लंदन चैस क्लासिक - जन्मदिन धमाका -आनंद जीते

[Event "8th London Chess Classic 2016"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2016.12.09"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A21"]
[WhiteElo "2823"]
[BlackElo "2779"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[TimeControl "40/7200:3600+30"]

1. c4 {[%emt 0:00:03]} e5 {[%emt 0:00:11]} 2. Nc3 {[%emt 0:00:06]} Bb4 {
[%emt 0:00:10] It seems as if Anand has prepared this system in depth and is
not shy of using it. He has already played it thrice in the last six months.}
3. Nd5 {[%emt 0:00:06]} Bc5 {[%emt 0:00:11]} 4. Nf3 {[%emt 0:00:08]} c6 {
[%emt 0:00:14]} 5. Nc3 {[%emt 0:00:05]} d6 {[%emt 0:00:10]} 6. g3 {[%emt 0:00:
07]} (6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 Nf6 {leads to different type of positions, one where
I think White has a slight edge.}) 6... Nf6 {[%emt 0:03:49]} 7. Bg2 {[%emt 0:
00:17]} O-O {[%emt 0:01:54]} 8. O-O {[%emt 0:00:14]} Re8 {[%emt 0:10:27]} 9. d3
{[%emt 0:00:14] Caruana decides to play it slow.} (9. d4 exd4 (9... Bb6 $5 10.
dxe5 dxe5 11. Qxd8 Bxd8 $11) 10. Nxd4 $14 {was another way to play.}) 9... h6 {
[%emt 0:00:50]} 10. Na4 {[%emt 0:01:18]} Bb4 {[%emt 0:02:36]} 11. a3 {[%emt 0:
00:07]} Ba5 {[%emt 0:00:06]} 12. b4 {[%emt 0:00:07]} Bc7 {[%emt 0:00:06] It
seems as if Black has lost a lot of time, but it was important to save the
bishop. We see a similar manoeuvre in the Giuoco Piano. The bishop is well
placed on c7 and Black can think about central expansion with d6-d5.} 13. e4 {
[%emt 0:02:27]} Bg4 $1 {[%emt 0:06:06] The d4 square has been softened up, and
it makes sense to exchange the bishop for the knight.} (13... d5 $6 14. exd5
cxd5 15. cxd5 Nxd5 16. Bb2 {With Re1 coming up, Black's lack of development
really starts to tell.}) 14. h3 {[%emt 0:09:08]} Bxf3 {[%emt 0:00:56]} 15. Qxf3
{[%emt 0:00:22]} Nbd7 {[%emt 0:01:10]} 16. Qd1 {[%emt 0:19:02] Fabiano
prepares to strike the center with f4.} a6 {[%emt 0:05:54]} 17. Nc3 {[%emt 0:
17:42]} Bb6 {[%emt 0:08:10]} 18. Ne2 {[%emt 0:01:12]} (18. Kh2 Bd4 19. Bb2 b5
$15) 18... a5 {[%emt 0:05:52]} 19. Bb2 {[%emt 0:05:13]} Qe7 {[%emt 0:09:04]}
20. Kh2 {[%emt 0:14:12] White is now well placed for the f4 break.} axb4 {
[%emt 0:04:25]} 21. axb4 {[%emt 0:00:06]} Rxa1 {[%emt 0:00:52]} 22. Qxa1 {
[%emt 0:03:51]} (22. Bxa1 Ra8 {is not something that Fabi wanted.}) 22... h5 $1
{[%emt 0:04:40][%cal Gh6h5] Typical Vishy Anand! He finds the best resources
in the position. The exchange on a1 forced the white queen away from the
kingside and now with the move h5 he tries to tell White that look you may the
center and the f4 related ideas, but with ...h5 I am going to start my own
counterplay.} 23. Kh1 {[%emt 0:12:29]} (23. f4 $6 h4 $1 (23... Ng4+ 24. hxg4
hxg4 25. Qc1 $1 Qf6 26. fxe5 $18) 24. g4 exf4 25. Nxf4 Be3 26. Ne2 Ne5 $15 {
Black has excellent control on the dark squares and is better.}) 23... h4 {
[%emt 0:06:24]} 24. g4 {[%emt 0:07:05]} Nh7 $1 {[%emt 0:05:26] The knight will
be well placed on g5 in the future.} 25. f4 {[%emt 0:03:50]} Be3 {[%emt 0:02:
18]} 26. Bc3 {[%emt 0:07:28]} c5 $6 {[%emt 0:07:54]} (26... exf4 $1 27. Nxf4 (
27. Bxg7 $2 Ne5 $1 28. Bh6 (28. Bxe5 dxe5 $19) 28... f3 $1 29. Bxe3 fxg2+ 30.
Kxg2 Nxd3 $17) 27... Ne5 $15) 27. bxc5 {[%emt 0:02:29]} Nxc5 {[%emt 0:00:00]}
28. Qb1 $1 {[%emt 0:00:00] Rf3 is going to trap the bishop now.} (28. Rf3 exf4
29. Nxf4 Bxf4 30. Rxf4 Nxd3 $17) 28... Ra8 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 29. d4 {[%emt 0:00:
00]} exd4 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 30. Nxd4 {[%emt 0:00:00]} Bxd4 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 31.
Bxd4 {[%emt 0:00:00] White has the brilliant centre and bishop pair, but Black
king is safe, the knight on c5 is well placed and the white king on h1 is not
the happiest of people in the world. Hence, Black is not worse by a huge
margin.} Rc8 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 32. Ba1 {[%emt 0:00:00]} (32. e5 $5 dxe5 33. Bxe5
$14) 32... Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 33. e5 {[%emt 0:00:00]} dxe5 {[%emt 0:00:00]}
34. Bxe5 {[%emt 0:00:00]} (34. fxe5 Nh7 {followed by Ng5-e6 gives Black a fine
position.}) 34... Nfd7 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 35. Bc3 {[%emt 0:00:00]} Qe3 {[%emt 0:
00:00]} 36. Ba1 {[%emt 0:00:00]} Re8 $11 {[%emt 0:00:00] Anand has
co-ordinated his position excellent and is not worse anymore.} 37. Qb2 {
[%emt 0:00:00]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 38. Qd4 {[%emt 0:00:00]} (38. g5 Nh5 39.
Bf3 Nd3 40. Qc3 Ng3+ 41. Kh2 Nxf1+ $19) 38... b6 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 39. Qxe3 {
[%emt 0:00:00]} Rxe3 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 40. Bd4 {[%emt 0:00:00]} Rd3 {[%emt 1:00:
30]} 41. Bf2 {[%emt 1:00:30]} Rc3 {[%emt 0:00:30]} 42. Bxh4 {[%emt 0:00:30]
The players agreed to a draw. After...Rxc4 White may have a theoretical edge.
But it is nothing substantial.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "London Chess Classic 2016"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2016.12.10"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2779"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

