[Event "Tilburg Fontys"]
[Site "Tilburg"]
[Date "1998.10.24"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2795"]
[BlackElo "2780"]
[Annotator "Anand,V"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "1998.10.23"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "18"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 1999"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1998.11.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1998.11.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{I had drawn 7 times with White against Vlady before this game!} 1. e4 {
Blatny,P. Hecht} e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7.
O-O Be7 8. Re1 {In general, the lines with c4 work better directly, so this
was the first hint that I didn't intend to play c4 today.} Bg4 9. c3 f5 10. Qb3
O-O 11. Nbd2 Na5 {11...Kh8 is the other critical line, and Shirov played it
against Ivanchuk in Dortmund. This this line (11...Na5) has a good reputation
theoretically speaking, so I expected this.} 12. Qa4 Nc6 13. Bb5 Nxd2 14. Nxd2
Qd6 {Thus far, my game against Yusupov, but now a new twist.} 15. h3 $3 {
My second, Ubilava suggested this before continuing Nb3-c5. We soon realized
that there is a huge difference between Bg4 and Bh5.   Blatny,P: 'Anand hat
seine fruehere Partie gegen Jussupow offensichtlich sehr tief analysiert und
eine starke Neuerung gefunden. Der Bauer auf h2 wird nicht geschlagen und Lh5
haengt mit Schach, wie wir weiter sehen werden!'} (15. Nb3 Bh4 16. Rf1 f4 (
16... Qg6 $5 {This strong move forces White to react quickly} 17. Bf4 Bh3 18.
g3 {White will have some for the exchange here.} (18. Bg3 f4 $1)) 17. f3 Bf5
18. Nc5 Qg6 19. Qd1 Bh3 20. Qd2 Rae8 21. Nd3 a6 22. Bxc6 bxc6 23. Ne5 Rxe5 24.
dxe5 Be6 {It's quite difficult for White to use his extra exchange and Black
can still develop a kingside attack, so I decided to force a draw.} 25. Qd4 Bh3
26. Qd2 Be6 27. Qd4 {- Anand,V-Yusupov,A Linares 1993}) 15... Bh5 (15... Bh4
16. hxg4 fxg4 17. Rf1 $1 {I think Black doesn't have enough here. White copes
with the immediate sacrifices easily.} (17. Re2 Rae8) 17... Bxf2+ $140 18. Rxf2
Rxf2 19. Kxf2 Rf8+ 20. Ke2 Qg3 {The only trap that White must avoid is:} 21.
Kd1 $1 $18 {Two pieces are probably enough!} (21. Bxc6 $4 Rf2+ $1 22. Kd1 Qd3
23. Bxd5+ Kf8 24. Qb4+ Ke8 25. Bf7+ $1 Kd7 26. Qa4+ b5 27. Qxb5+ Qxb5 $19)) 16.
Nb3 Bh4 (16... f4 {Blatny,P} 17. Bxc6 {/\Re5}) (16... Nd8 {Blatny,P} 17. Bf4 $1
Qxf4 18. Rxe7 c6 19. Bd3 {<->7}) 17. Nc5 Bxf2+ $2 {'?!' Blatny,P. Blatny,P:
'Schwarz hat den wichtigen Unterschied gegenueber oben genannten Partie nicht
entdeckt. Das Opfer funktioniert jetzt nicht mehr.'} (17... Rae8 $2 18. Bg5 $1
$18) (17... f4 18. Re6 $1 (18. Nxb7 Qg6 19. Kf1 (19. Bxc6 Bf3) 19... Bxf2 $1
20. Bxc6 Bxe1 $19) 18... Qd8 19. Nd3 $1 (19. Nxb7 $2 Bxf2+ 20. Kxf2 (20. Kh1
Qh4 21. Bxc6 (21. Bf1 f3 22. Qxc6 fxg2+ 23. Bxg2 Bf3 $19) 21... Bf3 $1) 20...
Qh4+ 21. Kg1 f3 22. Qc2 (22. Bxc6 Qg3 23. Qc2 f2+ 24. Kf1 Qxg2+ $1 25. Kxg2
f1=Q+ $19) 22... f2+ 23. Kf1 Qg3 $19) (19. f3 $5 Bxf3 (19... Qg5 20. g4 $1) 20.
gxf3 Qg5+ 21. Kh1 Qg3 22. Qc2 Qxh3+ 23. Qh2 Qxf3+ 24. Qg2 $14) (19. Bf1 {
A good defensive move.} Qc8 20. Bd2 $14) 19... f3 20. g3 $16) (17... Nd8 {
Not pretty, but Black has to grovel a bit since his attack will not work.} 18.
Bf1 $1 {Qd7} c6 (18... b6 19. Nd3 Ne6 20. Qb4 $1 $16) 19. Nd3 Ne6 20. b3 $1 $16
) 18. Kxf2 Qh2 19. Bxc6 bxc6 (19... f4 20. Bxd5+ Kh8 21. Nd3 $1 f3 22. Nf4 Rxf4
(22... fxg2 23. Bxg2 Rxf4+ 24. Bxf4 Rf8 25. Re4 $18) 23. Bxf4 Qxg2+ 24. Ke3 $18
) 20. Qxc6 f4 {Black has nothing else.} 21. Qxd5+ Kh8 (21... Bf7 22. Qf3 (22.
Qg5 {Is also possible.}) 22... Bh5 23. Qxh5 {Transposes}) 22. Qxh5 f3 {In my
preparation, I had analysed 23.Qxf3, but during the game, I noticed that White
has 23.Bxh6 .} (22... Qg3+ 23. Kf1 f3 24. gxf3 {Quite simple - the knight on
c5 and the queen on h5 control all the keysquares.} Rxf3+ 25. Ke2 $18) 23. Qxf3
$1 {Actually, this is quite a safe line, so I decided to stick to it.} (23. Bh6
$1 {This seems to be correct.} fxg2+ 24. Ke3 Qg3+ (24... g1=Q+ 25. Rxg1 Qf2+
26. Kd3 Rf3+ 27. Qxf3 $1 Qxf3+ 28. Be3 $18 {Similar to the game.}) 25. Kd2 g1=Q
{At this point, I decided that23.Qxf3 was much more sensible. After I played
it, I realized that 26.Bxg7+ was winning for White.} (25... Rf2+ 26. Re2 g1=Q
27. Rxg1 Qxg1 28. Bxg7+ Kxg7 29. Qe5+ $18) 26. Bxg7+ $1 (26. Rxg1 $2 Rf2+ 27.
Qe2 Rxe2+ 28. Kxe2 Re8+ $19) 26... Kg8 27. Rxg1 Rf2+ 28. Qe2 Rxe2+ 29. Kxe2
Re8+ 30. Be5 $18) 23... Rxf3+ 24. Kxf3 Rf8+ 25. Ke2 Qxg2+ (25... Re8+ $1 {
More accurate.} 26. Be3 Qxg2+ 27. Kd3 Qxb2 28. Bc1 $1 Qb5+ 29. c4 Qc6 30. Rxe8+
Qxe8 31. Be3 $18) 26. Kd3 Qxh3+ 27. Kc2 $1 (27. Be3 {My original intention,
but at the board, I changed my mind.} Rf2 $1 {This complicates matters a bit.})
27... Qg2+ (27... Qf5+ 28. Nd3 $18) 28. Bd2 Qg6+ 29. Re4 $1 (29. Nd3 Rf3 30.
Re3) 29... h5 (29... Re8 30. Rg1 $1 $18) 30. Rae1 Re8 31. Kc1 Rxe4 32. Nxe4 $1
{This finishes it - after Ng5, Black's pawns are firmly blockaded.  Hecht:
'Der Springer gelangt nach g5, wonach die schwarzen Freibauern keine Gefahr
mehr darstellen. Dagegen geht es dem schwarzen König an den Kragen.'} h4 33.
Ng5 Qh5 34. Re3 Kg8 35. c4 {Kramnik resigned.} 1-0

[Event "Sofia MTel Masters 2nd"]
[Site "Sofia"]
[Date "2006.05.12"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C88"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2803"]
[Annotator "Anand,V"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2006.05.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "BUL"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 113"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2006.07.31"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2006.07.31"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3
Bb7 9. d3 Re8 10. c3 h6 11. Nbd2 (11. a4 {would transpose to our game from
Monaco, but it isn´t necessary to commit the a-pawn yet.}) 11... Bf8 12. a3 d6
13. Ba2 Nb8 14. b4 (14. Nh4 {was Topalov´s choice against Adams, but 7 years
later (!) he tries another approach}) 14... c5 15. Nb3 Nc6 16. Rb1 {Trying to
create some veiled threats on the b-line.} (16. Be3 a5 $1 17. bxc5 a4 {This
looks fine for Black}) 16... Bc8 $1 {The standard manouver in the
Anti-Marshall. The bishop has done its duty on b7 and can now neutralize Ba2.}
17. Be3 Be6 18. Qc2 Rc8 19. Qb2 c4 (19... Nd7 {seems like a reasonable
alternative}) 20. dxc4 Bxc4 {Sane and solid.} (20... Nxe4 $5 {The computers go
for this of course} 21. cxb5 axb5 22. Bxh6 $5 Nxc3 $1 23. Qxc3 gxh6 {But the
comps have a point. The pair of bishops and the centrepawns should be more
relevant than some imaginary white kingside attack.}) 21. Nbd2 Bxa2 22. Qxa2 d5
23. Rbd1 d4 24. cxd4 exd4 25. Nb3 $6 (25. Bf4 $5 {Seems a much better chance,
especially as white can even fight for the initiative if Black plays the
principled:} Qd7 (25... a5 26. bxa5 Qxa5 {When} (26... Nxa5 27. Qb2) 27. e5 $1
{Followed by e6 annoys in time, before a3 starts dropping.}) (25... Re6 26. Qb1
) 26. Qb1 Rcd8 {leads to a complex position}) (25. Nxd4 Nxd4 26. Nb3 {leads to
equality.}) 25... Nxe4 26. Bxd4 $2 {This is the real mistake. with 26 Qb2!
white could still certainly keep the damage within limits.} Nxd4 27. Rxd4 Ng5
$1 28. Ne5 (28. Rxd8 Nxf3+ 29. gxf3 Rxe1+ 30. Kg2 Rxd8 $19) (28. Rxe8 Nxf3+ 29.
gxf3 Qxe8 $17) 28... Nxh3+ 29. gxh3 Qg5+ 30. Kh2 Qf5 $3 {However some exact
calculation finishes the game much more efficiently.} (30... Rxe5 31. f4 Qg6
32. Rxe5 Rc2+ 33. Qxc2 Qxc2+ 34. Nd2 {Leaves Black with a technical task.}) 31.
Rde4 (31. Qe2 Rxe5 32. Qxe5 Qxf2+ 33. Kh1 Rc3 $1 34. Rh4 Bd6 $1 $19) 31... Rxe5
$1 32. Rxe5 Bd6 33. Nc5 Bxe5+ 34. Kg2 Rc6 35. Qb3 Rg6+ 36. Kf1 Bg3 {36...Rg3!?
is maybe flashier, but this certainly is good enough. White resigned.} 0-1

[Event "Corus"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2008.01.20"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2799"]
[BlackElo "2780"]
[Annotator "Ftacnik,L"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2008.01.12"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 122"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2008.01.30"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2008.01.30"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3
h5 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 Nbd7 11. Qd2 g6 12. O-O-O Nb6 {Topalov is convinced,
that the counterplay against the d5-pawn will compensate for the missing light
squared bishop.} (12... Rc8 13. Kb1 Bg7 14. c4 O-O 15. Be2 Re8 16. Rc1 b6 17.
Rhf1 Nc5 18. Nxc5 bxc5 19. Bg5 Rb8 20. Rc2 e4 21. Qf4 e3 22. g4 a5 23. Rg1 a4
24. Bxf6 Bxf6 25. gxh5 Be5 26. Qg5 Qb6 {0-1 Li Wenjun (2342)-Wu Shaobin (2496)/
Shenyang 1999/ (46)}) (12... Bg7 13. Qb4 Qc7 14. Na5 O-O 15. Nc4 Ne8 16. Nb6
Nxb6 17. Bxb6 Qe7 18. Kb1 Nf6 19. c4 Rfc8 20. Bd3 Nd7 21. Be3 {1-0 Dolzhikova,
K (2248)-Batsiashvili,N (2316)/Herceg Novi 2005/ (80)}) 13. Qa5 (13. c4 $6 Rc8
14. Na5 Nfxd5 15. Bg5 Qxg5 16. Qxg5 Bh6 17. Qxh6 Rxh6 18. Nxb7 Kd7 $11) 13...
Bh6 (13... Nfd7 14. Kb1 Bh6 15. Bf2 $16) 14. Bxh6 Rxh6 15. Kb1 Rc8 16. Qb4 $5 {
Anand demonstrates his exceptional feeling for the pieces. The vulnerability
of the h6-rook is helping to lessen the pressure against the d5-pawn.} Kf8 (
16... Nfxd5 17. Rxd5 Nxd5 18. Qd2 Qc7 (18... Nf4 19. g3 Qf6 20. gxf4 Qxf4 21.
Qd5 Rc7 22. Nd2 $14) 19. c4 Nf4 20. g3 b5 21. cxb5 Ne6 22. Be2 Rh8 23. Rc1 $16)
17. c4 Kg7 18. g3 $1 {The fixed queenside has helped the first player to avoid
problems with his king. On the other hand any activity on the kingside is
desirable for White.} Rh8 (18... g5 $6 19. Bd3 g4 20. f4 $16) 19. Rc1 Qc7 20.
Bh3 Rce8 21. Rhd1 (21. Rhe1 Nbd7 22. Re3 Ra8 $13) 21... Re7 {Topalov in the
role of a defender must be very careful about timing of the strategic advance
with his e5 pawn.} (21... e4 $6 22. c5 $1 Nbxd5 (22... dxc5 23. Nxc5 Qd6 24.
fxe4 Rxe4 (24... Nxe4 25. Qd4+ Nf6 26. Nxb7 $18) 25. Qa3 Qe5 26. Nxe4 Qxe4+ 27.
Qd3 $18) 23. Rxd5 Nxd5 24. Qd4+ Nf6 25. cxd6 Qb8 26. Nd2 exf3 27. d7 Re7 28.
Rc8 Rxd7 29. Bxd7 Rxc8 30. Ne4 $16) 22. a3 (22. c5 Nbxd5 23. Rxd5 Nxd5 24. Qd2
Qc6 25. Na5 Qc7 (25... Qb5 $2 26. cxd6 Ree8 27. Bf1 $18) 26. Nb3 $11) 22... Rd8
(22... e4 $6 23. c5 $1 dxc5 (23... Nbxd5 24. Rxd5 Nxd5 25. Qd4+ $16) 24. Nxc5
Nbxd5 25. Ne6+ fxe6 26. Rxc7 Rxc7 27. Qb3 $16) 23. Nd2 Nbd7 $6 {Innaccuracies
against the world champion can have the impact of real mistakes. Black must
have been very unhappy about the missed opportunity to equalise with a timely
23...e4!} (23... e4 $1 24. Qc3 (24. Nxe4 Nxe4 25. fxe4 Rxe4 26. Bg2 $11) (24.
f4 $6 e3 25. Nf3 e2 26. Re1 Rde8 $17) 24... Na4 25. Qc2 (25. Qd4 exf3 26. Rf1
Qc5 $15) 25... Nc5 26. fxe4 Nfxe4 27. Nxe4 Nxe4 $11) 24. Qc3 a5 (24... Nc5 25.
b4 Ncd7 26. g4 $14) 25. Bxd7 (25. g4 $5) 25... Nxd7 (25... Rdxd7 26. Rf1 Qb6
27. Ne4 Nxe4 28. fxe4 Rc7 29. Qf3 $14) 26. f4 Nf6 {[%mdl 256] Topalov has lost
confidence in his position and the next few moves will push him slowly under.
Objectively speaking his chances were still very fair after the correct 26...
Nc5!?} (26... Nc5 $5 27. Re1 f6 $11) 27. Rf1 b6 (27... b5 $5 28. fxe5 Rxe5 (
28... dxe5 29. Qf3 $16) 29. Nf3 Rf5 30. Nh4 (30. Nd4 Rxf1 31. Rxf1 Qxc4 32.
Ne6+ fxe6 33. Qxf6+ Kh6 $11 (33... Kh7 $2 34. Rc1 $16)) 30... Re5 31. cxb5 $14)
28. h3 Qd7 $6 (28... b5 $1) 29. f5 $1 {In the post mortem Anand claimed this
position to be strategically winning. True enough it comes very naturally for
White to enhance the pressure.} (29. fxe5 dxe5 (29... Rxe5 30. Nf3 Rf5 31. g4
$18) 30. Rce1 $16) 29... Rf8 (29... gxf5 $2 30. Qe3 Nh7 31. Nf3 $16) 30. Qe3 e4
(30... a4 31. Ne4 Nxe4 32. Qxe4 f6 33. g4 $16) 31. g4 hxg4 32. hxg4 Re5 (32...
Nxg4 $2 33. Qg5 Nf6 (33... e3 34. f6+ $18) 34. Rh1 Nh5 35. f6+ Kg8 36. Rxh5 $18
) 33. Rf4 $1 {White is already spoiled by the pleasant choice of promising
attacking ideas.} (33. Rh1 Nxg4 34. Qh3 Qxf5 (34... gxf5 35. Qh7+ Kf6 36. Qh4+
Kg6 37. Rcg1) 35. Qh7+ Kf6 36. Rcf1 Nf2 37. Qh4+ $16) 33... Qd8 34. g5 Nh5 (
34... Nd7 35. f6+ Kg8 36. Rh1 $18) 35. f6+ Kg8 36. Rxe4 Rfe8 37. Ka2 $1 {
Black has no squares along the e file so it is not necessary to worry about
the pin.} a4 38. Rc3 (38. Re1 Rxe4 39. Nxe4 Qc7 40. Rc1 $18) 38... Qc7 39. Qd4
Qc5 (39... Rxe4 40. Nxe4 Qd7 41. Nf2 Qf5 42. Re3 $18) 40. Qxc5 {Topalov never
really began believing in his position even though he played many reasonable
moves and kept his chances alive.} (40. Qxc5 bxc5 41. Rce3 Rxe4 42. Rxe4 $18)
1-0

[Event "Corus"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2010.01.30"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2790"]
[BlackElo "2788"]
[Annotator "Anand,V"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2010.01.16"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 135"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.03.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.03.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4
Nb4 9. Be2 O-O 10. Nc3 Bf5 11. a3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Nc6 13. Re1 Re8 14. cxd5 Qxd5
15. Bf4 Rac8 16. h3 Be4 17. Qc1 Na5 18. Qe3 Bf8 (18... Bd6) (18... Bf5) 19. c4
Qd8 (19... Nxc4 20. Bxc4 Qxc4 21. Nd2 $18) 20. Ne5 Bf5 21. Qc3 b6 22. Rad1 (22.
c5 $1 Be6 23. Ba6 Ra8 24. Bb5 Re7 25. Rad1 Bd5 26. Bd3 $36) 22... Qf6 (22... f6
$1 23. Nd3 (23. Ng4 Bd6 24. Bxd6 cxd6 25. Ne3 Be6 $11)) 23. Qg3 (23. c5 $1 Be6
(23... Bxh3 24. Qg3 $1 (24. Qxh3 Qxf4 25. Bd3 g6 26. Re4) 24... Bf5 25. Bg5 Qe6
26. Bh5 g6 (26... Bg6 27. Bg4 Qd5 28. Bxc8 Rxc8 29. Nxg6 $18) 27. d5 $18) 24.
Qg3 $16) 23... Nc6 (23... c5 24. d5 Bd6 25. Bh5 g6 26. Re3 Bxe5 27. Bxe5 Rxe5
28. Rxe5 Nxc4 29. Rxf5 $1 Qxf5 30. Bg4 Qc2 31. d6 $18) 24. Ng4 Qg6 25. d5 (25.
Bxc7 Re4 (25... Bc2 26. Rd2 Na5 27. c5 $1 Nb3 28. Rxc2 Qxc2 29. Nh6+ (29. Nf6+
Kh8 30. Nxe8 Rxe8 31. Be5) 29... Kh8 30. Nxf7+ Kg8 31. Nh6+ Kh8 32. Be5 Nxd4
33. Nf7+ (33. Bxd4 Rxe2 34. Rxe2) 33... Kg8 34. Bxd4 Rxe2 35. Rxe2 Qd1+ 36. Kh2
Qxd4 37. Ng5 bxc5 38. Qf3 $16) 26. d5 (26. Bf3 Rxe1+ 27. Rxe1 h5 $132) 26...
Nd4 27. Bf1 Bxg4 28. Rxe4 Qxe4 29. hxg4 Ne2+ 30. Bxe2 Qxe2 31. Rf1 Re8 32. Qf3
Qxc4 33. d6 Qb5 34. Rd1 $14) 25... Na5 (25... Bc2 26. Rd2 (26. Rc1 Nd4) 26...
Na5 27. Rxc2 (27. Bxc7 Nxc4) 27... Qxc2 28. Nh6+ Kh8 29. Nxf7+ Kg8 30. Ne5 $36)
26. Bxc7 Bc2 $2 (26... Bc5 $1 27. Bf1 h5 28. Rxe8+ (28. Ne3 Qxg3 29. Bxg3 Bd7)
28... Rxe8 29. Ne3 Qxg3 30. Bxg3 Bd7) 27. Rc1 Nb3 28. Rxc2 $1 Qxc2 29. Nh6+ Kh8
30. Nxf7+ Kg8 31. Nh6+ Kh8 32. Nf7+ Kg8 33. Nh6+ Kh8 34. Be5 $1 Qg6 (34... Qd2
35. Nf7+ Kg8 36. Bc3 $1 Qc2 37. Nd6 $18) 35. Bg4 (35. Qxg6 hxg6 36. d6 Rxe5 37.
Nf7+ Kg8 38. Nxe5 (38. d7 Ree8 39. Ng5 Nd4 (39... Nc5 40. dxc8=Q Rxc8 41. Bf3)
40. c5 Nxe2+ 41. Rxe2 Red8 42. dxc8=Q Rxc8 43. cxb6 axb6) 38... Bxd6 39. Nxg6
$16) 35... Rxc4 (35... Rcd8 36. Nf5 $16 (36. Qxb3 Qxh6 (36... Bd6 37. Be6) 37.
Be6 $16)) 36. Qxb3 Rxe5 37. Rxe5 Rc1+ 38. Kh2 Bd6 39. f4 (39. Qe3) 39... Bxe5
40. fxe5 gxh6 (40... Qe4 41. d6 (41. Nf5 Qxe5+ 42. Qg3 Qxd5 43. Qb8+ Qg8 44.
Qxa7 Qf8 45. Qxb6 Rc3 46. a4 h5) 41... Qf4+ 42. Qg3 Rh1+ 43. Kxh1 Qxg3 44. Nf7+
Kg8 45. e6 (45. d7 Qe1+ 46. Kh2 Kxf7 47. d8=Q Qxe5+ 48. g3 Qb2+ 49. Kg1 Qxa3
50. Qd5+) 45... Qe1+ 46. Kh2 Qc1 47. d7 Qf4+ 48. Kg1 Qc1+ 49. Kf2 Qd2+ 50. Be2
Qf4+ 51. Bf3 Qd4+ 52. Kg3) 41. Qe3 Qb1 42. d6 Rh1+ 43. Kg3 Re1 44. Qf4 Rf1 45.
Bf3 1-0

