Carlsen | CHESS AT THE BAG OF CATS

Tomorrow sees the start of the World Chess Championship Final between Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand. Every nook of chess media has filled up with tips and touts as to how the match will go. I decline to offer any such tips and prefer to be surprised whatever happens. I hope Magnus will win, but will be almost equally happy if Vishy takes the title. It’s a clear win-win, for me. What I do hope for is a more equal struggle than the one we witnessed last year. And I believe there is reason for hope. Vishy Anand has a good year behind him and seems to have more “bite” than last year. The margins in our game have become increasingly small and a good start will mean a lot to any one of the two players. Last year the match was decided in the ninth game when Anand managed to get the kind of position that he will have to score from if he is going to have a chance in this match:

   [Event "WCh 2013"]  [Site "Chennai IND"]  [Date "2013.11.21"]  [Round "9"]  [White "Anand, Viswanathan"]  [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]  [Result "0-1"]  [ECO "E25"]  [WhiteElo "2775"]  [BlackElo "2870"]  [Annotator "Tiger"]  [PlyCount "56"]  [EventDate "2013.11.09"]  [EventType "match"]  [EventRounds "12"]  [EventCountry "IND"]  [SourceDate "2011.03.24"]   1. d4 ({Neither Anand nor Carlsen has played a lot of classical games this  year and it is almost impossible to guess what they will play. However,  considering that Carlsen seems to get better positions as Black after} 1. e4 e5  2. Nf3 Nc6 {, than after 1.d4, there is a fair chance that Anand will try his  luck with the latter or some other first move. So, we might get to see more  Indian games.}) 1... Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 $5 {Anand had some chances  in game 3 and 4 of last years match to take the lead, but after two losses in  a row he now found himself in a desperate situation where a win was absolutely  necessary in order to keep the match "alive". The fourth move is one the best  ways to mix things up against the Nimzo Indian.} d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7.  cxd5 exd5 ({Every time I spend a few hours analyzing} 7... Nxd5 {I come to the  conclusion that Black can equalize without too much effort. I guess I must be  wrong.}) 8. e3 c4 $5 ({The idea behind this move is to make it more difficult  for White to develop the bishop on f1. A similar idea is} 8... Bf5 {, but then  White will be able to play g2-g4 with a tempo on the bishop.}) (8... O-O 9. Bd3  {is well known to be more comfortable for White.}) 9. Ne2 Nc6 10. g4 O-O ({  Apart from} 10... Na5 {- which is similar to the game - other moves are  inflexible and make no sense.}) 11. Bg2 {This natural developing move looks  like a good idea considering that it is hard to come up with a better place  for the bishop. For instance:} (11. Nf4 Na5 12. h4 Ne8 {and White will  probably have to develop the bishop to g2 anyway.}) 11... Na5 12. O-O ({There  is something to be said for} 12. a4 {in order to slow Black down on the  queenside. After} Nb3 13. Ra2 Re8 14. O-O h6 ({not} 14... Qe7 $6 15. g5 Nh5 16.  e4 {with an initiative for White.}) 15. Ng3 Qa5 16. Qe1 Nxc1 (16... b5) 17.  Qxc1 b5 18. e4 {I kind of like White's position as e5, f4 and f5 will put the  Black king under huge pressure. Also, the d5-pawn might turn out to be weak.})  12... Nb3 13. Ra2 b5 {This is a key moment of the game since it is the last  moment where White can ruin Black's structure on the queenside with a3-a4. I  believe this is quite important since this avoids scenarios where White plays  e3-e-somewhere, Black's b-pawn is exchanged for the c3-pawn and, thus, the  d4-pawn becomes weak. If White can get in e3-e4-e5 without weakening d4, then  Black will have his hands full trying to defend the king.} 14. Ng3 {I really  would like to add a "?!" to this move, but my respect for Anand is of such a  nature that I believe he had some reason not to do it, a reason beyond my  horizon.} ({I agree with Mikhail Krasenkow's recommendation at www.chesspro.ru  } 14. a4 $5 {, looks like a better way to continue in order to halt Black's  plan on the queenside.[%cal Gc1a3]}) 14... a5 {Now Black is set to meet a4  with b4 and the rook can help defending the kingside via a6, so I believe  Black has every reason to be happy with the opening.} 15. g5 ({Krasenkow  suggests the natural} 15. e4 $5 {when Alex Baburin gives the line} dxe4 (15...  Nxc1 16. Qxc1 dxe4 $6 17. g5 Nd5 18. fxe4 {is just what White is dreaming of.