The winner will take home 60 per cent of the prize fund of $2.5 million (Rs29 crore).

In case of a tied score after twelve games, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner. However, if the tiebreak stage is reached the winner will get a smaller 55 per cent of the total prize at stake.

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, along with the usual support team that he used in his last world championship match against Boris Gelfand, which he won despite adverse conditions.

Ladbrokes, the London betting house, gives odds on Carlsen at 2/7; while the odds against Anand are 5/2.