[Event "World-ch Anand-Topalov +3-2=7"]
[Site "Sofia"]
[Date "2010.04.25"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[Annotator "Stohl,I"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2010.04.24"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "BUL"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 136"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.05.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.05.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 {Anand allows the Queen's Indian - if he played} (3.
g3 {directly, he would have to reckon with a possible transposition to the
Benoni with} c5 {see Aronian-Topalov, Linares 2010 (CBM 135).}) 3... d5 4. g3 {
While closed games did bring Anand success in Bonn 2008 and Topalov certainly
expected 1.d4, the Catalan until now figured only in a few Anand's blitz games.
Running a bit ahead, it seems a psychologically astute choice - Topalov
usually strives for the initiative from the beginning, while in the Catalan
most of Black's ambitious choices are connected with taking a P and holding on
to it, while trying to survive White's initiative. As we saw in numerous games
earlier (For example in Game 1, or Topalov-Kramnik, Wijk aan Zee 2008 to name
a few), Topalov is more comfortable with sacrificing material himself, than
defending. This game offers further proof.} dxc4 {The most solid moves are} (
4... Be7 {and}) (4... Bb4+ {Topalov most often played the latter move and
turned to it in Game 7, albeit even then he connected it with an attractive
sacrificial concept.}) 5. Bg2 a6 {If MegaBase is complete, Topalov previously
played this only once. Possibly he was counting on the effect of surprise and
in a sense this calculation paid off to certain extent - Anand's play in the
transition from the opening to the middlegame wasn't quite ideal (see move 15).
However, the general character of the resulting positions will still fit him
fine enough.} 6. Ne5 ({A more usual continuation is the pawn sacrifice} 6. O-O
$5 b5 ({After} 6... Nc6 {White has recently been successful with} 7. Bg5 $5 Be7
8. e3 Nd5 (8... Bd7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Rc1 Rb8 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Ne4 b5 13. b3 $44
Be7 14. bxc4 bxc4 15. Rxc4 Nb4 16. a4 Qe8 17. Nc3 Nc6 18. d5 exd5 19. Nxd5 Bd6
20. Qc2 $36 {1-0 Grischuk,A (2733)-Potkin,V (2619)/Villarrobledo rpd/2009/}) 9.
Bxe7 Ncxe7 (9... Qxe7 10. Qc1 Nb6 11. Nfd2 Qb4 12. a3 Qb5 13. Nc3 Qf5 14. Nce4
e5 15. Nxc4 Nxc4 16. Qxc4 exd4 17. Nd6+ cxd6 18. Bxc6+ Ke7 19. Bd5 Be6 20. Qc7+
Kf6 21. e4 Qh5 22. Qxd6 Rhd8 23. Qf4+ Ke7 24. Qc7+ Kf8 25. Rfd1 Rac8 26. Qxb7
Bxd5 27. Qb4+ Kg8 28. Qxd4 $18 {Landa,K (2655)-Vallejo Pons,F (2696)/Lugo/2009/
}) 10. Ne5 (10. a4 Rb8 $13) 10... b5 11. b3 cxb3 12. axb3 O-O 13. Qc2 Bb7 14.
Nd3 Qd6 15. Qb2 Qb6 16. e4 Nf6 17. Nc5 Rfd8 18. Nc3 Bc6 19. b4 Be8 20. e5 Nfd5
21. Nxd5 Nxd5 22. Ra5 $14 {Pelletier,Y (2589)-Fressinet,L (2658)/EU-chT Novi
Sad/2009/}) 7. Ne5 Nd5 8. a4 (8. e4 Nf6 9. a4 Bb7 10. axb5 axb5 11. Rxa8 Bxa8
12. Nc3 c6 13. Bf4 ({More principled is} 13. d5 $5 {recommended also by Avrukh
in his acclaimed repetoire book. His main line runs} Be7 14. dxe6 fxe6 15. Qe2
O-O 16. Bh3 Qc8 17. Nf3 Na6 18. Ng5 Nc7 19. Bf4 Nfe8 20. Rd1 $5 $146 Bb7 21.
Qe3 h6 22. Nf3 Na6 23. Ne5 Nec7 24. Ng6 Bc5 25. Qd2 Rf6 26. Ne5 $44) 13... Be7
14. Qa1 Nbd7 15. d5 Nxe5 16. Bxe5 cxd5 17. exd5 Bxd5 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Bxd5
exd5 20. Re1+ Kf8 21. Qa3+ Be7 22. Qa7 g6 23. Nxb5 d4 {1/2,Radjabov,T (2656)
-Topalov,V (2735)/Linares/2004/ is the game I mentioned above.}) 8... Bb7 9. b3
{Therefore Black tries to keep the position closed with} c3 (9... cxb3 10. Qxb3
$32 ({or} 10. axb5 $5 axb5 11. Rxa8 Bxa8 12. Qxb3 $44 {is considered risky for
Black due to White's lead in development.})) 10. e4 {and now:} {A better
chance is} b4 $5 ({After} 10... Nf6 {the critical move is} 11. Nxc3 $1 (11.
axb5 axb5 12. Rxa8 Bxa8 13. Nxc3 b4 $132 {and even forcing play doesn't give
White an advantage:} 14. Nb5 c6 15. d5 $5 cxb5 16. dxe6 Qxd1 17. exf7+ Ke7 18.
Rxd1 Bxe4 $1 19. Bxe4 Nxe4 20. Re1 Nc5 21. Ng6+ Kxf7 22. Nxh8+ Kg8 23. Re8 Nbd7
24. Bd2 Kxh8 25. Bxb4 Kg8 $11 {Hera,I (2526)-Pavasovic,D (2601)/Nova Gorica/
2008/}) 11... b4 12. Na2 Nbd7 (12... Bxe4 $2 13. Bxe4 Nxe4 14. Qf3 f5 15. Qh5+
$18) 13. Bf4 $1 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Nxe4 $6 (14... Nd7 $142 15. Bf4 Be7 16. Rc1 c5
17. dxc5 $36) 15. Rc1 Rc8 16. Qe1 f5 17. Nxb4 c5 18. Nd3 cxd4 19. Rxc8 Qxc8 20.
Bxd4 Qd7 21. Qa1 Bd6 22. Bxg7 Rg8 23. Bh6 Bxg3 24. hxg3 Qxd3 25. Qe5 $16 {
/+-,Inarkiev,E (2676)-Naiditsch,A (2700)/Poikovsky/2009/}) 11. exd5 Bxd5 12.
Qh5 g6 13. Qh3 c6 $5 (13... Bg7 $6 14. Nxc3 $1 bxc3 15. Ba3 Bf8 16. Bxf8 Rxf8
17. Rac1 Ra7 18. Rxc3 Bxg2 19. Qxg2 Qxd4 20. Re3 Ke7 21. Qh3 $40 {Buturin,
V-Novikov,I (2500)/USSR/1986/}) {, but even here White is better after} 14. Be3
Bg7 15. Rc1 O-O 16. Nxc3 bxc3 17. Rxc3 Qa5 18. Rac1 $14 {Peto,P (2095)-Dutra
Neto,A (1972)/corr/2001/}) 6... c5 ({Black can also deviate with} 6... Bb4+ 7.
Nc3 Nd5 {, but he must reckon with} 8. O-O $5 ({Kramnik's attempt to improve
upon} 8. Bd2 b5 9. O-O Bxc3 10. bxc3 O-O $13) 8... O-O ({Nobody has yet tried
the risky (or foolhardy?), but perhaps playable} 8... Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bxc3 10. Rb1
Qxd4 11. Qa4+ b5 12. Qa3 Qxe5 13. Bf4 Qf6 14. Bxc7 $5 Be5 15. Bxe5 Qxe5 16.
Bxa8 Qc7 $13 {/\Qe7,Nd7-c5}) 9. Qc2 b5 {An interesting try is} 10. Be4 $5 (10.
Nxd5 exd5 11. b3 c6 12. e4 f6 13. exd5 $5 fxe5 14. bxc4 exd4 15. dxc6 {leads
to a draw almost by force after} Qd6 $1 (15... Be6 $6 16. cxb5 d3 17. c7 Qd4
18. Qa4 Nd7 19. Be3 Qd6 20. Bxa8 Rxa8 {Kramnik,V (2769)-Morozevich,A (2758)/
WCh Mexico City/2007/} 21. Rac1 $1 $18) 16. c7 d3 17. Qb3 bxc4 18. Qxc4+ Be6
19. Bf4 Bxc4 20. Bxd6 Bxd6 21. Rac1 Ra7 22. cxb8=Q Bxb8 23. Rxc4 Rd7 24. Rd1
Ba7 25. Rd2 Bxf2+ $11 {1/2,Winkler,T (2619)-Nasybullin,V (2605)/corr/2007/})
10... Bb7 11. Nxd5 Bxd5 12. Bxh7+ Kh8 13. Be4 Qe8 14. Bg2 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Nd7 16.
Nf3 e5 17. b3 exd4 18. Nxd4 Qe5 {Gelfand,B (2755)-Morozevich,A (2751)/Biel/
2009/ Here Marin recommends} 19. Rd1 $5 Nb6 20. Bb2 $14 {[%csl Gg2,Rh8] White
is somewhat better due to his safer K.}) 7. Na3 $5 {[%mdl 512] With this move
White goes for a gambit after all!} ({The alternative is} 7. Be3 Nd5 8. dxc5 {
Black's best is} Nd7 $1 (8... Nxe3 $6 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. fxe3 Ke8 11. c6 bxc6
12. Nxc4 a5 13. Kf2 Ra6 14. Nbd2 Nd7 15. Rac1 Ke7 16. Rhd1 g6 17. Nb3 $16 {
Wang Yue (2734)-Savchenko,B (2644)/WCup Khanty Mansiysk/2009/}) 9. Bd4 Nxe5 10.
Bxe5 f6 ({Interesting is also} 10... Bxc5 $5 11. Bxg7 Rg8 12. Bc3 Qc7 13. e4 $2
(13. e3 $11) (13. Bxd5 $5 exd5 14. Qxd5 Be6 15. Qh5 O-O-O 16. Nd2 $13) 13...
Nf4 14. Bf1 b5 15. Nd2 Bxf2+ $1 16. Kxf2 Qc5+ 17. Kf3 e5 18. h3 Nh5 19. g4 f5
$1 $40 20. Qe1 fxg4+ 21. Ke2 g3 22. b4 cxb3 23. Nxb3 Nf4+ {0-1,Erbe,U (2240)
-Makovsky,P (2457)/corr/2005/}) 11. Bd4 Bxc5 12. Bxc5 Qa5+ 13. Nc3 (13. Nd2
Qxc5 14. Rc1 b5 15. b3 Bb7 16. O-O Ne3 $1 17. fxe3 Qxe3+ 18. Rf2 Bxg2 19. Kxg2
Rd8 20. Rc2 c3 21. Rf3 Rxd2 22. Rxe3 Rxd1 23. Rexc3 Ke7 24. Rc6 Rd6 25. Rc7+
Rd7 26. R7c6 Rd6 27. Rc7+ {1/2,Ivanchuk,V-Kuporosov,V/USSR/1986}) 13... Nxc3
14. Qd6 Nd5+ $5 (14... Nb5+ 15. Bb4 $44 {/+/=}) 15. Kf1 Kf7 16. Bxd5 exd5 17.
Qxd5+ Be6 18. Qxb7+ Kg6 {1/2,Kund,W (2239)-Overton,D (2288)/corr/2004/ Here
White can give a perpetual, continuing the fight} 19. Qb4 Qc7 $44 {[%csl Rf1]
עf1 is not without risk}) 7... cxd4 8. Naxc4 Bc5 ({Another continuation is
the attempt to quickly develop the Bc8, countering the pressure on the /^h1-a8:
} 8... Ra7 {/\b5} 9. Bd2 (9. a4 b6 $13) 9... b6 10. O-O (10. Qb3 Bb7 11. Bxb7
Rxb7 12. O-O (12. Na5 Ra7 $5 (12... Rc7 13. Qxb6 Bc5 14. Qb3 O-O 15. O-O Qd5 (
15... Ne4 $5 $132) 16. Qxd5 Nxd5 17. Rfc1 Rfc8 18. Nd3 Bb6 19. Rxc7 Rxc7 20.
Rc1 Rxc1+ 21. Nxc1 Kf8 22. Nc4 Ba7 23. Nd3 $14 {Bykhovsky,A (2445)-Kaidanov,G 
(2345)/Irkutsk/1983/}) 13. O-O Ne4 $1 14. Qa4+ b5 15. Qc2 Nxd2 16. Qxd2 Qd5 17.
Nf3 Bc5 18. Nb3 Bb6 (18... O-O 19. Nxc5 Qxc5 20. Rfc1 Qd5 21. Qxd4 Qxd4 22.
Nxd4 Rd7 23. Nb3 Rfd8 24. f3 Kf8 25. Kf2 $14 {Dizdar,G (2545)-Novikov,I (2590)/
Luzern WChT/1997/}) 19. Nfxd4 Rd7 $11) 12... Bc5 13. Bb4 Qe7 14. Bxc5 Qxc5 15.
Qf3 Rc7 $5 (15... Re7 16. b4 $1 {/\} Qxb4 17. Nd3 Qxc4 18. Rfc1 Qxc1+ 19. Rxc1
O-O {Wojtkiewicz,A (2554)-Van Wely,L (2647)/Ledyards/2006/} 20. Ne5 $14) 16.
Rfc1 b5 17. Nd3 Qe7 18. Nce5 O-O 19. Rxc7 Qxc7 20. Rc1 Qb6 21. a3 Nd5 22. Qe4
Rd8 23. h4 h6 $44 {1/2,Pavlovic,M (2520)-Perunovic,M (2579)/Zlatibor/2008/
Here White's pressure compensates for the missing P, but not more than that.})
10... Bb7 11. Bxb7 Rxb7 12. Rc1 Ne4 $5 (12... Bc5 13. b4 Be7 14. Be3 $5 O-O 15.
Bxd4 Bxb4 16. Bxb6 Qxd1 17. Rfxd1 Nbd7 18. Bd4 Rc7 19. Nd3 Be7 20. Nb6 Rb7 21.
Nc8 Ba3 22. Rc3 Bb2 23. Nxb2 Rxb2 {Van Wely,L (2625)-Robson,R (2455)/Moscow/
2009/} 24. Ne7+ Kh8 25. Rc8 $14) 13. Qc2 Nxd2 14. Nxd2 Bc5 15. b4 Bd6 16. Qe4
Rc7 17. Ndf3 O-O 18. Nxd4 Bxe5 19. Qxe5 Rd7 $1 20. e3 Rd5 21. Qc7 a5 22. bxa5
Rxa5 23. Qxd8 Rxd8 $11 {Tkachiev,V (2609)-Atalik,S (2560)/Moscow/2005/}) 9. O-O
O-O 10. Bd2 {[%cal Gg2b7,Gc4b6,Ge5c6] White's compensation is based on his
lead in development and << pressure. The text move is his most usual try, but
in Game 6 Anand came up with the almost unexplored} (10. Bg5 $5 h6 ({White's
idea is to prevent Black from closing the /^ h1-a8 with Nd5. Thus also} 10...
Nbd7 $5 {deserves attention, but White retains compensation after} 11. Rc1 $32)
11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Nd3 Ba7 13. Qa4 (13. Na5 Nd7 $11) 13... Nc6 14. Rac1 (14.
Bxc6 $5 bxc6 15. Qxc6 Rb8 16. Nd6 e5 17. Nxc8 Rfxc8 18. Qe4 Qe6 19. f4 $14)
14... e5 15. Bxc6 b5 $5 16. Qc2 ({Being a point up, Anand has no reason to go
for} 16. Bxb5 axb5 17. Qxb5 e4 $44) 16... Qxc6 17. Ncxe5 Qe4 18. Qc6 Bb7 19.
Qxe4 Bxe4 20. Rc2 Rfe8 21. Rfc1 f6 22. Nd7 Bf5 23. N7c5 Bb6 (23... Bxc5 $5 24.
Rxc5 Bxd3 25. exd3 Re2 26. R1c2 Rae8 27. Kf1 Rxc2 28. Rxc2 Kf7 {/\} 29. Rc5 Re5
30. Rc6 Re6 31. Rc7+ Re7 $11) 24. Nb7 Bd7 25. Nf4 (25. Nd6 Re6 26. Nc8 $5 $14 {
is a typical computer suggestion, Anand makes a more human choice.}) 25... Rab8
26. Nd6 Re5 27. Nc8 Ba5 28. Nd3 Re8 29. Na7 Bb6 30. Nc6 Rb7 31. Ncb4 a5 32. Nd5
a4 33. Nxb6 Rxb6 $11 {Anand,V (2787)-Topalov,V (2805)/WCh Sofia (6)/2010/}) (
10. Qb3 Nd5 11. Bd2 Nd7 12. Nd3 b6 $5 13. Rac1 Rb8 14. Nxc5 bxc5 15. Qa3 Bb7
16. Rfd1 Bc6 17. Ba5 Qg5 18. Bc7 Rb4 19. Bd6 Ra4 20. Qb3 Rb4 21. Qa3 Rc8 $5 22.
Nd2 Ra4 23. Qb3 Rb4 24. Qa3 Ra4 25. Qb3 Ra5 26. Nc4 Rb5 27. Qa3 Qd8 28. e3 {
1/2 Le Roux,J (2485)-Edouard,R (2597)/Nimes 2009/CBM 132 (41)} N5b6 $1 $36)
10... Nd5 ({It's too late for} 10... Ra7 $6 11. Ba5 $1 b6 12. b4 bxa5 13. bxc5
Rc7 14. Rb1 $36) (10... Nbd7 11. Nd3 $44 {/+/= causes Black more problems with
development.}) 11. Rc1 Nd7 (11... Qf6 $143 12. Nd3 Be7 $2 13. e4 $1 Nc7 14. Bf4
Nb5 15. e5 Qf5 16. Nb6 $18 {Gelfand,B (2703)-Aronian,L (2649)/Bastia rpd/ 2003/
}) (11... b5 $6 12. Nd3 Ba7 13. Ba5 $36) (11... b6 12. Qb3 (12. Nd3 Be7 13. Qb3
Nd7 14. e4 dxe3 15. Nxe3 N7f6 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. Nf4 Bb7 18. Rfd1 Rc8 $11) (12.
e4 $5 dxe3 13. Bxe3 $44) 12... Nd7 13. Rfd1 a5 14. Qa4 Qc7 15. Bf4 Nxf4 16.
gxf4 Ra6 (16... Nxe5 17. Nxe5 f6 $5 18. Nd3 Bb7 $11) 17. Qc6 Qa7 18. Qb5 Nb8
19. Na3 Qe7 20. Nc2 f6 21. Nd3 Bd7 22. Qc4 Ra7 23. Nxd4 $36 {Gustafsson,J 
(2614)-Berkes,F (2619)/EU-chT Gothenburg/2005/}) 12. Nd3 Ba7 ({After} 12... b6
{White has more than one way to retain his |^:} 13. Na5 (13. Nxc5 bxc5 14. b4
$5 {/\} Rb8 15. bxc5 Nxc5 16. Na5 Rb5 17. Nc6 Qb6 18. Nxd4 $14) 13... Qf6 (
13... Re8 14. Nc6 (14. Qa4 $5 $36 {/\Nc6}) 14... Qf6 15. b4 Bb7 16. Nxc5 (16.
Na5 $6 bxa5 17. bxc5 Bc6 18. Bxa5 e5 19. Bxd5 Bxd5 20. Nb4 Bc6 21. Bc7 a5 22.
Nxc6 Qxc6 23. Bd6 Nf6 {Kiss,P (2435)-Beliavsky,A (2645)/HUN-chT/1999/} 24. Rb1
$132) 16... bxc5 17. Na5 $14) 14. Nb3 $5 (14. b4 Bd6 15. Nc4 Bb8 16. e4 dxe3
17. Nxe3 Bb7 18. Qb3 Ne5 19. Nxd5 Bxd5 20. Bxd5 exd5 21. Nxe5 Bxe5 22. a4 Rfd8
$17 {Kiss,P (2400)-Istratescu,A (2622)/HUN-chT/2005/}) 14... Rb8 15. Bxd5 exd5
16. Bf4 Rb7 17. Qd2 Qe7 18. Rc2 f6 19. h4 $1 $14 (19. Rfc1 g5 20. Nbxc5 bxc5
21. Nxc5 Nxc5 22. Rxc5 Bg4 $132)) (12... Be7 13. Nf4 $1 Nxf4 14. Bxf4 Nb6 15.
Be5 Bf6 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. e3 $5 $32 {|^}) 13. Ba5 (13. Na5 N7f6 14. Qb3 Rb8 15.
Rc2 Bd7 16. Rfc1 Bb5 17. a4 Bxd3 18. exd3 Re8 $11 {/=/+,Vidit,S (2356)
-Venkatesh,M (2462)/Nagpur/2008/ forces White's N to retreat from a5 without
achieving anything concrete.}) (13. Qb3 {[%cal Yc1c2,Yf1c1] /\Rc2, Rfc1<->c}
Nc5 14. Nxc5 Bxc5 15. Ba5 Qf6 $13) 13... Qe7 14. Qb3 Rb8 (14... h6 $5 {is
maybe more useful, than the text move. However, even here White has undeniable
compensation.}) 15. Qa3 $6 $146 {[%mdl 40] This shocking move initiates a
daring concept and was a product of longer thought. It clearly indicates
Anand's preparation was over and he was out on his own. However, it's hardly
the best choice.} ({As far as I know, this position has occurred only once in
previous practice and White played the straightforward} 15. Nce5 $5 Nxe5 16.
Nxe5 Qf6 (16... h6 $5 17. Nd3 Re8 $13) 17. Nd3 b6 $6 (17... Qf5 $142) 18. Bb4
Rd8 19. Bxd5 (19. Qa3 $5 e5 20. Bxd5 Rxd5 21. Rc7 $36) 19... Rxd5 20. Rc7 Bb7
$6 (20... Rd7 21. Qc2 Qd8 22. Rc1 $36) 21. Be7 Qf5 22. Rxb7 $1 (22. Qc2 $2 e5
23. Rc1 h6 24. Nb4 d3 $1 25. exd3 Rd7 $40 {Gulko,B (2559)-Shulman,Y (2606)/
USA-ch Tulsa/2008/}) 22... Rxb7 23. Qc4 Rc5 (23... Rb8 24. Qc7 $16) 24. Bxc5
bxc5 25. Qxa6 $14 (25. b4 $5 $36 {Grischuk,A (2756)-Khairullin,I (2617)
RUS-chT 17th 2010 (6) 1-0 This position reminds one of a recent game, in which
the blockading Nd3 also played a major and positive role, albeit in a
different Catalan line.})) ({Various annotators suggested alternatives such as
} 15. Rfd1 $44) (15. Rfe1 {[%cal Yg2d5,Yc4b6] /\Bd5,Nb6} b6 (15... b5 16. Nce5
Nxe5 17. Nxe5 Bb7 18. Nc6 Bxc6 19. Rxc6 Bb6 20. Bd2 $44) 16. Bb4 Nc5 $132) (15.
Rc2 $5 $44 {has the same idea of protecting e2. Here} b6 $6 16. Bb4 Nc5 {
runs into} (16... Nxb4 17. Qxb4 $5 $14) 17. Bxd5 Qd8 $1 (17... exd5 $2 18. Nxb6
$1 $16) 18. Qa3 Qxd5 19. Nxb6 Bxb6 20. Bxc5 Bb7 21. f3 $36) 15... Qxa3 16. bxa3
(16. Nxa3 $5 {was not Anand's intention, but objectively it's at least no
worse than the text move.}) 16... N7f6 $6 ({Topalov's reaction is not ideal,
after the universally recommended} 16... Nc5 17. Nd6 b6 $15 {it's White, who
is fighting for equality.} (17... Nxd3 18. exd3 b6 19. Nxc8 Rbxc8 20. Bxd5 exd5
21. Bb4 $11 {leads to a drawish _|_, the doubled extra P doesn't play a big
role.})) 17. Nce5 Re8 18. Rc2 b6 {Chases away the nagging Ba5, but restricts
the Ba7.} 19. Bd2 Bb7 20. Rfc1 Rbd8 21. f4 $44 {White controls the <->c and
the [+] and has again reasonable compensation. Objectively the situation is
roughly balanced, but Topalov still feels he should play for more than
equality with his extra P and gradually his position starts to deteriorate. In
the following phase Anand inconspicuously, but completely outplays his
opponent.} (21. a4 $44) 21... Bb8 (21... b5 22. Nc6 Bxc6 23. Rxc6 Bb6 24. Bf3
$44 {^^}) 22. a4 a5 ({Black still wants more than} 22... Rc8 23. Rxc8 Rxc8 24.
Rxc8+ Bxc8 25. Nc6 Bc7 (25... Bd6 26. Nxd4 $11 {[%cal Re2e5] /+/=,/\e4-e5}) 26.
Nxd4 Bd7 27. e4 Ne7 28. Nb4 b5 29. axb5 (29. Nxa6 Bb6 $17) 29... Bb6 30. Bc3
Bxb5 $11) 23. Nc6 {Rules out the possibility of Ba6.} Bxc6 24. Rxc6 h5 {
Striving to keep the tension, Black starts to lose thread.} (24... e5 25. fxe5
Bxe5 26. R1c4 Nc3 27. Bxc3 (27. Bf3 Nd7 $15) 27... dxc3 28. Nxe5 Rxe5 29. Bf3
$11) (24... h6 $5 {was also more solid, than the text-move - here the h-pawn
won't be en prise.}) 25. R1c4 (25. Bf3 $5) 25... Ne3 $6 {Topalov is still
unable to hit the brakes and his position starts sliding downhill - now White
will be already better.} (25... Ng4 $5 26. Bf3 (26. Rxd4 $2 {already allows}
Ba7 $17) 26... e5 $132) ({Engines mostly suggest the ugly} 25... Ba7 $13 {
and this is also better, than the text move. Although it puts the B on a funny
square, it enables Ne7-f5, later Bb8 can follow once again.}) 26. Bxe3 dxe3 27.
Bf3 ({Anand feels his opponent's indecision and refrains from} 27. Rxb6 $5 $14
{/\} Rxd3 $6 28. exd3 e2 29. Rb1 Ba7+ 30. d4 $16) 27... g6 $6 {This rules out
e5.} (27... Rd6 28. Rxd6 Bxd6 29. Rc6 $14) (27... h4 $5 28. Rxb6 hxg3 (28... h3
{strives to create back-rank tactical chances, but after} 29. Rb5 e5 30. fxe5
Rxe5 31. Rc1 $5 $16 {White's << play is more dangerous.}) 29. hxg3 e5 30. fxe5
Nd7 $14 {/<=>}) (27... Nd7 28. Bxh5 g6 29. Bf3 f5 30. Kg2 $14) 28. Rxb6 Ba7 (
28... Re7 $142 $5 $14 {still holds on to the ><a5.}) 29. Rb3 $1 (29. Rb7 Rxd3
30. Rxa7 Rd2 31. Rcc7 Rf8 32. Rxa5 Nd5 $14 {/<=> Anand wants to take the P
under better circumstances.}) 29... Rd4 {Better tries were} (29... h4) ({or} 
29... Re7 $5) 30. Rc7 Bb8 31. Rc5 Bd6 (31... Rxa4 $2 32. Bc6 $18) 32. Rxa5 Rc8
33. Kg2 Rc2 34. a3 Ra2 $6 {This quickly loses by force.} (34... Kg7 35. Ra7 $16
{/+-}) ({The more resilient} 34... Nd5 $5 {was Black's last chance:} 35. Ra8+ (
35. Bxd5 Rxe2+ $1 (35... Rxd5 36. Rxd5 exd5 37. Kf3 Ra2 38. Nb4 $18) 36. Kf3
Rxh2 37. Kxe3 Rxd5 38. Rxd5 exd5 39. a5 Ra2 40. a6 Bxa3 41. a7 Bf8 42. Rb7 Ra4
$14) (35. Kh3 $16) 35... Kg7 36. a5 $16) 35. Nb4 $1 $18 {Now Black must either
take, or leave the <->a. In both cases the game is over.} Bxb4 (35... Ra1 $2
36. Nc2 $18) (35... Rxa3 $2 36. Rxa3 Bxb4 37. Ra8+ $18) (35... Rad2 36. Ra8+
Kg7 37. a5 $18 {is equally hopeless.}) 36. axb4 Nd5 37. b5 Raxa4 38. Rxa4 Rxa4
39. Bxd5 exd5 40. b6 Ra8 41. b7 Rb8 42. Kf3 d4 43. Ke4 1-0

[Event "World-ch Anand-Topalov +3-2=7"]
[Site "Sofia"]
[Date "2010.04.28"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[Annotator "Marin,M"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2010.04.24"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "BUL"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 136"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.05.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.05.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Bb4+ {Topalov wisely deviates
from the variation that had led him to defeat in the previous game with Black.
Eperienced match players from the past took this as a golden rule. Even if the
position itself had been ok, it is better to avoid unpleasant memories. One
famous example about what can happen in the contrary case is the Candidates'
match between Spassky and Geller in 1968. The latter stubbornly played the
same line against the Closed Sicilian and lost the first 3 games with Black.
When he decided to operate a change, it was too late already: the match was
basically lost.} 6. Bd2 a5 7. Qc2 (7. Nc3 $5 O-O 8. a3 (8. Bg5 {Gelfand,B 
(2758)-Kramnik,V (2772)/Moscow 2009/CBM 133/[Marin,M] (1/2, 81)}) 8... Be7 {
0-1 Carlsen,M (2810)-Kramnik,V (2788)/Wijk aan Zee 2010/CBM 135/[Marin,M] (38)}
) (7. O-O $5 O-O 8. Bg5 {Ivanchuk,V (2740)-Alekseev,E (2711)/Foros 2008/CBM
125/[Marin,M] (1-0, 53)}) 7... Bxd2+ (7... Ra6 $5 {Marin,M (2551)-Kortschnoj,V
(2611)/Reggio Emilia 2008/CBM 122/[Marin,M] (1/2, 58)}) 8. Qxd2 {Previously to
this game, the text move was considered as a preliminary step to the queen's
activation to g5. As we will see, Anand will go a bit further with the
abstract understanding of this position.} c6 9. a4 b5 10. Na3 $5 $146 ({
Deviating from} 10. axb5 cxb5 11. Qg5 {Kramnik,V (2743)-Topalov,V (2813)/
Elista 2006/CBM 115/[Marin,M] (1-0, 75).  ***It appears that Anand considered
8.Qxd2 as the start of a general redistributing of forces. The knight is
employed for putting pressure on b5 and c4, while the queen will set up
pressure along the d-file (after 0-0 and Rfd1), maintaining the threat of Qg5
in reserve. Apart from being objectively strong, his novelty has the practical
advantage of leaving Black with a rather narrow choice, resulting in a
relative ease of predicting the next few moves during home analysis.}) 10...
Bd7 {There is nothing better than this awkward move, which places the bishop
in the way of its colleagues.} (10... Ba6 {leaves the c6-square vulnerable,
allowing} 11. Ne5 Nd5 12. Nxc6 Nxc6 13. axb5 $16 {White retrieves the pawn,
maintaining the better structure and a strong bishop.}) 11. Ne5 Nd5 {This is a
first critical moment. The knight move looks natural, but causes a big loss of
time, allowing White increase his domination in the centre. Besides, the
kingside defence is weakened, which will prove a decisive factor in the end.
Black had two other ways of removing the pin along the long diagonal.} (11...
Ra7 $6 12. axb5 cxb5 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Qg5 {(We can see that White did not
give up the idea of the queen incursion completely; he only kept it in reserve
for a favourable moment!)} O-O 15. Qxb5 Qxd4 16. Rd1 Qg4 {(Sadly, the only
available square for the queen, leaving the left wing vulnerable.)} 17. Nxc4
$16 {Black will lose the a5-pawn, while his poor coordination prevents him
from getting enough counterplay.}) (11... Ra6 12. O-O (12. axb5 cxb5 13. Nxd7
Qxd7 14. Qg5 O-O 15. Qxb5 Qxd4 16. Nxc4 ({With the rook on a6,} 16. Rd1 {
is ineffective because of} Qb6 $1 {with complete simpilifications and a
probable draw after} 17. Qxb6 Rxb6 18. Nxc4 Rb4 19. Nxa5 Rxb2 $11) 16... Ne4 {
[%cal Ge4d6] (Hitting f2 and threatening to exchange the active white knight
with ...Nd6, which would more or less equalise.)} 17. e3 Qc5 18. Qxc5 Nxc5 {
. The a5-pawn is indirectly defended because of ...Nd3+ followed by ...Nxb2,
while otherwise Black seems more or less OK.}) 12... O-O 13. Rfd1 Be8 14. Rac1
$44 {Black is in no immediate danger yet, but it is far from clear, how he
will get to complete his development.}) 12. e4 Nb4 {The evaluation of this
move depends on the depth of the examination. Optically speaking, this looks
like a great square for the knight. Practically, it does not do much, failing
to defend Black's own pawn chain or put pressure on a4, in order to force the
releasing of the tension. Concrete analysis proves that Black could not play
the more desirable moves, though:} (12... Nb6 {attacks a4, more or less forcing
} 13. axb5 {, but this works out well for White because the knight is
vulnerable on b6:} cxb5 14. Nxd7 Qxd7 15. Qg5 Qxd4 (15... O-O {is relatively
better, with just a bad position after} 16. Qxb5 {, when} Qxd4 $2 {drops a
piece to} 17. Rd1 $18) 16. Rd1 Qf6 17. Qxb5+ N8d7 (17... N6d7 {loses a rook to}
18. e5 $18) 18. Nxc4 $18 {and one of the knights will be lost.}) ({***} 12...
Nc7 {would be a good consolidating move if Black could get castled in time, but
} 13. d5 $16 {In case of general exchanges, the f7-square and the a8-rook
would be forked by the queen. After the text move, the possibility of ...Nd3+
forces White to get castled before initiating active operations, but, as
mentioned before, the long term effects of the knight's presence on b4 are
unfavourable for Black.}) 13. O-O O-O 14. Rfd1 {White has completed his
development and all his pieces are placed on optimal squares. One may argue
that the queen's rook and knight could desire a better fate, but their latent
pressure against the b5-pawn and along the a-file is quite useful.
Anticipating a bit, it will not take long before these pieces will emerge into
play very effectively.} Be8 {Black evacuates the d-file anticipating the
central break.} (14... N8a6 $6 15. d5 $16) (14... Qe7 $5 15. Qe3 {renewing the
threat of d5.} Be8 16. d5 f6 (16... Qd6 17. Nxc6 N8xc6 18. dxc6 Qxc6 19. axb5
$16) 17. dxc6 (17. Nxc6 N8xc6 18. dxc6 bxa4 19. e5 $14) 17... fxe5 18. axb5
Bxc6 19. bxc6 N8xc6 20. Rac1 Nd4 21. Nxc4 $14 {Black's knights stand actively,
but they are not 100% stable, because both the a5 and the e5 pawns are weak.})
15. d5 $1 Qd6 (15... Qb6 16. dxe6 fxe6 17. Bh3 $44) (15... f6 16. dxc6 (16. Ng4
$36) 16... Qxd2 17. Rxd2 fxe5 18. axb5 Bxc6 19. bxc6 N8xc6 20. Nxc4 $14) 16.
Ng4 {[%cal Ge4e5]} (16. dxc6 $5 {also looks strong:} Qxe5 17. axb5 {Black's
queenside is paralysed and Black has to return the piece, but this will not
even the chances.} Bxc6 18. bxc6 N8xc6 19. Nxc4 Qc5 20. Qc3 {White has the
same kind of domination as at a later stage in the game. The a5-pawn is
vulnerable and the threat of e4-e5 followed by the occupation of the d6-square
quite annoying. In case of} e5 21. Rd7 $16 {, Black cannot fight for the
d-file with the help of the rooks, because this would cost him the a5-pawn.})
16... Qc5 17. Ne3 {The knight has reached a stable square, from where it
consolidates White's control over the d5-square and increases the pressure
against the c4-pawn.} N8a6 {Finally, Black has started developing. However,
this is not done in the optimal way. The knight would be so much more useful
closer to the d4-square, while on the edge of the board it is passive and
causes difficulties with keeping a5 well defended.} 18. dxc6 bxa4 {Black's
extra pawn on the a-file will not be too threatening in the middlegame, but
Topalov probably wanted to shield his other a-pawn with its colleague.} ({After
} 18... Bxc6 19. axb5 Bxb5 20. Naxc4 Bxc4 21. Rac1 $16 {The a5-pawn would be
more vulnerable, but Black would have exchanged one pair of minor pieces. All
in all, the objective evaluation of the position would remain the same.}) 19.
Naxc4 Bxc6 20. Rac1 {[%cal Gc4d6,Ge4e5,Ge3g4,Gd2g5]} h6 {[%csl Gg5]} (20... Qe7
{would hardly be a solution because of} 21. Nxa5 $16 {retrieving the pawn and
questioning Black's queenside stability.}) ({***In the event of a neutral move
such as} 20... Rab8 {(it should be mentioned that there are not too many of
this kind available), White could play} 21. Nd6 Qa7 22. Ng4 {threatening Qg5
followed by e5 with attack.} f6 {would weaken the e6-square and can be met with
} 23. Bf1 $16 {followed by Bc4. Play would have acquired different contours
than in the game, but the essence would have remained the same.}) 21. Nd6 Qa7 {
[%csl Ga7,Gg8]} (21... Qh5 22. f4 $16 {[%csl Gh5]}) 22. Ng4 $1 {[%cal Gg4h6]}
Rad8 (22... f6 {[%csl Gg7][%cal Ga7g7]} 23. e5 $1 Bxg2 24. Kxg2 f5 25. Nxh6+ $1
gxh6 26. Qxh6 Qe7 27. Rc4 $40 {With his e6-pawn weak and Rh4 coming, Black is
in deep trouble.}) ({Speelman} 22... Nc5 23. Rc4 $1 $16 {[%csl Rc5,Rc6][%cal
Ge4e5,Gg4h6]} (23. Nxh6+ $6 gxh6 24. Qxh6 Ncd3 $132)) 23. Nxh6+ $1 $18 gxh6 24.
Qxh6 {[%cal Ge4e5,Gc1c4,Gc4g4]} f6 (24... Qe7 25. e5 Bxg2 26. Rd4 $18) 25. e5
$1 Bxg2 26. exf6 {[%cal Gh6g6,Gf6f7]} Rxd6 (26... Bf3 27. Qg6+ Kh8 28. f7 $18)
(26... Qh7 {can be met by} 27. Qg5+ Kh8 28. Rc4 {threatening Rh4, when} Rg8 29.
Nf7+ $1 {leads to mate.}) 27. Rxd6 Be4 (27... Bd5 28. Qg6+ Kh8 29. Rc4 Bxc4 30.
Rd4 $18 {In this line, White has preserved precisely the necessary amount of
pieces for a win. Black cannot prevent mate on h7 or g7 at the same time.}) 28.
Rxe6 {[%cal Ge6e7]} Nd3 {[%csl Ga6,Ge4]} 29. Rc2 Qh7 30. f7+ $5 Qxf7 (30...
Rxf7 31. Re8+ {leads to mate.}) 31. Rxe4 {The material balance is more or less
even, but Black's king remains desperately weak and the general coordination
is very poor.} Qf5 (31... Nxf2 32. Rf4 {[%csl Gf2]}) 32. Re7 1-0

