Anand draws Giri, cannot win the Candidates now
After the opening it seemed as if Giri would press on for quite a while. However, in the middlegame he sacrificed a piece, which was practically very interesting but objectively bad. It gave Anand the much needed chance he required to win the game. But with the impending time pressure it wasn't easy to play for both sides. Anand was a piece up but made a few inaccuracies and the game was drawn. It was result which ended Anand's chances to be the next challenger. Nonetheless the game was interesting and here are the analysis by IM Sagar Shah
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[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.03.27"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2762"]
[BlackElo "2793"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "103"]
white, Vishy went for Bb5 and Anish was just impenetrable in the Berlin. It is
a natural choice to go for the Guioco Piano once again.} Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3
d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 Ba7 8. Na3 Ne7 {This exact position was reached between
Anand and Aronian in the ninth round. Vishy had now gone Nc2. In this game he
deviates with the more active Bg5.} 9. Bg5 $146 c6 (9... Ng6 {looks like a
natural move. But Giri figures that there is no need to worry about the
doubling of his f-pawns.}) 10. Nc2 O-O 11. Nh4 $6 {Anand goes for this
interesting idea of launching a kingside attack with taking on f6 and
transferring the queen to h5 but this allows his opponent to break in the
centre.} (11. Bxf6 $1 gxf6 12. d4 {looked like a very logical and tempting way
to play for White.} Bg4 13. Bb3 f5 14. exf5 e4 15. Ne3 Bh5 16. g4 $18 {is just
an illustrative line but take on f6 followed by d4 looked pretty strong.})
11... d5 12. exd5 Nexd5 (12... cxd5 {Also looked pretty good as after} 13. Bb3
Bg4 $1 14. Qd2 Nc6 $1 $15 {Black is better.}) 13. Nf3 Qd6 (13... Bg4 14. h3
Bxf3 15. Qxf3 $14) (13... Re8) 14. Re1 {White is posing small problems for his
opponent. This mini problem of defending e5 is not so easy to solve.} Bg4 (
14... Re8 15. d4 $5 e4 (15... exd4 16. Rxe8+ Nxe8 17. Ncxd4 $14) 16. Ne5 {
is some initiative for White}) 15. Bh4 {The bishop plans to go to g3 in order
to increase the pressure on the e5 pawn.} (15. h3 Bh5 16. g4 e4 $1 (16... Bg6
17. Nxe5 Nd7 $5 18. d4 Nxe5 19. dxe5 Qc5 20. Qe2 Bxc2 21. Bxd5 Qxd5 22. Qxc2
Qf3 $44) 17. d4 (17. dxe4 Qg3+ $19) 17... exf3 $15) 15... Rae8 16. h3 (16. Bg3
Nh5 $15) 16... Bh5 17. Bg3 Nf4 $1 18. Bxf4 exf4 19. d4 c5 $1 $15 {It was
extremely important to open the bishop on a7. Black has a slight edge.} 20. Be2
cxd4 21. Ncxd4 Re4 {White's position is solid enough to withstand the attack
by White. But the ability to improve the situation solely lies in Black's
hands.} 22. Qc2 Rc8 (22... Rfe8 23. Bd3 Rxe1+ 24. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 25. Nxe1 $11) 23.
Rad1 Bxf3 {A highly committal decision by Anish. But it was not for nothing.
He had spotted a tactic. Of course, armed with computers we can immediately
say that the sacrifice was incorrect. However, during the game it looks
extremely tempting.} 24. Nxf3 Bxf2+ $5 {Objectively this is incorrect. But
with the approaching time pressure and also seeing the competitive importance
of the game, this looks like an excellent practical try.} 25. Kxf2 Qb6+ 26. Kf1
(26. Nd4 Rxd4 $17) 26... Nh5 27. g4 $1 {This is the only way for White to
fight for an advantage. Of course, Anish saw this coming but in any case
winning two pawns looks like a good bet.} (27. Nd4 Ng3+ 28. Kg1 Rxd4 29. Rxd4
Qxd4+ 30. cxd4 Rxc2 31. Bd3 Rc8 32. Re7) 27... fxg3 (27... Ng3+ 28. Kg2 {
is absolutely nothing.}) 28. Bd3 (28. Rd4 $5 {was the best move and one which
is not at all easy to see.} Rxd4 (28... Rce8 $5 29. Qd2 Nf4 30. Bd3 Rxe1+ 31.
