last book move

13… Qxa5?? 14. Bb6 wins the queen

Another demonstration of Anand’s home preparation. He deviates from a game played earlier in the B section of this tournament.14. g4 Be7 15. g5 Nh5 16. Nd5 Qa4 17. Nc3 Qd7 18. Nd5 Qa4 19. Qe1 c3 20. Qxc3 Rc8 21. Qd2 Qxa2 22. Qb4 Bxd5 23. exd5 O-O 24. Nc6 Bd8 25. c3 Nf4 26. Bxf4 exf4 27. Rhe1 Bxg5 28. Qxd6 Qa1+ 29. Kc2 Qa4+ 30. Kb1 Bh4 31. Rd4 Qb5 32. Na7 Qc5 33. Nxc8 Qxd6 34. Nxd6 Bxe1 35. Nb7 Bf2 36. Rxf4 Rb8 37. Na5 Kf8 38. Nc6 Bc5 39. Nxb8 Cheparinov – Lahno, Corus B, Wijk aan Zee 2006, 1-0 (39)

15… O-O

Demolishes the pawn shield

19… Kxe7? 20. Qa7+ +-

Anand has sacrificed an exchange to smash Black’s pawn structure and dislocate his kingside development. He has a slight edge here and looks to have sufficient compensation for the exchange.

Trying to create more weaknesses on the kingside.

Starting an ambitious manoeuvre Nc3-e2-g1-h3-g5 to ratchet up the pressure on the Black kingside, or even Ng3 to bolster an h-pawn advance.

Gelfand feels forced to weaken his kingside in an effort to stabilise his position and get his pieces developed.

Blacks flurry of activity has allowed him to complete his development. White seems to have gone backwards in terms of activity, but Anand has the position firmly under control. The h6-pawn is a thorn in Black’s position.

A retreat that’s only temporary

Anand activates his king – its needed to cover the f3-pawn which releases his rook to become active again.

The knight has no further prospects on the kingside, so it seeks adventure elsewhere. In particular, along with the White king it covers all the entry points down the d-file.

Protecting the b2-pawn so that the bishop can move freely again.

Preventing 39. Be7, as well as threatening to win the h6-pawn.

At last, the weak e5 pawn is ready to fall. Black is in a semi zugzwang state.

Job done.

This opens up a nice out-post for the White knight.

Rerouting the bishop to a more useful diagonal.

Black gets a little counterplay by pressing against White’s f3-pawn.

Threatening to nullify the pressure on the f3-pawn with the knight manoeuvre Nd5-e5-f5.

Exploiting the pin down the f-file to demolish White’s pawn structure. The threat is Ng3+

White is still the exchange down, but his two extra pawns, still linked, plus his centralised minor pieces, give him a significant edge.

A crafty move, covering the queenside pawns.

Holding the position together.

The rook on e2 is marvellously placed.

65… Kd7 does not help much 66. e6+ Kc6 67. Nd5 Rxg4 68. e7 Rxe4+ 69. Kxe4 +-

Enough is enough for Gelfand. He resigns. An awesome technical performance from Anand.66. e6 Kd6 67. Nd5 +-

Both sides need to be fully commited with their plans. Its a game of chicken, the first player to back down will lose.

14. Ng3 a5 15. Kb1 a4 16. Nc1 Qb8 17. f4 exf4 18. Bxf4 b3 19. cxb3 axb3 20. a3=/+ Svidler – Kasimdzhanov, WCh-FIDE, San Luis 2005, 1/2 (34)

16. fxe6 axb3 17. exf7+ Rxf7 18. Kb1 bxc2+ 19. Kxc2=/+ Topalov -Vallejo Pons, Linares 2005, 1-0 (32)

18. cxb3 axb3 19. a3 Rc8+ 20. Kb1 Bc4 21. f6 Nexf6 22. gxf6 Bxf6 23. Bxc4 Rxc4 24. Nxb3 Rxe4-+ Boriss – Gallagher, Bundesliga 2003, 1/2 (39)

This is Karjakin’s attempted improvement, but it leaves the queen a little exposed on the c-file.

23. Qe2 d5 24. Rxd5 Rxd5 25. exd5 Bxa3 26. bxa3 Nd6= Leko – Vallejo Pons, Melody Amber Rapid 2005, 1/2 (67)

24. Rd4

An amazing concept, the idea is to bring the f8-rook and the e5-knight quickly into the attack.

Essentially forced. White cannot allow …Nb5 where Black’s attack is far too strong to defend.

With the sacrifice of two pieces Black has whipped up a mating net around the White king. Black’s position has reached its zenith, and White temporarily has the initiative. Its a question of whether White has a sequence that either mates or perpetuals the Black king.

Creating a potential escape square for his king. In lines after gxf7+ Black king has the handy h7 square, where it is almost out of reach from the White pieces.

A determined attempt to get at the Black king, but after Black’s next its clear that Anand has things well under control.

Anand would have to have seen this possibility all the way back on his 24th move where he initially sacrificed two pieces. Anand discards another rook, which gives him the initiative to finish off his attack.

It isn’t safe for Black to take the White queen yet.

34. Kb1 Now it is safe to accept White’s gift. The Black rook does a sterling job on the seventh rank, locking in the White king as well as interfering with the co-ordination of White’s pieces. Qxf8

Shredder 7 announces mate in 5.