[Event "World-ch Anand-Topalov +3-2=7"]
[Site "Sofia"]
[Date "2010.05.11"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D56"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2787"]
[Annotator "Giri,A"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "2010.04.24"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "BUL"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 136"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.05.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.05.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{In this game Anand chose the solid QGD and after employing a relatively
unknown idea, at least for Topalov, he easily equalized. Topalov, on the other
hand, wanted to finish the match today. He took risks and displayed great
self-confidence. However, with strong strikes 30...e5! and 31...f5! Anand took
the initiative. Then something absolutely unbelievable happened: In less than
five minutes, despite having more than half an hour left on his clock, Topalov
committed suicide with 31.exf5? and 32.fxe4??. Anand obtained a decisive
attack as a result, which he converted with great precision to the end.} 1. d4
d5 2. c4 e6 $1 {A Queen's Gambit Declined! And a classic World Championship
opening. Remember the famous Capablanca-Alekhine match? Or Karpov-Kasparov? To
be honest, before the game I tried to guess the opening, and believe it or not,
I actually managed to predict it! After all, which opening could be more solid
or trustworthy than the good ol' Queen's Gambit?} 3. Nf3 ({I had expected} 3.
Nc3 {in Kasparov style.} Nf6 (3... Be7 {is how to avoid it-} 4. cxd5 exd5 5.
Bf4 {and there are plenty of games to study. For example, Kasparov-Karpov 1985
as well as 2009!}) 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 {The point being that later White will
develop his knight to the far more flexible e2, planning f3 and e4.} Be7 6. e3
c6 7. Qc2 Nbd7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Nge2 Re8 10. O-O Nf8 11. f3) 3... Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7
5. Bg5 (5. Bf4 {is another main-line with thousands of games played.}) 5... h6
{It is important to include this little move.} 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 {The
Lasker Defence! The solidest of the solid.} 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Rc1 c6 10. Be2 {
A new little nuance.} (10. Bd3 {was more popular previously, but here Black
has an interesting idea:} Nxc3 11. Rxc3 Nd7 $5 12. O-O (12. Qc2 $5) 12... e5 $1
) 10... Nxc3 11. Rxc3 dxc4 12. Bxc4 Nd7 13. O-O b6 {One of the two main moves.}
({Hundreds of games have been played with} 13... e5 {as well. The position is
always between slightly better to equal.}) 14. Bd3 c5 15. Be4 Rb8 16. Qc2 ({
I thought that} 16. Qa4 $5 {was slightly stronger, but mainly for
psychological reasons.}) 16... Nf6 $1 {An idea from the Polish player,
Grabarczyk, which was probably a surprise for Topalov.} (16... a5 {was used to
be one of the main moves here, as well as ...Bb7 and ...Ba6.}) 17. dxc5 (17.
Bc6 {covers the c6-square, and can thus be answered with} cxd4 18. Nxd4 e5 $1)
17... Nxe4 18. Qxe4 bxc5 {So, let's stop and evaluate the position. Black has
a weak pawn on c5 and later possibly on a7 as well. On the other hand, his
bishop, which will be developed to b7 on the next move, will be much better
than the white knight. All in all the position is about equal.} 19. Qc2 {
An ambitious move. Topalov is not satisfied with the very slight advantage he
would obtain after 19.b3.} (19. b3 {was played twice against the inventor of
16...Nf6.} Bb7 20. Qf4 (20. Qe5 Rbc8 (20... Bxf3) 21. Rfc1 Rfd8 22. e4 Qd6 $1
$11) (20. Qh4 $5) 20... Bxf3 21. Qxf3 Rfd8 22. Rfc1 Rd2 23. R1c2 Rbd8 24. g3 {
and White is a little better, but Black should draw this without any real
problems.}) 19... Bb7 20. Nd2 (20. Rxc5 $6 Bxf3 21. gxf3 Rxb2 $1 {is a trick
that you will have to remember, because I don't want to mention it on every
move.}) (20. e4 {can be answered with the sharp} f5 $5 {Now, one of the
possible lines is} 21. Nd2 Rfd8 22. exf5 Bxg2 $1 23. Kxg2 Qg5+ 24. Rg3 Qxd2 25.
Qxc5 exf5 $11) 20... Rfd8 21. f3 {This is slightly weakening, especially
considering that later White would also play g3. However, White has to
restrict Black's bishop, so the move is justified.} (21. Rxc5 $4 Rxd2 $1) 21...
Ba6 $146 {Until now, they were following a German correspondence game from
2000, but now Anand accidentally plays a novelty, and a good one at that.
Since White is blocking the h1-a8 diagonal, why not bring the bishop to
another?} 22. Rf2 {Another fighting move.} (22. Rc1 {seemed more logical to me,
but here Black could immediately draw, among the other possibilities, which
would favor the World Champion.} Qd7 23. Nb3 c4 {and White would to exchange
the annoying c4-pawn for either b2 or a2.} (23... Bd3 $11)) 22... Rd7 {Simply
doubling on the d-file.} (22... Rd5 23. e4 Rd7 {only look clever. White
doesn't mind playing e4 anyway.}) 23. g3 {A committal move, but White needs
space for his king. Here it became clear to me, that it was not Anand, but
Topalov who may be in trouble.} Rbd8 24. Kg2 Bd3 {Anand smartly decides to
avoid making any committal moves, while it is not yet clear. He prefers to
wait for Topalov to do part of the job.} ({More aggressive moves were also
possible. For example,} 24... h5 $5 25. Ne4 (25. h4 e5 26. e4 $6 g5 $1 $19)
25... Bd3 26. Qa4 Bxe4 (26... c4 $5 27. Nd2 e5 28. Nxc4 Qe6 {is unclear}) 27.
Qxe4 Rd2 {with equality}) ({Or} 24... e5 $5 25. e4 h5 26. Nc4 h4 27. Ne3 Qe6 {
and here White can play the non-standard} 28. gxh4 $1 {with an unclear
position.}) 25. Qc1 (25. Qa4 {was dangerous.} Qg5 (25... Bb5 $11) 26. e4 $6 (
26. Ne4 $1 $11) 26... Qe3 27. Qa5 Qe1 28. Qxc5 Be2 $1 29. Nb3 Rd1 30. Kh3 R8d3
{and White is in danger to say the least.}) 25... Ba6 $1 {The c5-pawn was
hanging, and Vishy decides to come back with the bishop and ask Topalov, what
he thinks.} 26. Ra3 {I had no doubts, that Topalov would play on.} Bb7 $1 {
Now that c5 isn't in any danger, Vishy returns the bishop to its rightful spot.
Now the bishop also smiles towards White's king, who will suffer a lot in this
game!} 27. Nb3 (27. e4 {can be answered by} f5 $1 28. Qc2 g5 $1 {and the
bishop smiles again!}) 27... Rc7 28. Na5 Ba8 {Of course!} 29. Nc4 {If any
other move had been played, then 29...g5! was strong.} ({For example} 29. e4 g5
$1 {and now let me demonstrate how White could end up if he calculated badly.}
30. Re3 Rd4 31. h3 h5 $1 32. g4 hxg4 33. hxg4 f5 $1 34. gxf5 g4 $1 {opening
the diagonal for the bishop and winning.}) ({or} 29. Rc3 g5 30. Nb3 g4 31. e4
gxf3+ 32. Kxf3 f5 33. Nxc5 Qg7 $5 {and it is clear, that the white king is not
the happiest piece on board.}) 29... e5 $1 {Played instantly. Anand is playing
it safe. 29...g5 was possible here as well, but it would lead to a
double-edged position.} ({For instance} 29... g5 $5 30. e4 (30. h3 f5 31. Kh2 (
31. g4 h5 $1) 31... h5 {with an unclear position.}) 30... g4 (30... f5 $5) 31.
Qxh6 gxf3+ 32. Kxf3 Rd4 33. Nd2 Rcd7 34. Kg2 Qd8 35. Rf4 $1 Rxd2+ 36. Kh3 Bxe4
$3 37. Rxe4 R2d4 38. Ra4 Rxe4 39. Rxe4 Rd4 40. Re5 Rd5 41. Re4 Rd4 {is a truly
beautiful draw.}) 30. e4 {Other moves were possible, but then Black would be
able to play e4-f4 securing the d3 square for a rook, or make some other
useful move.} f5 $1 31. exf5 $2 {Crazy.} (31. Nd2 $1 {was the right move.} fxe4
32. Nxe4 {Now Black can choose between equalizing or keeping his bishop and
the pressure with} Rd4 $5 (32... Bxe4 33. fxe4 Rd4 $11)) 31... e4 $1 32. fxe4
$4 {Even crazier. Without any calculation, it seems pretty obvious, that it is
very dangerous to expose your king this much. So it was even more surprising,
that Topalov played this and the previous move so quickly!} ({Something like} 
32. Re3 {was essential, but it is clear that} exf3+ 33. Kg1 Qg5 {is not really
what White wants. Black is clearly better.}) 32... Qxe4+ {From now on Anand
never let Veselin escape, nor gave him a single reason to hope.} 33. Kh3 Rd4
34. Ne3 Qe8 $3 {THE move, that Vishy had to find. I assume that it was the one
that Topalov had missed.} 35. g4 h5 $1 {It is hopeless for White. All Black's
pieces are ready to meet alone with the white king.} 36. Kh4 g5+ $5 {Vishy
chooses the most elegant way to keep his title.} (36... Qd8+ 37. f6 hxg4 {
was winning as well.}) ({but surprisingly} 36... hxg4 $4 {loses the advantage.}
37. Nxg4 {and White's king doesn't feel so bad anymore with a knight on g4 to
keep him company, and a queen coming to g5.}) 37. fxg6 Qxg6 38. Qf1 Rxg4+ 39.
Kh3 Re7 $1 {Anand again goes for the most beautiful solution.} ({For example} 
39... Kh7 {to avoid checks, was winning too.}) 40. Rf8+ Kg7 41. Nf5+ (41. Rxa8
{Now I can imagine how happy Vishy was while executing his moves.} Rxe3+ $1 42.
Rxe3 Rh4+ $3 43. Kxh4 Qg4# {Ohh, what a picture!}) 41... Kh7 $1 {Naturally not
taking the rook which would turn the tables upside down.} 42. Rg3 Rxg3+ 43.
hxg3 Qg4+ 44. Kh2 Re2+ 45. Kg1 Rg2+ 46. Qxg2 Bxg2 {At this point, some people
got very nervous, screaming that they had found a draw. The calm World
Champion, however, had seen everything in advance.} 47. Kxg2 (47. Rf7+ Kg6 $1
48. Rg7+ Kxf5 49. Rxg4 hxg4 $1 50. Kxg2 Ke4 51. Kf2 Kd3 {and the pawn ending
is hopeless.}) 47... Qe2+ 48. Kh3 c4 $1 {Our human Champion is as precise as
an engine.} 49. a4 a5 50. Rf6 Kg8 $1 {It is zugzwang!} 51. Nh6+ Kg7 52. Rb6 Qe4
(52... Qf3 {would win as well, but Anand decided that today was Zugzwang Day!}
53. Kh4 Qe4+ $1 54. Kxh5 Qd5+ $19) 53. Kh2 Kh7 $1 {Zugzwang again!} 54. Rd6 Qe5
55. Nf7 Qxb2+ 56. Kh3 Qg7 $1 {Great and flawless play by Anand! A perfect game
to defend one's title with.} 0-1

[Event "Grand Slam Final 3rd"]
[Site "Bilbao"]
[Date "2010.10.10"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C66"]
[WhiteElo "2826"]
[BlackElo "2800"]
[Annotator "Ftacnik,L"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2010.10.09"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 139"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.11.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.11.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 {Carlsen is ready to play a rich position
without claiming an opening advantage. The modest move 4.d3 is helping to
avoid the unbeatable Berlin Defence.} d6 5. O-O Be7 6. c3 O-O 7. Nbd2 Bd7 8.
Re1 Re8 9. Nf1 Bf8 10. Ba4 h6 11. Ng3 Ne7 {The theory in this new territory is
just being created. It is worth noticing that both GMs are helping themselves
with analogous motifs from the Ruy Lopez.} (11... Rb8 12. d4 b5 13. Bb3 Na5 14.
Bc2 c5 15. b3 Nc6 16. d5 Ne7 17. h3 g6 18. Be3 Bg7 19. Qd2 Kh7 20. Nh2 b4 21.
c4 Nfg8 22. f4 $11 {1-0 Vachier Lagrave,M (2684)-Marcelin,C (2495)/Challons
2009 (33)}) (11... g6 12. h3 (12. d4 Bg7 13. d5 Ne7 14. c4 c6 15. Bd2 Rb8 16.
dxc6 Nxc6 17. Bc3 Qc7 18. Nd2 a6 19. Bxc6 Bxc6 20. a4 b5 21. axb5 axb5 22. cxb5
Rxb5 $17 {0-1 Mullon,J (2458)-Postny,E (2648)/Nancy 2010 (55)}) 12... Na5 (
12... Bg7 13. d4 Rb8 (13... a6 14. a3 b5 15. Bc2 a5 16. Be3 a4 17. Qd2 Kh7 18.
Rad1 Qe7 19. Qe2 Na5 20. Nd2 c5 21. f4 cxd4 22. cxd4 exd4 23. Bxd4 Nh5 24. Bxg7
Nxg3 25. Qf2 Kxg7 26. Qxg3 Rac8 $11 {1-0 De la Villa Garcia,J (2470)-De Souza
Haro,P/San Sebastian 1994 (57)}) 14. Bc2 a6 15. Be3 Kh7 16. Qd2 b5 17. Nh2 d5
18. f3 Be6 19. Qf2 exd4 20. cxd4 Nb4 21. e5 $14 {0-1 Shanava,K (2522)-Beinoras,
M (2426)/Pardubice 2008 (39)}) 13. Bc2 c5 14. d4 cxd4 15. cxd4 Nc6 16. b3 Rc8
17. Bb2 Nb4 18. Bb1 Nc6 19. Qd2 Qb6 20. d5 Nb4 21. Bc3 a5 22. Re3 Rc5 23. a3
Na6 24. b4 $14 {1/2-1/2 Popovic,P (2474)-Nyback,T (2565)/Germany 2008 (49)}) (
11... a6 12. d4 b5 13. Bc2 g6 14. h3 Bg7 {1/2-1/2 Rubinetti,J (2415)-Van
Riemsdijk,H (2390)/San Pedro de Jujuy 1981}) 12. Bb3 Ng6 13. d4 c5 {It seems,
that this active advance in the centre is a new move, so far Black has tried
only the more modest 13...c6.} (13... c6 14. dxe5 dxe5 15. Nf5 Nxe4 16. Nxh6+
gxh6 17. Rxe4 Be6 18. Qxd8 Raxd8 19. Bxe6 Rxe6 20. Re1 c5 21. a4 Red6 22. Kf1
Bg7 23. g4 Rd3 24. Kg2 $11 {1/2-1/2 Khairullin,I (2544)-Aleksandrov,A (2618)/
Moscow 2008 (40)}) 14. h3 Qc7 15. a4 a6 (15... exd4 16. cxd4 c4 17. Bc2 Qb6 18.
a5 Qa6 19. Bd2 $14) 16. a5 cxd4 17. cxd4 exd4 18. Nxd4 d5 $1 {Anand has
decided to open up the centre in a situation in which all his pieces are
already developed.} 19. exd5 (19. Nh5 Nxh5 20. Qxh5 Bc5 $1 (20... Re5 21. Qf3
$14) 21. Qxd5 Bxh3 22. gxh3 Rad8 23. Qxf7+ (23. Qh5 Rxd4 24. Qxg6 Rd3 25. Bxf7+
Qxf7 26. Qxf7+ Kxf7 $11) 23... Qxf7 24. Bxf7+ Kxf7 25. Nf5 Bb4 26. Re3 Rd1+ 27.
Kg2 Nf4+ 28. Kh2 Re5 $11) 19... Rxe1+ 20. Qxe1 Re8 {Nearly all very strong
players simply love piece activity. Black did not have any problem with
eliminating the dangers after the modest 20...Ne7. The move in the game is
somewhat more ambitious.} (20... Ne7 21. Bd2 Nexd5 22. Rc1 Re8 23. Qxe8 Qxc1+
24. Bxc1 Bxe8 $11) 21. Qc3 Qxc3 22. bxc3 Re1+ 23. Kh2 Bd6 {The current World
Champion would love to beat his young rival, but with the help of the
interesting move 23...Ne5!? he could have only forced the repetition of moves.}
(23... Ne5 $5 24. Nf3 (24. f3 Nd3 25. Bb2 Re3 26. Ba3 Nc5 $15) (24. Bb2 Neg4+
25. hxg4 Nxg4+ 26. Kh3 Nxf2+ 27. Kh2 (27. Kh4 Be7+ 28. Kh5 Bg4#) 27... Ng4+ 28.
Kh3 Rxa1 29. Bxa1 Ne3+ 30. Ne6 (30. Kh2 Bd6 $17) 30... Bd6 31. Ne4 Ba3 $15)
24... Nfg4+ 25. hxg4 Nxg4+ 26. Kh3 Nxf2+ 27. Kh2 Ng4+ $11) 24. Nc2 (24. Bb2
Rxa1 25. Bxa1 Ne4 26. Bc2 Nxf2 27. c4 Be5 28. Nb3 Bxa1 29. Nxa1 Ne5 $11) 24...
Rf1 25. Be3 Rxa1 26. Nxa1 Be5 {More play could have been kept in the position
after the logical move 26...Ne7.} (26... Ne7 27. c4 Nf5 28. Bb6 Nxg3 29. fxg3
Be5 30. Nc2 Ne4 31. Kg1 Bxg3 $11) 27. Bd4 (27. Nc2 Bxc3 28. Bb6 Nf4 29. Ne3 $11
) 27... Bxd4 28. cxd4 Ne7 29. Nc2 (29. d6 Nc8 30. Nc2 Nxd6 31. Ne3 $11) 29...
Nfxd5 30. Ne4 b6 {It is quite easy to guess why Anand was not eager to fix the
pawns of the queenside on the light squares. Seemingly the logical exchange on
b6 is unfortunately marred by a serious problem.} (30... b5 31. Nc5 Bc8 32. g3
Kf8 $11) 31. Ne3 $1 (31. axb6 Nxb6 32. Nc5 Bb5 $11) 31... Nxe3 (31... Bc6 32.
Nxd5 Nxd5 33. Bxd5 Bxd5 34. Nc3 Bc6 35. axb6 $18) 32. axb6 $1 N3f5 {A
sufficient defence was also tied in with the knight check on f1, but the
defender would have suffered in a slightly worse position.} (32... Nf1+ $5 33.
Kg1 Bc6 34. Nd6 Nd2 35. Bxf7+ Kf8 36. Be6 a5 37. b7 Bxb7 38. Nxb7 a4 $11) 33.
Nc5 $2 {[%mdl 64] Carlsen is also only human and thus fallible. His natural
right to err is used at a very unfortunate moment, since with the witty 33.d5!
serious problems were rather awaiting Black. Bad form is often manifested by
erroneous decisions in critical moments.} (33. d5 $1 Bc8 (33... Nc6 34. dxc6
Bxc6 35. Nc5 Nd6 36. Nxa6 $16) 34. g4 Nd4 35. Nd6 Bb7 36. Nxb7 Nc8 37. Ba2 (37.
Bc4 Nxb6 38. Bxa6 Nxd5 $11) 37... Nxb6 38. d6 Kf8 39. Kg3 Ke8 $11) 33... Nxd4 (
33... Bc6 34. b7 Bxb7 35. Nxb7 Nxd4 36. Bc4 Nb5 37. Nc5 $11) 34. b7 (34. Nxd7
Nxb3 35. b7 Nc6 36. b8=Q+ Nxb8 37. Nxb8 a5 $19) 34... Nec6 35. Ba4 Be8 $1 {
White must have missed the fact that the plan of recovering the piece thanks
to the mighty b7-pawn will fail due to the trapped knight on the b8-square!} (
35... Bf5 36. Nxa6 Bd7 37. Nc5 Be6 38. Na6 $11) 36. Nxa6 (36. b8=Q Nxb8 37.
Bxe8 Kf8 38. Ba4 Ke7 $17) 36... Kf8 37. Kg3 (37. Bxc6 Nxc6 38. b8=Q Nxb8 39.
Nxb8 Bb5 40. Kg3 Ke7 41. Kf4 Kd6 42. g4 Kc7 $19) 37... Ke7 38. Kf4 Ne6+ {
Black could already enjoy the choice of punishment for his unfortunate enemy.
It his difficult to find fault with the conservative and careful approach from
the game.} (38... Nb8 39. Nxb8 Bxa4 40. Ke3 Bc6 41. Kxd4 Bxb7 $19) 39. Ke3 Ned8
40. Bxc6 Nxc6 41. h4 (41. b8=Q Nxb8 42. Nxb8 Bb5 43. Kd4 Kd6 44. g3 Bf1 45. h4
Kc7 $19) 41... Kd6 42. g4 Bd7 43. g5 hxg5 44. hxg5 g6 45. f4 Be6 {After fixing
the pawns on the kingside Black is ready to force the win with the spare
bishop.} (45... Be6 46. Kd3 Bd5 47. Ke3 Nb8 48. Nxb8 Bxb7 49. Kd4 Kc7 50. Ke5
Kxb8 51. Kf6 Bd5 52. f5 Be4 53. fxg6 fxg6 $19) 0-1

[Event "Nanjing Pearl Spring 3rd"]
[Site "Nanjing"]
[Date "2010.10.22"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D57"]
[WhiteElo "2803"]
[BlackElo "2800"]
[Annotator "Anand,V"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2010.10.20"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "CHN"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 139"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.11.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.11.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 {Our first game since the match, I wasn't sure what he would aim for.}
Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 {Continuing
from the 12th game in Sofia.} 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. cxd5 ({In Sofia and also in the
Olympiad, he went for} 9. Rc1) 9... Nxc3 10. bxc3 exd5 11. Qb3 Rd8 12. c4 {
Ivanchuk beat Jakovenko recently with this move, so I guess its sort of
topical.} Be6 13. c5 b6 14. Rc1 bxc5 15. Qa3 (15. Rxc5 Nd7 16. Rxc7 Rdb8 {
Black has good compensation.}) 15... Nd7 16. Bb5 Bg4 $1 {The point of Black's
play.} 17. Bxd7 (17. Nd2 Qg5 (17... c6 18. Bxc6 Rac8 $1 19. Bxd7 cxd4 20. Rxc8
Rxc8 21. Bxc8 Qxa3 22. Bxg4 dxe3 $17)) 17... Rxd7 {This works tactically.} 18.
Qxc5 (18. Rxc5 Qe4 19. Ke2 Rd6 (19... Re8 20. Rhc1 Rd6 21. h3 Bxf3+ 22. gxf3
Qxd4 $15) 20. h3 Bc8 {harder to find, but either way Black is better} 21. Rhc1
Ba6+ 22. Kd1 Qg6) (18. Ne5 cxd4 19. Qxe7 Rxe7 20. Nc6 (20. Nxg4 h5 {traps the
knight}) 20... Re6 21. h3 Bh5 22. Nxd4 Ra6 23. Rxc7 Rxa2 24. O-O a5) 18... Qe4
19. Rg1 {This move caught me by surprise, however it doesn't really improve
White's position} Re8 {This move implies an exchange sac, but it felt very
promising.} (19... Bxf3 20. gxf3 Qxf3 21. Qc6 Rb8 $1 22. Qxh6 g6 23. Qf4 (23.
Rg3 Qh1+ 24. Kd2 Rb2+ 25. Rc2 Rxc2+ 26. Kxc2 Rd6 $1 $19) 23... Qxf4 24. exf4 {
The computer really likes Black's position, but I am not sure his edge is so
great.}) (19... f6 20. Qc2 Bxf3 21. gxf3 Qxf3 22. Rg3 Qe4 23. Qxe4 dxe4 {
I thought this was too small an edge.} 24. Rg4 Re8 25. Rf4 {and White's rook
escapes to the queenside.}) 20. Qb5 (20. Ne5 Rxe5 21. dxe5 d4 22. h3 (22. Qb4
Qxe5 23. h3 c5 $17 24. Qxc5 d3 $1) 22... dxe3 23. hxg4 (23. Qxe3 Qb4+ 24. Kf1
Qb5+ 25. Ke1 Rd3 26. Qxd3 (26. hxg4 Rxe3+ 27. fxe3 Qa5+ 28. Kf2 Qxa2+ 29. Kf3
Qd5+ 30. Kf2 Qxe5 31. Rc4 Qb2+ 32. Kf3 a5 33. Rgc1 a4 34. R4c2 (34. Rxc7 a3 $19
) 34... Qf6+ 35. Ke2 Qg5 36. Ra2 Qxg4+ 37. Kf2) (26. Qe4 Qb2 $19) 26... Qxd3
27. hxg4 c5) (23. fxe3 Rd3 24. Kf2 Bxh3 $1 {stronger} (24... Rd2+ 25. Kg3 Be6
$15) 25. gxh3 Rd2+ 26. Kg3 h5 $1 {wins}) 23... exf2+ 24. Kxf2 Qf4+ 25. Ke1 Rd4
$1 $19 26. Qc3 Re4+ 27. Kd1 Qf2 $19) (20. Ke2 f5 $1) 20... Rdd8 21. Qe2 Rb8 {
As soon as I made this move, I was annoyed I didnt go for ...c5. However, it
seems that ...Rb8 is by no means worse.} (21... c5 22. h3 Bxf3 23. gxf3 Qf5 24.
dxc5 $1 (24. Rxc5 Rb8 $1 25. Rc1 Rec8 $19) 24... d4 25. Rg3 {and it seems that
White is holding} d3 26. Qd2 Re5 27. e4) 22. h3 Bxf3 23. gxf3 (23. Qxf3 Qxd4
$19) 23... Qf5 {The problem for White is that his king still can't get to
safety.} 24. f4 (24. Rg3 Rb1 25. Rxb1 (25. Kd1 Rxc1+ 26. Kxc1 Rb8 27. Qc2 Qe6
$19) 25... Qxb1+ 26. Qd1 Qxa2 27. Kf1 Rb8 28. Kg2 Rb2 29. Qf1 Qc4 $1 {seems to
clinch it} (29... a5 30. Qa6 $1)) 24... Rb1 25. Rxb1 (25. Qd1 Reb8 26. Kd2
R8b2+ 27. Kc3 Rxc1+ 28. Qxc1 Rb6 $1 (28... Rxf2 29. Rxg7+ $1 Kxg7 30. Qg1+ Kf8
31. Qxf2 Qxh3 32. f5 {this is too messy}) 29. Kd2 Qxh3 {Black can slowly
advance his h-pawn whilst harassing White's king.}) 25... Qxb1+ 26. Qd1 Rb8 27.
Ke2 Qf5 $1 {Not allowing White's king to get to safety.} (27... Rb2+ 28. Kf3
Qxa2 29. Qf1 {Black is still better, but White's king is safe.}) 28. Rh1 Rb2+
29. Kf3 h5 $1 {The key move, now it's over.} 30. a4 (30. Rh2 h4 $1 31. Kg2 Rb1
$19) 30... Qe4+ 31. Kg3 h4+ 32. Kxh4 Rxf2 33. Qg4 (33. Rg1 Qxe3 34. Rxg7+ Kxg7
35. Qg4+ Kf8 36. Qc8+ Qe8 {wins.}) 33... Rg2 (33... Qe7+ 34. Qg5 Qxe3 {wins as
well.}) 0-1

[Event "London Classic 2nd"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2010.12.10"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C95"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2802"]
[PlyCount "153"]
[EventDate "2010.12.06"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 140"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2011.01.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2011.01.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. a4 Bf8 14. Bd3 c6 15. b4
Rc8 16. axb5 cxb5 17. Bb2 d5 18. exd5 exd4 19. Rxe8 Qxe8 20. c4 bxc4 21. Nxc4
Nxd5 22. Nxd4 Nxb4 23. Nf5 Nxd3 24. Qxd3 Be4 25. Qd4 Bxf5 26. Nd6 Qd8 27. Nxf5
f6 28. Rd1 Rc2 29. Nh6+ gxh6 30. Qg4+ Bg7 31. Qe6+ Kh8 32. Rxd7 Qf8 33. Ba3 Qg8
34. Qxa6 Qe8 35. Qa7 Qg8 36. Be7 Rc8 37. Qa6 Qe8 38. Ra7 Kg8 39. Qe6+ Kh8 40.
Qa6 Kg8 41. Qe6+ Kh8 42. Kh2 Rc6 43. Qb3 Rc8 44. Bd6 Qg6 45. Qb7 Rd8 46. Bg3
Rg8 47. h4 Qf5 48. Qc7 Qd5 49. Ra5 Qe4 50. Qd7 Qc4 51. Qf5 Qc8 52. Qf3 Qd7 53.
Bf4 Qf7 54. g3 Re8 55. Be3 Rg8 56. Ra6 Re8 57. Ra7 Re7 58. Qa8+ Qf8 59. Ra6 Re8
60. Qc6 Rc8 61. Qf3 Qf7 62. Ra7 Qe6 63. Qb7 Qg8 64. Bf4 Rd8 65. Qa6 Re8 66. Rc7
Ra8 67. Qc6 Re8 68. Be3 Rb8 69. Bd4 Qf8 70. Qc3 Re8 71. Rc6 Qf7 72. Bxf6 Rf8
73. Bxg7+ Qxg7 74. Qe3 Qb2 75. Kg2 Qb7 76. Qxh6 Qf7 77. Rc2 1-0

