Carlsen "Caruana has two Candidate events on his belt. It will help him. But I hope the experience from the other WC matches can help me in the beginning. You can prepare mentally as much as you want, but when you get there and sit at the board, there is something extra, pressure"
Carlsen: "I am not sure if anything can come as a complete surprise to me. But obviously it will help if I don't blunder knights and bishops like crazy."
Carlsen: "Having enough energy will be extremely important. I am not going to say I am old, but it's easier as a 21-22 year old than as a 27-28 year old to be able to float on youthful energy. I have to be more conscious about these things now."
Carlsen: "On paper this is my absolute worst opponent. That's why I think the match will be different than previously."
Carlsen says he will prepare differently this time: "It's clear that Anand and Karjakin was very much based on preparations, while Caruana thinks different and doesn't depend on preparations as much."
Carlsen on Caruana's greatest stength: "His middle game! He will likely feel that he in some middlegames can navigate better than me. That's what he will aim for."
Carlsen: "In long endgames, I still think I have an advantage against Caruana. He can work on it, but I don't think he can equalize my edge in only a few months."
Carlsen: "I have an advantage that eventually will be gone, but if I get a few punches in the beginning - not necessarily speaking about winning games - then the pressure on Caruana will become worse."
Carlsen on Anand-Carlsen in Chennai in '13: "Even though it was my best WC match until now, the first three games sucked. If Anand had used his opportunity there, history could've been very different."
Carlsen: "No WC title can be taken for granted, not in any format. It would be huge for me if I am able to win again."
35...Qxf3!! [Nguyen shows his great understanding of the game by this positional queen sacrifice. Black has no weaknesses to attack.]
[35...Qd2 36.Bc4+ Kh8 37.c6 Rg8 38.Bxg8 Qg2 39.Rfh3 Kxg8 40.Qf3 Qxf3 41.Rxf3 Kf7³; 35...Qg4 36.Rg3 Qf4 37.Rf1 Qh6=]
36.Bc4+ Qd5 37.Bxd5+ Nxd5 38.c6 Nec7 39.Qh3 h6 40.Qg2 [40.Qb3 Rxf5+–]
40...Rxf5 [40...Rxf5 41.Rxh6 Ne3–+]0–1
[35...Qd2 36.Bc4+ Kh8 37.c6 Rg8 38.Bxg8 Qg2 39.Rfh3 Kxg8 40.Qf3 Qxf3 41.Rxf3 Kf7³; 35...Qg4 36.Rg3 Qf4 37.Rf1 Qh6=]
36.Bc4+ Qd5 37.Bxd5+ Nxd5 38.c6 Nec7 39.Qh3 h6 40.Qg2 [40.Qb3 Rxf5+–]
40...Rxf5 [40...Rxf5 41.Rxh6 Ne3–+]0–1
49.Rhh6! [49.Rg5+!? Kd4 50.Rb5 Kc4 51.Rf5 Rxf5 52.gxf5 b5 53.f6 Kc5 54.Re7 Kd6 55.Kg5 b4 56.Re2 Rg8+ 57.Kf5 Rg3 58.Rd2+ Kc6 59.h4 Rf3+ 60.Kg5 Rg3+ 61.Kf4 Rg1 62.h5 Rf1+ 63.Kg5 Rg1+ 64.Kf5 Rf1+ 65.Ke6+–; 49.Rgg7 Rc8 50.Kg5 Rc5 51.h4 Ke4+ 52.Kg6 Kf4 53.g5 Kg3 54.Rf7 Rxf7 55.Kxf7 Rc7+ 56.Kg6 Rc8 57.Kf5 Rc5+ 58.Ke6 Kg4 59.g6+–]
49...Rb3 [49...b5? 50.Rb6 Rff8 51.Rh5+ Kd4 52.Rhxb5+–]
50.Kg5 b5 51.h4 b4 52.h5 Rh3 53.Rb6 Rxb6 54.Rxb6 b3 55.h6 Kd4 56.Kg6 Kc3 57.h7 b2 58.Kg7 Kc2 59.h8Q Rxh8 60.Kxh8 b1Q 61.Rxb1 1–0
49...Rb3 [49...b5? 50.Rb6 Rff8 51.Rh5+ Kd4 52.Rhxb5+–]
50.Kg5 b5 51.h4 b4 52.h5 Rh3 53.Rb6 Rxb6 54.Rxb6 b3 55.h6 Kd4 56.Kg6 Kc3 57.h7 b2 58.Kg7 Kc2 59.h8Q Rxh8 60.Kxh8 b1Q 61.Rxb1 1–0