21.11.14

Intense Fight

Round ten saw Magnus Carlsen returning to the Gruenfeld where he produced a novelty on move fourteen. It seems as Viswanathan Anand did not react at the most dangerous way and the Norwegian held the game to a draw rather convincingly.
A game that I liked (ChessBase 12)

[Event "World Chess Championship 2014"]
[Site "Sochi"]
[Date "2014.11.21"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D97"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2863"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 {Carlsen switches to the Gruenfeld. It should
have been difficult for Anand to prepare for each game. The thing is that
Carlsen does not choose the same opening despite its positive outcome. The QGD
served him well in the last game, while the Gruenfeld was not that good in
game one, but nevertheless he switches back to it. Thus Anand has to work
more, in different directions and to spend more energy in the pre-game
preparation.} 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 {The Russian system was chosen by Anand. This
is not only respect to the orginers of the match but his main weapon against
the Gruenfeld.} dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Na6 {Curiously, Magnus had only two
games in this line, back in 2003 and 2005. In the latter he chose the same
move.} ({Also possible is} 7... a6 {which was played against Anand by a former
second of Carlsen} 8. Be2 b5 9. Qb3 Nc6 10. e5 Be6 11. Qd1 Nd5 {with solid
position for Black in Anand,V (2811)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2730) Moscow 2011}) 8.
Be2 {The main move.} ({The only previous game of Magnus in the line saw the
offbeat} 8. Bg5 c5 9. d5 e6 10. O-O-O Qa5 11. Qb5 Qxb5 12. Bxb5 Nc7 13. Be2
exd5 14. exd5 Rd8 15. d6 Nce8 16. Bb5 $13 {Azmaiparashvili,Z (2658)-Carlsen,M
(2570) Khanty-Mansiysk 2005}) 8... c5 9. d5 ({White is not ready for the open
game} 9. dxc5 {yields him nothing after} Be6 10. Qb5 Rc8 $36) 9... e6 10. O-O
exd5 11. exd5 Re8 {The second most common but quite natural move. Vishy had
faced the main move twice against Garry-Almighty} (11... Bf5 12. Rd1 Qb6 13.
Qh4 (13. d6 Rad8 14. Na4 Qc6 $5 {Anand,V (2781)-Kasparov,G (2812) Frankfurt
1999}) 13... Bc2 14. Rd2 Bf5 15. Rd1 Bc2 16. Rd2 {1/2 (16) Anand,V (2781)
-Kasparov,G (2812) Frankfurt 1999}) 12. Bg5 {It is useful to provoke a
weakness on the kingside.} h6 13. Be3 Bf5 14. Rad1 {All of this have already
been seen. Here Magnus came up with a logical novelty} Ne4 $146 {[%cal Rf5b1,
Rg7b2] Diagram [#] Which however is not surprisng at all for any Gruenfeld/KID
player. The road for thh two black bishops is opened and they can start
exerting pressure on the queenside.} ({Previously only} 14... Qb6 {was checked
and here beside the move} 15. b3 {White has plenty of interesting options to
work in his laboratory} (15. Nh4 $5) (15. Qb5 $5) (15. Rd2 $5) 15... Rad8 16.
Rd2 Ng4 17. Bf4 Qa5 18. Rc1 {All of this was played by one of Anand's seconds}
g5 ({Black missed a good shot} 18... b5 $1 19. Qxb5 (19. Nxb5 $2 Re4) 19...
Bxc3 20. Qxa5 Bxa5 21. Bxa6 Bxd2 $17) 19. Bg3 Bxc3 20. Qxc3 Qxc3 21. Rxc3 {
with doubled-edged endgame in Wojtaszek,R (2713)-Ponomariov,R (2729) Poikovsky
2012 Obviously the Polish GM provided Anand with some additional know-how.})
15. Nxe4 {The first moment where the challenger could have gone for the sharp}
(15. d6 $5 Nxc3 (15... Bxc3 $6 {looks too risky} 16. bxc3 Nxd6 $2 17. Qf4 $18 {
White has grand attack on the dark squares.}) 16. bxc3 Qb6 {Only the further
analyzes will prove if the d6 pawn is a weakness or an asset to the first
player.}) 15... Bxe4 ({Worse is} 15... Rxe4 {as the rook is vulnerable there}
16. Qc1 Kh7 17. Bd3 $16) 16. Qc1 {The second moment of the game where Vishy
could have played sharper. Why endgame?!} ({I strongly believe that the right
treatment of the position was to keep the queens on the board. A central
passer is good in the middlegame and not in the endgame. It separates the