[Event "Tata Steel-A 75th"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2013.01.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D46"]
[WhiteElo "2802"]
[BlackElo "2772"]
[Annotator "Anand,V"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[EventDate "2013.01.12"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 153"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.03.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.03.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{This was in the 4th round. I had just beaten Fabiano Caruna the previous day,
which made a perfect start for the New Year. Dies war in der 4. Runde. Gerade
am Vortag hatte Fabiano Caruna geschlagen, was einen perfekten Start für das
neue Jahr abgab.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 {We went for the Slav Defence, which was
no big surprise. We played this many time before, with reversed colours as
well. Wir wählten die Slawische Verteidigung, was keine große Überraschung war.
So haben wir viele Male zuvor gespielt, auch mit umgekehrten Farben.} 3. Nf3
Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 {He goes e3 actually more often, but recently he has been
playing Bg5 a bit. Er wählt häufiger e3, aber in letzter Zeit hat er auch ein
wenig Bg5 gespielt.} Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bd6 {I went for 8...
Bd6, already one idea was exactly what happened in the game. I wanted to see
if he would give me a chance to play 11...Rc8. Ich wählte 8...Bd6, eine Idee
war bereits genau das, was in der Partie passiert. Ich wollte sehen, ob er mir
die Chance geben würde, 11...Rc8 zu spielen.} 9. O-O O-O 10. Qc2 Bb7 11. a3 Rc8
{This is actually an amazing move. Dies ist in der Tat ein erstaunlicher Zug.}
({It used to be that everyone played automatically, in order to play c5,
Früher war es so, dass jedermann, um c5 zu spielen, automatisch} 11... a6 {
and then recently I noticed some games with 11...Rc8. zog, und dann fielen mir
kürzlich ein ein paar Partien 11...Rc8 auf.}) ({Let's imagine the position of
the game line after Vergegenwärtigen wir uns die Stellung des Partieabspiels
nach} 11... a6 12. Ng5 Bxh2+ 13. Kxh2 Ng4+ 14. Kg1 Qxg5 15. f3 {0-1 (53) Anand,
V (2791)-Aronian,L (2750) Linares 2009. There are many games played with this.
White has good compensation with the pair of bishops and the weak dark squares
in return of the extra pawn. In fact I lost a game to Aronian in 2009, though
I was winning. But I managed to confuse myself: Damit wurden viele Partien
gespielt. Für den Mehrbauern hat Weiß gute Kompensation mit dem Läuferpaar und
den schwachen dunklen Feldern. Tatsächlich verlor ich im Jahr 2009 gegen
Aronian, obwohl ich auf Gewinn stand. Aber ich schaffte es, mich selbst zu
verwirren:}) 12. Ng5 {This is the typical reaction and a very logical move.
Dies ist die typische Reaktion und ein ganz logischer Zug.} ({Already one
point of 11...Rc8 was shown in a game between Topalov and Kasimdhanov, a few
months back, where after Eine Pointe von 11...Rc8 wurde bereits in einer
Partie zwischen Topalov und Kasimdhanov gezeigt, ein paar Monate zuvor, wo nach
} 12. b4 {Black played Schwarz trotzdem} c5 {anyway. It's interesting: In the
whole line Black wants to play c5 without even bothering to protect the
b5-pawn. So there is an implied pawn sacrifice in every one of these moves.
spielte: Es ist interessant: In dem ganzen Abspiel will Schwarz c5 durchsetzen,
ohne sich um die Deckung des b5-Bauern überhaupt zu kümmern. Jeder dieser Züge
beinhaltet somit ein Bauernopfer.} 13. bxc5 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Nxc5 15. dxc5 Rxc5
16. f4 Nd5 17. Bb2 Nxc3 18. Bxc3 Qc7 19. Rfc1 Rc8 20. Bxh7+ Kh8 21. Bd3 Rxc3
22. Qxc3 Qxc3 23. Rxc3 Rxc3 24. Bxb5 Bxa3 25. Kg2 g6 26. Rd1 Rc7 27. Rd7 Rxd7
28. Bxd7 Kg7 29. e4 Kf6 30. Kf3 a5 31. e5+ Ke7 32. Ba4 Bc5 33. h3 Bb6 34. Bb5
Bc5 35. Ba4 Bb6 36. Bb5 Bc5 37. Ba4 {1/2-1/2 (37) Topalov,V (2752)
-Kasimdzhanov,R (2684) London 2012}) {Our big point, which we found while
preparing for the match against Gelfand, was the move Unser großer Wurf, den
wir bei der Vorbereitung auf das Match gegen Gelfand fanden, war der Zug} 12...
c5 $1 {So it looks like that for almost all what White does, Black can just
play c5. So the advantage of 11...Rc8 is that for the next move you have no
difficulty remembering... Es sieht also so aus, dass bei nahezu allem, was
Weiß tut, Schwarz einfach c5 spielen kann. Der Vorteil von 11...Rc8 liegt ergo
darin, dass man für den nächsten Zug keine Schwierigkeiten hat, sich zu
erinnern...} ({After 11...Rc8 12.Ng5 looks even stronger then after 11...a6,
because if you play Nach 11...Rc8 seiht 12.Ng5 sogar noch stärker aus als nach
11...a6, denn wenn man} 12... Bxh2+ 13. Kxh2 Ng4+ 14. Kg1 Qxg5 {then the R on
c8 is worse than the pawn on a6. spielt, dann steht der R auf c8 schlechter
als der Bauer auf a6.}) {He went Er zog.} 13. Nxh7 ({instead of statt} 13.
Bxh7+ {I give one variation, just to illustrate the thing: Ich gebe eine
Variante an, nur um die Sache zu illustrieren:} Kh8 14. Be4 Nxe4 15. Ngxe4 Bb8
$44 {and in fact, ...Qh4 is coming and the Rc8 and the black bishops are
perfectly placed. und dann steht ...Qh4 ins Haus, und der Rc8 und die
schwarzen Läufer sind perfekt platziert.}) {and I went , und ich wählte} 13...
Ng4 {This is the first point: Instead of taking the knight on h7, Black simply
moves his own. Dies ist die erste Pointe: Statt den Springer auf h7 zu
schlagen, bewegt Schwarz einfach seinen eigenen.} 14. f4 {Levon was very much
finding the way at the board. So he decided to go f4 instead of h3, which has
to be said is a little bit safer. Levon fand den Weg praktisch am Brett.
Deshalb entschied er sich für f4 statt h3, was zugegebenermaßen ein bisschen
sicherer ist.} ({I give a variation with Ich führe eine Variante mit} 14. h3 {
This line is self evident and in fact if you analyse with the computer a
little bit, it will show all the direct lines. an. Diese spricht für sich, und
wenn man ein bisschen mit dem Computer analysiert, wird dieser all die
direkten Abspiele zeigen.} Bh2+ $1 15. Kh1 Qh4 16. Be4 (16. d5 Rfd8 $44) 16...
Bxe4 17. Qxe4 f5 18. Qxe6+ Kxh7 19. Qxd7 cxd4 20. exd4 Bb8 21. Kg1 Bh2+ 22. Kh1
$11 {The main line ends in a draw, which is quite satisfactory from Black's
point of view. Das Hauptabspiel endet mit Remis, was aus der Sicht von Schwarz
völlig zufriedenstellend ist.}) 14... cxd4 15. exd4 {After this I actually
could not remember, what we had prepared. This was a bit of a problem, because
this is not the position where you could make a half move or a position that
plays itself. You have to make an exact move, because there is a rook hanging
on f8 and a lot of action. You have to do the right thing. And there are some
possibilities. I was considering moves like 15...e5, 15...Nde5, 15...Qh4, etc.
But none of them made a lot of sense. And then I got the key. Though I could't
remember the variations, I rememberd that in some lines my knight gets to d3.
So I mainly rembered the position where my knight gets to d3 and from this I
managed to reconstruct and find this move ...Bc5. Hiernach konnte ich mich
tatsächlich nicht mehr daran erinnern, was wir vorbereitet hatten. Das war ein
gewisses Problem, denn dies ist keine Stellung, wo man einen Halbzug machen
kann oder sich die Position von selbst spielt. Man muss einen genauen Zug
machen, da auf f8 ein Turm hängt und eine Menge los ist. Man muss das Richtige
tun. Und es gibt einige Möglichkeiten. Ich erwog Züge wie 15...e5, 15...Nde5,
15...Qh4 usw. Aber keiner davon war besonders sinnvoll. Und dann bekam ich den
Schlüssel. Obwohl ich mich nicht an die Varianten erinnern konnte, wusste ich
noch, dass in einigen Abspielen mein Springer nach d3 kommt. Also erinnerte
mich also hauptsächlich an die Stellung, wo mein Springer nach d3 kommt, und
daraufhin gelang es mir, die Sache zu rekonstruieren und diesen Zug ...Bc5 zu
finden.} ({I remembered the line Ich erinnerte mich an das Abspiel} 15. Nxf8
Bxf8 16. h3 dxc3 17. hxg4 Nf6) 15... Bc5 $1 16. Be2 {I think this is the real
mistake. Ich glaube, dies ist der wirkliche Fehler.} ({I give a line, which is
fairly straight forward: Ich gebe ein Abspiel an, was ziemlich geradlinig ist:
} 16. dxc5 Nxc5 17. Nxf8 Nxd3 {Black is very, very comfortable with the knight
on d3, but it might be not enough. White might get some sort of half playable
position like the variation here: Schwarz steht sehr, sehr bequem mit dem
Springer auf d3, aber es ist vielleicht nicht genug sein. Weiß könnte eine
halbwegs spielbare Stellung bekommen, wie in der Variante hier:} 18. h3 Qd4+
19. Kh1 Ndf2+ 20. Rxf2 Nxf2+ 21. Kh2 Kxf8 22. Qh7 Nd3 23. Qh8+ Ke7 24. Qh4+ f6
25. Qg3 Kf7 26. Be3 $11) {Again it took me a while, not too long, but the
essential idea was very clear. So I found Erneut brauchte ich eine Weile,
nicht allzu lang, aber die Kernidee war glasklar. Daher fand ich} 16... Nde5 $3
{This is simply a brilliant move. So if there is a single move of which I am
really proud in this game, it is move 16. Dies ist einfach ein brillanter Zug.
Wenn es also einen Zug gibt, auf den ich in dieser Partie wirklich stolz bin,
dann ist es der 16.} ({Here I was thinking again: Hier überlegte ich erneut:} 
16... Bxd4+ 17. Kh1 Nxh2 (17... Nde5 18. fxe5) {but the problem with that is ,
aber das Problem dabei ist} 18. Ng5 $1) 17. Bxg4 ({Now, after Nach} 17. fxe5 {
I have habe ich jetzt} Qxd4+ 18. Kh1 Qg1+ 19. Rxg1 Nf2#) 17... Bxd4+ 18. Kh1
Nxg4 {And here, the game which kept on coming to my mind was the famous
classic Rotlewi-Rubinstein. For me, it's just a classic. I imagine for Gelfand
also. He would have rememberd it effortlessly, first of all he knows his
classics and secondly it is Rubinstein. he is one of his big heroes.
Rubinstein's main point was to invade with both rooks, but except for this it
is very similar. Und hier war die Partie, die mir ständig in den Sinn kam, der
berühmte Klassiker Rotlewi-Rubinstein. Für mich ist es einfach ein Klassiker.
Ich vermute, für Gelfand auch. Er sich mühelos daran erinnern können, erstens
kennt er seine Klassiker, und zweitens ist Rubinstein einer seiner großen
Helden. Rubinsteins Hauptpointe war, mit beiden Türmen einzudringen, aber
davon abgesehen ist es ganz ähnlich.} 19. Nxf8 {Here the alternatives were
very clear. In fact, for the rest of the game, there is not much commentary to
give. I will just highlight one or two key things. Hier waren die Alternativen
ganz klar. Tatsächlich ist für den Rest der Partie kein großer Kommentar mehr
erforderlich. Ich werde lediglich ein oder zwei Schlüsseldinge betonen.} (19.
Ng5 f5 20. h3 Rf6 21. Nf3 Rh6 $19) 19... f5 $1 {This move I like very much.
Here, I didn't take much time, because the ideas are very obvious. The queen
is coming to h4, or it's going to f6, capturing the knight and White really
has never a defence. So this was also very easy. Dieser Zug gefällt mir. Hier
brauchte ich nicht viel Zeit, denn die Ideen sind sehr offensichtlich. Die
Dame kommt nach h4, oder sie geht nach f6, Schlagen des Springers, und Weiß
hat nie wirklich eine Verteidigung. Das war also ziemlich einfach.} 20. Ng6 Qf6
21. h3 ({The only thing is, on Das Einzige ist, auf} 21. Ne5 {you have to find
muss man} Nxh2 $8 $19 {It's the only move, but it wins. finden. Es ist der
einzige Zug, aber er gewinnt.}) 21... Qxg6 {The other thing is, though Black
is attacking very slowly, Qf6, Qxg6, Qh5 and so on, there is very little White
can do, because of the power of my bishops and the knight on g4. Die andere
Sache ist, obwohl Schwarz sehr langsam angreift, Qf6, Qxg6, Qh5 und so weiter,
gibt es sehr wenig, was Weiß tun kann, und zwar aufgrund der Kraft meiner
Läufer und des Springers auf g4.} 22. Qe2 Qh5 23. Qd3 $2 {This loses
immediately, but the alternative would not have changed the result... Dies
verliert sofort, aber die Alternative hätte das Ergebnis nicht verändert...} ({
There was an alternative here Es gab hier eine Alternative:} 23. Rf3 Nf2+ 24.
Kh2 (24. Rxf2 Qxh3+ 25. Kg1 Qxg2#) 24... Bxf3 25. Qxf3 Qxf3 26. gxf3 Bxc3 (
26... Nd3 $19) 27. bxc3 Rxc3 $19) {After Nach} 23... Be3 {it finishes
immediately. So, one of the best games of my life obviously! Especially
against a giant like Levon. I was very happy, it was a rest day, very nice...
fällt sofort der Vorhang. Also, eine der besten Partien meines Lebens,
offensichtlich! Zumal gegen einen Giganten wie Levon. Ich freute mich sehr, es
war ein Ruhetag, sehr schön...} 0-1

[Event "Zuerich Chess Challenge"]
[Site "Zuerich"]
[Date "2013.03.01"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2780"]
[BlackElo "2810"]
[Annotator "Gormally,D"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2013.02.23"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 153"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.03.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.03.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Anand vs Kramnik - could this be a prelude to a world championship match
later? Only time will tell.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 {Probably a
wise choice against Kramnik, who has analysed the Berlin ending to death. Will
anyone be brave enough to take on his main-line Berlin in London? Watch this
space. Sergey Karjakin said in a interview that he had recently studied the
Berlin with Kramnik - such an experience he felt was like a "masterclass" in
the opening.} Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 {This slow method of playing the Ruy
Lopez has become quite popular lately. White turns the game into a manouvreing
battle - he need not fear the two bishops as the position is closed for at
least the time being.} O-O 7. O-O Re8 (7... Bg4 {was a blitz game of Magnus
Carlsen's against the aforementioned Karjakin. I have seen the video of this
game and Carlsen acts rather out of character, being quite disrespectful
towards his opponent - almost yawning at times.  However what it does
demonstrate is how much raw chess talent Carlsen has, as he's able to outplay
a world class player with seemingly no effort whatsoever.} 8. h3 Bh5 9. Nc4 Re8
10. Be3 Bd6 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 g5 13. g4 Bg6 14. Bg3 Nd7 15. h4 f6 16. Ne3 Bf8
17. Kg2 Nc5 18. hxg5 hxg5 19. Nf5 Ne6 20. Rh1 Qd7 21. Rh3 Bxf5 22. exf5 Nf4+
23. Bxf4 exf4 24. Nd2 Rad8 25. Qf3 Bg7 26. Ne4 Kf7 27. Rh7 Rh8 28. Qh3 Rxh7 29.
Qxh7 Rh8 30. Qg6+ Kf8 31. Nxf6 Qf7 32. Nh7+ Rxh7 33. Qxh7 Qd5+ 34. f3 Qe5 35.
Kf1 Qe3 36. Qh3 Bxb2 37. Re1 Qd2 38. Qh6+ Bg7 39. Qg6 Be5 40. f6 {1-0 Carlsen,
M (2837)-Karjakin,S (2779)/Astana 2012/CBM 149 Extra}) 8. Nc4 Nd7 9. Kh1 a5 {
Practically forcing White's next, as otherwise Black will gain useful space on
the queenside with ...a4} 10. a4 b6 11. Be3 Bb4 12. Nfd2 {Of course, White
needs this move to ever make progress. The plan is to play f4. Realising this,
Kramnik decides to force matters.} b5 13. axb5 cxb5 14. c3 $1 {More or less
forced.} ({The problem is that after} 14. Na3 {the knight is really on the
wrong route. Eventually white may be able to play c3, followed by Nc2, but
what then? Besides, there is a problem even with that plan:} Ba6 $1 15. c3 $6
Bxa3 16. Rxa3 b4 $1 17. Rxa5 bxc3 18. bxc3 Bxd3 19. Rxa8 Qxa8 20. Re1 Qc6 {
with strong pressure.}) 14... bxc4 15. cxb4 cxd3 16. bxa5 Ba6 {The smoke has
cleared and both players are left with a potentially strong passed-pawn.
However although both the white pawn on a5 and the black pawn on d3 are
solidly blockaded, the position will remain quite sharp while the possibility
of disturbing these blockades remains in the position.} 17. Qb3 Nf6 18. h3 $6 (
{Naturally my instincts would be drawn towards the move} 18. f3 $1 {which
would seem to stabilise the position. I believe that this is slightly
preferable to the move played in the game, as it gives white more options of
defending the kingside - he can play Bg1, Bf2 etc.} Nh5 19. Qc3 ({White has
many other options of course, like} 19. Nc4) 19... Qh4 20. Kg1 Nf4 21. Bxf4
Qxf4 22. Nb3 {although the position would remain unclear.}) 18... Nh5 19. Rfc1
Nf4 20. Rc6 $36 Ne2 ({As Anand explained in the post-mortem, he had seen the
possibility of} 20... Nxh3 $1 21. gxh3 Qd7 22. Rac1 Qxh3+ 23. Kg1 Qg4+ {
with a draw, but saw no way to avoid it. However it's entirely possible that
Kramnik still had notions of tournament victory - at this stage he was only
half a point behind the leader Fabiano Caruana.}) 21. Qd5 {The critical moment
of the game.} ({White is so well placed on the queenside that the possibility
of sacrificing the exchange with} 21. Rxa6 Rxa6 22. Qc4 {was certainly on
Anand's mind - if he can launch up the b-pawn quickly Black may get into
serious trouble. Black would then have a difficult decision to make - give up
on the d-pawn, or let the a-pawn come through.} {Perhaps wisest is to indeed
to jettison the d-pawn with} Qa8 23. Qxd3 Nd4 24. Bxd4 exd4 25. b4 c5 $1 {
After which White's position rather falls apart, which proves that Anand was
sensible to avoid complications just yet. He is rewarded with a huge blunder.})
21... Qb8 $4 {A real howler, Kramnik overlooks something rather obvious.} (
21... Qxd5 22. exd5 Red8 23. Rxc7 Rxd5 24. b4 {was the way forward, with
another completely unclear endgame in prospect. Objectively the chances are
equal, but i'd probably be White - as Kasparov said in the Caruana-Kramnik
game, White has the better practical chances - Black has more options while
White's way is obvious - at some point he will try to put a knight on c5 or b6.
} Rb5 $1 {It's important not to allow the knight to b3} 25. Rb1 f5 $13) 22.
Rxa6 $1 {All of a sudden the game is over. It's easy with chess to become
obsessed with strategy, positional play, opening preparation and so on. But
horrible blunders decide the games more often than we think.} Rxa6 23. Qxd3
Qxb2 24. Rb1 Rd6 25. Qxe2 Qa2 26. Qb5 c6 27. Qb2 1-0

[Event "Norway Chess 1st"]
[Site "Stavanger"]
[Date "2013.05.10"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2793"]
[Annotator "Szabo,Kr"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2013.05.08"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 155"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.07.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.07.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3
Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. Rg1 {The main line is 12.g5, but
nowadays the text move has become very popular. Actually Anand was the first
to play it himself in 2006 against Morozevich.} Nb6 (12... b4 {is the other
possibility.} 13. Nd5 Bxd5 14. exd5 a5 15. g5 Nh5 16. Kb1 a4 17. Nc1 {with a
slightly better position for White. Now we can understand the main idea behind
the 12.Rg1 move, that the R will join the battle from g4!}) 13. Na5 $1 {
A very typical reaction in this 12.Rg1 line. White avoids Nc4 and also
prepares for a positional P sacrifice after Nd5.} Rc8 ({In the event of} 13...
Qc7 14. g5 Nh5 15. Nd5 Bxd5 16. exd5 Nxd5 17. Qxd5 Qxa5 18. Kb1 ({or} 18. Bd3 {
. White has sacrificed a P, but the d5 square and the B pair give a nice
compensation for that. White's plan is Rg4 and c4, or Be4.})) 14. g5 Nh5 15.
Kb1 Nf4 {Topalov prevents Nd5, so b4 is threatening now.} (15... b4 {is too
early, as} 16. Nd5 $1 Nxd5 17. exd5 Qxa5 18. dxe6 fxe6 19. Bh3 {and Black
cannot protect the e6 P. For example:} Kf7 $2 20. g6+ $1 hxg6 21. Qg2 $18 {
and White wins.}) (15... g6 {was a game between Anand-Karjakin} 16. Nd5 (16. a3
$5 Qc7 (16... Nf4 {is transposing to the game.}) 17. Nd5 Nxd5 18. exd5 Bxd5 19.
Qxd5 Qxa5 20. Bd3 Rfd8 21. Rg4 Rb8 22. Rh4 $1 {A very strong move. Now Black
can't avoid Rxh5 and Qe4 with a decisive attack.} Qc7 23. Rxh5 $1 gxh5 24. Qe4
f5 25. Qxf5 Bf8 26. g6 $18 {with a winning attack, Ter Sahakyan-Y.Wei, Athens
2012.}) 16... Nxd5 17. exd5 Bxd5 18. Qxd5 Qxa5 19. c4 (19. Bd3 $5) 19... Nf4 (
19... Rb8 20. Rg4 Ng7 21. h4 Nf5 22. Bf2 Bd8 23. cxb5 axb5 24. Bd3 b4 25. Qb3
$44 {Anand-Karjakin, Nice rapid 2009}) 20. Bxf4 exf4 21. cxb5 axb5 22. Qxb5 Qa7
$13 {with a double-edged fight.}) 16. a3 g6 $146 {The first novelty in the
game.} (16... Qc7 {was an alternative} 17. Bxf4 exf4 18. Nd5 Nxd5 19. exd5 Bxd5
20. Qxd5 Qxa5 21. Bd3 g6 22. h4 Rc5 23. Qe4 Re5 24. Qxf4 Rb8 25. c3 Qb6 26. Bc2
a5 27. Bb3 $36 {and White has some initiative, Dominguez Perez-Van Wely, Wijk
aan Zee 2010.}) 17. h4 Qc7 (17... d5 {could have been met by} 18. Bxf4 exf4 19.
Nxd5 Nxd5 20. exd5 Bxd5 21. Qxd5 Qxa5 22. Bd3 Rfd8 23. Qb3 Rc5 24. Be4 $14 {
and White is slightly better, because his B is stronger, than his opponent's.})
18. Bxf4 exf4 19. Nd5 $1 Bxd5 20. exd5 Nxd5 {This is forced, otherwise Nc6 is
very unpleasant.} 21. Qxd5 Qxa5 (21... Qxc2+ $2 {is only a check,} 22. Ka1 {
and now we can understand 16.a3, otherwise White gets mated on the back rank
with Qc1.}) 22. Rg4 $1 {The R comes immediately into play. White wins back the
P, then thanks to his better B and the attack with h5, his chances are better.}
(22. Bd3 {transposes to 16...Qc7.}) 22... Rc5 23. Qb3 d5 ({In the event of} 
23... Rf5 24. Bd3 {followed by Rxf4.}) 24. Rxf4 {Now we can understand Anand's
17th move. The g5 P is protected} Qc7 25. Rfd4 Qh2 {Topalov wants to
complicate the play, he tries to create some counterplay with his Q in the
opponent's position.} ({After} 25... Rd8 {White can continue with} 26. f4 $1 {
and White's position is more promising, he threatens with Bg2 or f5.}) 26. c3 {
A deep cold-blooded reaction. Anand doesn't hurry with the takes on d5. The
plan will be understandable on the next move.} Rd8 27. Qc2 $1 {This is the
point of c3. White would like to exchange the Q, as the endgame is much better
to him.} Qg3 {Of course...} (27... Qxc2+ $6 28. Kxc2 f6 29. f4 $16 {followed
by Bg2 and the d5 P is lost.}) 28. f4 {Prepares for Bg2.} Bd6 $6 ({Probably} 
28... Qxh4 {should have been played, however White has also a slight advantage
after} 29. Bg2 Rc4 $1 30. Bxd5 Rxd4 31. Rxd4 $14 {but still Black has some
drawing chances after} Kf8 {.}) 29. Bg2 Bxf4 30. Bxd5 {White has a big
advantage, because his B is much better and the f7 P is also very weak.} Kg7
31. Qe4 $1 $16 {A very strong move again... Anand protects the d5 B and
prepares for Rf1!} Qe3 (31... Be5 $2 {loses to} 32. Rf1 $1 Bxd4 33. Qxd4+ $18)
32. Qh1 $1 {Of course... White doesn't change Q, as he hopes for some attack.}
Rd7 33. R1d3 $6 (33. Qf1 $1 {was the best and in the event of} Be5 34. R4d3 $1
Qf4 35. Rf3 $1 $18 {White wins.}) 33... Qe5 $2 {Loses immediately, but Black's
position was already difficult.} (33... Qf2 34. Qe4 $1 (34. Rf3 $2 Qxd4 $1 35.
cxd4 Rc1+ {and Black escapes.}) 34... Qxh4 35. Bb3 $1 {and Black's position is
hopeless.}) ({Maybe} 33... Qe2 {gives the best chance, but after} 34. Rd1 {
White can improve his pieces.}) 34. Qf3 $1 $18 Bh2 35. Be6 {A very pretty
winning move, although it wasn't the only one.} ({The simple} 35. Bb3 $18 {
was also good.}) 35... Re7 36. Re4 Rxe6 37. Rxe5 Rcxe5 38. Rd8 Re4 39. Ka2 Bf4
40. Rd7 Kg8 41. Ra7 {This was a nice win by Anand!} 1-0

[Event "Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"]
[Date "2014.03.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C88"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "2830"]
[Annotator "Postny,E"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2014.03.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 160"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3
{This is one of the ways to avoid the Marshall.} Bb7 9. d3 d5 {Still, if Black
insists on sacrificing the pawn, he can do just that.} 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nbd2 {
Anand repeats the move he employed last year against Caruana.} ({After} 11.
Nxe5 {Black has a choice between} Nxe5 ({or} 11... Nd4) 12. Rxe5 Qd6 {In both
cases he has adequate compensation.}) (11. c3 {has appeared numerous times as
well, but Black has achieved fine results after} Qd7) 11... Qd7 $146 {Levon
immediately comes up with a novelty.} (11... f6 12. c3 (12. c4 bxc4 13. Nxc4
Bb4 14. Bd2 Kh8 15. d4 exd4 16. Bxb4 Ndxb4 17. a3 Nd5 18. Nxd4 Nf4 19. Nxc6
Bxc6 20. Qxd8 Rfxd8 $11 {1/2-1/2 (50) Dominguez Perez,L (2726)-Kasimdzhanov,R 
(2696) Tashkent 2012}) 12... Kh8 13. Bc2 (13. d4 exd4 14. cxd4 {is worthy to
be checked in practice. The isolated pawn is a drawback, but White will have
some dynamic play exploting some weak spots in Black's camp.}) 13... Qd7 14.
Nb3 a5 15. a4 bxa4 16. Rxa4 Ncb4 17. Rxa5 Nxc2 18. Qxc2 Nb6 19. Rxa8 Rxa8 $44 {
0-1 (47) Anand,V (2786)-Caruana,F (2774) Moscow 2013}) (11... Nf4 12. Ne4 Na5
13. Bxf4 exf4 14. d4 Nxb3 15. axb3 Qd7 16. Qd3 Rad8 17. c4 Bb4 18. Nc3 bxc4 19.
bxc4 Bxf3 20. Qxf3 Qxd4 $11 {1/2-1/2 (24) Giri,A (2737)-Tomashevsky,E (2706)
Elancourt 2013}) 12. Nxe5 {Accepting the challenge.} Nxe5 13. Rxe5 Nf6 (13...
Nf4 $6 14. Nf3 {and now the piece sacrifice} Nxh3+ $2 {doesn't work in view of}
15. gxh3 Qxh3 16. Bd5 Qg4+ 17. Kf1 Qh3+ 18. Ke2 {The king escapes safely.}) 14.
Re1 {The rook should go back as it is vulnerable in the centre.} Rae8 {Black
doesn't have immediate threats, but the activity of all his pieces normally
yields him enough play to maintain the balance, which is quite typical for
this line.} 15. Nf3 Bd6 (15... Qf5 $6 16. Nh4 {and the queen has to go back,
losing time.}) 16. Be3 Re7 $6 {This is too innocuous. Black's play should be
somewhat more dynamic.} (16... Nd5 {It's recommended for Black to get one of
the opponent's bishops.} 17. a4 (17. Bd2 Rxe1+ 18. Nxe1 Qf5 19. Qg4 Qe5 {
With a double threat on h2 and b2.} 20. Nf3 Qxb2 21. Re1 $11) (17. Bxd5 Bxd5 {
[%csl Gd5,Gd6] is clearly okay for Black.}) 17... Nxe3 18. Rxe3 Rxe3 19. fxe3
Re8 $5 (19... c5 {is also perfectly playable.}) 20. Ng5 {Some exciting
variations could arise here.} Qe7 $1 21. Bxf7+ Kf8 (21... Kh8 $6 22. Bxe8 Qxe3+
23. Kh1 Qxg5 24. Qg1 $8 (24. Qg4 $4 Qe5 $19 {[%cal Ge5h2,Ge5e8]}) 24... Qf5 {
[%csl Rh3]} 25. Qe3 Bc5 26. d4 Bxd4 27. Qg3 $14) 22. Bxe8 (22. Qf1 Qxe3+ 23.
Kh1 Qxg5 24. Bd5+ Bf4 25. Bxb7 Qg3 26. Qg1 Re2 27. Rf1 Rxc2 28. Rf3 Rc1 29.
Rxg3 Rxg1+ 30. Kxg1 Bxg3 $11) 22... Qxe3+ 23. Kh1 Qxg5 24. Qe2 g6 $1 25. Rf1+
Kg7 26. axb5 Qg3 27. Rf7+ Kg8 28. Kg1 Bc5+ 29. Kf1 Qg5 30. bxa6 Bxg2+ 31. Qxg2
Qc1+ 32. Ke2 Qxc2+ 33. Kf3 Qxd3+ 34. Kg4 Qc4+ 35. Rf4 Qe6+ {Black gives a
perpetual check.}) 17. d4 (17. a4 {It also makes sense to open the a-file, but
after} c5 {it won't be easy for White to play d3-d4 and perform the
simplifying idea that Anand realised a couple of moves later.}) 17... Rfe8 (
17... Nd5 18. Bd2 Rxe1+ 19. Nxe1 Qf5 20. Qg4 $16 {Black doesn't have the move
Qf5-e5 as in the line 16...Nd5.}) 18. c3 h6 {Probably Levon underestimated the
consequences of the move that now follows. On the other hand, it seems that
White is already better. The pressure along the e-file doesn't bring Black any
dividends.} (18... Nd5 19. Bd2 Rxe1+ 20. Nxe1 c5 21. dxc5 Bxc5 22. Nd3 Bb6 23.
Qg4 $14) 19. Ne5 $1 {Sacrificing back the pawn just at the right moment.} Bxe5
20. dxe5 Rxe5 (20... Qc6 21. f3 Rxe5 22. Qd2 $14) 21. Qxd7 Nxd7 22. Red1 {
White's two bishops are not going to allow Black to enjoy this endgame.} Nf6 $6
{I think here was the last chance to change the course of the game.} (22... Nc5
$5 23. Bxc5 Rxc5 24. Rd7 Re2 25. Bxf7+ (25. Rxf7 Bd5 26. Rf5 c6 27. Rb1 g6 $14
{getting rid of the pin across the fifth rank}) 25... Kh7 {Black is a pawn
down, but has decent chances to hold thanks to his active rook.}) 23. c4 $1 c6
$6 {This is an ugly move to play, but Black's position is really unpleasant.} (
23... bxc4 24. Bxc4 Nd5 25. Bd4 R5e7 26. Rac1 Nf4 27. Bf1 $16) 24. Rac1 R5e7
25. a4 $1 bxc4 26. Bxc4 {Now White enjoys the pair of powerful bishops and the
superior pawn structure.} Nd5 27. Bc5 Re4 28. f3 R4e5 29. Kf2 {Slowly, but
surely Anand improves his position.} Bc8 30. Bf1 R5e6 31. Rd3 {The rook is
going to find some penetration squares on the b-file.} Nf4 32. Rb3 Rd8 33. Be3
(33. Rb8 Ree8 34. Ba3 Nd3+ 35. Bxd3 Rxd3 36. Rxc6 {was also great for White,
but, at least here Black has some hope thanks to the opposite coloured bishops.
}) 33... Nd5 34. Bd2 Nf6 (34... Bd7 35. Bxa6 Ra8 36. Bc4 Rxa4 37. Ra3 Rxa3 38.
bxa3 {The passed a-pawn will most likely decide the game in White's favour.})
35. Ba5 Rde8 36. Rb6 Re5 37. Bc3 Nd5 38. Bxe5 Nxb6 39. Bd4 $1 (39. Rxc6 Nd5 40.
Rc5 $18) 39... Nxa4 {The knight will not be able to come out alive from a4,
but I wouldn't even put a question mark to this move, as Black's position is
beyond saving anyway.} 40. Rxc6 Rd8 41. Rc4 Bd7 (41... Nxb2 42. Bxb2 Rd2+ 43.
Ke3 Rxb2 44. Rxc8+ $18) 42. b3 Bb5 43. Rb4 Nb2 44. Bxb5 axb5 45. Ke3 Re8+ 46.
Kd2 Rd8 47. Kc3 {A very good game by Anand, which definitely gave him a boost
of confidence from the very beginning of the Candidates tournament.} (47. Kc3
Nd1+ 48. Kc2 {[%csl Rd1] capturing the knight.}) 1-0

