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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 +-

Anand has been here before and scored a win against Gelfand almost a decade ago. Kasparov, as Black, beat Ivanchuk in 1995.

11… Na5 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Nd5:

• 13… Bg5 14. Qd3 Rc8 15. Rfd1 Kh8 16. Nc3 Be7 17. Nd5 Bg5 18. Kh1 Bh6 19. Nc3 Nxb3 20. axb3 Qb6 21. Kg1 Rc6 22. Qe2 Qc7 23. Ne1 f5 24. Nd3 fxe4 25. Qxe4 Qf7 26. Qe2 Qg6 27. f3 Bf5 28. Nb4 Rc7 29. Nbd5 Rcf7 30. Ne4 Bg5 31. Ndc3 Be7 32. Rd3 Rc8 33. Rad1 Rc6 34. Nd5 Bf8 35. Rc3 h5 36. Kh1 h4 37. h3 Kg8 38. Rc4 Qh5 39. Ne3 d5 40. Nxd5 Bxh3 41. gxh3 Rxf3 42. Nef6+ Anand – Gelfand, Dos Hermanas 1996, 1-0 (42)
• 13… Nxb3 14. axb3 Bg5 15. Qd3 Bh6 16. Rad1 Rc8 17. Nd2 b5 18. c3 Kh8 19. b4 Ra8 20. Nb3 f5 21. Na5 Rc8 22. Qh3 Rf7 23. Rfe1 Qe8 24. Qh4 Qf8 25. exf5 Bxf5 26. f3 Bc2 27. Ra1 Bf5 28. h3 Qe8 29. Qf2 Qe6 30. Rad1 Qg6 31. Kh1 Rcf8 32. h4 Bc2 33. Rd2 Bxd2 34. Qxd2 Qg3 35. Nb7 Rxb7 Ivanchuk – Kasparov, New York 1995, 0-1 (35)

13. Qd2 Nc5 14. Rad1 Rad8 15. Qe3 Nxb3 16. axb3 f5 17. Nd5 Qd7 18. Ng5 Nd4 19. Nxe6 Qxe6 20. c3 Predojevic – Shirov, Sarajevo BIH 2005, 1/2 (20)

Anand takes away key squares from the Black pieces – g4, d4 and b4.

Preventing the freeing …d5. The Black central pawn complex is weak. Black will find it difficult to break with …d5 without weakening the …e5 pawn.

d6 becomes the focus of attention

Covers g5, but at the cost of weakening the light squares around the Black king. Shredder 7:

• 24… b6 25. Ng5 Qe7 26. Qg3 Rf4 27. a4 Qf6 28. Re2 Kh8 29. Re3 Rc5 30. Ree1 Qg6 [eval 0.14/16]
• 24… Qf7 25. b4 b6 26. Rc2 Qc7 27. a3 Rf6 28. Ng5 Rg6 29. h4 Rf6 30. Qe2 h6 31. Nf3 [eval 0.27/16]
• 24… Qe7 25. b4 b6 26. Rc2 Qc7 27. a3 Rf6 28. Ng5 Rg6 29. h4 Rf6 30. Qe2 h6 31. Nf3 [eval 0.27/16]
• 24… Rc5 25. Qe2 b6 26. Ng5 Qe7 27. Qh5 h6 28. Nf3 b5 29. cxb5 axb5 30. a4 bxa4 31. bxa4 Rc4 32. Ra2 Rxe4 33. Qg6 Ref4 34. a5 [eval 0.29/16]
• 24… Rf6 25. Qe3 Qa5 26. Qg5 Rc7 27. Qh5 Re7 28. Ng5 h6 29. Nf3 Rf4 30. Qg6 [eval 0.39/16]

Anand plays to lock down the light squares around the Black king. 26. Ne1 a5 27. Nd3 g6 28. Qg4 Rxf2 29. Nxf2 Kg8 30. Qxe6+ Qf7 31. Qxf7+ Kh8 32. Qxb7 +/-

Leko starts to drift into a plan that takes his Black quee too far from the kingside.

Regrouping the knight to d3 pushes Black back in the centre and allows White to start operations on the kingside as well as in the centre.

weakening the defender of the e5-pawn.

Attacking the weak …e6 pawn. Black’s centre is under pressure.

Ditching the e5 pawn in an attempt to get some activity.

Black’s centre collapses. 36. exd5?! exd5 37. Ne5 Rf6 +-

37. exd5 Nxd5 38. Qxe6 Nf6 +-

44… Rg8 +- desperation

Better is 48. Ne7 secures victory Rgf8 +-

Black is completely out of moves.

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.