Match Carlsen-Anand 2014 Partie 2 : 1-0

   [Event "FWCM 2014"]  [Site "Sochi"]  [Date "2014.11.09"]  [Round "2.1"]  [WhiteID "1503014"]  [White "Magnus Carlsen"]  [BlackID "5000017"]  [Black "Viswanathan Anand"]  [Result "1-0"]  [BlackElo "2792"]  [WhiteElo "2863"]  [Annotator "Sagar Shah"]  [ECO "C65"]   {On 9th November 1989, the East Germany Government announced that its citizens  could now visit West Germany and West Berlin. So the Berlin wall was broken  down 25 years ago on this day. And now for the co-incidence. Anand tries to  play the Berlin Defence as Black and is broken down by Magnus Carlsen on the  25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall! :)} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5  Nf6 {Magnus is a strong player of this opening with the black pieces too. The  opening is so solid that White cannot hope for much against it. But then when  has Magnus tried to play the most theoretically ambitious lines. His mantra is  simple: give me a playable position in the opening and I will grind out the  maximum from it.} 4. d3 {The Anti-Berlin move order.} (4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6.  Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 {is the famous Berlin Endgame.}) 4... Bc5  5. O-O (5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nxe5 {does not win a pawn because of} Qd4 $1 $19 {  Whtie loses a piece.}) 5... d6 6. Re1 {Technically this move is already a  novelty. It has been played only thrice before only by weaker players. Once  again Magnus is trying to take Vishy out of his preparation as soon as  possible with the help of small novelties. The point to note here is that the  novelties are not at all strong, they just serve the purpose that it is  something that Anand has not seen at home and hence will be uncomfortable on  the board.} (6. c3 {is the usual way in which White plays.} O-O 7. Nbd2 a6 8.  Ba4 {With a long strategic game.}) 6... O-O 7. Bxc6 {Giving up the bishop for  the knight without being provoked looks a little surprising. But Magnus has  already set his eyes on breaking in the center with d3-d4.} bxc6 8. h3 $1 {  This is the right way to start. Black was threatening the very strong Ng4  followed by f5! and he would get a very strong initiative.} (8. Nbd2 Ng4 9. Re2  f5 $1 $36) 8... Re8 {The move has dual purpose. Not only is it defending the  e5 pawn but also making space for the knight to go from f6-d7-f8-e6 where it  will stand excellently. Radjabov at this point tweeted: "Wow! A Strategical  game!" Such games are very interesting to see at the top level because nothing  really is forced and there are many options for each side. In such scenarios  we can understand how the best chess minds in the world think over the board.}  9. Nbd2 Nd7 {As described, the knight is going to f8.} 10. Nc4 $5 {The knight  stands well on this square and White can have the idea of queenside expansion  with a4 followed by c3 and b4.} Bb6 (10... Nf8 11. c3 Ne6 12. a4 a5 13. d4 exd4  14. cxd4 Bb6 {With an interesting position.}) 11. a4 a5 12. Nxb6 {This move  looks pretty surprising. The reason is this: When I was young I bought a chess  CD called chessmaster 8000. In that there were lectures given by IM Josh  Waitzkin. He introduced a very important concept to me and that was tension in  chess. His logic was this imagine a white bishop on g5 and a black knight on  f6. There is tension in the position and it is in White's hand when to release  it. Having the option of releasing the tension in your hands a big advantage  in chess. Similarly in the game, Carlsen had the tension on the bishop on b6.  He could take it just about any time. The fact that he released the tension  immediately is surprising, not that the move is bad.} (12. Bd2 {With the plan  of putting pressure on a5 looks too slow. As you will see, Black doesn't  really care about it.} Nf8 $1 {Black abandons the a5 pawn in order to launch  an attack on the kingside.} 13. Bc3 Ne6 14. Qd2 Qf6 15. Bxa5 Bxa5 16. Nxa5 Nf4  $36 {and with threat like Bxh3 and Nxh3 coming up, Black has an excellent  position.}) 12... cxb6 (12... Nxb6 {India's legendary grandmaster Pravin  Thipsay advocated this move. His words were: I would prefer Nxb6 keeping the  position more lively rather than getting a solid and worse position. In the  press conference after the game Magnus said that recapturing with the knight  was also good. But of course taking with the pawn looks the most simple and  logical.