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Anand +3-1=7"]
[Site "Sochi"]
[Date "2014.11.11"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2863"]
[Annotator "Krasenkow,M"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2014.11.08"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 164"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.01.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.01.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 {[%emt 0:00:04]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:07]} 2. c4 {[%emt 0:00:05]} e6 {[%emt 0:
00:08]} 3. Nf3 {[%emt 0:00:05]} d5 {[%emt 0:00:10]} 4. Nc3 {[%emt 0:00:06]} Be7
{[%emt 0:00:07]} 5. Bf4 {[%emt 0:00:08]} O-O {[%emt 0:00:18]} 6. e3 {[%emt 0:
00:04]} Nbd7 {[%emt 0:00:15]} 7. c5 {[%emt 0:00:16]} c6 {[%emt 0:00:48]} 8. Bd3
{[%emt 0:00:27]} (8. h3 {has gone out of fashion recently as after} b6 9. b4 a5
10. a3 {Black can play} Bb7 ({or even} 10... h6) ({instead of the direct} 10...
Ba6 {, which allows White to save a tempo by taking on a6 in one go}) 11. Bd3
Qc8 {- see Kasimdzhanov-Jakovenko in CBM 132 and Grischuk-Wang Hao in CBM 139.}
) 8... b6 {[%emt 0:00:15]} 9. b4 {[%emt 0:00:09]} a5 {[%emt 0:00:14]} 10. a3 {
[%emt 0:00:07]} Ba6 {[%emt 0:03:31]} 11. Bxa6 {[%emt 0:00:41] A principled
continuation although the quiet} (11. O-O {is more common.}) 11... Rxa6 {
[%emt 0:00:07]} 12. b5 $1 {[%emt 0:00:34]} cxb5 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 13. c6 {
[%emt 0:00:05]} Qc8 $1 {[%emt 0:00:05]} (13... b4 $2 14. Nb5 bxa3 15. cxd7 Bb4+
16. Ke2 Qxd7 17. Qd3 $16 {1-0 (33) Olafsson,H (2521)-Al Tamimi,H (2290) Turin
2006}) 14. c7 {[%emt 0:00:06]} (14. Nxb5 Qxc6 15. Nc7 Ra7 16. Rc1 Qb7 17. Qa4 (
17. a4 Bb4+ 18. Ke2 Rc8 19. Qd3 Nh5 20. Nb5 Nxf4+ 21. exf4 Raa8 $17 {1-0 (47)
Efimov,I (2520)-Costantini,R (2233) Reggio Emilia 2000}) 17... b5 (17... Rc8 $5
18. O-O Nf8 {[%cal Yf8g6]}) 18. Nxb5 Nb6 19. Qb3 Nc4 20. a4 Bb4+ 21. Ke2 Raa8
22. Ne5 Rfc8 23. f3 Nxe5 24. Bxe5 Ne8 $11 {1/2 (29) Rojas Keim,L (2408)-Ryan,J
(2263) Montcada i Reixac ESP 2014}) 14... b4 $1 {[%emt 0:00:33]} 15. Nb5 {
[%emt 0:00:28] This sequence of moves has been analysed more deeply with
White's pawn on h3 (8.h3 instead of 8.Bd3), which is considered more
favourable for White as his bishop can retreat to h2, avoiding an exchange if
necessary. However, Vishy Anand and his team have proven that this version is
not so harmless either.} a4 {[%emt 0:02:57]} (15... bxa3 16. O-O Nh5 (16... a4
17. Qc2 Ra5 $6 {1/2 (26) Kveinys,A (2510)-Halkias,S (2548) Gothenburg 2005} 18.
Bd6 $1 Rxb5 19. Bxe7 Re8 20. Bxa3 $36 {[%csl Gc7]}) 17. Qc2 Nxf4 18. exf4 Qb7
19. Ne5 $36 Nc5 20. dxc5 bxc5 21. Rfb1 (21. Nd7 $5 Re8 22. Qa4 $16) 21... c4
22. Nd7 Rfa8 23. Qa4 h6 24. h3 Qc8 25. Nb8 Rb6 $13 {1/2 (32) Sedlak,N (2557)
-Pavlovic,M (2534) Vrnjacka Banja 2010}) (15... Ne4 16. O-O (16. a4 Nc3 17. Qd3
Ra8 18. Nxc3 bxc3 19. O-O Bb4 20. Qb5 Ra7 21. Ne1 Nf6 22. Nd3 Nh5 $13 {1/2 (48)
Rusev,K (2543)-Stoinev,M (2295) Albena 2010}) 16... bxa3 17. Qa4 (17. Qc2 $44
a4 $5 {/\Ra5, R.Dautov}) 17... g5 18. Bg3 g4 $1 19. Ne1 Nd2 20. Qd1 Nxf1 21.
Qxg4+ Kh8 22. Kxf1 Ra8 (22... a4 {[%cal Ya6a5] R.Dautov} 23. Qe2 Ra5 24. Nd6
Bxd6 25. Bxd6 Rg8 26. Nd3 $44) 23. Nc2 Qa6 24. Qe2 Rg8 25. Ncxa3 $44 {1-0 (50)
Karpov,A (2693)-Georgiev,K (2655) Dubai 2002 CBM 089 [Dautov]}) 16. Rc1 {
[%emt 0:06:00]} Ne4 {[%emt 0:02:02]} 17. Ng5 $5 {[%emt 0:01:47] This tactical
trick restricts Black's possibilities compared to} (17. Nd2 e5 (17... Nc3 18.
Nxc3 bxc3 19. Rxc3 b5 20. O-O Nb6 {1/2 (67) Villuendas Valero,A (2176)-Labena
Bernal,A (2003) Pamplona 2006} 21. Qg4 $5 $36) 18. Nxe4 (18. dxe5 Ndc5 {
[%cal Rc5d3]}) 18... dxe4 19. Bxe5 Nxe5 20. dxe5 Bc5 21. Qd5 bxa3 22. O-O {
0-1 (36) Jendrichovsky,P (2147)-Goumas,G (2315) Fermo 2009} Ra5 $13) 17... Ndf6
{[%emt 0:32:33]} ({Here} 17... e5 18. dxe5 {is obviously senseless}) (17...
Nxg5 $6 18. Bd6 $1 Ra5 $8 19. Bxe7 Rxb5 20. axb4 Re8 21. Qxa4 Rxe7 22. Qxb5 $16
{[%csl Gc7]}) (17... Bxg5 18. Bxg5 Ra5 {is a better version of the previous
line for Black but White keeps the initiative anyway:} 19. Be7 Rxb5 20. Bxf8
Kxf8 21. Qxa4 Ra5 22. Qxb4+ Ke8 23. O-O Ra7 24. f3 Nef6 25. Qd6 $14 {[%csl Gc7]
A.Korotylev}) 18. Nxe4 {[%emt 0:06:58]} Nxe4 {[%emt 0:00:45]} (18... dxe4 $142
$1 19. Nd6 Bxd6 20. Bxd6 b3 21. Bxf8 Kxf8 $44 {(A.Korotylev) , which is about
to be the subject of further research.}) 19. f3 {[%emt 0:05:40]} Ra5 {[%emt 0:
12:38]} 20. fxe4 $146 {[%emt 0:02:08][%mdl 8] This improvement on the
following game is quite obvious, especially as it had been already played in
the similar position of the 8.h3 line (with White's pawn on h3), e.g. in
Gyimesi-Vaganian (Germany 2006).} (20. Qe2 $6 Qd7 21. fxe4 Rc8 22. exd5 exd5
23. axb4 Rxb5 24. O-O Rxb4 25. Qa6 h6 26. Rc6 Bg5 27. Bxg5 hxg5 28. Rfc1 Rc4
29. R1xc4 dxc4 30. Qxb6 a3 31. Rxc4 a2 32. Qa5 Qe6 33. Qxa2 Rxc7 34. Qa8+ Kh7
35. Rxc7 Qxe3+ 36. Kf1 Qf4+ 37. Qf3 Qxc7 $11 {1/2 (40) Aronian,L (2795)-Adams,
M (2753) Bilbao 2013}) 20... Rxb5 {[%emt 0:00:24]} 21. Qxa4 {[%emt 0:00:56]}
Ra5 {[%emt 0:00:07]} 22. Qc6 {[%emt 0:00:12]} bxa3 {[%emt 0:09:32] Black's
a3-pawn looks formidable but it is far less dangerous than White's c7-pawn.} (
22... dxe4 23. a4 $16 {[%csl Gc7]}) 23. exd5 {[%emt 0:03:43]} Rxd5 {[%emt 0:10:
57]} (23... exd5 24. O-O {is hardly better. In some situations White can break
in the centre by means of e3-e4.}) 24. Qxb6 {[%emt 0:08:48]} Qd7 {[%emt 0:06:
37]} 25. O-O {[%emt 0:15:23]} (25. Qa6 $5 Qc8 (25... Rc8 26. Rb1 Rxc7 $8 27.
Rb8+ Bd8 28. Bxc7 Qxc7 29. Rc8 Qe7 30. O-O $16) 26. Qc4 {A.Korotylev}) 25...
Rc8 {[%emt 0:05:01] Black has blockaded White's passed pawn with a more
appropriate piece but eliminating the "nail" is impossible.} 26. Rc6 $1 {
[%emt 0:08:36]} g5 {[%emt 0:09:41] Perhaps it was better to do without this
move:} (26... Bb4 27. Ra1 h6) 27. Bg3 {[%emt 0:00:42]} (27. Be5 $5 {A.Korotylev
} {e.g.} Bb4 28. Qxb4 $5 Qxc6 29. Qe7 Rxe5 30. Qxf7+ Kh8 31. Qf6+ Kg8 32. dxe5
(32. Qxe5 $5 h6 33. Qf6 Rxc7 34. Qf8+ Kh7 35. Qxa3 {, and White should
gradually win}) 32... Qxc7 33. Qxe6+ Kh8 34. Qf6+ Qg7 35. Qa6 Rg8 (35... Re8
36. Qxa3 Qxe5 37. Rf8+ Kg7 38. Rxe8 Qxe8) 36. Qxa3 Qxe5 37. h3 {, and Black is
helpless as the queen endgame after the eventual exchange of rooks is winning
for White.}) 27... Bb4 {[%emt 0:06:25]} 28. Ra1 {[%emt 0:13:45]} Ba5 $2 {
[%emt 0:07:45] Black tries to get rid of the c7-pawn after all but this
attempt fails. It was better to wait:} (28... g4 {In that case White could
have continued weakening Black's position exploiting the e3-e4 threat, e.g.}
29. Be5 {etc. but his victory was still far away.}) 29. Qa6 {[%emt 0:01:23]}
Bxc7 {[%emt 0:01:22]} (29... Bb4 $2 {was now hopeless due to} 30. Rb6 {[%cal
Rb6b4,Ra6c8] , and otherwise Black just loses his a3-pawn.}) 30. Qc4 $1 {
[%emt 0:04:21] A decisive pin.} e5 {[%emt 0:01:59]} 31. Bxe5 {[%emt 0:00:19]}
Rxe5 {[%emt 0:00:10]} 32. dxe5 {[%emt 0:00:05]} Qe7 {[%emt 0:00:39]} 33. e6 {
[%emt 0:06:09]} Kf8 {[%emt 0:01:12]} 34. Rc1 {[%emt 0:00:46]} 1-0

[Event "Zuerich Chess Challenge 4th"]
[Site "Zuerich"]
[Date "2015.02.15"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D97"]
[WhiteElo "2797"]
[BlackElo "2777"]
[Annotator "Roiz,M"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2015.02.14"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 165"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.03.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.03.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Na6 8.
Be2 c5 9. d5 e6 10. O-O exd5 11. exd5 Re8 12. Rd1 {Vishy deviates from his
previous game in this line.} ({A few months before} 12. Bg5 {was played in the
World Championship match vs Magnus Carlsen. After} h6 13. Be3 Bf5 14. Rad1 Ne4
15. Nxe4 Bxe4 16. Qc1 {Black had some problems to solve in Anand,V (2792)
-Carlsen,M (2863)/Sochi RUS 2014 (32).}) 12... Bf5 13. d6 h6 {This position is
well-known since the famous Kasparov-Karpov match.} 14. Be3 {This time Anand
chooses a rare continuation, which could come as a surprise for his opponent.}
({The following alternatives lead to a very complex battle either:} 14. Bf4 Nd7
(14... Ne4 15. Bd3 Nxc3 16. bxc3 Bxd3 17. Rxd3 $36 {1/2-1/2 (45) Zakhartsov,V 
(2536)-Smirnov,A (2413)/Kazan RUS 2013}) 15. Rd2 (15. Qb3 $5) 15... Nb4 16. Qb3
Be6 17. Bc4 Nb6 18. Bxe6 Rxe6 $132 {0-1 (60) Rusev,K (2547)-Drenchev,P (2477)/
Blagoevgrad 2010/CBM 134 Extra}) (14. h3 Nb4 15. Bf4 Nd7 16. Rd2 a6 17. Qb3 b5
18. Qd1 c4 $132 {1/2-1/2 (43) Karpov,A (2700)-Kasparov,G (2740)/Seville 1987})
14... Ng4 $146 {This principal response is the only way to fight for equality.}
({In the preceding games White was clearly better:} 14... Bd7 15. Rd2 (15. Qb3
Bc6 16. Bb5 $36) 15... Qa5 16. Rad1 Rad8 17. h3 $14 {0-1 (38) Reilly,T (2315)
-Tukmakov,V (2600)/Antwerp 1993}) (14... Ne4 15. Qb3 Nxc3 16. bxc3 Be4 17. Bb5
$16 {1-0 (24) Volkov,S (2612)-Nedilko,V (2400)/Rijeka 2010/CBM 136}) 15. Bf4 {
That move is connected with a piece sacrifice, but White cannot let Black to
exchange their dark-squared bishop for free.} Bxc3 {At his turn, Levon had to
exchange his strong bisop either in order to justify his previous move.} (15...
Qa5 16. h3 Nf6 17. Ne5 Be6 18. Qb5 $16) (15... Nf6 16. Ne5 Be6 17. Qb5 Qb6 18.
Bg3 Rad8 19. Na4 Qxb5 20. Bxb5 $16) 16. bxc3 Re4 17. Qb5 Rxf4 18. Qxb7 {
No doubt, that line was prepared well by Anand before the game. Black is a
piece up, but the lack of harmony doesn't allow them to keep the material
advantage.} Ra4 (18... c4 $1 19. Qxa6 Bd3 20. Bxd3 ({White may deviate from it
by means of:} 20. Rxd3 cxd3 21. Qxd3 {but after} Qb6 22. Nd4 Nxf2 23. Qe3 Qxd6
24. Rf1 Rc8 {Black should be OK}) 20... Rxf3 $1 21. gxf3 Qh4 22. fxg4 Qxg4+ 23.
Kf1 Qh3+ 24. Ke1 Re8+ 25. Be2 Qg4 26. f3 Qg1+ 27. Kd2 Qg5+ 28. Ke1 Qg1+ $11)
19. d7 {The strong passer enables White to avoid any risk.} ({Of course, not} 
19. Bxa6 $2 Rb8 20. Qc6 Bd7 21. Qxc5 Rxa6 $19) 19... Be4 {After that move
Black's minor pieces are getting very vulnerable.} ({Possibly, the best way to
solve the problems was} 19... Nc7 $5 20. h3 Nxf2 $1 ({worse is:} 20... Nf6 21.
Ne5 Nxd7 22. Nxf7 Kxf7 23. Qb3+ Kg7 24. Qxa4 Qe7 25. Re1 {and the exposed
placement of Black's king still may be a cause of warnings.}) 21. Kxf2 Bxd7 22.
Bb5 Nxb5 23. Rxd7 {this position looks extremely dangerous, but Black should
be able to keep the ballance after} Qb8 24. Qd5 Qf8 $1 25. Ne5 (25. Qb3 Ra5 26.
Ne5 c4 27. Qxc4 (27. Qb4 Qxb4 28. cxb4 Ra4 $11) 27... Rc8 28. Rxf7 Rxc4 29.
Rxf8+ Kxf8 30. Nxc4 Ra6 $11) 25... Nxc3 26. Qd3 Ne4+ 27. Kg1 Re8 28. Nxf7 Rd4
29. Rxd4 cxd4 30. Rf1 Qg7 31. Rf4 Kh7 $11) 20. Qb3 Bc6 $2 {Unfortunately for
Levon, one serious mistake leads to a hopeless position by forced.} ({The only
way to stay in the game was} 20... Ra5 21. Nd2 (21. Rd6 Qe7 22. Rad1 Rd8 23.
Bxa6 Bxf3 24. gxf3 Ne3 $1 25. fxe3 Qxe3+ 26. Kf1 ({After} 26. Kg2 c4 $1 {
[%cal Ga5g5]} 27. Rxg6+ fxg6 28. Qxc4+ Kg7 {Black is by no means worse}) 26...
Qxf3+ 27. Ke1 Rxa6 28. Rxa6 Qe3+ 29. Kf1 Qf3+ $11) 21... Bxg2 $1 {It looks
like Black is able to exploit some vulnerablity of White's king in all the
cases. For instance,} ({The prosaic} 21... Bf5 {leads to an inferior edngame
after} 22. Nc4 Nxf2 23. Nxa5 Nxd1 24. Nb7 Qxd7 25. Rxd1 Qc6 26. Rd8+ Rxd8 27.
Qxf7+ $1 Kxf7 28. Nxd8+ Kf6 29. Nxc6 $14) 22. Bxg4 (22. Kxg2 Qh4 23. Nf3 Qxf2+
24. Kh1 Qxe2 25. d8=Q+ Rxd8 26. Rxd8+ Kg7 27. c4 Nf2+ 28. Kg1 Nh3+ $11) (22.
Nc4 Rb8 23. Nxa5 (23. Qc2 Nxf2 $1 24. Kxf2 Ba8 25. Nxa5 Qf6+ 26. Kg1 Qg5+ $11)
23... Rxb3 24. axb3 Nxf2 $1 25. Kxf2 Bh3 26. Bxa6 Qf6+ 27. Kg3 Bxd7 $132) 22...
Qg5 23. c4 Qxg4 24. Qg3 Qxg3 25. hxg3 Rd8 26. Nb3 Ra4 27. Kxg2 Rxc4 28. Na5 Rd4
29. Nc6 R8xd7 30. Nxd4 cxd4 31. Rab1 Nc5 $14 {with good drawing chances.}) 21.
Rd6 $1 Bxd7 ({Completely hopeless is} 21... Rb8 22. Qd1 Bxf3 23. Bxf3 $18) 22.
Rad1 $18 {Black cannot avoid a massive loss of material. The rest looks like a
desperation.} Qb8 23. Rxd7 Qxb3 24. axb3 Ra2 25. Bc4 ({Another possible way to
win the piece was} 25. R7d2 Rxd2 (25... Ra3 26. h3 Nf6 27. Rd6 $18) 26. Nxd2
$18) 25... Rf8 {White has a wide choice of winning continuations here.} 26.
R7d6 (26. Rxa7 Nb4 27. Rxf7 Rxf7 28. cxb4 cxb4 29. h3 $18) (26. h3 Nxf2 27. Rf1
Ne4 28. Ne5 $18) 26... Kg7 27. Rxa6 Rxf2 28. Re1 1-0

[Event "Zuerich Chess Challenge 4th"]
[Site "Zuerich"]
[Date "2015.02.17"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2797"]
[BlackElo "2776"]
[Annotator "Krasenkow,M"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2015.02.14"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 165"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.03.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.03.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 Nh5 8. Bd3
Nxf4 9. exf4 b6 10. b4 a5 11. a3 c6 12. O-O Qc7 13. g3 Ba6 14. Re1 (14. Bxa6
Rxa6 15. Qe2 {, with ideas f4-f5 and b4-b5 c6xb5 Nc3xd5, is more common. The
text move, renouncing tactical chances, leads to a standard position,
generally considered satisfactory for Black.}) {The whole system was examined
in CBM 138, annotations to Nakamura - Nielsen.} 14... Bf6 (14... Rfb8 15. h4
Bxd3 16. Qxd3 axb4 17. axb4 bxc5 18. bxc5 g6 19. h5 Rxa1 20. Rxa1 Rb2 21. Ne5
Nxe5 22. fxe5 $36 Qb7 $6 {1/2 (53) Malakhatko,V (2558)-Socko,B (2619) St
Petersburg 2012} 23. Na4 $1 Qa7 24. Qf1 $16 {[%cal Ya4b6]}) (14... Bxd3 15.
Qxd3 g6 (15... Ra7 16. Rac1 axb4 17. axb4 Bf6 18. h4 bxc5 19. bxc5 Rb8 $132 {
1/2 (34) Ivanchuk,V (2741)-Bruzon Batista,L (2668) Havana 2010}) 16. h4 Kg7 $11
17. Ng5 Bf6 18. h5 $6 axb4 19. axb4 bxc5 20. bxc5 Rxa1 21. Rxa1 {1-0 (59)
Andreikin,D (2700)-Radjabov,T (2788) Astana 2012} e5 $3 $17) 15. Kg2 (15. Bc2
Bc4 16. Qd2 Ra7 17. Ne5 axb4 18. axb4 bxc5 19. bxc5 Nxe5 20. fxe5 Be7 21. Rab1
Rfa8 22. Rb4 Bd8 23. Ne4 Qe7 $132 {1-0 (40) Nakamura,H (2729)-Nielsen,P (2700)
Amsterdam 2010 CBM 138 [Krasenkow,M]}) (15. h4 Qa7 16. b5 Bb7 17. cxb6 Nxb6 18.
Ne5 Rac8 19. f5 exf5 20. Bxf5 Rc7 21. bxc6 {1/2 (21) Fier,A (2571)-So,W (2673)
Moscow 2011}) (15. Ne5 Bxe5 $5 {(probably the simplest way to equality)} (15...
Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Rfb8 $6 17. Nxd7 $1 Qxd7 18. Na4 Bd8 19. f5 b5 20. Nb2 $1 Bf6 21.
fxe6 fxe6 22. Qe3 Re8 23. Nd3 $14 {1-0 (71) Pogorelov R (2401)-Bruzon L (2573)
Mondariz Balneario 2001 Inf 82/372 [Pogorelov,R]}) 16. fxe5 Bxd3 17. Qxd3 Qb7 (
17... Ra7 18. Reb1 b5 19. a4 axb4 20. Rxb4 f6 $1 21. exf6 Nxf6 22. Qe2 Re8 23.
Re1 (23. f4 $142) 23... bxa4 24. Rxa4 Rxa4 25. Nxa4 Qa5 $132 {1/2 (32)
Krasenkow,M (2620)-Riazantsev,A (2634) France 2009}) 18. Reb1 (18. cxb6 axb4
19. axb4 Nxb6 20. b5 Nc4 21. bxc6 Qxc6 $11 {1/2 (54) Getz,N (2391)-Azarov,S 
(2648) Rogaska Slatina 2011}) (18. h4 $5) 18... axb4 19. axb4 Rxa1 20. Rxa1 Ra8
21. Qd1 Rxa1 {1/2 (21) Michalik,P (2511)-Azarov,S (2648) Czechia 2012}) 15...
Bxd3 (15... bxc5 $6 16. bxc5 Nxc5 17. dxc5 Bxc3 18. Bxh7+ $1 Kh8 (18... Kxh7
19. Qc2+ Kg8 20. Ng5 Rfe8 21. Qxc3) 19. Nh4 g6 (19... Kxh7 20. Qc2+ Kg8 21.
Qxc3 {- in both bracketed lines White's knight is stronger than Black's bishop}
) 20. Bxg6 fxg6 21. Nxg6+ Kg8 22. Nxf8 Rxf8 23. Rxe6 Bxa1 24. Qxa1 {, and
White keeps a strong attack without material deficit.}) 16. Qxd3 Rfb8 {[%mdl
32]} (16... Ra7 $1 {[%cal Yf8a8] is a typical and quite appropriate plan in
this kind of positions. Instead, Black starts an unusual and slightly dubious
plan.}) 17. h4 Qa7 18. Ne2 $5 (18. Rab1 axb4 19. axb4 bxc5 20. bxc5 Qa3 {
[%cal Rd7c5]}) 18... g6 $6 ({Black rejected} 18... axb4 19. axb4 Qxa1 20. Rxa1
Rxa1 {in view of} 21. b5 {but it was bearable:} bxc5 $1 (21... cxb5 22. Qxb5
Ra7 23. c6 Nf8 24. Ne5 Rc7 25. f5 $1 $36 {D.Kryakvin}) 22. bxc6 Nf8 23. dxc5
Ra5 $1 {, and Black must capture White's passed pawns, even at the cost of an
exchange, e.g.} 24. Qe3 Rc8 25. Ned4 Rxc5 26. Ne5 Bxe5 27. Qxe5 R5xc6 28. Nxc6
Rxc6 {with a probable draw. After the text move White avoids simplifications
and continues his kingside attack; meanwhile the invasion of Black's queen is
harmless.}) 19. Rab1 axb4 20. axb4 Qa2 21. Rec1 bxc5 22. bxc5 h5 $6 {This is a
loss of a crucial tempo. Preventing h4-h5 was not Black's top priority in this
position.} (22... Ra3 {was probably insufficient for equality in view of} 23.
Rxb8+ (23. Nc3 Rbb3 $1) 23... Nxb8 24. Qd1 $1 (24. Nc3 Qb2 25. Rb1 Rxc3 26.
Rxb2 Rxd3 27. Rxb8+ Kg7 28. Rb6 Bxd4 29. Rxc6 h5 $1 {is satisfactory for Black}
) 24... Na6 (24... Qb3 25. Qxb3 Rxb3 26. Ra1 $14 {[%csl Rb8]}) 25. Rb1 Qc4 26.
f5 $3 (26. Rb6 Ra2) 26... exf5 27. Rb6 Ra2 (27... Nb4 28. h5 $40) 28. Nf4 Nxc5
29. Rb8+ Kg7 30. dxc5 Qxc5 31. Nd3 $16) (22... Rxb1 23. Rxb1 Rb8 24. Rxb8+ Nxb8
{was possible but even then the initiative belongs to White: Black has a weak
c6-pawn and kingside and no objects of counterplay.}) 23. Ne5 $1 Nxe5 (23...
Bxe5 24. fxe5 {was not pleasant either as White's knight was much more active
than Black's, e.g.} Rxb1 25. Rxb1 Rb8 26. Rxb8+ Nxb8 27. Nf4 {etc.}) 24. fxe5
Bg7 $2 {An obvious mistake, after which Black's position becomes really grim.}
(24... Bd8 $8 {covering the b6-square. Black's bishop doesn't protect his king
anymore but that is a lesser evil. After} 25. Nf4 Kg7 26. Qd1 {[%cal Yf4d3,
Yd3b4] White is clearly better but what he has is far from a decisive
advantage.}) 25. Rb6 $1 {[%csl Rc6]} Rc8 26. Nc3 Qa7 27. Rcb1 Qd7 28. R1b4 Bh6
29. Na4 Qd8 30. Ra6 Kg7 $2 (30... Rc7 {, preventing Rb4-b7, was more stubborn.}
) 31. Rb7 Rxa6 32. Qxa6 g5 {Desperation.} 33. Qe2 $1 {[%csl Rh5]} g4 34. Qa6
Qg8 (34... Rc7 35. Qb6 Rc8 36. Qa7 Ra8 37. Rxf7+ Kg6 38. Qb7 {[%cal Rf7f6]} Rb8
39. Qe7 Qxe7 40. Rxe7 Kf5 41. Nc3 $1 {, and White should win.}) 35. Nb6 Rf8 36.
Nd7 Qh7 (36... Ra8 37. Ra7 $1 $18 ({but not} 37. Qxc6 $4 Ra2 $1 {[%cal Rh6e3]
V.Anand})) 37. Nxf8 Qe4+ 38. Kh2 Kxf8 39. Rb8+ Kg7 40. Qc8 Kg6 41. Qh8 1-0

[Event "Gashimov Memorial 2nd"]
[Site "Shamkir"]
[Date "2015.04.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C77"]
[WhiteElo "2791"]
[BlackElo "2788"]
[Annotator "Anand,V"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2015.04.17"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 166"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.05.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.05.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Wesley had been dominating the event so far with 3.5/4.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 {In the first round, I had played 6.Re1
against Carlsen, but I hoped to try a specific idea today.} b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8.
Nc3 d6 9. a3 Nb8 {Wesley had employed this against Caruana in Wijk aan Zee
earlier this year and drew comfortably.} 10. Ng5 $5 {And this is it.} (10. a4
b4 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. Bxd5 c6 13. Bb3 Nd7 14. d4 a5) 10... Nc6 {What we thought
was the hardest to find over the board! Black simply heads for the d4-square
which is now unguarded.} (10... h6 11. f4 $1 {Gajewski's idea which prompted
us to go for the line.} exf4 (11... hxg5 12. fxg5 {and now a sample line could
go:} Ng4 $1 (12... Bg4 13. Qe1 Nfd7 14. Qh4 Be6 15. Rf3 {wins}) 13. g6 (13. h3
{is also playable}) 13... d5 $1 14. Kh1 Bc5 15. Qe1 Qd6 16. Bxd5 Qxg6 17. Bxa8
Nxh2 18. Kxh2 Qh5+ 19. Kg3 g5 (19... Qg4+ 20. Kh2 Qh5+ $11) 20. Rh1 $1 Qg4+ 21.
Kh2 Qh5+ $11) 12. Nf3 g5 {like a King's Gambit and White reacts in similar
fashion} 13. g3 fxg3 (13... Bh3 14. gxf4 Bxf1 15. Qxf1) 14. h4 $1 {White has
good compensation.}) 11. Ba2 {Stepping out of the way.} (11. Be3 Bg4 12. f3 Bd7
13. f4 Ng4) (11. f4 $6 Nd4 12. Ba2 Bg4 13. Qd2 h6) 11... Nd4 (11... h6 12. Nf3
$5 {in effect, ...h6 Ba2 have been inserted instead of ...Nb8, which should be
helpful for White.}) 12. Ne2 Nxe2+ (12... c5 13. Nxd4 exd4 (13... cxd4 14. f4)
14. f4) 13. Qxe2 h6 $1 14. f4 $5 {Continuing with the same idea, though I did
spend a lot of time here.} hxg5 {I had concentrated on this.} (14... exf4 $1 {
a better version for Black, but White continues as before} 15. Nf3 g5 {- Qe2
turns out to be misplaced.} 16. g3 (16. h4 Nh5 $1) 16... fxg3 17. h4 (17. hxg3
d5 $15) (17. Nd4 d5 $1) 17... Bh3 (17... Nh7 18. Nd4) 18. hxg5 Ng4 $132) 15.
fxg5 Ng4 (15... Bg4 $5 16. Qf2 Nh7 17. Bxf7+ Kh8 18. Qh4 (18. Qg3 Rxf7 19. Rxf7
Be6) 18... Rxf7 (18... Bd7 19. Bg6 Rxf1+ 20. Kxf1 Qg8 21. Qh5 Rf8+ 22. Kg1 $16)
19. Rxf7 Be6 {is about equal.}) 16. g6 Bg5 $6 (16... Nh6 $1 {just holds} 17.
Bxh6 (17. h3 Be6 (17... Bg5 18. Qh5 Bxc1 19. Bxf7+ Kh8 20. Raxc1 {and Black
cant stop g4-g5}) 18. gxf7+ (18. Qh5 Bxa2 19. Bxh6 fxg6 20. Qxg6 Rxf1+ 21. Rxf1
Bf6) (18. Bxe6 fxe6 19. Qh5 Rxf1+ 20. Kxf1 Qf8+ 21. Ke2 Qf6 22. g3 Rf8 23. Be3
d5 $19)) (17. Rxf7 Rxf7 18. Bxf7+ Nxf7 19. Qh5 Be6 {wins}) 17... gxh6 18. Rxf7
Rxf7 19. Rf1 Kg7 (19... Bf6 20. Qe3 Kg7 21. gxf7 $1) 20. Rxf7+ (20. gxf7 Bf8
$13) 20... Kxg6 {surprisingly no more than a perpetual} 21. Qf3 h5 22. Rf5 Bxf5
23. Qxf5+ Kg7 24. Bf7 Qf8 25. Qg6+ Kh8 26. Qxh5+ Kg7 $11) (16... d5 {also holds
} 17. Bxd5 Bc5+ 18. Kh1 Qh4 19. g3 {and now:} Qh5 $1 {Not the easiest line to
spot} (19... Qh3 20. gxf7+ Kh8 21. Bxa8 Nxh2 (21... Be6 22. Bb7 Rxf7 23. Rxf7
Bxf7 24. Bc8 $1) 22. Qxh2 $18) 20. Bxa8 Be6 21. Bd5 (21. Bc6 fxg6 $1 22. Rxf8+
Kxf8 $19) 21... Bxd5 22. exd5 Bf2 $1 23. Rxf2 Nxf2+ 24. Qxf2 Qd1+ 25. Qg1 Qf3+
$11) 17. h3 $1 (17. Bxf7+ Rxf7 $1 (17... Kh8 18. h3 Nh6 19. Qh5 {and White
gets a much better version than in the game}) 18. Rxf7 (18. gxf7+ Kf8 19. h3
Bxc1 20. Raxc1 Nf6 {seems fine for Black}) 18... Be6) 17... Bxc1 18. Raxc1 Nh6
19. Qh5 (19. Rxf7 $1 Rxf7 20. gxf7+ Kf8 21. Qh5 {followed by Rf1 and Qg6.})
19... Be6 20. Bxe6 fxe6 21. g4 c6 $6 (21... Qe7 22. g5 Rxf1+ 23. Rxf1 Rf8 24.
gxh6 Rxf1+ 25. Kxf1 Qf8+ 26. Ke2 gxh6 27. Qg4 Qf6 28. h4 $16) (21... Rf4 $1 22.
g5 Qf8 23. Kg2 Re8 {may be difficult to break it e.g.} 24. Rxf4 exf4 25. Rg1 e5
26. Kf3 Re7) 22. Rxf8+ $2 {Since the queen ending isn't as good for White as I
thought during the game, it follows that this is a mistake} (22. g5 $1 Qb6+ (
22... Rf4 23. gxh6 Rh4 24. h7+ Kh8 25. Rf8+ Qxf8 26. Qxh4 $18) 23. Kg2 Rxf1 (
23... Qe3 24. Rce1 $1 $18 {Black can't stay on the c1-h6 diagonal} Qd2+ 25. Re2
) 24. Rxf1 Qe3 25. gxh6 Qxh6 26. Qxh6 (26. Qg4 {even this is nice for White})
26... gxh6 27. Rf7 Rf8 28. Rc7) 22... Qxf8 23. Rf1 Qe7 24. g5 Rf8 25. gxh6
Rxf1+ 26. Kxf1 Qf8+ 27. Ke2 gxh6 28. Qg4 (28. b4 Qf4 {is what White should
avoid}) (28. Kd2 Qf4+ 29. Kc3 Kg7) 28... Qf6 29. h4 (29. b4 Kg7) 29... d5 $2 {
I originally thought that Black's final mistake came earlier, but in fact this
is the real blunder. After this move, Black loses the resource Qf6-f4.} (29...
a5 {After this move, the win is no longer evident.} 30. h5 a4 $1 {taking away
the b3-square, now White's king can't run away} (30... c5 31. Qf3 Qf4 32. Qh3
$1 Qf6 (32... Kg7 33. Qxe6 Qh2+ 34. Ke1 $1 (34. Kd1 $2 Qxh5+) 34... Qh4+ 35.
Kd2 Qf2+ 36. Kc3 {and here the king escapes the check via b3.}) 33. Kd1 a4 34.
Kc1 Kg7 35. Kb1 Kg8 36. Ka2 Kg7 37. c4 $18) 31. b4 {White waits one more move}
(31. b3 b4 $1) (31. Qf3 Qf4 32. b4 {A good try, but now Black can even swap
queens} (32. Qh3 Kg7 33. b3 (33. Qxe6 Qh2+ {the difference is Kc3-b3 isn't
available for White}) 33... Qc1 $1 $11) (32. Qxf4 exf4 33. b4 (33. d4 e5 34. d5
cxd5 35. exd5 {and now White can't play...} e4 36. b3 b4 $1) 33... e5) 32...
Qxf3+ (32... Qh2+ $2 33. Ke3 $1 (33. Kd1 Qf4 {would simply repeat}) 33... Qg1+
34. Kd2 Qg5+ 35. Kc3 Qf4 36. Qh3 $1 $18 Qf6 37. Qe3 {and White breaks through})
33. Kxf3 Kg7 34. c4 (34. Ke3 Kf6 (34... c5 35. bxc5 dxc5 36. Kd2 $1 b4 37. axb4
cxb4 38. c4 {wins}) 35. c4 (35. d4 exd4+ 36. Kxd4 e5+ 37. Ke3 d5 (37... Ke7 38.
Kf3 d5 $1 {still draws. Black just has to meet Kg4 with ...Kf6, provoke c3 and
then meet Kf5 with ...d4} (38... Ke6 39. Kg4 (39. c3 c5 40. bxc5 dxc5 41. Ke2
b4) 39... c5 (39... Kf6 {only this loses} 40. c4 $3 bxc4 41. Kf3 {and the king
walks back to c3} d5 42. exd5 cxd5 43. b5 {and White's pawns can't be stopped})
40. c3 cxb4 41. cxb4 Kf6 $11)) 38. Kf3 Ke7 39. Kg3 Ke6 40. Kg4 Kf6 41. c3 Ke6
42. g7 Kf7 43. Kf5 d4 44. cxd4 exd4 45. Kf4 Kxg7 46. e5 Kf7 (46... c5 47. bxc5
b4 48. c6 (48. axb4 a3 49. c6 a2 50. c7 a1=Q 51. c8=Q Qf1+ 52. Ke4 Qh1+ $1 {
stopping Kd5} 53. Kxd4 Qd1+ {and White can't make progress}) 48... bxa3 49. c7
a2 50. c8=Q a1=Q) 47. Ke4 c5 48. bxc5 b4 49. Kxd4 b3 50. Kc3 Ke6 51. c6 Ke7)
35... Kg7 36. Kd2 (36. cxb5 cxb5 37. d4 Kf6 38. d5 exd5 39. exd5 Ke7 40. Kf3
Kf8 41. Ke4 Kg7 42. Kf5 Kf8 $11 {and White can't make progress} 43. Ke6 e4 44.
Kxd6 e3 {and Black even wins}) 36... Kf6 37. Kc3 Kg7 38. d4 {here White
threatens d5 winning} exd4+ 39. Kxd4 e5+ 40. Kd3 Kf6 41. Ke2 Ke7 42. cxb5 cxb5
{here Black waits on e6 and e7 and meets Kg4 with ...Kf6} 43. Kf3 Ke6 44. Kg3
Ke7 45. Kg4 Kf6 $1 (45... Ke6 $2 46. g7 Kf7 47. Kf5 $18)) 34... Kf6 35. Ke3 Kg7
) (31. c4 bxc4 (31... Kg7 $2 32. cxb5 cxb5 33. Qg1 $1 $18) 32. dxc4 c5 {
however, White's king is now exposed} 33. Qh3 (33. Qf3 Qf4 $1 34. Qxf4 exf4 {
and now White's king is tied down to the f-pawn and can't help with b2-b3}) (
33. b3 axb3 34. Qh3 b2 35. Qb3 Kf8 $1 36. Qxb2 Qf4 $1 37. Qb8+ Ke7 38. Qc7+ Ke8
{and White can't make progress}) 33... Kg7) (31. Qg1 Qh4 32. Qa7 Qxh5+ 33. Kd2
Qxg6 34. Qb8+ Kf7 35. Qxd6 Qg3 $1) 31... c5 (31... Kg7 32. Qg1 $1 {was the
point}) 32. c3 Kg7 (32... cxb4 $2 {premature} 33. cxb4 Kg7 34. Qg1 $1) 33. Qg3
cxb4 34. Qe3 Qf4 $1 35. Qa7+ Kf8 {and White can't improve} 36. cxb4 Qg4+ 37.
Kd2 Qg5+ 38. Kc2 Qg2+ 39. Kc3 Qf1 $1 40. Qb8+ Ke7 {and a draw.}) 30. h5 (30.
exd5 $1 cxd5 31. h5 $18 {is faster.}) 30... d4 {Here I took stock, White is
simply winning and just has to be careful.} 31. b4 $1 {Pinning down the
queenside.} Kg7 32. Qf3 Qe7 (32... Qxf3+ 33. Kxf3 Kf6 34. Ke2 Kg7 35. Kd2 Kf6
36. c3 $1 {and now both} dxc3+ ({and} 36... Kg7 37. cxd4 exd4 38. e5 {win}) 37.
Kxc3 Kg7 38. d4 {wins.}) 33. Kd1 Kg8 34. Qf2 Kg7 35. c3 dxc3 36. Kc2 Qc7 37.
Qc5 Kg8 38. Qe3 a5 39. Qh3 (39. Qxh6 axb4 40. axb4 Qa7) 39... axb4 40. Qxe6+
Kf8 41. axb4 Qa7 42. Kxc3 Qa3+ 43. Kc2 Qa4+ 44. Qb3 Qa7 45. d4 (45. d4 Kg7 (
45... exd4 46. Kd3 Kg7 47. Qf7+ Qxf7 48. gxf7 Kxf7 49. Kxd4 $18) 46. Qf7+ Qxf7
47. gxf7 Kxf7 48. dxe5 Ke6 49. Kd3 Kxe5 50. Ke3) 1-0

