Anand and Jobava play each other for the first time
On 3rd of December 2016 Vishy Anand and Baadur Jobava sat opposite each other for a game of chess for the first time in their lives! Yes, first time! No blitz, rapid or classical games. And what an exciting battle it was. Vishy Anand sacrificed his bishop, Baadur quietly ate it up and two moves later sacrificed his own bishop! It was a perfect symphony of attack and defence. Full game analysis with loads of instructive material.
The fifth round of the German Bundesliga took place on the 3rd of December 2016. Vishy Anand made a trip to play for his team OSG Baden Baden. Vishy Anand plays one or two crucial games for the team in the entire season. The 2016-17 season has 15 rounds. However, some of them are against strong teams and this is when Baden Baden invokes the services of the five team World Champion. On 3rd of December Baden Baden took on the team of Hockenheim.
Anand was to face the in form Georgian Baadur Jobava, who had recently won the gold at the Baku Olympiad 2016 (photo by Maria Emelianova)
Baden Baden's line up was tremendous with the likes of Caruana, MVL, Anand, Svidler, Wojtaszek and others. It didn't come as a surprise that the team won 5:3 thanks to victories by...
...Fabiano Caruana against Evgeny Tomashevsky and...
...Arkadij Naiditsch getting the better of David Baramidze
Results
| B | SV 1930 HOCKENHEIM | OSG BADEN-BADEN | ERGEBNIS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evgeny Tomashevsky | Fabiano Caruana | 0 : 1 |
| 2 | Nikita Vitiugov | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 0.5 : 0.5 |
| 3 | Baadur Jobava | Viswanathan Anand | 0.5 : 0.5 |
| 4 | David W L Howell | Peter Svidler | 0.5 : 0.5 |
| 5 | Rainer Buhmann | Radoslav Wojtaszek | 0.5 : 0.5 |
| 6 | Ivan Saric | Rustam Kasimdzhanov | 0.5 : 0.5 |
| 7 | Alexander Moiseenko | Etienne Bacrot | 0.5 : 0.5 |
| 8 | David Baramidze | Arkadij Naiditsch | 0 : 1 |
Vishy Anand had the white pieces
With Tal like calculating abilities, Baadur Jobava is always a dangerous opponent
Key Positions from Vishy Anand vs Baadur Jobava
What's wrong with Baadur? The Petroff Defence!? Well, perhaps he wanted to show some respect towards Vishy's opening preparation
In this well known position in the Petroff Jobava went for Nd7 instead of the often played Bg4
Jobava was aware that a sacrifice on h6 is imminent, but he coolly developed his bishop to e6
Vishy was in an aggressive mood and didn't think twice!
A counter sacrifice had been prepared by Baadur!
Anand had two extra pawns but just look at Black's activity! Scary!
Kh1 was the final accurate move as now ...Rxg2 would be met with Rg1! with a pin down the g-file. A draw was agreed soon!
[Event "Bundesliga 2016-17"]
[Site "Hockenheim GER"]
[Date "2016.12.03"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Jobava, Baadur"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2776"]
[BlackElo "2698"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2015.09.18"]
[EventType "team"]
[WhiteTeam "Baden-Baden"]
[BlackTeam "Hockenheim"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {Baadur Jobava playing the Petroff is like Mikhail Tal
playing the Berlin! The two don't go together. As we shall see, soon things do
become completely unclear!} 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O
O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 {This is all well known and
the main move here Bg4. But Baadur went for an unknown line which is not
played quite often.} Nd7 (11... Bg4 12. Qd3 Nd7 13. Ng5 Nf6 14. h3 Bh5 15. f4
$36 {with initiative for White.}) 12. Re1 h6 {Preparing to play Nf6 when Bg5
will not be possible.} 13. Ne5 $6 (13. Qc2 Nb6 14. Bd3 Be6 15. c4 $14 {is the
right way for White to proceed.}) 13... Nxe5 $1 (13... Bxe5 14. dxe5 Nb6 15.
Bd3 $14 {White retains the queens and has good attacking chances.}) (13... Nf6
14. Qb3 $1 $14) 14. dxe5 Bc5 15. Qh5 {Anand gets his queen into the attacking
zone. He is now threatening moves like Bxh6 and it is not so easy to stop
these ideas.} Be6 $1 {Baadur sees that a sacrifice on h6 is possible, but he
has a counter sacrifice prepared.} (15... Qe7 16. Bxh6 gxh6 17. Qg6+ Kh8 18.