} 13. d4 exd4 14. Nxd4 Bd7 $11) 13. d4 Qc7 {Defending the e5 pawn so  that the knight can go to greener pastures with Nf8-e6 or g6. But it could  well be better not to determine the positioning of the queen so soon. Maybe on  c7 it is far away from the defense of the king.} (13... c5 $5 {is an idea that  I came up with.} 14. d5 (14. dxe5 Nxe5 $1 $11) 14... Nf8 {with a closed  positon and knight not going to h4, the attack might not be so powerful as in  the game.}) 14. Ra3 $1 {There is a charm about look lifts in chess. It is like  this. When we enter school we start of with kinder garten then first grade,  second grade and onwards. It has to be in these pre determined logical steps.  There comes once in a while a genius who makes a mockery of this pre  established norms and becomes a graduate at the age of twelve! Similarly the  life of a rook is destined to come to a semi-open file usually in the center  and then try to penetrate along the seventh rank. But there comes a rook who  just lifts itself from the initial position and swings himself into immediate  action! The rook on a3 is now going to join in the attack by transferring  itself on to the g3 square.} Nf8 15. dxe5 {Stabilizing the center so that a  flank attack can be launched.} dxe5 16. Nh4 $1 {Somehow this idea of Nh4-f5,  bringing the Queen over to h5 and the rook to g3 reminds me of the Philidor  Defence that starts with e4 d6 d4 Nf6 Nc3 e5. Here. White has a very clear cut  plan but with accurate moves Black can repel it. Lets see how Anand fares.} Rd8  17. Qh5 {It is said that three pieces usually make an attack. In this position,  the Rook, Queen and Knight are gathering over Black's monarch like storm  clouds reading to pour anytime. Once again Anand lands in a situation where he  has to make the only moves in order to come out unscathed. It seems that  Carlsen is able to get Anand on the edge much more often than the other way  around. It's obvious that under such pressure you are bound to make mistakes.}  f6 18. Nf5 Be6 (18... Qf7 {Vishy and Calrsen unanimously agreed that this was  the best way for Black to slow down White's attack.} 19. Qe2 Ne6 (19... Ba6 20.  Rg3 $3 Ng6 (20... Bxe2 21. Nh6+ Kh8 22. Nxf7+ Kg8 23. Nxd8 $18) 21. Qh5 $36 {  And the attack continues!}) 20. Rg3 Kh8 {The N on e6 defends just about  everything.}) 19. Rg3 {Things have started to look bad for black already.} Ng6  (19... Rd7 $5 {looked like the only defensive move. Now see how every White  piece joins the attack.} 20. Bh6 g6 21. Qh4 Qd8 22. Ree3 $1 $40 {With all five  pieces into the attack, the Black king will be mated soon!}) 20. h4 $1 {simple  chess. Why to complicate stuff when simple moves do work.} (20. Bh6 {Everyone  claimed that this was a finishing shot! And of course the computers do confirm  that White has a monsterous attack if the bait is taken. But Black is not lost.  } gxh6 21. Rxg6+ hxg6 22. Qxg6+ Kf8 (22... Kh8 23. Qxf6+ Kh7 24. Qxh6+ Kg8 25.  Qxe6+ $18) 23. Qxf6+ Qf7 24. Qxh6+ Ke8 25. Qh8+ Kd7 (25... Qf8 26. Qxe5 Qf7 27.  Kh2 $16 {getting ready for the rook to join the attack. White already has 4  pawns and huge attack. The game is almost over.}) 26. Rd1+ Kc7 27. Qxe5+ Kb7  28. Nd6+ Rxd6 29. Rxd6 Re8 30. Qc3 $14 {four pawns for a piece, White seems to  be better.}) 20... Bxf5 (20... Rd7 {might be the best move but White is still  clearly better.} 21. Bh6 Rf8 (21... gxh6 22. Qxh6 $16 {h5 is coming up.}) 22.  Qf3 $16) 21. exf5 Nf4 (21... Nf8 22. Bh6 Rd7 23. Re4 {White pieces just want  to join in the fun!} Ra7 24. f4 $1 exf4 25. Bxf4 $16 {White is close to  winning because he has an initiative on both the flanks. His rooks can swing  anywhere anytime!}) 22. Bxf4 exf4 23. Rc3 c5 {I have to share a very  interesting experiment that I did with my wife who is also a chess player. I  gave her White and played with the Black pieces. This was a good eye opener  for me. Sometimes when we just analyze a position or look it up in a computer  screen we do not really understand the nuances of the position. But when you  start to play it and the result is on stake, you somehow start seeing things  better. Here I realized that Black has some really huge problems to solve. He  cannot contest the e-file because the White Queen is so well placed. There is  a nice outpost on the e-file on e6 for a rook that will also attack the b6  pawn and Black has absolutely no inkling of couterplay. White can truly enjoy  himself here but if Magnus is White then it is as good as all over! He is such  a grinder.} 24. Re6 {Very natural.} Rab8 {Anand criticized this move saying  that it was better to activate immediately with h6.} (24... h6 $1 {Rook has to  be activated.