GM Shyam Sundar analyzes Chanda vs Ivanchuk
One of the most unusual games of the Gibraltar Chess Festival was the one between Sandipan Chanda with the white pieces against Vassily Ivanchuk. We all know that Sandipan is a deep thinker and always put a great amount of thought behind his moves. So it was very surprising that he 'blundered' on the 12th move. Of course, it was not a blunder, it was a well-calculated risk by Sandipan. But the computers don't seem to agree with the Indian GM. GM Shyam Sundar got intrigued by this game and sent us his analysis from a human point of view. We are sure that this will help you to better understand how grandmasters think over the board.
Black has just played a5-a4 with the obvious intention of not letting white to expand on the queenside.Though this idea is typical, I am not sure if its an asset or liability in this position as the pawn on c5 is clearly a major asset for White. It not only restricts Black's pieces but also has firm control over dark squares as moves like Nc3-b5 to d6 are always in the air.
I have analyzed the above position in great depth and come to the conclusion that it is not as black and white as the computer suggests. There are areas in grey and Black must play very carefully in order to keep his advantage. Have a look at my analysis below:
About the author:
GM Shyam Sundar is a grandmaster and one of the very few players in Indian chess who has improved without having a consistent trainer. His method of work involves analyzing games of top players and learning from it. As you can see above, he analyzed the game between Sandipan Chanda and Ivanchuk in great depth and this helps him to improve at the game.