Qxh6+ Kg8 19. Re4 $18 {The rook is threatening to go to h4 and there is no
good way to stop the mate along the h-file.} (19. Bd3 f5 (19... f6 20. exf6 {
leads to the same position.}) 20. exf6 (20. Bc4+ {is even stronger as after}
Rf7 21. Rad1 $18 {White is just winning.}) 20... Rxf6 21. Qg5+ Qg7 22. Bc4+ Kh8
23. Qxc5 $18)) 16. Bxh6 gxh6 (16... Bxc4 17. Qg4 g6 18. Qxc4 $18 (18. Bxf8 Be6
19. Qxe6 Bxf2+ (19... fxe6 20. Bxc5 $15) 20. Kxf2 fxe6 $17)) 17. Bxe6 Bxf2+ $1
(17... fxe6 18. Qg6+ Kh8 19. Qxh6+ Kg8 20. Re4 $1 {The rook lift is
immediately decisive.} Bxf2+ 21. Kh1 $18) 18. Kxf2 (18. Kh1 Qg5 $1 $19 {
This move is easy to miss. The attack is stopped and White is simply losing
material.} (18... Bxe1 19. Qg6+ Kh8 20. Qxh6+ Kg8 21. Qg6+ Kh8 22. Qh6+ Kg8 23.
Rxe1 (23. Bf5 {would have been nice, but falls short because of} Qh4 $1 $19)
23... fxe6 24. Qg6+ $11 {There is no way to get the rook into the game because
of the back rank weakness.})) 18... fxe6+ 19. Kg1 Qg5 $1 {The queen joins in
the game and it is Black who takes over the initiative.} 20. Qh3 (20. Qxg5+
hxg5 21. Rad1 Rad8 $11) 20... Rf5 21. Rab1 (21. Re4 h5 $15) 21... b6 22. Qd3
Rd8 $1 {True to his active style Baadur activates his last passive piece.} 23.
Qc4 Rd2 $1 24. Qxe6+ Kg7 (24... Kh8 25. Qxc6 Rff2 {would transpose to the game.
}) 25. Qxc6 Rff2 {White is two pawns up, but look at Black's activity! It's
fearsome!} 26. Qb7+ (26. g3 Qh5 $1 {A powerful move which ends the game.} (
26... Rxh2 27. Qb7+ Kh8 28. Qa8+ $11) 27. Qb7+ Rf7 28. Qh1 Qf5 29. Rf1 Rf2 $1
30. Rfe1 Rxa2 {Picking this pawn is important as now you can transpose into a
winning pawn endgame.} 31. Rf1 Qxf1+ 32. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 33. Kxf1 Ra1+ 34. Kg2 Rxh1
35. Kxh1 a5 $19) 26... Kh8 27. Qa8+ Qg8 {Black has to play this in order to
avoid the perpetual. Even if the queen's are exchanged Black is fine because
of his active rooks.} 28. Qxg8+ Kxg8 29. Kh1 $1 Rxg2 30. Rg1 {The rooks are
exchanged and the game ends in a draw.} Rxg1+ 31. Rxg1+ Kf7 $11 32. a4 Ra2 33.
Rg4 Ke6 34. Kg1 Kxe5 35. Rh4 Kd5 36. Kf1 Ke5 37. Kg1 Kd5 38. Kf1 Ke5 1/2-1/2
[Site "Hockenheim GER"]
[Date "2016.12.03"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Jobava, Baadur"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2776"]
[BlackElo "2698"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2015.09.18"]
[EventType "team"]
[WhiteTeam "Baden-Baden"]
[BlackTeam "Hockenheim"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {Baadur Jobava playing the Petroff is like Mikhail Tal
playing the Berlin! The two don't go together. As we shall see, soon things do
become completely unclear!} 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O
O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 {This is all well known and
the main move here Bg4. But Baadur went for an unknown line which is not
played quite often.} Nd7 (11... Bg4 12. Qd3 Nd7 13. Ng5 Nf6 14. h3 Bh5 15. f4
$36 {with initiative for White.}) 12. Re1 h6 {Preparing to play Nf6 when Bg5
will not be possible.} 13. Ne5 $6 (13. Qc2 Nb6 14. Bd3 Be6 15. c4 $14 {is the
right way for White to proceed.}) 13... Nxe5 $1 (13... Bxe5 14. dxe5 Nb6 15.
Bd3 $14 {White retains the queens and has good attacking chances.}) (13... Nf6
14. Qb3 $1 $14) 14. dxe5 Bc5 15. Qh5 {Anand gets his queen into the attacking
zone. He is now threatening moves like Bxh6 and it is not so easy to stop
these ideas.} Be6 $1 {Baadur sees that a sacrifice on h6 is possible, but he
has a counter sacrifice prepared.} (15... Qe7 16. Bxh6 gxh6 17. Qg6+ Kh8 18.