})  16. Bg5 h6 17. Bxf6 Qxf6 18. fxe4 Qg5 {when} 19. Qe1 Qxg4 20. e5 {is quite  messy and hard to evaluate. Considering the strong White initiative on the  kingside, I'd rather be White in such a position. Anand is a "natural" 1.e4  player, but if he finds himself getting positions like this one in the  upcoming match, then he definitely needs to score from them in order to have a  chance. Otherwise he will have to rely on Magnus being overly aggressive with  the white colours.}) 15... Ne8 16. e4 {Now, when g5 has already been played,  e4 does not have the same punch.} Nxc1 $1 {The knight is about to soon find  itself out of play and is also a bit problematic from a tactical point of view:  if Black wants to push the c-pawn later in the game then Nb3 will lack  protection and this seems like a good time to get rid of it (before White  plays Bf4 or Be3). On the other hand one might argue that the knight will pose  a threat to the d-pawn further on, but that should be easily remedied by  posting  the bishop on e3.} 17. Qxc1 Ra6 18. e5 $6 {Now, however, I cannot  help myself. This move releases the tension in the center and goes "all in" on  the kingside, which is the right thing to do. However, the timing is not right.  White ought to close the center at a moment when the Black queen cannot go to  b6.} ({Instead} 18. f4 Nc7 19. Rb2 Rb6 20. e5 $1 {is a better way to get the  kind of position that Anand is looking for.}) 18... Nc7 $6 {Carlsen misses a  chance to take the initiative with} (18... b4 $1 19. axb4 axb4 20. Rxa6 Bxa6  21. cxb4 Qb6 $1 {a line that is mentioned by Baburin, who evaluates it "with  compensation". Indeed this seems to be something of an understatement as} 22.  Nf5 Nc7 23. Qd2 c3 24. Qxc3 Bxf1 25. Bxf1 Ne6 26. b5 Kh8 {is at least a bit  better for Black.}) ({My engine comes up with} 18... h6 {as its first choice.  It makes no sense what-so-ever.} 19. f4 $1 {and now h6-h7 might be the best  move.}) 19. f4 b4 20. axb4 $6 {This move seems to speed up Black's counterplay,  so it was probably better to burn the bridges with Mikhail Golubev's} (20. f5  $5 {One point is that} Nb5 $2 (20... b3 21. Raf2 $40) (20... bxc3 $5) 21. axb4  axb4 22. Rxa6 Bxa6 23. f6 g6 24. Qf4 Qb6 25. Qh4 h5 26. Nxh5 bxc3 27. Kh1 $1  Nxd4 28. Ng3 Ne6 29. Nf5 $1 gxf5 30. Qh5 $1 Qb7 31. Bh3 (31. g6) 31... d4+ 32.  Bg2 {, with a winning advantage for White. This line is given by Baburin and  Golubev at http://www.chesstoday.net/.}) ({Another move that aims to slow down  Black on the queenside is} 20. a4 $5 {when all Black has to do in order to win  is to defend the king. Might turn out to be quite a challenge though.}) 20...  axb4 21. Rxa6 Nxa6 {I presume that Anand entered this variation because he  sensed that the knight got somewhat misplaced on a6, when it is really best  off on b5.} 22. f5 b3 $1 (22... bxc3 $6 23. Qxc3 (23. f6 g6 24. Qf4 c2 25. Qh4  Kh8 {and with no mate in sight, White is in trouble.}) 23... Nc7 24. f6 g6 25.  Rb1 Ne6 26. Ne2 {and the weak d-pawn is troublesome for Black.}) 23. Qf4 ({  Baburin mentions} 23. f6 g6 24. Qf4 Kh8 $5 25. Qh4 b2 26. Qh6 Rg8 27. Rf4 b1=Q+  28. Bf1 Qd1 $1 29. Rh4 Qh5 30. Nxh5 gxh5 31. Qxh5 Bf5 32. Qxf7 Nc7 $1 {when  Black has managed to defend and get a solid blockade. It is unlikely that  White will be able to draw this.}) (23. Nh5 Nc7 24. Qf4 $140 (24. Nxg7 Kxg7)  24... Nb5 25. Qh4 Bxf5 $1 26. Rxf5 b2 27. Rf1 Nxc3) 23... Nc7 24. f6 $5 ({My  engine does not list} 24. Nh5 {among the top seven moves, but I quite like it.  The idea is that} Nb5 25. Qe3 Kh8 26. f6 g6 27. Nf4 {almost forces Black to  retreat with the knight, thus losing two tempi:} Nc7 (27... Be6 28. h4 Qd7 29.  h5 {is very dangerous for Black.}) 28. h4 Bf5 29. h5 gxh5 30. g6 fxg6 31. Bh3 {  with crazy complications.}) 24... g6 25. Qh4 Ne8 26. Qh6 ({Here it seems  better to play} 26. Ne2 {, intending to put some more pressure on d5, before  deciding how to proceed with the attack.}) 26... b2 27. Rf4 ({B} 27. Ne2 Be6  28. Nf4 Qa5 29. Nxe6 fxe6 30. Bh3 Qa6 $1 31. Bg4 Rf7 32. Qh3 Nc7) 27... b1=Q+  28. Nf1 $4 {Anand blunders.} ({Baburin writes: "After} 28. Bf1 Qd1 $1 29. Rh4  Qh5 30. Nxh5 gxh5 31. Rxh5 Bf5 32. g6 $1 (32. Bh3 Bg6 33. e6 Nxf6 34. gxf6 Qxf6  $15) 32... Bxg6 33. Rg5 Qa5 34. Rg3 Qa3 35. h4 Kh8 {chances would be equal."  Yes, the knight on e8 has almost exactly the same value as the pawns on e5 and  f6 and none of the combatants can improve on their forces further.}) 28... Qe1  $1 ({and Anand resigned. Possibly Anand missed something in the line beginning  with 28.Bf1 and just went for the alternative in time trouble. I find it hard  to believe that he only considered} 28... Qd1 $4 {which is indeed winning for  White after} 29. Rh4 Qh5 30. Rxh5 gxh5 31. Ne3 Be6 32. Bxd5 $1 {The point being  } Bxd5 (32... Qxd5 33. Nxd5 Bxd5 34. h4 {and White will win with Qxh5, Qh6, h5,  g6.}) 33. Nf5 Be4 34. Ne7+ Qxe7 35. fxe7 {and Black not only loses the queen.})  0-1

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