EP.177 - GM Peter Heine Nielsen

This week on Perpetual Chess, we break from format a bit, as 5 time Danish Champion and world-class chess trainer, GM Peter Heine Nielsen, takes us behind the scenes of the night before a decisive game in a World Championship Match. The Match in question, was the 2010 World Championship between GM Viswanathan Anand and GM Veselin Topalov in Sofia, Bulgaria. The game was game 12, the final game of the “classical portion” of the match, with Peter Heine Nielsen and his fellow “ Team Anand” members, preparing Vishy to take the Black pieces against GM Topalov in a tied match with the World Championship and a $1.2 million Euro prize for the winner. How is it decided which opening will be played? How is work delegated among the team members? Why did 2 former World Champions and other chess heavyweights also pitch in to help with preparation this night? How did it feel when GM Anand won the game? GM Peter Heine Nielsen answers all of these questions and many more in a very fun and detailed conversation about a landmark game in modern chess history. You might want to play through the game in question before you listen, then sit back and enjoy the interview. More notes, timestamps and details can be found below.  0:00- We begin by discussing a bit of background about the match, with discussion of other relevant background information, and of how GM Anand and his team felt as they were going into the deciding game of the match.    Mentioned:  Team Anand Members: GM Peter Heine Nielsen, GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov, GM Radoslav Wojtazek, and GM Surya Ganguly, Mind Master by GM Viswanathan Anand, 2008 FIDE Anand-Kramnik World Chess Championship in Bonn, Germany  For more background on this match, you can listen to the following  Perpetual Chess Interviews with: FM Michiel Abeln, GM Vishy Anand, GM Ivan Cheparinov, GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov 10:00- What factored into GM Anand’s decision to surprise Topalov with the Queen’s Gambit Declined in Game 12?     21:30- Friend and supporter of the podcast, IM Kåre Kristensen, writes