Qxh6+ Kg8 19. Re4 $18 {The rook is threatening to go to h4 and there is no
good way to stop the mate along the h-file.} (19. Bd3 f5 (19... f6 20. exf6 {
leads to the same position.}) 20. exf6 (20. Bc4+ {is even stronger as after}
Rf7 21. Rad1 $18 {White is just winning.}) 20... Rxf6 21. Qg5+ Qg7 22. Bc4+ Kh8
23. Qxc5 $18)) 16. Bxh6 gxh6 (16... Bxc4 17. Qg4 g6 18. Qxc4 $18 (18. Bxf8 Be6
19. Qxe6 Bxf2+ (19... fxe6 20. Bxc5 $15) 20. Kxf2 fxe6 $17)) 17. Bxe6 Bxf2+ $1
(17... fxe6 18. Qg6+ Kh8 19. Qxh6+ Kg8 20. Re4 $1 {The rook lift is
immediately decisive.} Bxf2+ 21. Kh1 $18) 18. Kxf2 (18. Kh1 Qg5 $1 $19 {
This move is easy to miss. The attack is stopped and White is simply losing
material.} (18... Bxe1 19. Qg6+ Kh8 20. Qxh6+ Kg8 21. Qg6+ Kh8 22. Qh6+ Kg8 23.
Rxe1 (23. Bf5 {would have been nice, but falls short because of} Qh4 $1 $19)
23... fxe6 24. Qg6+ $11 {There is no way to get the rook into the game because
of the back rank weakness.})) 18... fxe6+ 19. Kg1 Qg5 $1 {The queen joins in
the game and it is Black who takes over the initiative.} 20. Qh3 (20. Qxg5+
hxg5 21. Rad1 Rad8 $11) 20... Rf5 21. Rab1 (21. Re4 h5 $15) 21... b6 22. Qd3
Rd8 $1 {True to his active style Baadur activates his last passive piece.} 23.
Qc4 Rd2 $1 24. Qxe6+ Kg7 (24... Kh8 25. Qxc6 Rff2 {would transpose to the game.
}) 25. Qxc6 Rff2 {White is two pawns up, but look at Black's activity! It's
fearsome!} 26. Qb7+ (26. g3 Qh5 $1 {A powerful move which ends the game.} (
26... Rxh2 27. Qb7+ Kh8 28. Qa8+ $11) 27. Qb7+ Rf7 28. Qh1 Qf5 29. Rf1 Rf2 $1
30. Rfe1 Rxa2 {Picking this pawn is important as now you can transpose into a
winning pawn endgame.} 31. Rf1 Qxf1+ 32. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 33. Kxf1 Ra1+ 34. Kg2 Rxh1
35. Kxh1 a5 $19) 26... Kh8 27. Qa8+ Qg8 {Black has to play this in order to
avoid the perpetual. Even if the queen's are exchanged Black is fine because
of his active rooks.} 28. Qxg8+ Kxg8 29. Kh1 $1 Rxg2 30. Rg1 {The rooks are
exchanged and the game ends in a draw.} Rxg1+ 31. Rxg1+ Kf7 $11 32. a4 Ra2 33.
Rg4 Ke6 34. Kg1 Kxe5 35. Rh4 Kd5 36. Kf1 Ke5 37. Kg1 Kd5 38. Kf1 Ke5 1/2-1/2
Harikrishna plays for the team Solingen in the German Bundesliga. He did not play in the fifth round. However, he had played in the first four games and this is how he performed:
Results and opponents of P. Harikrishna
| DAY | DATE | RESULT | OPPONENT | NAT. | CLUB | TITLE | ELO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15.10.2016 | 0.5: 0.5 | Kacper Piorun | SF Berlin 1903 | GM | 2681 | |
| 2 | 16.10.2016 | 1: 0 | Rene Stern | SK König Tegel | GM | 2528 | |
| 3 | 19.11.2016 | 1: 0 | Luke James McShane | SV Werder Bremen | GM | 2671 | |
| 4 | 20.11.2016 | 0: 1 | Rasmus Svane | Hamburger SK | IN THE | 2546 |
Standings after round five
| TEAM | SP | G | U | V | MP | BP | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | OSG Baden-Baden | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 29 | |
| 2. | SG Solingen (M) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 28.5 | |
| 3. | SV 1930 Hockenheim | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 25 | |
| 4. | SV Mülheim Nord | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 22.5 | |
| 5. | SK Schwäbisch Hall | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 23.5 | |
| 6. | Hamburger SK | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 21.5 | |
| 7. | SF Berlin 1903 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 22 | |
| 8. | SV Werder Bremen | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 20 | |
| 9. | SG Trier | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 19 | |
| 10. | USV TU Dresden | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 18.5 | |
| 11. | SG Speyer-Schwegenheim (N) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 16 | |
| 12. | FC Bayern München | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 16 | |
| 13. | DJK Aufwärts Aachen (N) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 17 | |
| 14. | SV Griesheim 1976 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 15.5 | |
| 15. | SK König Tegel (N) | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 14 | |
| 16. | MSA Zugzwang 82 (N) | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 12 |
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