Master Class by Vishy Anand

by Nisha Mohota - 31/01/2016

On 29th of January Vishy Anand gave a Master Class which lasted one hour 25 minutes. This was filled with high quality analysis and some brilliant ideas shared by the five-time World Champion. And this video is now available to you. IM Nisha Mohota who attended this Master Class gives us first hand experience of what it felt like learning from the Indian legend.

On 29th January 2016 there was a Master Class by Anand at the Gibraltar Chess Festival which was enjoyed by one and all! The hall was packed and some had to sit out in the lobby where there was a huge screen and could watch everything. Luckily I had occupied the seat in the hall well on time and I could enjoy the Master Class face to face!

Anand showed his game against Bareev which was interesting but more interesting was the analysis of the game. See for example this amazing position which could have been reached in the game:

Anand - Bareev, Wijk Aan Zee 2004

This position was not reached in the game but is part of the analysis. Black’s last move was 33...Bg7+, here White will play 34.Re5+ (Qxg7 is met with Rb8+) Kd4 35. Re4+ and then 35...Kd3 counter check! Basically check is being countered by check! We enjoyed this part of the master class very much!

You can replay this entire game, with annotations by GM Finkel, at the end of the article.

After the game Anand answered the questions posed to him by the audience on various subjects. He told the story of his meeting with Fischer! Who was the one player he would want to play with? Anand's reply was the 19th century genius Paul Morphy! He also told about the reason for coming back to open tournaments after such a long break.

Watch the Master Class by Clicking on the image below:

By Clicking on the above image you will be directly taken to the livestream website where you can follow this one hour 25 minute Master class by Anand

A packed crowd awaits for Anand to arrive

And there he comes, takes off his jacket and gets ready for the 85 minute Master Class. GM Stuart Conquest was the host of the show.

A job well done, and the jacket is back on

On the way back to the room, he meets his friend and long time second Surya Shekhar Ganguly