[Event "Norway Chess 3rd"]
[Site "Stavanger"]
[Date "2015.06.19"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C95"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2876"]
[Annotator "Roiz,M"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 167"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.07.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.07.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 {Both players have a
huge experience of playing the Ruy Lopez with both colours. This time Vishy
goes for a quiet, but very fashionable line.} d6 (6... b5 7. Bb3 d6 {is the
most common choice here.}) 7. c3 O-O 8. Nbd2 Re8 9. Re1 b5 10. Bc2 (10. Bb3 Na5
11. Bc2 c5 {leads to another well-known theoretical line.}) 10... Bf8 11. Nf1 (
11. d4 $5 {deserves some attention in order to meet} Bg4 {with} 12. h3 Bh5 13.
d5 $14) 11... g6 12. h3 ({Sometimes White prefers to start with} 12. Ng3 {
, but most probably White shouldn't do without h2-h3 anyway.}) 12... Bb7 13.
Ng3 ({It was also possible to keep the knight on f1 for a while, like in the
following example:} 13. Be3 Bg7 14. Qc1 Qd7 (14... d5 $5) 15. Bh6 Nd8 16. Ng3
c5 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. d4 $14 {1/2-1/2 (82) Rozentalis,E (2607)-Jovanic,O (2519)/
Trieste ITA 2013}) 13... Nb8 14. d4 Nbd7 {The players have entered into the
main line of Breyer system.} 15. a4 (15. b3 {is another major line here.})
15... c5 16. d5 c4 17. Bg5 Bg7 ({Recently White has managed to put Black under
positional pressure after} 17... h6 18. Be3 Nc5 19. Qd2 Kh7 20. Bxc5 dxc5) ({
In the following recent game Black was able to solve the problems after} 17...
Rb8 $5 18. Qd2 Nc5 19. axb5 axb5 20. Nh2 Bc8 21. Rf1 Bg7 22. f4 h6 23. fxe5
Nfxe4 24. Bxe4 Qxg5 25. Qxg5 hxg5 26. e6 fxe6 27. Bxg6 Re7 $11 {1/2-1/2
Vachier Lagrave,M (2775)-Dominguez Perez,L (2726)/Tbilisi FIDE GP 2015}) 18.
Qd2 Rb8 {Magnus deviates from the known paths at this early stage. This move
is aimed at making the c8-spot vacant for the bishop.} ({In the following
classical game between two former World Champions White couldn't pose Black
any special problems:} 18... Nc5 19. Ra3 (19. Nh4 Qd7 20. axb5 axb5 21. Rxa8
Rxa8 22. Qe3 Ne8 $132 {1-0 (68) Zherebukh,Y (2473)-Kovalev,V (2318)/Kirishi
2008/CBM 127 Extra}) 19... Qc7 20. Rea1 Rab8 21. Qe3 Nfd7 22. Bh6 Bh8 23. Nh2
Bc8 24. axb5 axb5 25. Ng4 Nf6 {1/2-1/2 Tal,M (2645)-Petrosian,T (2645)/Milan
1975/MCL}) 19. Nh2 $146 {This logical innovation is a standard preparation of
White's k-side activity, which is based on the f2-f4 advance.} ({Taking
control over the a-file doesn't offer much:} 19. Ra3 Nc5 20. axb5 axb5 $11 {
1/2-1/2 (21) Dueball,J (2450)-Matanovic,A (2490)/Bath 1973/EU-chT}) 19... Bc8
$6 {The World Champion is playing with fire! Leaving the pin yields White too
many attacking possibilities.} ({A much safer move was} 19... Qc7 20. f4 (20.
Ng4 Nxg4 21. hxg4 Bc8 22. Be3 (22. f3 Nc5 23. Be3 Bd7 24. axb5 Rxb5 25. Ra2
Reb8 26. Rb1 a5 $132) 22... Nc5 23. g5 Bd7 $132) 20... exf4 21. Qxf4 b4 22. Rf1
Qa5 $132 {with a complex battle.}) 20. Ng4 Nc5 $6 {One more inaccuracy.} ({
After} 20... Qe7 21. Nh6+ Kh8 22. Rf1 Qf8 23. axb5 axb5 24. Ra5 (24. h4 $5)
24... Nc5 25. Rfa1 $14 {Black's position would be worse, but playable.}) 21.
Nh6+ $1 Bxh6 {Exchanging the main defender of king is definitely a bad sign
for Black!} (21... Kf8 22. axb5 axb5 23. f4 $16 {[%csl Rf8]}) 22. Bxh6 bxa4 {
Breaking the q-side pawn chain is necessary, since Black desperately needs any
counterplay.} 23. Ra2 {Definitely not the best, since Black is getting some
play along the b-file, while the Ra2 is passive now.} ({A stronger move was} 
23. Reb1 $1 Bd7 24. Bg5 Kg7 25. Qe3 Qe7 26. Ra2 $16) 23... a3 $1 24. bxa3 $6 {
Recapturing the pawn definitely suits Black here.} ({There was a nice way to
extend the initiative at the cost of pawn:} 24. Rxa3 $1 Rxb2 25. Bg5 Kg7 26.
Qc1 Qb6 (26... Rb7 27. Rf1 $36) 27. Be3 Nfd7 28. Ba4 $36) 24... Nfd7 $1 25. f4
({Possibly,} 25. Qe3 $5 {was more promising here:} Kh8 (25... a5 26. Nf5 Nf6
27. Ng7 Rf8 28. f4 $36) 26. Raa1 Rb2 27. Qc1 $14) 25... a5 $1 {Magnus finds
the best way to connect the rooks - the bishop is heading to a6.} (25... Qh4 $2
{doesn't work in view of} 26. Bg5 Qxg3 27. Re3 Nb3 28. Bxb3 Qxe3+ 29. Qxe3 cxb3
30. Rb2 $18) 26. Rf1 (26. f5 Qh4 $1 27. Nf1 f6 28. Be3 gxf5 29. Bf2 Qg5 {
looks good for Black.}) 26... f6 $2 {This passive continuation leads to a very
difficult position from the strategic point of view.} ({It was necessary to
release the pressure in the centre:} 26... Qb6 $1 27. Kh1 Nb3 28. Qe2 exf4 $1
29. Bxf4 Ne5 30. Be3 Qd8 $132 {leads to a complex position, where the strong
centralised knight compensates for the vulnerablity of Black's monarch.}) 27.
f5 $1 {Now Black's position desperately lacks space.} Nd3 {Black is trying to
complicate matters, since White's potential k-side attack is unstoppable.} ({
After} 27... Qe7 28. h4 Qf7 29. Be3 $16 {White may develop a crushing attack
step by step.}) 28. Bxd3 cxd3 29. Qd1 $1 {White has reached a harmonious setup,
so all the pieces may take part in attacking the opponent's king.} ({Vishy
correctly rejects} 29. Qxd3 $6 Qb6+ 30. Be3 (30. Kh2 Ba6 31. c4 Qb3 $11) 30...
Ba6 31. Qd2 Qb3 $44) 29... Re7 (29... Kh8 30. Be3 Rg8 31. Qxd3 Qc7 32. fxg6
hxg6 33. Qe2 $16) 30. Raf2 Rf7 31. Qxd3 {Now there is nothing wrong with
taking a pawn.} (31. h4 $5 {was another promising option here:} Kh8 32. fxg6
hxg6 33. h5 Qg8 34. Bg5 $40) 31... Nc5 32. Qf3 Ba6 {A natural move, but the
bishop was quite useful on c8.} (32... g5 {was bad:} 33. h4 gxh4 34. Nh5 Kh8
35. Qg4 Qe7 36. Rf3 Ba6 37. Re1 Nd3 38. Ree3 Rb1+ 39. Kh2 $18) ({The most
tenacious continuation seems to be} 32... Kh8 33. fxg6 hxg6 34. Bg5 Nd7 35. h4
Ba6 36. c4 Qg8 {[%cal Gb8f8] and Black manages to parry the immediate threats,
though White is still almost winning here.}) 33. Qg4 ({It looks like the
direct attack would decide the game here:} 33. fxg6 hxg6 34. Qg4 Kh7 35. Qh4
Bxf1 36. Bg5+ Kg8 (36... Kg7 37. Qh6+ Kg8 38. Bxf6 $1 Rxf6 39. Nh5 gxh5 40.
Rxf6 $18) 37. Bxf6 Rh7 38. Qg5 Qe8 39. Rxf1 Rbb7 40. h4 $18) 33... g5 ({
Black's position is hopeless after} 33... Bc8 34. Qh4 g5 35. Qg4 Kh8 36. h4 Ba6
37. hxg5 Bxf1 38. g6 $18) 34. h4 $1 {There is no need to spend a tempo on
removing the rook.} Bxf1 35. Rxf1 Qd7 ({After} 35... Kh8 36. hxg5 fxg5 {
the most convincing is} 37. f6 Rxf6 38. Bg7+ Kxg7 39. Nh5+ Kh8 40. Rxf6 Qe7 41.
Qf5 $18 {with full domination.}) 36. hxg5 fxg5 37. Qh5 {This unexpected move
doesn't spoil anything - the king is too weak.} ({There was nothing wrong with
the most natural} 37. Bxg5 Kh8 38. Qh4 Rg8 39. Rb1 $1 $18 (39. Bf6+ $6 {
is less clear:} Rxf6 40. Qxf6+ Qg7 41. Qxg7+ Kxg7 $16)) 37... Kh8 38. f6 Rg8
39. Bg7+ Rfxg7 40. fxg7+ Qxg7 {It looks like Black has consolidated, but
Anand's calculations were deep!} 41. Nf5 Qg6 42. Qxg6 Rxg6 43. Ne7 $1 $18 Kg7 (
{The poor coordination of Black's pieces enables White to liquadate into a
winning rook ending:} 43... Rh6 44. Rf8+ Kg7 45. Rc8 Kf7 46. Nf5 Rg6 47. Nxd6+
Rxd6 48. Rxc5 $18) 44. Nxg6 Kxg6 45. Rf8 a4 ({Or} 45... Nxe4 46. c4 a4 47. Ra8
Nc5 48. Kf2 h5 49. Ke3 Kf5 50. Rf8+ Kg4 51. Rd8 $18) 46. c4 h5 47. Kf2 {
Quite a disappointing loss for Magnus, but Anand's achievement shouldn't be
underestimated.} ({Black resigns in view of} 47. Kf2 Nxe4+ 48. Ke3 Nc5 49. Rd8
$18) 1-0

[Event "London Classic 7th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2015.12.08"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2796"]
[BlackElo "2803"]
[Annotator "Szabo,Kr"]
[PlyCount "147"]
[EventDate "2015.12.04"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 170"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.01.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.01.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 ({One year before
they had already played a game with} 6... e6 7. g4 Nfd7 8. Bg2 Be7 9. Be3 Nc6
10. h4 $5 Nde5 11. g5 Bd7 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. b3 f5 14. f4 Ng4 15. Qe2 Nxe3 16.
Qxe3 fxe4 17. O-O-O d5 18. Nxe4 $13 {Anand-Topalov, Khanty-Mansiysk 2014, with
a complicated position. Later Anand managed to win.}) 7. Nde2 h5 8. Bg5 (8. g3
{is the another main move.}) 8... Be6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. Nd5 Qd8 11. Qd3 $5 {
A little improvement by Anand.} ({He had played} 11. Nec3 {a few times, but
now he had this move up his sleeve.}) 11... g6 $146 {Topalov makes the first
new move of the game. He would like to play ...Bh6 to stop White from 0-0-0.}
12. O-O-O Nd7 13. Kb1 Rc8 14. Nec3 Rc5 ({The straightforward} 14... Bh6 $5 {
looks more natural.}) 15. Be2 b5 $6 {This is an inaccuracy, which allows a
good attack for White.} (15... Bg7) ({or} 15... Bh6 {was important to continue
the development.}) 16. a3 (16. f4 $1 {was stronger, the point being} exf4 17.
Qd4 $1 Rh7 18. Nxf4 $16 {and White has nice play.}) 16... Nb6 17. g4 hxg4 ({
In the event of} 17... Bxd5 18. exd5 hxg4 19. hxg4 Rxh1 20. Rxh1 Bg7 21. Ne4 $1
Rxd5 22. Qc3 $36 {and the rook can be in trouble on d5.}) 18. Nxb6 (18. hxg4 $5
Rxh1 19. Rxh1 Bxd5 20. exd5 {transposes to 17...Bxd5.}) 18... Qxb6 19. hxg4
Rxh1 20. Rxh1 Bg7 21. Qe3 Qb7 ({The unsuspecting} 21... a5 $2 {could have been
met by} 22. b4 $1 $18 {and suddenly White wins.}) (21... Rc6 $5 {was also
possible.}) 22. Rd1 Qc7 23. g5 $1 {Anand fixes the kingside and he prepares
for Rg1 followed by Bg4 to exhange the light-squared Bs.} Qc6 24. Rg1 Qd7 (
24... a5 $5 {was an interesting option to create counterplay on the queenside.}
25. Bg4 b4 26. Bxe6 fxe6 27. axb4 axb4 $13) 25. Qg3 Rc8 26. Bg4 $1 {White has
achieved his aim.} Bxg4 ({If Black tries to keep the tension with} 26... a5 {
, White can continue with} 27. Bxe6 fxe6 28. Qd3 Rb8 29. Nd1 $1 Qc6 30. Ne3 $36
{and White has a great initiative.}) 27. Qxg4 Qxg4 28. Rxg4 Bf8 29. Nd5 $14 {
White has a comfortable endgame, he has a "good N" against the "bad B". The
plan in such positions is usually simple. Keep control and create a passed
pawn on the queenside. However the difficulty here is that the g5-pawn is weak
and the rook has to protect it.} Be7 30. c3 Rc6 31. Kc2 Kd7 32. Kb3 Bd8 33. a4
$1 {The first step of White's plan. He tries to create a passed pawn.} Rc5 34.
axb5 Rxb5+ ({Probably} 34... axb5 $5 {was a larger task to create a passed
pawn for White. Now the engine suggests} 35. Rg2 Rc4 36. f3 Ke6 37. Rg1 Ra4 38.
Rh1 {, but this is still a big fight.}) 35. Ka2 a5 36. b4 axb4 37. cxb4 {
So step one has been completed. Now White should get the rook into the game
somehow.} Rb7 38. Kb3 Rb8 39. Rg1 $1 Rb7 40. Rg3 Rb8 41. Rg1 Rb7 42. Ra1 $1 {
A very good move! Anand sacrifices the g5-pawn and gets his rook into the
action.} Bxg5 43. Kc4 Bd8 44. f3 ({The immediate} 44. b5 {was also good.})
44... f5 45. Rh1 (45. b5 $5) 45... fxe4 46. fxe4 g5 47. b5 Rb8 48. Rh7+ Ke6 (
48... Kc8 {looks safer, because on e6 the king is in a mating net.}) 49. Kb4 $1
{Black is in zugzwang! The rook cannot move away from the b-file as b6 would
come and the bishop cannot move away, because of the mate on e7. Only the
g-pawn can play!} ({The tempting} 49. b6 $2 {was a big mistake, as} Rxb6 $1 50.
Nxb6 Bxb6 {and probably Black can hold.}) 49... g4 50. Rg7 g3 51. Rxg3 Rb7 52.
Rg6+ Kd7 53. Rg7+ Kc8 54. Rg8 Kd7 55. Kc4 Rb8 (55... Kc8 56. b6 $18 {is
hopeless for Black.}) 56. Rg7+ Ke6 57. Kb4 $1 {This is the same zugzwang
position without the g-pawn and White is just winning.} Ba5+ $1 {The best
practical chance.} 58. Kc4 (58. Ka4 $1 {would have won the game with ease, for
example} Bd8 {is strongly refuted by} 59. Ra7 $1 Rc8 60. b6 $18) ({, but even} 
58. Kxa5 Rxb5+ 59. Ka4 Ra5+ 60. Kb3 Ra3+ 61. Kc4 Ra4+ 62. Nb4 $18 {should be
winning too.}) 58... Bd8 59. Rg8 Rc8+ 60. Kd3 (60. Kb4 $1 {was stronger,} Ba5+
$2 61. Kxa5 Rxg8 62. b6 $18 {and the pawn cannot be stopped.}) 60... Rb8 61.
Rh8 $6 {An inaccuracy; now Black can defend more easily.} (61. Kc4 $1) 61...
Kd7 62. Rh7+ Ke6 $2 {A mistake, which helps White to reach the zugzwang
position.} (62... Kc8 $1 {was tougher.}) 63. Kc4 Rc8+ 64. Kb4 Rc1 (64... Rb8 {
could have been met by} 65. Ra7 $1 $18 {and White has managed the final
zugzwang.}) 65. b6 {Finally the pawn moves ahead and it's all over.} Rb1+ 66.
Ka5 Bxb6+ ({In the event of} 66... Rb2 67. Ka6 Ra2+ 68. Kb7 Rb2 69. Kc8 Rc2+
70. Rc7 $1 $18 {and White wins} ({, but not} 70. Kxd8 $4 Rc8+ $1 $11 {and
stalemate!})) 67. Nxb6 {This position is easily winning for White because
Black can't exchange the e4-pawn and White can always protect it with Rh4.}
Ra1+ 68. Kb5 Rb1+ 69. Kc6 Rc1+ 70. Kb7 Rb1 71. Kc7 Rc1+ 72. Kd8 Re1 73. Rh4 Kf6
74. Rg4 $1 {A fine victory for Anand who played a consistent game.} 1-0

[Event "Sinquefield Cup 4th"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2016.08.06"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2819"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[Annotator "Sumets,A"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2016.08.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 174"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.09.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 $5 ({The line} 3... Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 {is more
reliable but much more passive.}) 4. e5 Ne4 5. Ne2 Qb6 6. d4 e6 ({Another
continuation} 6... c5 {is not popular nowadays} 7. dxc5 Qxc5 8. Ned4 Nc6 9. Bb5
Bd7 10. O-O e6 (10... Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Bxb5 {Nezhmetdinov, R - Kamyshov,M 1950}
12. b4 $5 Qxb4 13. Ba3 Qxa3 (13... Qa4 14. Nxb5 Qxb5 15. Rb1 Qa5 16. Rxb7 $18)
14. Nxb5 Qc5 15. c4 e6 16. Qa4 Ke7 17. cxd5 Qxd5 18. Nf3 $16) 11. Be3 Qb4 12.
c4 Qxb2 13. cxd5 Nc3 14. dxe6 $1 Nxd1 15. exd7+ Kd8 16. Raxd1 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Bc5
18. Bc4 Bxd4 19. Bxd4 Qc2 20. Bxf7 $18 {Svetushkin,D (2554)-Landa,K (2635)
Rijeka 2010 1-0 (32)}) 7. Nfg1 f6 8. f3 Ng5 9. exf6 gxf6 10. f4 Ne4 ({Maxime
has preferred 10...Nf7 when he played this line with Black:} 10... Nf7 11. Nf3
Be7 (11... c5 12. f5 Nc6 13. c3 Bd6 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. Nf4 Bf2+ 16. Ke2 O-O 17.
fxe6 Bxe6 18. Nxe6 Rfe8 19. Qxd5 Nb4 $2 {is a very optimistic decision} (19...
Rad8 20. Qe4 Rd7 21. Qg4+ Ng5 $8 22. Nfxg5 fxg5 23. Qxg5+ Kh8 24. Qf6+ Kg8 25.
Qg5+ $11 (25. g3 Nd8 26. Qg5+ Kh8 27. Qf6+ Kg8 $11)) 20. cxb4 Rad8 21. Qf5
Rxe6+ 22. Qxe6 Qxe6+ 23. Kxf2 Ne5 $2 (23... Re8 24. Bd3 Qb6+ 25. Kf1 Qxb4 26.
Bd2 Qxb2 27. Rd1 $16) 24. Nxe5 Qxe5 25. Be2 Qf5+ 26. Bf3 Qc2+ 27. Be2 $2 (27.
Kg3 $1 Kh8 28. Be3 Rg8+ 29. Kh4 $18 {White's bishops control all the board.})
27... Qf5+ 28. Bf3 Qc2+ 29. Be2 {1/2 (29) Poetsch,H (2498)-Khenkin,I (2596)
Wiesbaden 2015}) (11... Bg7 12. Ng3 O-O 13. Nh5 e5 14. Nxg7 Kxg7 15. fxe5 fxe5
16. Be2 exd4 ({Black can't solve all his problems by means of} 16... e4 $5 17.
Nh4 Qd8 18. g3 Be6 19. Bf4 Nd7 20. Qd2 $14) 17. Qxd4+ Qxd4 18. Nxd4 c5 19. Nb5
Na6 20. O-O $16 {Dominguez Perez,L (2757)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2719) Tromsoe
2013 1/2 (54)}) 12. c4 dxc4 13. Nc3 Nd6 14. b3 cxb3 15. axb3 O-O 16. Bd3 Rf7
17. O-O Nb5 (17... Na6 $5 18. Na4 Qd8 19. Bxa6 bxa6 20. Ba3 $44) 18. Ne2 c5 19.
f5 $1 e5 20. Bxb5 $6 (20. Bc4 $1 cxd4 21. Ng3 Nd6 22. Bxf7+ Nxf7 23. Nd2 {
with a very strong attack}) 20... Qxb5 21. dxe5 Bxf5 22. Bb2 Nc6 23. exf6 Bxf6
24. Bxf6 Rxf6 25. Nh4 Rd8 26. Qe1 Rdf8 27. Nxf5 Rxf5 28. Qg3+ Kh8 29. Qc3+ Kg8
30. Qg3+ Kh8 31. Qc3+ Kg8 {1/2 (31) Grischuk,A (2747)-Ding Liren (2778)
Wenzhou CHN 2016}) 11. Ng3 Bd7 $146 {A novelty and quite a logical development.
Black's knight will be developed after ...Na6 and after Qh5+ Black's king can
hide ...Kd8, ...Kc7. Let's have a look at other continuations:} (11... Kd8 12.
c3 Nd6 $6 (12... Rg8 13. Qc2 f5 14. Nf3 Bd7 $13) 13. Nf3 Nd7 14. Be2 (14. Bd3
$5 h5 15. Nh4 $16) 14... Rg8 15. O-O c5 $2 16. Kh1 Rxg3 17. hxg3 Ne4 18. Kh2 f5
19. Ne5 Ndf6 20. g4 Bd7 21. g5 $18 {Salgado Lopez,I (2651)-Petrov,M (2439)
Izmir TUR 2016 1-0 (28)}) (11... c5 $6 {Black pieces aren't well-developed and
his king is in the centre so 11...c5 can't be recommended.} 12. Bd3 (12. Nxe4
$5 {It is seems to me that this continuation should be stronger than Bd3:} dxe4
13. d5 $1 Bg7 $6 (13... f5 14. Qh5+ (14. Nh3 exd5 15. Qxd5) 14... Kd8 15. Bc4
Be7 (15... exd5 16. Bxd5 Bd7 17. Be3 Qxb2 18. Qd1 Nc6 19. Rb1 Qc3+ 20. Bd2 Qf6
21. Ne2 $40) 16. Bd2 exd5 17. Bxd5 Nd7 18. Qh3 Rf8 19. O-O-O Kc7 20. Ne2 $16)
14. Qh5+ Kf8 15. Be3 f5 16. Rd1 Na6 17. Bxa6 bxa6 18. Ne2 Bd7 19. c3 $16 {
Dann,M (2477)-Zubarev,A (2548) Boeblingen GER 2015 1/2 (60)}) 12... f5 13. Qh5+
Kd8 14. Nf3 Nd7 (14... cxd4 $5 15. O-O (15. Ne5 $6 Qb4+ 16. Kf1 Kc7 17. Ng6 Nf6
18. Qh4 Rg8 $17) 15... Bd7 16. a4 Nc6 17. a5 Nxa5 18. Ne5 Be8 19. Qh4+ Be7 20.
Qh6 Bf8 $11) 15. Bxe4 dxe4 16. Ng5 Kc7 17. Be3 Kb8 18. O-O-O Nf6 $2 (18... c4
19. Qf7 c3 20. b3 (20. bxc3 Ba3+ 21. Kd2 Rf8 22. Qxe6 Qc7 23. Qb3 Nb6 24. Ke2
Nc4 $44)) 19. Qf7 Nd5 20. dxc5 Bxc5 21. Bxc5 Qxc5 22. Nxe6 Qe3+ $2 (22... Bxe6
23. Qxe6 $16) 23. Rd2 $18 {Bacrot,E (2697)-Tari,A (2556) Caleta ENG 2016 1-0 
(30)}) (11... Nd7 $5 {Unfortunately, at this moment, it has been played only
in one game.} 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. c3 $6 (13. Qh5+ Ke7 14. Nh3 $5 Qxd4 15. c3 Qd5
16. Qh4 Nc5 17. Nf2 b6 (17... Nd3+ 18. Bxd3 exd3 19. Be3 c5 20. O-O-O c4 21.
Bd4 Bg7 22. Ng4 Qf5 23. Rhe1 $1 (23. Ne3 Qb5 24. Ng4 $11) 23... Kf7 24. Bxf6
Bxf6 25. Nh6+ Kg6 26. Nxf5 Bxh4 27. Nxh4+ Kf6 28. Re5 $16) 18. Be3 Nd3+ 19.
Nxd3 exd3 20. O-O-O Ba6 21. Bd4 Bg7 22. Bxd3 Bxd3 23. Rxd3 Qf5 24. Rhd1 Rad8
$11) 13... f5 $1 14. Qh5+ Ke7 15. Nh3 Nf6 16. Qh4 Rg8 17. Ng5 Rg6 18. a4 Bg7
19. a5 Qb3 20. Qf2 h6 21. Nh3 Ng4 $15 {Saric,I (2622)-Mchedlishvili,M (2639)
Fujairah 2012 1/2 (33)}) 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. c3 Na6 {Vishy doesn't care that
after Qh5+ his king should go to c7 on foot.} ({Black could have tried} 13...
h5 $5 14. Qc2 f5 15. Be3 Na6 16. a4 Qd8 17. Bxa6 {otherwise Black's knight can
get to d5} (17. Nh3 Nc7 18. Ng5 Nd5 19. Qf2 Bd6 $15) 17... bxa6 18. Nh3 Qh4+
19. Bf2 Qg4 20. Be3 Qh4+ $11) ({Or even} 13... c5 {with the following lines:}
14. Qh5+ (14. d5 exd5 15. Qxd5 Nc6 16. Qxe4+ Ne7 17. Nf3 O-O-O 18. Be2 Nf5 19.
O-O Re8 20. Qc2 c4+ 21. Kh1 Qe6 22. Bd1 Bc6 $44) 14... Kd8 15. Qh4 Be7 16. dxc5
Qxc5 17. Qg3 Kc7 18. Be3 Qh5 19. Qf2 (19. Be2 Qg6 20. Qf2 Nc6 21. O-O-O Rad8
22. Nh3 $13) 19... Nc6 20. Bc4 Rad8 21. Ne2 ({Of course White can't take on a7:
} 21. Bxa7 $4 Nxa7 22. Qxa7 Bc5 $1 23. Qa5+ Kb8 24. b4 b6 $1 25. Qa6 Be3 $19)
21... Kb8 22. O-O-O Bc8 23. Ng3 Qg6 24. Bb5 $14) 14. Qh5+ Kd8 15. Bc4 Kc7 $6 {
After this move Black's position is very dangerous.} ({I believe that Vishy
should have preferred} 15... f5 $1 16. Qf7 Be7 17. a4 (17. Bxe6 $4 Rf8 $19)
17... Re8 $5 {Black needs to protect his bishop and then he can play ...Kc8.
The h7-pawn is not important.} (17... Rf8 $6 18. Qxh7 c5 19. Ne2 Nb4 $5 20. a5
Qd6 (20... Qc7 21. cxb4 cxd4 22. b3 d3 23. Be3 $1 Bxb4+ 24. Kf2 dxe2 25. Kxe2
$16) 21. cxb4 cxd4 22. b3 d3 23. Be3 Qxb4+ 24. Kf2 Rc8 25. Rac1 dxe2 26. Bxe2
Rc3 27. Rxc3 Qxc3 28. Rd1 $14) 18. Qxh7 Kc8 19. Nh3 c5 20. dxc5 Nxc5 21. a5 Qd6
22. Nf2 Kc7 23. Be3 Rh8 24. Qg7 Rhg8 25. Qd4 (25. Qh7 Rh8 $11) 25... Rxg2 26.
h4 Bc6 $11) 16. a4 (16. f5 $1 {was much stronger. For example:} e5 (16... exf5
17. a4 Qa5 (17... c5 $6 18. a5 Qc6 19. Bf4+ Bd6 20. d5 Be8 21. dxc6 Bxh5 22.
Bxd6+ Kxd6 23. cxb7 $18) (17... Re8 $4 18. a5 $18) 18. Ne2 Bd6 19. O-O Rae8 20.
b4 Nxb4 21. cxb4 Qxb4 22. Bf7 $16 {It's obvious that in this position the
knight is stronger than 3 pawns.}) 17. Qh4 Bd6 18. Ne2 exd4 (18... Nb4 $5 19.
Qxe4 Nd5 20. O-O $1 Rae8 21. Qh4 {Black has not enough compensation for the
sacrificed pawn}) 19. Nxd4 Rae8 20. O-O Nb4 21. Be3 c5 22. Ne6+ Bxe6 23. fxe6
$16) 16... c5 $8 17. Ne2 Rd8 18. Be3 f5 ({Black can't solve his problems by
means of} 18... Bd6 19. O-O Kb8 20. Rfd1 Rhg8 (20... Qc7 21. Bxa6 cxd4 22. Bxd4
e5 23. fxe5 fxe5 24. Bf2 bxa6 25. Ng3 $16) 21. d5 exd5 22. Qxd5 Bg4 23. Rd2 Rg7
24. a5 Qc7 25. Bxa6 bxa6 26. Ng3 $16) 19. O-O Kb8 20. Qf7 $6 ({I believe that
Maxime could have got an advantage after} 20. Rfd1 $1 Bc8 21. Qf7 Nc7 22. a5
Qc6 23. dxc5 Bxc5 (23... Rxd1+ 24. Rxd1 Bxc5 25. Nd4 Qd6 26. b4 Qe7 27. Qh5 Bd6
28. a6 $16) 24. Nd4 Bxd4 25. Rxd4 $8 $16) 20... Nc7 (20... Bd6 $5 21. a5 Qc7
22. Bxa6 Rhf8 $1 {and White should go for the move repetition after Qxh7} (
22... bxa6 23. dxc5 Bxc5 24. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 25. Nd4 $14) 23. Qxh7 Rh8 24. Qf7 Rdf8
25. Qg7 Rfg8 $11) 21. a5 Qc6 22. Qf6 Bd6 23. dxc5 Bxc5 24. Nd4 $14 {Black's
pieces are misplaced, so White's position is still better. White can combine
an attack on the queenside with pressure on the e6-pawn.} Qd6 $8 25. b4 (25.
Rfd1 $1 Qe7 26. Qxe7 Bxe7 27. Rd2 $14) 25... Qe7 ({Probably} 25... Qf8 {
was a more reliable continuation:} 26. Qxf8 (26. Qh4 $5 Be7 27. Qf2 a6 28. Rab1
Qe8 29. Be2 Rg8 $132) 26... Bxf8 27. Rfd1 Bg7 28. Rac1 Ba4 29. Rd2 Rhe8 $11)
26. Qh6 Bd6 27. Rad1 Rhf8 28. Bf2 Rf6 29. Qh4 Nd5 $6 ({As an alternative I can
propose} 29... Rg8 $5 30. Nxf5 exf5 31. Bxg8 e3 32. Bxe3 Qxe3+ 33. Kh1 Qe7 34.
Qxh7 Bc6 35. Qxe7 Bxe7 $13 {Despite White's material advantage, Black's
chances are not worse.}) 30. Nxe6 $4 {A terrible blunder. Now White's position
is lost.} ({White should have played} 30. Bxd5 exd5 31. Qh3 Qg7 (31... Bxf4 $6
32. Bh4 Be5 33. Nxf5 Qe6 34. Bxf6 Bxf6 35. c4 $1 dxc4 36. Qh6 $16) 32. Qe3 {
This position seems to be dangerous for Black.} Rg6 (32... Bc7 33. Nb3 b6) 33.
g3 a6 34. Nc2 $1 (34. Nxf5 Bxf5 35. Rxd5 Be6 36. Qa7+ Kc8 37. Rc5+ Kd7 (37...
Bxc5 38. Qxc5+ Kd7 39. f5 Rf6 40. fxe6+ Kxe6 41. Re1 $16) 38. Qxb7+ Ke8 39.
Qxe4 Bxc5 40. Bxc5 Qxc3 $1 41. f5 Rxg3+ 42. hxg3 Qxg3+ 43. Qg2 Qxg2+ 44. Kxg2
Bc8 {with good chances to make a draw.}) 34... Ba4 $1 (34... Bc6 35. c4 dxc4
36. Qa7+ Kc8 37. Ne3 Qf7 38. Rd4 c3 39. Nc4 Qf6 40. b5 $1 axb5 41. Nb6+ Kc7 42.
Nd5+ Bxd5 43. Rxd5 $18) 35. Qa7+ Kc8 36. Qa8+ Bb8 37. Ne3 Bxd1 38. Rxd1 Qf7 39.
c4 d4 40. Nd5 {White has enough compensation to make a draw.} Rxd5 41. cxd5 Qc7
$1 (41... e3 42. Rc1+ $18) (41... Qxd5 42. Bxd4 Rc6 43. Qxb8+ Kxb8 44. Ba7+
Kxa7 45. Rxd5 $16 {The rook ending is probably lost due to the miserable
position of Black's king.} e3 46. Kg2 Rc2+ 47. Kf3 Rxh2 48. Rxf5 e2 49. Re5)
42. Bxd4 Qc2 43. Rf1 Rh6 44. Rf2 (44. Bf2 $4 e3 $19) 44... Qb1+ 45. Kg2 (45.
Rf1 Qc2 $11) 45... e3 46. Bxe3 Qe4+ 47. Rf3 Rxh2+ 48. Kxh2 Qxf3 49. Ba7 Qe2+
$11) 30... Bxe6 31. Bxd5 e3 $1 32. Bxe3 {Other continuations are not better.} (
32. Rfe1 Bxd5 33. Bxe3 Be4 $19) (32. Bg3 e2 $19) 32... Bxd5 $19 33. Bxa7+ Kxa7
34. Qf2+ Bc5 $1 (34... Ka8 $6 35. Rxd5 Bb8 36. Rxd8 Qxd8 37. Qc2 $17) 35. Qxc5+
Qxc5+ 36. bxc5 Rd7 37. Rfe1 h6 38. Kf2 Kb8 39. c4 Bc6 40. Rxd7 Bxd7 41. Rb1 Ra6
42. Rb6 Rxa5 43. Rxh6 Rxc5 44. h4 Rxc4 45. g3 Kc7 46. h5 b5 0-1