Nxe1) 29. Nxd4 Qxd4 30. Bxh5 $18 {Black has to resign.} (30. cxd4 Rxc2 31. Bxh5
g6 32. Bd1 Rxb2 33. Re2 $16 {is better but not yet completely winning.})) 28...
Rxe1+ (28... Rf4 29. Kg2 $14) 29. Rxe1 Nf4 30. Nd4 (30. Bxh7+ Kh8 31. Nd4 g6
$13) 30... g6 31. Be4 $6 (31. Qd2 Nxd3 32. Qxd3 Qxb2 33. Qxg3 $14) (31. Re3 $16
) 31... Qf6 $1 32. Bf3 (32. Kg1 Nxh3+ 33. Kg2 Nf4+ $11) 32... g2+ (32... Qxd4
33. Re8+ Kg7 34. Rxc8 Qe3 35. Bg2 Nd3 {This doesn't work due to} 36. Re8 $1
Qxe8 37. Qxd3 $16) (32... Rc5 {Vishy thought that this was extremely strong.
But the engine finds a nice refutation.} 33. Qe4 $1 g2+ 34. Kg1 Nxh3+ 35. Kxg2
Nf4+ 36. Kf1 $18) 33. Bxg2 Nd3+ 34. Nf3 Nxe1 35. Kxe1 b5 36. axb5 axb5 37. Qe4
Rb8 38. Qd4 Qe6+ 39. Kf2 Qb3 40. Ne5 $6 (40. Qd2 $1 b4 41. Nd4 Qc4 (41... Qa2
42. cxb4) 42. Bf3 $11) 40... Qxb2+ 41. Kg1 Rc8 42. Qf4 $6 (42. Nc6 $5 Qb1+ 43.
Kh2 Qe1 44. c4 bxc4 45. Ne5 $13) 42... Qa2 $1 43. c4 (43. Nc6 Re8) 43... Qa7+
44. Kh2 bxc4 45. Bd5 Rf8 $2 (45... Kg7 $5 46. Nxf7 Qa2+ 47. Bg2 Rf8 48. Qe5+
Kxf7 49. Kg3 $1 {Bd5+ is quite srong.}) (45... Rc5 $1 46. Qd4 Rc7 $1 47. Qxa7
Rxa7 48. Bxc4 Kg7 49. Nxf7 Rxf7 (49... Rc7 50. Nd6 Rc6 51. Ne8+ Kf8 52. Bb5 Rc5
53. Ba4 $17 {with a most probable draw.}) 50. Bxf7 Kxf7 51. Kg3 {is a
tablebase draw.} Ke6 52. Kg4 Kf6 53. h4 h5+ 54. Kf4 Ke6 55. Ke4 $11) 46. Qf6 $1
Qa2+ 47. Kg3 Qa7 (47... Qa3+ 48. Kh4 $18) 48. Kg2 (48. Kf3 Qa3+ 49. Ke4 Qa7 50.
Bxc4 Qa4 51. Kf4 Qb4 $1 {Only move.} 52. Kg4 h5+ 53. Kg3 $11) 48... Qa2+ 49.
Kf3 Qa3+ 50. Kg4 Qa7 51. Kf3 Qa3+ 52. Kg4 {With this draw Anand's chances to
qualify for the World Championships came to an end and Giri made his 13th
consecutive draw.} 1/2-1/2
Only Caruana or Karjakin!
Vishy Anand can no longer win the Candidates. He can tie tomorrow with Karjakin and Caruana but the tiebreaks do not favour him. Currently these are the standings:
Karjakin 7.5
Caruana 7.5
Anand 7.0
Here is how it works out:
Karjakin and Caruana play against each other tomorrow and only one amongst the two have a chance to win the tournament. The one who wins the game becomes the champion and the Challenger.
However, in case of a draw it becomes complicated. Both Sergey and Fabiano reach 8.0/14. If Anand draws or loses to Svidler, then Sergey Karjakin is the champion because head to head (first tiebreak) is equal between him and Caruana, but Sergey is the champion based on more wins, which is the second tiebreak.
However: if Vishy wins against Svidler then things change completely, because all three would be on 8.0/14. Then the three players are a group in head to head encounters, and Caruana has 2.5/4 (1.5 against Vishy and 1 point against Sergey) while Karjakin has 2/4 (1 each against Vishy and Caruana). Then Caruana wins the tournament.
So whatever happens it will either be Caruana or Karjakin. The best Vishy can achieve is a second position, which is a heartbreak for Indians but would be extremely commendable in this group of young players.