} 25. Qg6 (25. Rc4 Rd4 {and here Black has atleast got some  activity.}) 25... Rd1+ 26. Kh2 Rf8 $14 {Black is holding on.}) 25. Rc4 $1 {  This move is made not really to win the f4 pawn. The main aim is to take  control of the e-file with Re4.} Qd7 26. Kh2 $1 {Look how Magnus keeps control.  He doesn't let Black exchange the queens. Slowly and steadily the pressure is  going to build up.} (26. Rxf4 $2 Qd1+ 27. Qxd1 Rxd1+ 28. Kh2 Rd2 $11 {Black  gets back the pawn and is doing very well.}) 26... Rf8 (26... Re8 {The last  chance to confront White on the e-file.} 27. Rce4 Rxe6 28. fxe6 {This does  looks scary to give White a passed pawn on e6.} Qe7 29. Qf5 {The f4 pawn is  falling.} Qd6 30. e7 Re8 31. Re6 Qd7 32. Qe4 Qd4 {With a pawn on e7, White is  definitely better but somehow I think Black has better chances of holding this  position than what happened in the game.}) 27. Rce4 $1 (27. Rxf4 {was good but  why to win a pawn when there are much more important things to be done?}) 27...  Rb7 28. Qe2 {In 1930 at a place called San Remo Alexander Alekhine defeated  Aron Nimzowitch with a formation of his two rooks and queen in this fashion.  The two rooks in the front and the queen backing them. Ever since that game,  this formation is known as 'Alekhine's Gun'. The point to note here is that  the rook start to do the damage at the start and finally the queen enters to  give the decisive blow.} b5 29. b3 $5 {This move was a mild surprise for me.  Magnus figures out that Black has no counterplay and he can hold the position  as it is.} (29. Re7 Qd6 {was the little trick that Vishy was banking on. But  after} (29... Qd5 30. Rxb7 Qxb7 31. axb5 $18) 30. f3 (30. Rxb7 f3+ $19) 30...  Rxe7 31. Rxe7 bxa4 32. Qe4 {[%cal Ge4b7] Threatening Qb7.} Qb8 33. Qxa4 $18 {  White will pick up the weak queenside pawns.}) 29... bxa4 30. bxa4 $3 {Pardon  my excitement at this point but I learnt something really important from this  move which I would like to pass it on to you. I would have on any day kept my  pawn structure intact and taken on a4 with the rook. The point is very clear,  my pawns on c2 and b3 are nice and secure and black pawns on a5 and c5 are  weak. But what Magnus said in the press conference was that he did not want to  spoil his piece configuration on the e-file. He gave the dynamic factors of  the position much more importance than the static factors like long term  weaknesses. This comes naturally to him because he can feel this inter  relationship between static and dynamic factors very well. That's why I find  this move really nice. The stronger you are, the more flexible your concepts  are!} (30. Rxa4 {also has some concrete issues attached to it.} Rb4 $1 31. Re7  (31. Rxa5 f3 $1 {gives Black unnecessary counterplay.}) 31... f3 32. Qe6+ Qxe6  33. fxe6 fxg2 34. Kxg2 Rxa4 35. bxa4 Rb8 $16 {White is better but rook endings  are always tricky.}) 30... Rb4 31. Re7 Qd6 (31... Qxf5 $2 32. Rxb4 cxb4 33.  Qc4+ Kh8 34. Qf7 $18 {was a nice finish.}) 32. Qf3 Rxe4 33. Qxe4 {pieces have  been exchanged but the pressure still remains.} f3+ 34. g3 h5 $4 {The decisive  error of the game but as Nigel Short rightly pointed out: Blunders dont happen  in Vaccuum. 34...h5?? came after enormous sustained pressure.} (34... Qd2 {was  the right way to defend.} 35. Qxf3 Qxc2 36. Kg2 Kh8 (36... c4 $2 37. Qd5+ Kh8  38. Qf7 $18) 37. Qc6 (37. Qb7 Rg8 {A win is not at all easy for White here.})  37... Rg8 38. Ra7 (38. Re8 h6 $11) 38... Qc3 (38... c4 39. Rxa5 h6 40. Rc5 $18)  39. Qd5 h6 40. Rc7 Qb4 41. Rxc5 Qxa4 42. Rxa5 $16 {With some amazing computer  like moves it has been possible to defend, Black's position and there is every  possibility that this game may end in a draw. But Anand had only 4 minutes on  his clock to make the next six moves before time control. I do not think he  could have defended so accurately.}) 35. Qb7 $18 {Game over. How can Vishy  miss such a simple move? I think that all the time the pressure was on the  e-file. So it is easy to miss that suddenly the threats can be transferred to  the seventh rank! That's the only logical explanation. Magnus is repeatedly  putting Vishy into positions where he has to find the only moves. Sometimes  Vishy is able to do it like in game no.1 where he found Qh1! as White. But  sometimes he is not able to like in this game. And Vishy is human so that is  bound to happen. The only way the match can change in Vishy's favour is if he  can put pressure on Magnus right from the word go and can maintain it  throughout the game. Looks like a tough task though! Magnus leads 1.5-0.5} 1-0