23.11.14

Carlsen Retains the Title!

In what appeared to be a decisive game Magnus Carlsen of Norway defeated Viswanathan Anand of India to keep the crown of a World Champion.
A game that I liked (ChessBase 12)

[Event "World Chess Championship 2014"]
[Site "Sochi"]
[Date "2014.11.23"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2863"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Bd7 {Anand deviates first today. In the previous games of
the match he played} (9... Ke8) 10. Nc3 h6 11. b3 (11. Bf4 {is another way of
developing the B, when} b6 (11... Kc8 {is more common}) 12. a4 a5 13. Rad1 Kc8
14. b3 Bb4 15. Ne4 Be6 {was equal in Shirov,A-Almasi,Z/Polanica Zdroj 2000/CBM
79 (40)}) 11... Kc8 {This is Kramnik's choice, he used this development in the
match against Kasparov.} 12. Bb2 {Diagram [#]} c5 {[%csl Yd5] And this is
quite fresh. In most of the case Black does not like to allow the white N on
d5 that early.} (12... b6 {remains the main plan and this is definitely
influenced by the match Kasparov- Kramnik. One of the firts games in this line
was played in this direction. A more recent example saw} 13. Rad1 Ne7 {[%cal
Gc6c5,Ge7g6,Ge7c6]} (13... Be6 14. g4 Ne7 15. Nd4)) (12... Ne7 13. Nd4 (13.
Rad1 c5 14. Ne2 Ng6 {[%csl Rd4,Re5,Rf4]}) 13... c5 14. Nde2 Bf5 $1 {[%csl Rc2]
which forces the white R to defend the pawn passively as in Shirov,A (2745)
-Volokitin,A (2671) Dagomys 2009}) 13. Rad1 b6 14. Rfe1 {The knight could go
to d5 at once.} (14. Nd5 Bc6 15. c4 Kb7 16. g4 Ne7 17. Nh4 Bxd5 18. cxd5 Rd8
19. d6 cxd6 20. Rxd6 Nc6 21. Rxd8 Nxd8 22. f4 $16 {Mista,A (2467)-Deszczynski,
A (2341) Wysowa 2003}) (14. Nd5 a5 15. Nd2 Ne7 16. Ne3 Nf5 17. Nd5 Ne7 18. Ne3
Nf5 {1/2 (18) Kokarev,D (2621)-Leko,P (2730) Loo 2014}) 14... Be6 15. Nd5 g5
16. c4 $146 ({The logical novelty. Carlsen overprotects the knight in the
center. In the only predecessor White could not equalize after} 16. Nh2 Kb7 17.
f4 $2 Nd4 (17... c4 $1) 18. Bxd4 cxd4 19. Nf6 gxf4 $17 {Zhidkov,P (2278)
-Vitoshinskiy,Y Dubna 2001}) 16... Kb7 17. Kh2 a5 {[%cal Ga5a4] The threat is
to open up the a file for the rook. This should be prevented.} 18. a4 Ne7 $11 {
[%csl Ya4,Yb3,Yc4][%cal Ge6f5,Gf5c2,Yc2b3] But now the pawns on the queenside
are somewhat vulnerable. Black can attack them in the future with Be6-f5-c2.}
19. g4 Ng6 20. Kg3 Be7 (20... Bg7 {at once is less precise as White can go for}
21. h4 {However, Black has an interesting counter-blow} h5 $5 {with a possible
line} 22. Nxg5 hxg4 23. Rh1 Rh6 24. Nxe6 fxe6 25. Nf6 Rah8 26. h5 Nxe5 27. Bxe5
Bxf6 28. Rde1 $14 {and White retains pressure.}) 21. Nd2 {The opposite colored
bishop endgames favors Black.} (21. Nxe7 Nxe7 22. Nd2 Ng6 {as the white bishop
is blocked and if its counterpart comes out any time all the queenside pawns
will be in danger.}) 21... Rhd8 22. Ne4 Bf8 $1 {Now with h3-h4 out of the
question the bishop can return to the long diagonal.} 23. Nef6 {Both the white
knights occupied some nice squares, but what is coming next? It is hard to
say for White, but Vishy has a very nice blow in his disposal.} b5 $1 {[%csl