And now for the promised crazy game between Anand vs Bareev from 2004

[Event "Corus"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2004.01.19"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Bareev, Evgeny"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C13"]
[WhiteElo "2766"]
[BlackElo "2714"]
[Annotator "Finkel,A"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2004.01.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2004.03.30"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. Nf3 O-O 8.
Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Be7 10. Bd3 b6 11. h4 Bb7 12. Neg5 {Beyond any doubt this
move is the most crucial for the evaluation of the whole variation.} (12. c3 c5
13. Neg5 $5 (13. dxc5 Qc7 $5 14. Qc2 (14. Neg5 Nf6 15. Qe2 Qf4+ $1 16. Kb1 Bxc5
17. g3 Bxf3 18. Nxf3 Qc7 19. Rhe1 $14) 14... h6 15. cxb6 axb6 16. Kb1 Ra5 17.
Ned2 Rfa8 18. a3 Nc5 $44 {Solozhenkin,E-Dizdar,G/Paris 1996}) 13... Nf6 (13...
h6 14. Bh7+ Kh8 15. Bc2 Bxf3 16. Nxf3 Nf6 17. Kb1 Qc7 18. Qe2 cxd4 19. Nxd4 h5
$11 {Anand,V-Bareev,E/Monte Carlo 2003}) 14. Qc2 g6 15. h5 $1 Nxh5 $5 16. Nxe6
$1 $36 {Ivanchuk,V-Radjabov,T/Moscow 2002}) (12. Nfg5 h6 13. f4 c5 14. dxc5 Qc7
15. Nd6 Nxc5 16. Nxb7 Nxb7 17. c3 Rfd8 18. Ne4 Rd5 $132 {Fercec,N-Dizdar,G/
Pula 1997}) (12. Rh3 Nf6 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Ng5 h6 15. Nh7 Re8 16. Nxf6+ Qxf6
17. g4 $14 {Fercec,N-Golubovic,B/Kastav 2000}) (12. Qe2 c5 (12... Nf6 13. Neg5
Bxf3 14. Nxf3 Qd6 15. Ne5 c5 16. dxc5 Qxc5 17. Kb1 Bd6 18. f4 h5 {1/2-1/2
Dominguez,L-Nogueiras,J/Havana 2001/CBM 84 (18)}) 13. Neg5 h6 14. Nxe6 $2 Bxf3
15. gxf3 fxe6 16. Qxe6+ Kh8 17. Rhg1 Rf6 18. Qg4 Bf8 $19 {Horvath,A-Golubovic,
B/Charleville 2000}) 12... Nf6 (12... h6 13. Rh3 c5 14. Kb1 cxd4 15. Qf4 Qb8
16. Qxd4 Bxf3 17. Nxf3 Nc5 $15 {Riegler,P-Dizdar,G/Bled 1994}) 13. c3 {
Preparing Qc2} Bxf3 14. gxf3 $5 {This is the only way to fight for an opening
advantage. The weakness of white pawns on the f-file is fully compensated by
the open line.} c5 (14... Kh8 15. Kb1 Qd6 16. Rdg1 $36 {Topalov,V-Dreev,A/
Linares 1995}) 15. dxc5 Qc7 16. Kb1 bxc5 17. Rdg1 $6 {This move is a novelty,
but it's hardly a very strong one. For some reason black didn't play the most
natural 17...c4 which would probably lead to black's advantage. Anyway'it was
probably better to come to g1 with the other rook in order to deprive black
this possibility.} (17. Qc2 h6 18. Bc4 Rfd8 19. Rdg1 hxg5 20. hxg5 Qf4 21. gxf6
Bxf6 $11 {Dworakowska,J-Zatonskih,A/Zagan 1997}) (17. Rhg1 $1) 17... Rfd8 $2 (
17... c4 $1 18. Nxh7 (18. Bc2 Rad8 19. Qe2 Rb8 $17) 18... Qd8 $1 (18... cxd3 $2
19. Qh6 g6 (19... Ne8 20. Rxg7+ Nxg7 21. Rg1 Qe5 22. f4 $18) 20. Rxg6+ fxg6 21.
Rg1 Ng4 22. Qxg6+ Kh8 23. Qh5 $18) 19. Nxf8 (19. Qh6 $2 Qxd3+ 20. Kc1 Qxh7 $19)
19... Bxf8 20. Rd1 (20. Bh7+ Kxh7 21. Qxd8 Rxd8 22. Rd1 Rb8 $17) 20... cxd3 21.
Qxd3 Qb6 $15) 18. Qc2 h6 19. Bh7+ Kf8 20. Nxf7 Kxf7 21. Qg6+ Kf8 22. Qxg7+ Ke8
23. Re1 $5 $36 {There is no doubt that white's initiative is very dangerous,
but I'm not sure it's enough for more than equality.} (23. Rd1 Nxh7 24. Qg6+
Kf8 25. Qxh6+ Ke8 26. Qxh7 (26. Qg6+ Kf8 $11) 26... Qe5 27. Qg8+ Bf8 $13) (23.
Bc2 $145 $1 {(Anand)}) 23... Rd6 $1 {A strong defensive move securing the
square d7 for the king and taking good care of e6.} (23... Kd7 $2 24. Bf5 $1
Rg8 25. Bxe6+ Kc6 26. Bxg8 Nxg8 27. Rhg1 $18) 24. Qh8+ Bf8 25. Bg6+ Ke7 26.
Rhg1 Rb6 (26... Qd7 $5 27. Bc2 (27. f4 Rb8 28. f5 Qb5 29. b3 Qd3+ $19) 27...
Qe8 28. Rg6 Qf7 $13) (26... Rb8 $142 {(Anand)}) 27. Bf5 Kf7 $2 {Missing a
chance to get an advantage after} (27... Qf4 $1 28. Rg7+ Kd6 29. Rxe6+ Kd5 30.
c4+ (30. Rxf6 Rxb2+ 31. Kxb2 Qd2+ $19) 30... Qxc4 31. Rd7+ Nxd7 32. Qg8 (32.
Be4+ Kxe6 33. Qg8+ Ke7 34. Qxc4 Rab8 $19) 32... Rxb2+ 33. Kxb2 Bg7+ 34. Re5+
Kxe5 (34... Kd4 35. Re4+ Kd3+ $1) 35. Qxc4 Kxf5+ 36. Kc2 Rd8 $15 {and black is
better, but it's hard to blame Bareev for not entering this line since it's
extremly difficult to calculate this line during the game.}) 28. Bg6+ Ke7 29.
Bc2 Kf7 {Now it's too late for Qf4:} (29... Qf4 30. Rg7+ Bxg7 (30... Kd6 31.
Rf7 Rab8 32. b3 Be7 33. Qg7 Nh5 34. Qh7 $18) 31. Qxg7+ Kd6 32. Qf7 Re8 33. Rd1+
Kc6 34. Be4+ Kb5 35. c4+ Ka6 36. Rd3 $18) 30. Rg6 $1 {Starting a forced line
leading to a winning position.} Qf4 31. Reg1 e5 (31... Ke7 32. Rg7+ Kd6 33. Rf7
$18) 32. Rg7+ Ke6 33. R1g6 Rab8 (33... e4 34. Rxf6+ Qxf6 35. Qg8+ Ke5 36. Rf7
Bg7 37. f4+ $1) 34. Qg8+ Kd6 35. Rxf6+ Qxf6 36. Rg6 $18 Kc7 37. Rxf6 Rxf6 38.
Qh7+ Kb6 39. Be4 $1 {The last accurate move taking the square b7 under control.
} Rd6 40. h5 {Black pieces desperately lack coordination, so no wonder that
the game is over in less than 10 moves.} a6 41. Qf7 Rd2 42. a3 Rd1+ 43. Kc2 Rd6
44. b4 cxb4 45. axb4 Rdd8 46. Qe6+ Rd6 47. Qc4 Rf6 48. Qd5 1-0

A huge thanks to Stuart Conquest and his team at the Gibraltar Chess for making such high quality learning content available to all the chess lovers, not only the ones in Gibraltar but also back home!