{Notes by Krikor Mekhitarian -} 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. In the other side, we have one of the world's top specialist 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 have
drawn their first round games, meaning a higher chance they would both seek a
very tense battle.} 6. h3 $5 {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 {a very odd situation to have white to castle K-side and
black to castle Q-side in an open sicilian. White went on to win it in 29
moves!: 1-0 (29) Adams,W-Pavey,M Baltimore 1948}) 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 Q-side).} (7. Nde2 {is the most
common move, aiming for g4-Ng3} h5 {black normally stops white's K-side
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 {with an unclear position:
0-1 (57) Gormally,D (2488)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2757) Douglas 2014}) (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 {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) 10... Bxb3 (10... Bc4 $6 11. Bxc4
Rxc4 12. Qd3 $16 {the light-squared B exchange is positionally good for white})
11. axb3 {It is clear that white's position is threatening, g5 looks very
annoying and Vachier-Lagrave has to do something, and here he follows a very
important advice - meet a flank attack with a center counterattack!} 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, that 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
counterattack rule and looks very attractive, specially because black creates
a devastating threat of Qh4+ now:} 12. bxc3 Nxe4 13. h4 Qb6 (13... Be7 $5 {
is a similar version} 14. g5 Qb6 15. Qf3 d5 $44 {now black has a 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 in 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 surrounds about the moment when black will release the pressure to
get the d5-P 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 {and suddenly white loses!}) 20... Nf4 21. Qf2 Nxg2 22.
Bxc5 Qc6 23. Qxg2 Qxc5 24. Qxe4 $16 {with a promising endgame}) 18... a5 (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 (19. d6 $1 {a very counterintuitive and
difficult move, worsening the black's R position 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 {now Nb4 is a serious threat} 24. Qa3 Qxa3 25. bxa3 $11 {
and black has every reason to feel relieved winning the pawn back, and ruining
white's structure on the Q-side.}) 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 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 {All of this was amazingly 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 against 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 on the following position
with the strong bishop pair and many strong pawns on the Q-side} (24. Bd4 Qb4
$1 $132 {-- 19...Bxc3}) 24... Rxd5 25. Bxe4 Rd6 26. a5 Qb5 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 {the pawn majority on the Q-side
may be decisive, and white should have the better prospects, but there is a
lot to be played, 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 33. Bxb7 $1 {
Maxime resigned since the a-P is unstoppable. A brilliant presentation from
the legendary world champion Vishy Anand, showing hard work with a deep
opening preparation, strong dynamic play and impressive calculations.
Vachier-Lagrave put up a strong resistance after being surprised in the
opening, and could have defended the endgame, if it wasn't fo the final
mistake on move 29. Now Anand joins the 2nd place with three other players at
1,5/2, but for now the man to watch for is Wesley So, with a perfect 2/2 score
and a newly acquired ticket into the 2800 club!} (33. Bxb7 $1 Nxb7 34. a6 {
followed by a7, if the N leaves.} Re2 {the rook is also not in time:} 35. axb7
Re8 36. Be5 $1 $18) 1-0