Ya4,Yb3,Yc4] Typical, but nice! The queenside is discovered.} 24. Bc3 $1 {The
correct decision that keeps control of the situation. The alternatives are
clearly inferior for Magnus:} (24. cxb5 $2 c6 25. bxc6+ Kxc6 26. Ne3 Bxb3 $17 {
sees the white pawns diasappear.}) ({While} 24. axb5 $6 {is also good for
Black only} a4 25. bxa4 Rxa4 26. Rc1 Nf4 27. Rc2 Bxd5 28. Nxd5 $15 (28. cxd5
Be7 29. Bc1 Nd3 30. Re3 Rd4 31. Bb2 Nxb2 32. Rxb2 Bxf6 33. exf6 Rd6 $15)) 24...
bxa4 25. bxa4 Kc6 {[%cal Gb8b1] Now Anand gets counterplay on the open b file
and his position seems preferrable.} 26. Kf3 Rdb8 {The first critical moment
of the game. This move is logical but two other moves deserved serious
attention.} (26... Bg7 {was suggested by Anand himself and he assesed it as
equal.}) (26... Be7 $5 {On the other hand might be already bettter for Black!
For example} 27. Ke4 (27. Nxe7+ $2 {is once again just bad} Nxe7 28. Rxd8 Rxd8
$17) 27... Bxf6 $1 {Once that the knights disappear the knight versus bishop
in a blocked position will be definitely favorable for the Indian GM!} 28. exf6
Bxd5+ 29. cxd5+ Kd6 $15) 27. Ke4 {Diagram [#] The second critical moment of
the game and the match. Anand went all in with his next move} Rb4 {I do not
know how to comment it and what marks to put here. Let me quote Vishy then-
"It was a bad bluff and I got punished"- Anand.} ({A good alternative would
have been} 27... Rb3 28. Rb1 Rab8 29. Rxb3 Rxb3 {when the game should most
likely end in a draw after something like} 30. Ra1 (30. Bxa5 {is worse as} Ra3
(30... Rxh3) 31. Bxc7 Rxa4 32. Rc1 Bg7 33. Bd6 Bxf6 34. Nxf6 Nf4 $15 {leaves
White's position rather lose.} (34... Bxc4 $15 {is also good.})) 30... Bg7 {
Now a forced line goes} 31. Bxa5 Rxh3 32. f3 Rh2 33. Bc3 (33. Bxc7 $4 {loses a
piece due to} Bxf6) 33... Re2+ 34. Kd3 Rh2 35. a5 (35. Ke4 $11) 35... Bxf6 36.
exf6 Bxd5 37. cxd5+ Kxd5 38. Bd2 (38. a6 $4 Nf4+ 39. Ke3 Re2#) 38... Ne5+ 39.
Kc3 Rh3 40. a6 Rxf3+ 41. Kc2 Nd7 42. a7 Nb6 43. a8=Q+ Nxa8 44. Rxa8 Rxf6 $11)
28. Bxb4 cxb4 29. Nh5 {Now Magnus converters the advantage with an iron grip!
The idea is to open up the game after f2-f4.} Kb7 {Or else the king might be
under a pin here} (29... Rb8 30. f4 gxf4 31. Ndxf4 Nxf4 32. Nxf4 b3 (32... Bxc4
$2 33. Rc1 {[%csl Rc4,Rc6][%cal Rc1c6]}) 33. Nxe6 fxe6 34. Rb1 Rb4 35. Kd3 $16)
30. f4 $1 {[%cal Rf1f8,Rd1d8] Diagram [#]} gxf4 31. Nhxf4 Nxf4 32. Nxf4 Bxc4
33. Rd7 Ra6 (33... Kc6 34. Rd2 Kb7 35. Rc1 Bb3 36. Rd7 $18) 34. Nd5 Rc6 35.
Rxf7 Bc5 {Diagram [#]} 36. Rxc7+ $1 {The most exact follow up- all the pieces
disappear.} Rxc7 37. Nxc7 Kc6 (37... Kxc7 38. Rc1 Bb3 39. Rxc5+ Kb6 40. Rb5+
Ka6 41. Kd4 Bxa4 42. Rb8 $18) 38. Nb5 Bxb5 39. axb5+ Kxb5 40. e6 b3 41. Kd3 Be7
42. h4 a4 43. g5 hxg5 44. hxg5 a3 (44... Bxg5 45. Re5+) 45. Kc3 {Diagram [#]
And this is where Vishy shook Magnus's hand resigning the match!
Congratulations to the new-old champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway and his
worthy opponent Vishy Anand of India! Many thanks to both the players for the
unforgettable match!} 1-0



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