[Event "London Classic 8th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2016.12.10"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2779"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[Annotator "Mekhitarian,K"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2016.12.09"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 176"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.01.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.01.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 $1 {By far Anand's #1 choice} c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3
a6 {It is always exciting seeing such a confrontation - Anand, known for his
extremely deep and ambitious opening preparation, continuously finding new
ideas and putting problems to his opponents. On the other side, we have one of
the world's top specialists in the Najdorf Variation (as White and Black) -
current number 4 in the world, having an amazing 2016 year, Maxime
Vachier-Lagrave or simply MVL. Both players had drawn their first round games,
meaning there was a higher chance they would both seek a very tense battle.} 6.
h3 $5 {[%cal Gg2g4] The Adams Attack has become a fashionable idea against the
Najdorf, leading to extremely complicated positions. I always found it weird
to have it called after Michael Adams, who is such a positional genius (he
indeed played it 5 times), but I have just come to realize it is named after
the American master Weaver Adams, who started playing it back in the 1940s!
Black has some options here, e5 being the most common.} e5 (6... Qc7 {was
tried in the very first game of this variation against Mr. Weaver in 1948} 7.
g4 e6 8. Bg2 Nc6 9. Be3 Na5 10. Qe2 Bd7 11. Rd1 h6 12. Bc1 $1 Be7 13. f4 O-O-O
14. O-O $36 {1-0 (29) Adams,W-Pavey,M Baltimore 1948, a very odd situation to
have White castle kingside and Black castle queenside in an Open Sicilian.
White went on to win it in 29 moves!}) 7. Nb3 {Anand has played this 7.Nb3
only once before (in 2014, against Nepomniachtchi). White's idea is to play
something like an English Attack (with Be3, f4 ideas, or even f4 right away,
normally connected with castling on the queenside).} (7. Nde2 {[%cal Gg2g4,
Ge2g3] is the most common move, aiming for g4-Ng3,} h5 {Black normally stops
White's kingside expansion with this move, and White develops with either g3
or Bg5 now, and even the creative Ng1 followed by Nf3 and Ng5 is possible.})
7... Be6 8. f4 Nbd7 9. g4 $5 {A very interesting move, preparing f5 under
better conditions. Now g5 is a threat. There are two important games that have
similarities to this one:} (9. Qf3 Rc8 10. f5 Bxb3 11. axb3 d5 $5 {is a
typical pawn sacrifice that probably led MVL to an important decision later in
this game, as you will see.} 12. exd5 e4 $5 (12... Bb4 $5) 13. Qg3 Nh5 $13 {
0-1 (57) Gormally,D (2488)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2757) Douglas 2014, with an
unclear position.}) (9. f5 Bxb3 10. axb3 d5 $1 {right away!} 11. exd5 Bb4 12.
Bd2 (12. g4 $2 {now fails drastically} Ne4 $1 $17) 12... O-O 13. Qe2 Bxc3 14.
bxc3 e4 $44 {1-0 (34) Sutovsky,E (2635)-Shirov,A (2712) Poikovsky 2015} (14...
Nxd5 $5)) 9... Rc8 $146 (9... b5 {has been played in 2014} 10. Bg2 (10. g5 $6
b4 $1 $132) 10... Nb6 11. g5 Nfd7 12. f5 Bc4 13. Na5 Rc8 $13 {0-1 (32)
Khismatullin,D (2714)-Duda,J (2563) Yerevan 2014, with complex play. 0-1 (32)
Khismatullin,D (2714)-Duda,J (2563) Yerevan 2014}) 10. f5 (10. g5 $2 {would be
a very bad mistake} Rxc3 $1 11. bxc3 (11. gxf6 Rc8 $17 {since White can not
take on g7 because of ...Qh4+}) 11... Nxe4 $17 {[%csl Rb3,Rc3,Re1][%cal Gh7h6]}
) 10... Bxb3 (10... Bc4 $6 11. Bxc4 Rxc4 12. Qd3 $16 {[%csl Rd5] the
light-squared bishop exchange is positionally good for White.}) 11. axb3 {
[%csl Re1][%cal Gg4g5] It is clear that White's position is threatening. g5
looks very annoying and Vachier-Lagrave has to do something, and here he
follows some very important advice - meet a flank attack with a central
counter-attack!} d5 $5 {Black decided to go for a pawn sacrifice, to open up
the position while White wants to create a wing attack (with g5). It goes to
reinforce the idea that MVL is a very brave player who doesn't shy away from
complications, even when it is clear that his opponent is in his preparation.}
(11... Rxc3 $5 {was a critical moment - the typical exchange sacrifice also
follows the golden counter-attack rule and looks very attractive, specially
because Black creates a devastating threat of ...Qh4+ now:} 12. bxc3 Nxe4 {
[%cal Rd8h4]} 13. h4 Qb6 (13... Be7 $5 {is a similar version} 14. g5 Qb6 15.
Qf3 d5 $44 {now Black has the strong ...h6! threat, trying to open up even
more lines against the white king.}) 14. Qf3 d5 $44 {as MVL himself mentioned
after the game, was something he was seriously considering and has to be at
least very interesting.}) 12. exd5 Bb4 13. Bg2 Qb6 $2 {Natural, but from now
on Black faces a difficult position because of this move.} (13... Rxc3 $1 {
would get the pawn back and achieve a complex middlegame position after:} 14.
bxc3 Bxc3+ 15. Bd2 Bxa1 16. Qxa1 O-O {White has the pure bishop pair, but on
the other hand he also has many weaknesses around his king and after:} 17. O-O
Qb6+ $132 {followed by either ...e4 or ...Rc8 shows that Black's activity
could become very dangerous.}) 14. Bd2 e4 15. Qe2 O-O 16. O-O-O Nc5 17. Kb1
Rfd8 {The last moves were kind of expected and now the game boils down to the
moment when Black will release the pressure to get the d5-pawn back, and for
many moves, White's g5-move will need to be analysed.} 18. Rhe1 {A strong move,
bringing the last piece into play, but it was already possible to think about
clearing the dust with the aforementioned g5.} (18. g5 $5 Bxc3 19. Bxc3 Nxd5
20. Bd4 $1 (20. Bxe4 $2 Nxc3+ 21. bxc3 Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 Na4 $1 $19 {[%csl Rc3]
and suddenly White loses!}) 20... Nf4 21. Qf2 Nxg2 22. Bxc5 Qc6 23. Qxg2 Qxc5
24. Qxe4 $16 {with a promising endgame.}) 18... a5 {[%csl Ge1]} (18... Bxc3 $2
{is simply a worse version compared to the last move analysis.} 19. Bxc3 Nxd5
20. Bd4 $18 {with an additional Rhe1 already played, Black has to be in deep
trouble.}) 19. Qf2 $6 {[%csl Rb6,Rc5]} (19. d6 $1 {a very counter-intuitive
and difficult move, worsening the position of the black rook before inserting
g5.} Rxd6 20. g5 $1 {is much stronger now:} Bxc3 21. Bxc3 Nd5 22. Be5 $1 {
this is the key, White wins a very important tempo.} Rdd8 23. Bxe4 Nxe4 24.
Qxe4 $18 {with a winning position.}) 19... Qc7 (19... Bxc3 $1 20. Bxc3 Nxd5 21.
Bd4 a4 $1 {probably underestimated by both players, since apparently Black
doesn't have time for such a move. A sample line could go like this:} 22. bxa4
Qb4 $1 {threatening ...Nxa4} 23. Qg3 (23. Bxc5 $2 Nc3+ $1 24. Kc1 Nxd1 $1 25.
Bxb4 Nxf2 $17) 23... Qxa4 {[%cal Gd5b4] now ...Nb4 is a serious threat} 24. Qa3
Qxa3 25. bxa3 $11 {and Black has every reason to feel at relieved winning the
pawn back and ruining White's structure on the queenside.}) 20. Bf4 (20. g5 $5
{it was the last chance to play this move, but the complications were too
scary.} Nxd5 (20... Bxc3 21. Bxc3 Nxd5 22. Bd4 $16) 21. Nxe4 Nd3 $1 {[%csl Gf2]
[%cal Gc7c2]} 22. cxd3 Qc2+ 23. Ka1 Qxb3 {threatening ...Rc2} 24. Rc1 Bxd2 25.
Qxd2 (25. Nxd2 $2 Qa4+ 26. Kb1 Nb4 27. Bd5 Nxd5 $17) 25... Nb4 26. Nc3 {
Amazingly, all of this was mentioned by Anand in the post-game interview (and
I'm sure MVL had similar calculations), showing how good these guys are. He
said he wasn't sure of the evaluation, which is totally understandable, since
it involves a serious risk to your own king! And he is correct, after a4! the
position remains totally unclear.} a4 $1 $40 (26... Rxd3 $2 27. Qe2 $1 $18 {
threatening mate and following with Be4-Bc2})) 20... Qb6 21. Be5 a4 $1 22. bxa4
Bxc3 23. Bxc3 Nxd5 24. Rxd5 $1 {A good practical decision, maintaining
excellent chances in the following position with the strong bishop pair and
many strong pawns on the queenside.} (24. Bd4 Qb4 $1 $132 {- 19...Bxc3!}) 24...
Rxd5 25. Bxe4 Rd6 26. a5 Qb5 {[%cal Gc5a4]} 27. Qe2 $1 Qxe2 28. Rxe2 {Now it
was urgent for Black to eliminate one of White's strong bishops.} Rd1+ (28...
Nxe4 $1 29. Rxe4 Rdc6 30. Ka2 $13 {[%csl Ra5,Rb2,Rb7,Rc2] the pawn majority on
the queenside may be decisive, and White should have the better prospects, but
there is a lot of play left in the position. It is not too easy to advance
those pawns.}) 29. Ka2 Re8 $2 {A huge mistake, not only because of the way the
game continued, but because Black will not be able to deal with these strong
bishops.} (29... Nxe4 {was again forced, achieving a similar version of the
last move, but having lost an important tempo.}) 30. Bf3 $1 Rxe2 31. Bxe2 Rc1
32. Bf3 Rxc2 {[%cal Ga2a3,Ga3b4]} 33. Bxb7 {Maxime resigned since the a-pawn
is unstoppable. A brilliant performance from the legendary world champion
Vishy Anand, showing hard work with deep opening preparation, strong dynamic
play and impressive calculations. Vachier-Lagrave put up strong resistance
after being surprised in the opening, and could have defended the endgame, if
it wasn't for the final mistake on move 29.} (33. Bxb7 Nxb7 34. a6 {[%csl Rb7,
Gc2][%cal Ga5a6] followed by a7, if the knight leaves.} Re2 {the rook is also
not in time:} 35. axb7 Re8 36. Be5 $1 $18 {[%cal Gb7b8]}) 1-0

[Event "Norway Chess 5th"]
[Site "Stavanger"]
[Date "2017.06.12"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A21"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2786"]
[Annotator "Hillarp Persson,T"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2017.06.06"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 179"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.07.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.07.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. c4 {This is rare occurence for Caruana who usually starts out with 1.e4.} ({
It is worth comparing what happens in the game with the not purely fictional
line:} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d6 7. Nf3
Nbd7 8. e3 (8. g3) 8... Re8 9. b4 e5 10. Be2 c6 {when we get a position that
will arise later in this game, but with Black to move.} (10... e4 $1)) 1... e5
{I have heard GMs saying that the problem with the English is - in order - 1...
e5, 1...c5 and 1...e6, and then there is nothing wrong with 1...Nf6 or 1...c6.
Further down on the list 1...b6 and 1...g6 argue about which one is the most
respectable.} 2. Nc3 ({When Mihail Marin wrote his wonderful books on the
English, he chose to recommend} 2. g3 {as the second move here. The only
downside to leaving out Nc3, is that Black can play the immediate} c6 3. d4 (3.
Nf3 e4 {is another fashionable possibility.}) 3... e4 $5 4. Nc3 d5 {and Black
seems to be doing fine. One sample line is}) 2... Bb4 $5 ({Another Bb4-line
arises after} 2... Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 {This line was already at the
centre of attention in the classic WCh match between Kasparov and Karpov, in
1987. Their 2nd and 4th games (with Kasparov as White) both went} (4... d5 5.
cxd5 Nxd5) 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O e4 7. Ng5 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Re8 9. f3 $1 {Lately White
has been scoring very well here and Caruana was able to score a nice win
against Anand in the Moscow Candidates 2016 (a game that has been excellently
commented on in CBM by Mihail Marin). He was possibly hoping to repeat this
line.} exf3 10. Nxf3 d5 11. d4 dxc4 12. Qc2 h6 13. Bf4 Ne4 14. Rad1 Bf5 15. Ne5
Nd6 $6 16. e4 Bh7 17. Qe2 $14 {Caruana,F (2794)-Anand,V (2762) Moscow 2016.}) (
2... c6 {is not as good here as after 2.g3, as} 3. Nf3 $1 d6 4. d4 {leaves
Black with little choice but to play either the Old Indian or a sideline of
the KID.} Nd7 5. e4 $14) 3. Nd5 (3. g3 Bxc3 4. bxc3 $1 (4. dxc3 d6 5. Bg2 Nc6
6. Nf3 Nge7 {is even nicer for Black.}) 4... d6 $1 5. Bg2 Ne7 $5 {and Black is
well organised to deal with any central setup that White might choose. The
knight is more flexible on e7 than on f6 and it is a good reason to try Bb4
before Nf6.}) 3... Bc5 (3... Be7 $5 4. d4 (4. g3) 4... d6 5. e4 Nf6 6. Nxe7
Qxe7 7. f3 exd4 8. Qxd4 Nc6 {is another interesting line, where White has to
decide where the queen is best placed. 9.Qc3 seems to be the consensus, but in
a game against Ginger GM in 2015 I came to the conclusion that e3 looked like
a better square:} 9. Qe3 O-O 10. Ne2 {[%cal Ge2c3] This is why I didn't want
my queen on c3.} a5 11. Nc3 Nb4 12. Qd2 Nd7 13. a3 Nc6 14. Nd5 Qd8 15. Qc3 f5
16. exf5 Ne7 17. g4 Nxd5 18. cxd5 Qh4+ 19. Kd1 Ne5 $2 (19... Nc5 20. Be3 Bd7
$13) 20. Bf4 $16 {Hillarp Persson,T (2521)-Williams,S (2439) London 2015}) 4.
Nf3 c6 5. Nc3 d6 {Anand reached this position no less than five times in 2016
and obviously has a lot of faith in its soundness.} 6. e3 (6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 O-O
8. O-O Re8 9. d3 (9. d4 exd4 10. Nxd4 a5 11. b3 Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13. Bb2 {
, looks a bit better for White, to me, but Black's pieces are active and I can
understand why this kind of position would suit Anand's active style.}) 9... h6
10. Na4 Bb4 11. a3 Ba5 12. b4 Bc7 13. e4 Bg4 $132 {Caruana,F (2820)-Anand,V 
(2775) 8th London Classic 2016}) (6. a3 Nf6 7. e3 (7. Na4 e4) 7... e4 (7... Bb6
$5) 8. Nd4 O-O 9. d3 d5 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Be2 Qe7 12. b4 Bb6 13. O-O Rd8 {
Topalov,V (2760)-Anand,V (2775) Champions Showdown 2016, was perhaps somewhat
more comfortable for White.}) 6... Bb4 $1 7. d4 Nd7 ({It seems that Anand
either has lost faith in or got bored with} 7... Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 e4 9. Nd2 Nf6 {
which he played in three games last year.} {Nakamura played the principled} 10.
Ba3 {and only got half a point out of two:} (10. f3 exf3 $6 (10... Bf5 $5) 11.
Qxf3 O-O 12. h3 Qa5 13. Bb2 (13. e4 $1) 13... Qf5 $132 {Nepomniachtchi,I (2740)
-Anand,V (2775) 10th Tal Mem 2016}) 10... b6 (10... O-O 11. c5 $5 d5 12. Be2
Re8 13. O-O b5 14. Bc1 a6 15. a4 Qd7 16. f4 ({It seems to me (and the engine)
that something like} 16. axb5 cxb5 17. f3 exf3 18. Rxf3 {, intending a
sacrifice on f6, surely must be much better for White.}) 16... exf3 17. Nxf3
Ne4 18. Ne5 $6 Rxe5 19. dxe5 Nxc3 20. Qc2 Nxa4 21. e4 Qe8 22. Bd3 $2 d4 $1 {
Nakamura,H (2775)-Anand,V (2775) Champions Showdown 2016, and Black went on to
win.}) 11. f4 $6 (11. f3 $1) 11... c5 $1 12. Be2 h5 13. Qc2 Bf5 14. g3 Nc6 15.
h3 Qd7 {Nakamura,H (2775)-Anand,V (2775) Champions Showdown Rapid 2016, and
White was lucky to escape with a draw. Nimzowitsch would rise from the dead
just to get a chance to play this position from the black side.}) 8. Qc2 {
A sensible way to avoid the doubled pawn on c3.} Ngf6 9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. Qxc3 O-O
11. Be2 Re8 12. b4 {This pawn move always make me cringe on the inside. I'm
not saying that it is bad, but when Black starts shuffling his pieces around
on the light squares it might be nice to still have this pawn on b3. I guess
there are a few GMs who agree with me, but the majority seem to value space
more than any vague notions about light squares.} e4 $1 {This is one of those
moves that you shouldn't hesitate to make. It is clearly the best Black can
hope for with this pawn structure.} 13. Nd2 d5 $1 {This is where I first
logged in to watch the games and I felt something had gone wrong for Caruana. 
(...and I also felt that the b4-pawn might have been happier on b3, so that
White could play Ba3 and perhaps Qc3-b4-d6.)} 14. a4 ({The engines love - if
that is the right word - to play} 14. c5 $5 {, but although White gets a free
hand on the queenside, the same is basically true for Black on the kingside.
Also, should White choose to play 0-0-0, it is still possible to apply the can
opener with b6 and a5.} Nf8 15. h3 {[%cal Rc8g4]} Ng6 16. a4 Bd7 17. b5 Nh4 18.
Kf1 (18. O-O Qc8 19. Kh2 Nxg2) (18. Rg1 Qc7) (18. g3 Nf3+ $1 19. Nxf3 exf3 20.
Bxf3 cxb5 {and Bc1 is a hundred miles awar from a life.}) 18... h6 {and with
Nf6-h7-g5 coming next, White must start wondering whether it will be enough to
get a rook down to b7? (The answer is: probably not.)}) 14... dxc4 $1 {If
White had more pressure on e4, this would not be recommendable, but in this
situation Black is better developed, has a wonderful square for a knight on d5
and does not have to worry about e4.} 15. Nxc4 Nb6 $1 16. Na5 (16. Ne5 Nfd5 $1)
(16. O-O Bg4 $1 17. Bxg4 Nxg4 18. h3 Nf6 19. Bd2 {and the engine wants me to
believe that the position is almost equal. Well... after} Nfd5 20. Qb3 Nxc4 21.
Qxc4 Re6 22. b5 Qd7 23. Qb3 a6 $1 24. bxc6 Rxc6 25. Rfc1 Rac8 {I would under
no circumstances want to play the White side.}) 16... Nbd5 (16... Nfd5 17. Qd2
Qg5 {looks very promising too.}) 17. Qd2 Qc7 18. h3 Re6 $5 {A lovely move that
has more than one function. On one hand it is ready to attack the kingside at
any moment, but also it might come in handy if White continues with b4-b5.} 19.
Ba3 (19. Nc4 Ne8 20. b5 cxb5 (20... a6 21. bxa6 b5 $5) 21. axb5 Nd6 22. Nxd6
Rxd6 23. Bb2 Rg6 24. Rc1 Qd6 25. Kf1 Be6 26. Rc5 Qd7) ({White's natural plan
is to play b4-b5, but when Black's pieces are so well organised and active, it
tends to backfire:} 19. b5 $6 cxb5 20. axb5 Bd7 $1 21. Ba3 b6 22. Rc1 Qb8 23.
Nc6 Qe8 {and pawns will fall.}) 19... a6 20. Nb3 $6 {This knight is feeling a
bit lost. It was well placed on a5, but there was no way forward. Now it seeks
greener pasture, but it turns out to be no better than the last one. In the
meantime Anand improves his forces' coordination further.} Ne8 $3 {Another
great move. From d6 the knight keeps and eye on e4, c4 and f5, while it makes
b4-b5 harder to play for White. It also opens the road to g6 for the rook. You
cannot ask for more from one move.} 21. Nc5 Rg6 22. g3 ({It's horrible to
leave the f-pawn behind in this way, but} 22. Kf1 Nd6 {was not an option.})
22... Nd6 23. a5 {This move looks like a sign of desperation. Not only does
White give up all future counterplay on the queenside, but also the bishop on
a3 gets completely entombed. I would normally give such a move a "?!", but I
trust that Caruana had better reasons that my engine and I can whip up in five
minutes.} Bf5 $1 24. Qc2 Re8 25. O-O-O Qc8 (25... Ra8 $5 {[%cal Gb7b6]}) 26. g4
Bd7 27. Kb1 f5 $5 ({There is some kind of mute, unformulated guideline, that
tells me to attack the g4-pawn with} 27... h5 {rather than move the f-pawn.
Perhaps it is because I prefer to keep my pawns in one long chain. However, in
this position, Anand's choice makes even more sense as it opens the f-file
towards f2.} 28. Rh2 hxg4 29. hxg4 Bxg4 30. Rdh1 f5 $17) 28. gxf5 Rf6 29. Rdg1
Bxf5 30. h4 Ref8 31. Rh2 Kh8 {It seems that Anand is keeping the tempo up as
Caruana feels the pressure from the clock.} ({Here I see no defence against} 
31... Qc7 32. Rhg2 Bc8 $1 {and the f2-pawn falls:} 33. Bc1 (33. Bd1 Nb5 $19) (
33. Bf1 Qf7) (33. Rxg7+ Qxg7 34. Rxg7+ Kxg7 {is utterly hopeless for White who
has only one active piece.}) 33... Rxf2) 32. Qd2 Rg6 33. Rxg6 hxg6 $5 {This
makes things a bit harder, but in time pressure it is almost impossible for
White to find the defence.} (33... Bxg6) 34. h5 $1 g5 35. h6 g6 36. Bb2 $6 {
After this move White is irreversibly lost. The only chance was to try to
exchange the Be2 for another piece than Black's bishop:} (36. Bd1 $1 Bg4 37.
Bb3 Bf3 $1 38. Qc1 {and White can try something with Bxd5 and then queen to g3.
Still, Black should win with ...g4 and then Rf8-f5-h5.}) 36... Bg4 $1 37. Bf1
Kh7 38. Ka1 Bf3 {To quote Italo Svevo, White's position has become the "tomb
of its (sic) good intentions". The rest is just a demonstration of how
helpless White is.} 39. Rh3 g4 40. Rg3 Rf5 41. Na4 Qf8 42. Nb6 Qxh6 43. Nxd5
cxd5 44. Qc1 Qh1 45. Qc7+ {This loses fast, but everything else loses almost
as fast.} Rf7 46. Qxd6 Qxf1+ 47. Ka2 Be2 {White has no way to deal with Bc4+,
followed by Qd3, so he resigned.} 0-1