flanks into two independent parts and can help the kingside attack. In the
endgame the cetral pawn is easily attacked by the king and is in most cases a
weakness.} 16. d6 $5 {with the obvious idea} Bxb2 $2 (16... Bc6 {should be
better although White has a lot to play for, for example} 17. Qc1 $5 {The
knight on a6 is misplaced and the kingside is under pressure.} Re6 18. Bxa6
bxa6 19. Qxc5 Bxf3 20. gxf3 {and White is better as} Bxb2 {fails to} 21. d7 {
Notice how difficult it is not for Black to block the pawn!}) 17. Bxh6) 16...
Qf6 17. Bxh6 Qxb2 {[%csl Yb2,Yc1] Diagram [#] "I was a little overoptimistic.
I thought that without the queens on the board I am immediately fine." Carlsen.
He indeed hs to solve some problems but as he demonstrated in the later, the
endgame is much easier to hold than the middlegame.} (17... Bxd5 {is also
possible although White is little better after} 18. Rxd5 Rxe2 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20.
Rd7 Re7 21. Rxe7 Qxe7 22. Re1 Qf6 23. Re4 $14 {thanks to the misplaced Na6.})
18. Qxb2 ({Or} 18. Bxg7 Qxc1 19. Rxc1 Kxg7 20. Bxa6 bxa6 21. Rxc5 Red8 22. Rd1
Rab8 $11 {as Magnus intended to play.}) 18... Bxb2 19. Ng5 {"I underestimated
this move," Carlsen. And I suspect that this is the position that tempted
Anand to swap off the queeens. Now he wins the bishop pair.} (19. d6 {is also
interesting.}) ({However} 19. Bxa6 $2 {is simply wrong as the c pawn supported
by the bishop pair will be good only for Black} bxa6 20. d6 c4 $17) ({another
tempting continuation is suggested by Anand} 19. Bb5 {although this should not
be much after} Red8) 19... Bd4 $1 {[%csl Gd4,Yd5] Diagram [#] "This was very
precise"- Anand. The pawn on d6 had been excluded from the main forces and is
now doomed. Vishy tries everything he can to generate threats with his
bishops.} ({Black has no time to save the bishop} 19... Bf5 20. Bb5 Red8 21. d6
Bd4 22. Bc4 Rxd6 23. Nxf7 Rd7 24. Nd6+ Kh7 25. Nxf5 gxf5 26. Bf4 $16) ({Neither
} 19... Bc2 $2 {is good due to} 20. Rd2 Nb4 21. d6 $16) 20. Nxe4 Rxe4 21. Bf3
Re7 22. d6 ({While watching the game I anticipated the line} 22. Bf4 Rd7 23. d6
Nb4 24. Rd2 {which basically transposes into the game. Then after} Re8 {[%csl
Yd6][%cal Ge8e6,Gb4c6,Gd4e5,Ge5d6] Black intends to surround the pawn with
Re8-e6, Nb4-c6 and Bd4-e5. Somethimes the kingside pawns also help. Examplary
line goes like this} 25. Rc1 Nc6 (25... Re6 {also makes sense}) 26. Bxc6 bxc6
27. Kf1 f6 (27... Re6 28. Re2 Rxe2 29. Kxe2 f6) 28. h4 (28. Re2 Rxe2 29. Kxe2
g5 30. Bg3 f5 $11) 28... Kf7 29. g3 Rg8 30. Re2 g5 31. hxg5 fxg5 {and the d6
pawn will disappear.}) 22... Rd7 23. Bf4 Nb4 {Finally the knight enters the
game.} 24. Rd2 {The last critical moment of the game.} ({Anand mentioned at
the press conference the move} 24. Rfe1 $5 {[%csl Yb7,Rd6,Ge7][%cal Ge1e7,
Rf3b7] Diagram [#] although he did not provide any further lines. This is a
pawn sacrifice and very risky decision but looks tempting! After} Nxa2 25. Re7
$1 Rxe7 (25... Rad8 26. Bd5 $1 Nc3 27. Bxf7+ Kg7 28. Rde1 Bf6 29. Rxd7 Rxd7 30.
Be6 $16) 26. dxe7 Re8 27. Re1 Nb4 {The knights hold both teh critical c6 and
d5 square and seems fine after f7-f6 and Kg8-f7 finally neutralizing the pawn.
} 28. Bxb7 f6) 24... Re8 25. Rc1 Re6 {Getting into the d6 pawn busyness.} 26.
h4 Be5 27. Bxe5 Rxe5 28. Bxb7 {Diagram [#] Forces the draw. Obviously Anand
could not do anything more} (28. Bg4 {is met with} f5 29. Be2 Kf8 30. g3 b6 31.
Bf3 Re6 32. a3 Na6 33. Be2 Nb8 34. Rcd1 a6 {[%cal Gb6b5,Gc5c4] intending both
b6-b5 and c5-c4 as well as Nb8-c6-d4} (34... Nc6 $2 35. Bb5) 35. a4 Nc6 36.
Bxa6 Nd4 $11 37. Rxd4 (37. Bc8 Nf3+ 38. Kg2 Nxd2 39. Bxd7 Rxd6) 37... cxd4 38.
Bc8 Rexd6 39. Bxd7 Rxd7 $11) 28... Rxb7 29. d7 Nc6 30. d8=Q+ Nxd8 31. Rxd8+ Kg7
32. Rd2 {The resources are exausted, the peace treaty signed. Carlsen leads 5.
5-4.5 and need one more point to defend the title.} 1/2-1/2




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