[Event "Sinquefield Cup 5th"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2017.08.06"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2807"]
[Annotator "Marin,M"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2017.08.02"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 180"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.09.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.09.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 $5 {In the
past this was played only occasionally. Players with Black probably thought
that treating the Reversed Dragon (meaning with a tempo less for Black) in
such an aggressive way would be too risky. The main idea of the last move is
keeping the knight on d5 without allowing Nxe5 or d2-d4, usually offering
White the initiative.} 7. O-O {A neutral developing move, intending keeping
all the threats in the centre.} (7. Nxe5 {does not look too promising:} Nxc3 8.
bxc3 ({One important point is that with the bishop on c5} 8. Nxc6 $2 {is
impossible due to} Qf6 $19 {[%csl Gd1,Gf2]}) 8... Nxe5 9. d4 Bd6 $5 $146 (9...
Ng4 {Schwierskott,M (2162)-Schmid,F (2087) Bayern 2003 (0-1, 68)} 10. f3) (9...
Bb6 10. dxe5 Qxd1+ 11. Kxd1 c6 {Simurdova,Z (1730)-Pokorna,K (1410) Sec u
Chrudimi 2008 (1-0, 45)} 12. f4 $16) 10. dxe5 Bxe5 11. Qxd8+ Kxd8 $11) 7... O-O
{Fortunately, Black can answer with the same method.} (7... Be6 $2 {leaves b7
undefended:} 8. Nxe5 Nxe5 9. d4 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Bd6 11. dxe5 Bxe5 12. Bxb7 $16)
8. d3 (8. Nxe5 {still does not work.} Nxc3 9. bxc3 (9. Nxc6 Nxd1 10. Nxd8 Bxf2+
$1 $15) 9... Nxe5 10. d4 Bd6 11. dxe5 Bxe5 $11) ({There have been some
developments after} 8. Nxd5 Qxd5 9. d3 (9. Ng5 Qd8 10. Nxh7 Re8 {[%cal Gf7f6,
Gc5e7]} 11. Ng5 Qxg5 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. d4 Qh5 14. dxc5 e4 $44 {Aronian,L (2799)
-Caruana,F (2807) Saint Louis 2017 (1-0, 52)}) 9... Bb6 10. b4 e4 $5 {It looks
like a good idea to use the temporary activity of the queen and dark-squared
bishop for fighting for the initiative. Otherwise White may be simply better.}
(10... a5 $5) (10... Nxb4 11. Bb2 e4 12. Ne5 $14) (10... Re8 11. Bb2 Qd6 12. b5
Nd4 13. a4 a6 14. a5 Bc5 15. bxa6 Rxa6 16. Nd2 Qg6 17. e3 $14 Bg4 18. f3 $16 {
Gelfand,B (2729)-Inarkiev,E (2702) Nazran 2017 (1-0, 50)}) 11. Ng5 Qd4 12. Be3
Qxb4 13. Nxe4 Bxe3 ({Improving over a game played between the same players one
week earlier:} 13... Bg4 14. h3 Bh5 15. Rb1 Qe7 16. Qd2 $14 {Nakamura,H (2792)
-Karjakin,S (2773) Saint Louis 2017 (1/2-1/2, 34)}) 14. fxe3 Qe7 {The central
pawns are not necessarily strong as Black might have feared in the first game.
They could easily become weak.} 15. Qd2 Ne5 16. Rac1 c6 17. Nc5 Ng4 18. e4 b6
19. Na4 {Nakamura,H (2792)-Karjakin,S (2773) Saint Louis (blitz) 2017 (1-0, 53)
} Qd7 $15 {[%cal Gc6c5,Gf8d8,Gc8b7]}) 8... Bb6 ({This prophylactic move surely
is better than} 8... Be6 9. Ng5 Nxc3 10. bxc3 $14 Bd5 11. e4 $16) ({But it is
not clear how to get an advantage after a neutral move such as} 8... h6 {
One possible continuation is} 9. Nxd5 Qxd5 10. Nd2 Qe6 11. b3 {[%cal Gc1b2,
Ga1c1] with pleasant play, even though not necessarily better an objective
advantage.}) 9. Bd2 ({This apparently modest developing move is more
constructive than} 9. Na4 {, aiming to take the bishop pair, but neglecting
the development and control in the centre.} Re8 10. a3 (10. Bg5 Qd6 11. Nd2 Qg6
12. Ne4 Bg4 13. h3 Be6 14. Bd2 Rad8 15. Kh2 Kh8 16. a3 f5 17. Nec5 Bc8 18. b4
e4 $15 {Eljanov,P (2739)-Grischuk,A (2761) Geneve 2017 (0-1, 38), with perfect
regrouping and active play in the centre.}) 10... Nd4 11. e3 Nxf3+ 12. Qxf3 c6
13. b4 Be6 14. Bb2 Qd7 15. Qe2 Bg4 16. Qc2 Bh3 $11 {Gelfand,B (2728)-Adams,M 
(2736) Geneve 2017 (1/2-1/2, 24)}) 9... Bg4 $146 ({I am not sure to which
extent this improves over} 9... Be6 10. Ng5 Nxc3 11. bxc3 (11. Nxe6 {leads to
interesting play:} Nxe2+ 12. Qxe2 fxe6 13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. Qxe5 Qxd3 15. Qxe6+
Kh8 16. Bf4 Rae8 17. Qxc6 Re2 18. Rad1 Bxf2+ $6 19. Kh1 Qf5 20. Rd2 $14 {
But in this line 18...Qa6 looks better, threatening ...Bxf2+ and ...Qxa2
simultaneously.}) 11... Bd7 12. c4 {White's position after the last exchange
looks at least more pleasant. True, there was no need to help the knight
improve its position with the following series of pawn moves.} h6 13. Ne4 f5
14. Nc3 f4 15. Rb1 Qc8 16. Ne4 $14 {Adzic,S (2130)-Nemeth,H (1648) Hungary
2012 (1-0, 31)}) 10. Rc1 ({It remains an open question why not} 10. h3 Be6 (
10... Bh5 11. g4 Bg6 12. Nxe5 Nxc3 13. Bxc3 {wins a pawn. The kingside
weakness does not seem to fully compensate for it.}) 11. Ng5 {with similar
play to that in the previous line. The weakness induced by h2-h3 does not seem
to be so telling.}) 10... Nxc3 {This looks like a concession, but Caruana was
probably not satisfied by the alternatives.} (10... Qd7 $2 11. Nxe5 $16) (10...
f6 11. Qb3 (11. Nxe5 $2 Nxc3 12. Nxc6 Nxd1 13. Nxd8 Nxf2 $17) 11... Be6 12. Ng5
fxg5 13. Bxd5 $14) (10... Re8 11. h3 Bh5 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 {[%csl Ga2]} 13. a4 $5 {
[%cal Gb2b4]} a5 14. g4 Bg6 15. Nh4 {with pleasant play on the light squares.})
11. Bxc3 ({With the bishop on d2 the knight has not enough space for
manoeuvring:} 11. bxc3 Qd7 12. Ng5 (12. c4 Bc5 13. Ng5 Nd4 14. Re1 Rad8 15. Ne4
Be7 $15) 12... f6 $1 $15) 11... Re8 12. b4 {Black is actively developed but
White can start his queenside play without loss of time.} Qd6 {This logical
move does not receive the engines' approval. But the recommended invasion of
the d4-square tends to leave the b6-bishop out of play:} (12... Nd4 13. Bxd4
exd4 14. a4 c6 (14... a6 {may be better but Black's bishop does not impress
after} 15. Re1 {[%cal Gf3d2]}) 15. a5 Bc7 16. a6 $36) (12... a5 13. b5 Nd4 14.
Bxd4 exd4 15. a4 {[%csl Gb6,Gb7][%cal Gf1e1,Gf3d2,Gd2c4] In the long run
White's position may prove easier to play.}) 13. Nd2 Qh6 {Trying to keep the
possibility of a central counter-attack.} (13... Rad8 14. Nc4 Qe6 15. a4 $36)
14. Nc4 (14. a4 Rad8 15. Nc4 $6 e4 $17) 14... Qh5 15. Rc2 {This rook lift
works out well in similar positions, but here it may not be strongest, since
there is no immediate way of activating the queen.} (15. Re1 Rad8 16. Qc2 Bh3
17. Bh1 $14 {The last move reveals another merit of 15.Re1.}) 15... Rad8 16.
Nxb6 cxb6 (16... axb6 17. b5 Nd4 18. Bxd4 exd4 19. Re1 Qxb5 20. Rxc7 $14) {
White has got the bishop pair and the better structure but he needs to play
carefully as Black is very active.} 17. f3 {Due to White's choice on move 15
there was no other way of reducing Black's pressure in the centre.} (17. Rd2 b5
18. a4 a6 19. axb5 axb5 20. Qc2 Bh3 21. Bf3 Bg4 $11) 17... Be6 18. Qd2 b5 19.
f4 {The best way of putting the bishop pair to work.} Bg4 $6 {Obviously
missing White's 22nd move or the 26th move in the next comment.} ({Pawn
reaction in the centre would not offer full equality:} 19... exf4 20. Rxf4 $36)
({or} 19... f6 20. fxe5 fxe5 21. Qe3 $14) ({But Black could try} 19... Bd5 {
for instance} 20. e4 Bc4 21. Bf3 Qh3 22. Be2 f6 $11 {Both sides will find it
difficult to make progress in this static position.}) 20. Bxc6 $1 {Winning a
pawn which will not be as easy to retrieve as Caruana thought.} bxc6 21. fxe5
f6 {Does Black really retrieve the pawn?!} 22. exf6 $3 {People may have
started forgetting that not such a long time ago (a couple of decades) Anand
entered the top arena as a brilliant combinative player.} Rxe2 23. f7+ Kf8 24.
Bxg7+ $1 Kxg7 25. Qc3+ Re5 ({The hidden point of the combination is that} 25...
Qe5 {runs into} 26. Rxe2 $3 Qxc3 27. Re8 Qd4+ 28. Rf2 Qxb4 29. f8=Q+ Qxf8 30.
Rfxf8 Rxd3 31. Rg8+ {The manoeuvre initiated by this move wins the a7-pawn by
force.} Kf7 32. Ref8+ Ke7 33. Ra8 Bf5 34. Rxa7+ $18 {Pawns are equal and even
though his king is temporarily passive, White should convert his clear extra
exchange.}) 26. Qd4 $1 Qg5 27. Rc5 $1 Rxd4 28. f8=Q+ Kg6 29. Qf7+ (29. Qf7+ Kh6
30. Rf6+) 1-0

[Event "Tata Steel-A 80th"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2018.01.15"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2811"]
[Annotator "Szabo,Kr"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 183"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.03.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.03.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4
c6 9. Qc2 Na6 10. a3 Bg4 11. Ne5 Bf5 12. b4 Nc7 $146 {A novelty by Caruana.} (
12... f6 13. Nf3 Bg6 14. Nc3 (14. c5 $5) 14... Nxc3 15. Bxg6 hxg6 16. Qxc3 $11
{Leko-Ivanchuk, Monte Carlo blind rapid 2006, with a balanced position.}) 13.
f3 Bg6 {A nice solution to the pin.} 14. c5 (14. fxe4 $2 {does not work, as
there is} Bxe5 15. dxe5 dxe4 $17 {followed by ...Qd4.}) ({In the event of} 14.
Nxg6 fxg6 15. fxe4 dxe4 16. Rxf8+ (16. Bxe4 $2 {loses immediately, as} Bxh2+ $1
17. Kxh2 Rxf1 $19 {and Black is winning,}) ({or} 16. Be2 $2 Qh4 17. g3 (17. h3
Qg3 $19 {followed by ...Qh2 mate.}) 17... Bxg3 $1 18. hxg3 Qxg3+ 19. Kh1 Rxf1+
20. Bxf1 Qe1 $1 21. Kg1 Rf8 $19 {with a decisive attack.}) 16... Bxf8 $132 {
with a complicated position.}) 14... Bxe5 15. dxe5 Ng5 ({Still} 15... a5 $5 {
was also possible,} 16. Bb2 (16. fxe4 $2 {is bad again} dxe4 $17 {and Black is
better.}) 16... Ng5 {is transposing to the text move.}) 16. Bb2 d4 $2 {A
mistake, which allows White's subsequent attack on the kingside.} (16... Nge6
17. f4 Bxd3 18. Qxd3 {transposes to 16...Bxd3.}) (16... Bxd3 17. Qxd3 Nge6 18.
f4 g6 19. f5 gxf5 20. Rxf5 Qh4 21. Nd2 a5 22. Raf1 {and White's position looks
more tempting, however the engine isn't afraid of anything.}) ({Or even} 16...
a5 17. f4 Bxd3 18. Qxd3 Ne4 {was also possible and Black is not worse.}) 17. f4
$1 {White immediately starts his kingside play.} Nd5 {The only move, but White
is better here too.} 18. fxg5 Ne3 19. Qd2 Bxd3 20. Qxd3 Nxf1 21. Kxf1 Qxg5 22.
Nd2 $1 {White continues the development, doesn't think about the material.}
Qxe5 {Black gets some pawns, but the two pieces are stronger, than the rook.}
23. Nf3 ({The engine suggest} 23. Nc4 $1 {, but the human move is 23.Nf3 to
protect the h2-pawn.} Qxh2 24. Qxd4 f6 25. Nd6 $16 {and finally White has a
clear advantage.}) 23... Qh5 24. Qxd4 f6 25. Qc4+ Kh8 26. Bc1 $1 {After 24...
f6 the bishop is already useless on the a1-h8 diagonal. He prepares for Bf4-d6.
} Rfe8 27. Bf4 a5 28. Bd6 axb4 29. Qxb4 Qd5 (29... Qf7 {was more solid, however
} 30. Kf2 Ra7 31. a4 $16 {is also unpleasant for Black.}) 30. Qxb7 h6 (30...
Qd3+ $1 {was a better chance to win the a3-pawn,} 31. Kg1 Rxa3 32. Rxa3 Qxa3
33. h3 $1 {A great cool-blooded reply!} ({The greedy} 33. Qxc6 $2 {could have
been met by} Qc1+ 34. Kf2 Qc2+ $1 35. Kg3 Qg6+ $11 {with perpetual checks.})
33... Qe3+ 34. Kh2 Qe4 35. Qd7 Ra8 {and White should be better, but it is
still not clear how the knight can attack the c6-pawn.}) 31. Kg1 $1 {Now White
keeps the a3-pawn.} Ra4 32. h3 Rc4 33. Qb2 Qd3 34. Ra2 $1 {A nice reaction to
protect the 2nd rank.} Qd1+ 35. Kh2 Rc1 36. a4 {Black doesn't have any threat
on the first rank.} f5 (36... Qh1+ 37. Kg3 $18 {and the white king is safe.})
37. Qb7 f4 38. Bxf4 Rxc5 39. Rd2 Qxa4 40. Qf7 Rg8 41. Be5 Qc4 42. Rd6 $1 {
A smart finish to the game!} (42. Rd6 $1 Qc1 (42... Qxf7 43. Rxh6#) 43. Rd8 $1
$18 {and mate on g7!}) 1-0

[Event "Tata Steel-A 81st"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2019.01.20"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2773"]
[BlackElo "2817"]
[Annotator "Anand,V"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2019.01.12"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 188"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.21"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.21"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 {One of his favorite openings, so no surprise there.} 2. d4 d5 3. e5
c5 {This, however, is new from him, he has only played 3...Bf5 before.} 4. dxc5
e6 5. Nf3 Bxc5 6. a3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Ng6 8. O-O O-O 9. Nbd2 Nc6 10. b4 Bb6 11. Bxg6
(11. Bb2 Nf4 {transposes to my own game with Black against Vitiugov. I
remembered being quite comfortable in that game.}) (11. Re1 f6 {simpler to play
} (11... Ncxe5 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. Rxe5 Bd4 {Now White has several tries:} 14.
Rh5 (14. Nf3 Bxa1 {and now Bxh7+ doesnt work:} 15. c3 $1 (15. Bxh7+ Kxh7 16.
Ng5+ Kg6 $1 17. Qg4 f5) 15... Bxc3 16. Bxh7+ Kxh7 17. Ng5+ Kg6 18. Qd3+ {
The reason for c2-c3.} Kf6 19. Qxc3 Ke7 {and Black escapes, but this is all
inhuman.}) (14. Re3 Bxa1 15. Nb3 Bc3 (15... Bf6 16. Bxh7+ Kxh7 17. Qh5+ Kg8 18.
Rh3 Bh4 19. Rxh4 f6 20. Qh7+ Kf7 21. Rg4 Rg8 22. Bh6 $18 {wins.}) 16. Bxh7+
Kxh7 17. Qh5+ Kg8 18. Rxc3 e5 19. Rg3 Qf6 20. Bh6 g6 21. Bxf8 $11 {is about
equal.}) 14... g6 15. Rb1 gxh5 16. Bxh7+ (16. Qxh5 f5 17. Nf3 {and by clamping
down on e5, White should have enough compensation,} Bf6 18. Bf4 Rf7 19. Ne5 {
for instance} Rg7 {but White isn't better.}) 16... Kxh7 17. Qxh5+ Kg8 18. Nf3
$1 Bxf2+ {The best move, with the obvious stamp of the computer.} (18... Bf6 $2
19. Ng5 Bxg5 20. Bxg5 f6 21. Qg6+ Kh8 22. Rb3 e5 23. Qh5+ Kg8 24. Bh6 {wins,
due to Rg3+.}) 19. Kxf2 e5 {Now Black can go either ...Qf6 or ...Qb6+-g6 and
so defend,.} 20. Bb2 (20. Qxe5 Qb6+ 21. Be3 Qe6) 20... Qc7 (20... Qb6+ 21. Kf1
Qg6 22. Qxe5 f6 23. Qxd5+ Rf7 24. Re1 Bg4 {also works.}) 21. Qg5+ Kh7 22. Qh5+
Kg8 {is a draw.}) (11... Nf4 12. Nb3 {The point of Re1, White's bishop is well
placed on c1.}) 12. Bxg6 hxg6 13. Bb2 Nxe5 (13... fxe5 14. b5 e4 15. bxc6 exf3
16. Nxf3 bxc6 17. Be5 $1 c5 18. Bg3 {and Ne5 is good compensation.}) 14. Bxe5
fxe5 15. Rxe5 Qf6 16. Qe1) 11... fxg6 (11... hxg6 12. c4 (12. Nb3 a5) (12. Rb1
{A good suggestion by the engine.} g5 13. b5 Na5 14. Rb4 $1 {is a clever way
to exploit g5.}) (12. Bb2 g5 13. h3 f5) 12... Nxe5 13. Nxe5 Bd4 14. Nxg6 fxg6
15. Ra2) 12. Nb3 Bd7 {I was relieved to see this.} (12... a5 {Here this
bothered me a bit.} 13. b5 a4 $1 {The point.} 14. bxc6 axb3 15. c7 $1 {The
best way to return the pawn.} (15. cxb7 Bxb7 16. cxb3 d4) 15... Qxc7 16. cxb3
Bd7 17. Re1 $11 {White should be able to blockade on d4, but isn't really
better.}) 13. Re1 a5 $6 (13... Rf5 $1 14. c3 (14. b5 Na5 15. a4 (15. Nxa5 Bxa5
16. Bd2 Rc8 17. Bxa5 (17. a4 Rc4) 17... Qxa5 18. a4 Rf4) 15... Nc4) 14... g5
15. Nbd4 Bxd4 16. Nxd4) 14. b5 Ne7 (14... a4 {doesn't work now...} 15. bxc6
axb3 16. cxd7) 15. a4 {Here I started to like my position, since my pawns on
b5 and a4 restrict the Bd7 and I will be able to occupy d4.} Rc8 16. Be3 Bxe3
17. Rxe3 {My optimism notwithstanding, Black is extremely solid here.} Nf5 ({
Both} 17... g5 18. h3 b6 (18... h6) 19. Rd3 h6 {- it's hard for White to make
progress.}) ({and} 17... Rf4 18. Qd2 (18. Nfd4 {White isn't in time with this.}
Nf5 $1 19. Rd3 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Re4) 18... Rb4 $1 {are fine for Black.} (18... b6
19. Nfd4)) 18. Rd3 g5 $2 {A natural move, but an error.} (18... Rf7 19. Nfd2 $5
Qc7 20. c4 dxc4 21. Rc3 Qxe5 22. Rxc4) (18... Nh4 $1 19. Nxh4 Qxh4 20. Qd2 b6)
19. h3 {[%cal Gd1d2,Gd2g5,Gd2a5] Threatening a fork with Qd2.} b6 (19... Qc7
20. c4 Qxc4 21. Nxa5 {is a good swap of pawns for White.}) 20. c4 $1 {The
point.} Rxc4 21. Rxd5 Rf7 22. Rd3 g4 23. Nfd2 {Now its over.} Rb4 24. hxg4 Ne7
25. Nf3 (25. Nc4 Ng6 26. Nbd2 {is even stronger.}) 25... Nd5 26. Nbd4 {Shak
blunders immediately, but the position is won anyway.} Rf4 $2 27. Nc2 $1 Rbe4 (
27... Rxa4 28. Rxa4 Rxa4 29. Rxd5 exd5 30. Qxd5+ Kf8 31. e6 $18) 28. Rxd5 exd5
29. Qxd5+ {Followed by Rd1 collecting the Bd7.} 1-0

[Event "Gashimov Memorial 6th"]
[Site "Shamkir"]
[Date "2019.04.02"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2779"]
[BlackElo "2790"]
[Annotator "Anand,V"]
[PlyCount "125"]
[EventDate "2019.03.31"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 190"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.06.30"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.06.30"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 {The tournament hadn't begun very well for me, I blundered and drew a
winning position against Navara in the first round and followed up by losing a
comfortable position against Magnus in the 2nd. I tried to compose myself for
the remaining games.} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7.
a4 Ba7 8. Na3 Ne7 9. Nc2 Ng6 10. Be3 Bxe3 11. Nxe3 O-O 12. Qc2 (12. a5 c6 13.
Bb3 Re8) 12... c6 (12... a5 {is met by} 13. d4) 13. a5 {My idea, but it didn't
really work out in this game.} d5 (13... Re8 {is also playable.}) 14. Bb3 Be6
15. exd5 cxd5 16. d4 e4 17. Ne5 {My reason for delaying Re1, now the rook
supports f4.} ({Better was} 17. Ng5 Qd6 $1 18. Nxe6 fxe6 19. f3) 17... Qd6 18.
f4 exf3 19. Nxf3 (19. Nxg6 hxg6 20. Rxf3) 19... Rae8 {Here I started to really
dislike my position. It's hard for White to rearrange his pieces, every queen
move is met by Ne4 or Nf4, whereas Black is simply going to double on the
e-file.} 20. Rfe1 (20. Rae1 Qc7 21. Ra1 Re7) (20. Ne1 Bd7 21. Qd2 ({not} 21.
Qf2 Bb5 $1) 21... Re6 22. N1c2 Rfe8) 20... Bd7 21. g3 {Creating extra space
for the queen.} (21. Qf2 Re7 (21... Ne4 22. Qc2 Bc6 {I had seen this idea, but
was reluctant to play c4 now.} 23. c4 $1 (23. Ng4 {This was also playable.} Re6
(23... Re7 24. Qc1 Rfe8 25. Nge5 Nxe5 26. Nxe5 Nc5) 24. Rad1 Qc7 25. Nfe5)
23... dxc4 (23... Nf6 24. Qd2 dxc4 25. Nxc4 Qd8 26. Nce5 {and White isn't
worse.}) 24. Nxc4 Qf4 {felt awkward.}) 22. Qg3) 21... h6 22. Qg2 (22. Ng2)
22... Re7 (22... Re6 23. Bc2 Rfe8 24. Bxg6 Rxe3) 23. Nc2 $2 {Now White gets
into trouble. Not only can he not return to e3, but it also takes away c2 from
the bishop.} (23. Bc2 $1 Rfe8 24. Nf5 Rxe1+ 25. Nxe1 Qe6 26. Qf1 $1 (26. Qf2
Ng4) 26... Bb5 27. Bd3) 23... Rfe8 24. Nb4 (24. Rxe7 Rxe7 25. Re1 Qc7 {This is
White's problem, the a5 pawn is stranded.}) 24... Bb5 25. Rxe7 Rxe7 26. Bd1 {
There were no good moves left, but this makes things worse.} (26. Re1 Rxe1+ 27.
Nxe1 Ne7 28. Nec2 Qd8 29. Qf3 (29. Ne3 Qxa5 30. h3 Qa1+ 31. Kh2 Qe1 32. Nexd5
Nexd5 33. Nxd5 Ne4 {and Nd2}) 29... Be8 30. Ne3 Qxa5 31. Qd1 {keeps the game
going albeit a pawn down.}) (26. Bc2 Re2 27. Qh3 Ne4 28. Qc8+ Nf8 29. Bxe4 dxe4
30. Nh4 g6 {White is just lost here.}) 26... h5 27. Qh3 {Around here,
Mamedyarov started to run down his time looking for a forced win.} (27. Nc2 h4
28. Nxh4 Nxh4 29. gxh4 Qf4 30. Bf3 (30. h5 Ne4 {and White is helpless.}) 30...
Ne4 31. Re1 Qxh4 32. Bxe4 dxe4) 27... Bd7 28. Qg2 Bb5 (28... h4 29. Bc2 h3 {
As I looked at my train wreck of a position, I tried not to calculate anything,
but this one came to mind. I assumed there were others.} 30. Qf1 Ne4 31. Bxe4
dxe4 32. Ng5 (32. Nd2 e3) 32... Qf6 $1 $19) 29. Qh3 h4 30. Bc2 hxg3 (30... Re3
$1 31. Nxh4 Nxh4 32. Qxh4 g6 33. Qf4 Qe6 {and White has no moves left. Though
looking at it without an engine, it isn't obvious that White is lost and
Mamedyarov was short of time already.}) 31. Qxg3 (31. Bxg6 gxh2+ 32. Qxh2 Qxh2+
33. Kxh2 Re2+ 34. Kg1 fxg6 {By far the best option, but it's lost.}) 31... Nf4
32. Kh1 Re3 33. Rg1 g6 (33... N6h5 34. Qg4 g6 $19) 34. Qf2 Re2 35. Qh4 Ne4 $2 (
35... N6h5 {He had seen this as he pointed it out right away at the press
conference, but decided to play Ne4 since he couldn't see a defence anymore.
He also had only seconds left (we played without increments till move 61).})
36. Bxe4 {I had seen the Qh8 idea, so I didn't hesitate.} dxe4 37. Ne5 (37. Ng5
{I spent a couple of seconds here.} Nh5) 37... Nd3 38. Qh8+ Kxh8 39. Nxf7+ Kh7
{He was really unlucky here, since he walks into the 2nd trick as well, but
it's the best move.} (39... Kg7 40. Nxd6 Bd7 (40... Nf4 41. Nxb5 axb5 42. Rg4
Rf2 43. Nc2 $1 {This saves it.} Nh3 44. Rg3 Rxc2 45. Rxh3 Kf6 46. Rh8 Kg5 47.
Rf8 {and this is fairly simple draw.}) (40... Nxb4 41. Nxb5 axb5 42. cxb4 Kf6
43. Rg2 Re1+ 44. Rg1 Re3 45. Rc1 Rb3 46. Rc5 Rxb4 47. Kg2 Rxb2+ 48. Kg3 $11) (
40... Ne1 $2 41. Nf5+ Kh7 42. Ng3 $18) 41. Rg2 {Not that White's moves are
obvious, but I hope I would have found them if only by elimination.} Nf2+ 42.
Kg1 e3 43. Rg3 Bh3 44. Rxe3 Rxe3 45. Kxf2 Re7) 40. Nxd6 Bd7 $2 {he bashed out
this move, but now we had made the time control. I had enough time to compose
myself and adjust to the new situation (playing for a win was inconceivable
just a few moves ago)} (40... Ne1 $1 {Still the best shot.} 41. Rg3 {So this
would have been the best move.} (41. Nf7 {is a remarkable resource:} Nf3 42.
Ng5+ Kg7 (42... Kh6 43. Nxf3 exf3 44. Rf1 b6 45. axb6 a5 46. b3 axb4 47. c4 Ba6
48. Rxf3 {and now the king is worse on h6, but we have left the human realm of
chess long back.}) 43. Nxf3 exf3 44. Rf1 {Seems like a draw, but there is one
more twist of the comp:} b6 $1 {A completely inhuman line, but there it is.}
45. axb6 (45. b3 bxa5 46. Nd5 a4 (46... Bd3 47. Nf4 Be4 48. Ne6+ Kf6 49. Nc5
Kf5 $19) 47. c4 (47. bxa4 Bc4 $1 48. Nf4 (48. Nb6 Bd3 {and wins.}) 48... Re3
$19) 47... Bd7 48. Rxf3 a3) 45... a5 46. b3 (46. b7 Re8 47. Rxf3 axb4 48. d5
Ba6 49. Re3 Rb8) 46... axb4 47. c4 Ba6 48. Rxf3 Re6 {Now White tries to build
a pawn wall, but isn't in time to do so.} 49. d5 Rxb6 50. Kg1 Bc8 51. Kf2 g5 $1
{Allows Rh6.} 52. Rg3 (52. Ke3 Rh6 53. Rf2 Rh3+ 54. Kd4 Rxb3 55. c5 Rb1 56. Ke5
(56. c6 b3) 56... b3 57. c6 b2 {and this is winning.}) 52... Kf6 53. Ke3 Ra6
54. Kd4 (54. Rg2 Ra3 55. Rb2 {fails due to} Ke5) 54... Ra2 55. Kc5 Rxh2 56.
Kxb4 g4 $19) 41... Bd7 42. Kg1 Nf3+ 43. Kf1 Rxh2 (43... Rxb2 44. Nd5) 44. b3 (
44. Nd5 Bh3+ 45. Rxh3+ Rxh3 46. Nf6+ Kh6 47. Nfxe4 Rh2) 44... Bh3+ 45. Rxh3+
Rxh3 46. Nxe4 {and White is still fighting.}) 41. Nxe4 {[%csl Yd7,Yh7][%cal
Ge4f6] The problem with Kh7 and Bd7.} Bf5 (41... Nxb4 42. Nf6+ Kg7 43. Nxd7 Nd3
44. b3 Nf2+ 45. Kg2) 42. Ng5+ Kh6 43. Nxd3 Bxd3 44. Rg3 Re1+ 45. Kg2 Re2+ 46.
Kg1 Re1+ 47. Kf2 Re2+ 48. Kf3 Rxb2 49. Kf4 {The king belongs on d6 and I am
ready to jettison all my extra material to get there.} Bf5 (49... Bc4 50. Rh3+
Kg7 51. Rh7+ Kf8 52. Rc7 {is hopeless.}) 50. Ke5 $1 Rxh2 (50... Rb5+ 51. d5
Rxa5 52. Nf7+ Kg7 53. Nd6 $18) 51. Nf7+ Kg7 52. Nd6 (52. Nd8 {was even
stronger:} Re2+ 53. Kd6 $18) 52... Re2+ 53. Kd5 Kf6 54. c4 Re7 (54... Ra2 55.
Nxb7 Bc8 56. Kc6) 55. Rf3 Rd7 56. c5 Re7 (56... Kg5) 57. Rf2 Rh7 58. Nxf5 gxf5
59. Kd6 Rh8 60. Rd2 $1 {The final nuance, now it's over.} f4 61. Kc7 Rh7+ (
61... Kf5 62. d5) 62. Kc8 f3 63. d5 {After staring at disaster, 0,5/3 in the
tournament, I got incredibly lucky in this game and was on 50%} 1-0

[Event "Gashimov Memorial 6th"]
[Site "Shamkir"]
[Date "2019.04.04"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2779"]
[BlackElo "2797"]
[Annotator "Anand,V"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2019.03.31"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 190"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.06.30"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.06.30"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. Nbd2 Re8 {With an an
early Nbd2, White is somewhat inflexible against this move as opposed to d6 or
d5.} 7. O-O a6 8. Bxc6 dxc6 9. Nc4 Nd7 10. Re1 (10. b4 Bd6) (10. d4 exd4 11.
cxd4 Ba7) 10... Bf8 11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4 Nb6 (12... c5 13. Bg5 $5 (13. d5 b5
14. Na5 Qf6 {was Andriasian-Pashikian.})) 13. Nxb6 $2 {Simply a misjudgement.
This offers White nothing.} (13. Nce5 $1 {was more precise.}) 13... cxb6 14. h3
b5 15. Bf4 Be6 16. Re3 f6 17. b3 Qd7 (17... Bf7 $1 {was simple. Black just
goes a5-a4.} 18. Qc2 (18. Rc1 Qd7 19. d5 {Here Black has a few intermezzos:}
Ba3 20. Rc2 cxd5 21. e5 Qf5 22. Bg3 Rac8 23. Nd4 Rxc2 $1 24. Nxf5 Rc1 25. Qxc1
Bxc1 26. Re1 Bb2 $17) 18... a5 19. Rd1 Qd7 {, and now probably White should
bail out with} 20. d5 cxd5 21. exd5 Rxe3 22. fxe3 Bxd5 23. Qd2 Rd8 24. Qxa5 $11
) (17... a5 18. Rc1 Bf7 19. d5 cxd5 20. e5 {and blockading on d4.}) 18. Qc2
Rad8 $6 {The wrong plan, Black should have gone for a5 as before.} 19. Rd1 Qf7
20. Bg3 {So far, Black has no problems whatsoever.} Qh5 $2 {The first mistake
and indicative of Anish's form in the event.} (20... a5 {and even returning to
a8 was ok.}) 21. Bc7 {I saw this at once, but took a while playing it. Anish
asked me after the game why I didn't play it immediately. It looked too easy
and I was just making sure...} Rd7 $6 {The rook just gets in the way here.} (
21... Rc8 $1 22. Bb6 {This is about equal.} Be7 (22... Bd6 23. Ne1 f5 $1) 23.
Qe2 $11 (23. Ne1 f5)) 22. Bb6 {The Bb6 stabilises White's position, Black
lacks the d8 square and my knight can shift to d3.} Bb4 $2 {White was trying
for his next move anyway and this allows it with tempo.} (22... f5 23. Ne5 {
and Rd7 is in trouble}) 23. Ne1 $1 Bf7 $6 (23... Bd6 24. Nd3 f5 {Black needed
to act fast.} 25. exf5 Qxf5 26. Qe2 Qg6 (26... Rde7 27. Bc5) 27. Bc5 Bf7 28.
Rxe8+ Bxe8 29. Bxd6 Rxd6 30. Re1 $14 {keeps some edge}) 24. Nd3 Bd6 25. Rde1 {
We both felt that Black could no longer stop f4-f5.} Bb8 $6 (25... Qh6 {
puts up more resistance:} 26. e5 (26. Qc3 Bf4) 26... fxe5 27. dxe5 Bf8 28. e6
$1 (28. Bc5 Be6) 28... Rxe6 (28... Bxe6 29. Qe2 $1 Bf7 30. Rxe8 Bxe8 31. Qxe8
Rxd3 32. Bc5 Qf6 33. Be7 $1 Qf5 (33... Qf7 34. Qc8 {wins as well.}) 34. Qb8 $1)
29. Ne5 Rxe5 $8 30. Rxe5 Qd2 $1 31. Qf5 {keeps the pressure, but Black is
quite solid.}) 26. f4 f5 (26... Qh4 {The last chance.} 27. e5 {So this is best.
} (27. Qf2 Qxf2+ 28. Kxf2 Bc7 $1) 27... Bg6 28. Qd2 (28. Rf1 Qh6 29. Qe2 Bxd3
30. Rxd3 f5 {and Qe6}) 28... Bxd3 (28... fxe5 29. Nxe5 Bxe5 30. Rxe5 Rxe5 31.
fxe5 {and White achieves e6.} Rf7 32. e6 Rf5 33. e7 Be8) 29. Rxd3 Rd5 $1 {
and next f5 keeping a light square blockade.} (29... fxe5 {and now White has a
neat trick:} 30. Re4 $1)) 27. Ne5 Bxe5 28. dxe5 {We both had the feeling that
is was basically over, but in fact Black can still defend.} fxe4 (28... Be6 29.
exf5 Bxf5 30. Qf2 Qg6 31. g4 h5 32. Rg3 $1) 29. Qxe4 (29. g4 Qh6 30. Qxe4 Rd2)
29... Rd2 (29... Bg6 30. Qf3 Qxf3 31. Rxf3 {and Black can't blockade the pawns
in time.}) (29... Bd5 30. Qc2 Rf7 31. Rf1 g6 32. Qf2 Qh6 (32... Ref8 33. e6 {
Now this wins.}) 33. Bc5 $1 {First stopping Ref8.} (33. g4 Ref8 $1) 33... Re6
34. g4 $16) 30. R3e2 Bd5 (30... Rxe2 $1 31. Qxe2 (31. Rxe2 Be6 32. Rf2 Bf5 33.
Qd4 Qg6 34. g4 h5 35. Rg2 hxg4 36. hxg4 Bxg4 37. f5 Qxf5 38. Qxg4 Qxg4 39. Rxg4
Rxe5 {is still a hard technical task.}) 31... Qxe2 32. Rxe2 Be6 33. g4 g6 34.
Kg2 $16) 31. Qe3 Rxe2 32. Rxe2 Qf5 33. g4 Qb1+ 34. Kf2 {Now it's over, White
just rolls with f5 and e6.} h5 35. f5 Qh1 (35... h4 36. Bd4 Qh1 37. e6 {wins})
36. Kg3 Re7 37. Bc5 Re8 38. e6 Kh7 39. Qg5 {Here Anish resigned. My first win
against Anish! It also left me on +1 in the event, though that didnt last very
long...} 1-0

