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1. e4 for Anand and we have a Sicilian!
Once again, we have the Rossolimo. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d3 Ne7 6. b3 Anand tries something different with 5. d3. Since Anand could not get much with 5. b3, he mixed things up a little. And once Gelfand committed to 5. Ne7 and e5 no longer works because the Queen can’t go to e7 to get back the pawn, Anand then played b3. Very tricky. Anand completely caught Gelfand off guard. All of a sudden after only 5-6 moves, Gelfand is in deep thinking mode. He knows Anand has something up in his sleeve. This is a huge psychological battle.
GM L’Ami: I would love to see 6…d6 7.e5!? dxe5 8.Nxe5 Qd4 9.Nc4 Qxa1 10.Bb2 Qxa2 11.Nc3 Qa6 12.Nd6+
Finally after a long deliberation, Gelfand played 6…d6. The problem is I am sure that team Anand expected this logical response.
As I expected, Anand responded immediately with 7. e5 Ng6 8. h4. It is clear that Anand is going all out for the win. More importantly, it is a brilliant plan psychologically, even more so than the effect of it on the board itself. Gelfand deserves a medal if he can calmly get through this alive in the biggest and most pressured game of his career.
8…Nxe5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. Nd2 Anand cranks out these moves faster than Franchitti winning the Indy 500 for the 3rd time. Gelfand is significantly behind on time. He’s caught in a shocker. This is the game he prepared 40 yrs for. Can he survive all the elements? Black is up a pawn for now but the structure is bad. He has 2 bishops with no space to roam. He would gladly give back the pawn for space.
This is why chess is great. Strategy, psychology, nerve, and so many other factors come into play. I’ve been here before and it’s not fun 🙂 I spent a long time before my world championship match to train physically and mentally, not counting the countless hours preparing on the board. Sometimes you only get one shot for the title and you have to live with the result, good or bad, for the rest of your life. It is not easy. That is why I can cut these guys some slacks. You can’t know what it feels like unless you experienced it. Easier observing 🙂 I also know both these guys very well for 2-3 decades. They are as diligent as you can get in a professional chess player. This is why I can’t take sides. They are my friends.
Hope you enjoy my commentary. I try not give tedious lines. You can do that at home. I just want to share what I see and feel having been through it.
Finally, Gelfand played 10…c4. May not be the best but he believes Anand will be off book after this. Giving up the pawn for space.
I think Gelfand took the right chance as Anand is thinking now about how to take the pawn. This is clearly not the move team Anand prepared for. Gelfand was trying to figure out a way to deviate from Anand’s preparation. Now it’s mano a mano and not Gelfand vs team Anand.
This shows another side of chess psychology, especially on the world stage. My game versus Chiburdanidze in Calvia Olympiad 2004 was the same, all psychology.
Even if 10…c4 wasn’t the best move, it’s a huge psychological lift for Gelfand knowing that Anand was thinking and out of preparation.
11. Nxc4 and now 11…Ba6 is a must. Gelfand needs to get rid of that silly Bishop. He needs to hold in this game, especially being way down on time, and not try to be a hero.
11…Ba6 as expected. White may be slightly better on the board and ahead on the clock but more importantly, it is equal now mentally and psychologically.
Gelfand gave back the pawn and is now sacrificing one himself 12. Qf3 Qd5 if 13. Qxd5 cxd5 14. Nxe5 f6 15. Nf3 e5. The idea is to have the bishop pair & after he plays d4, he can begin to pound on the backward c2 pawn. He wants to eliminate complications.
13. Qxd5 cxd5 14. Nxe5 f6 15. Nf3 just as I predicted. Now Gelfand should be able to hold this game. The clock shouldn’t be a factor after the Queens are off the board.
15…e5 After giving away a few pawns, the Bishop pair is now powerful.
16. 0-0 White is slightly better but black can at least breathe now. 16…Kf7 makes sense now to get out of the e file.
16…Kf7 as expected. I have to say that I’m surprised to see Anand exchanging Queens. I thought he may try to keep the pressure on the board. Now if 17. c4 then Bb7. Black is fine and has compensation for the pawn.
17. c4 Be7 18. Be3 Bb7 Gelfand should be fine in spite of being a pawn down.
19. cxd5 Bxd5 20. Rfc1 a5 Another fine option would be Rhc8
21. Bc5 Svidler and Smirin say exchanging all minor pieces now for the rook ending isn’t an obvious draw. White can still play for a win. I agree. However, 21…Rhd8 putting the pressure on the d3 pawn will give black counterplay. White will have nothing if Gelfand disciplines himself and not go crazy.
21…Rhd8 as expected. Now white has very little with the d3 problem.
22. Bxe7 1/2 Anand offered the draw and Gelfand accepted. Kramnik said he doesn’t see the slightest reason for white to offer a draw. Anand really has some chance to win.
Playoff rules:
3.7.1.a If the scores are level after the regular twelve (12) games, after a new drawing of colors, four (4) tie-break games shall be played. The games shall be played using the electronic clock starting with 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds after each move.
3.7.2 If the scores are level after the games in Article 3.7.1a, then, after a new drawing of colors, a match of 2 games shall be played with a time control of 5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment after each move. In case of a level score, another 2-game match will be played to determine a winner. If still there is no winner after 5 such matches (total 10 games), one sudden-death game will be played as described below in Article 3.7.3.
3.7.3 If the score is still level after five matches as described in Article 3.7.2, the players shall play a one sudden death game. The player who wins the drawing of lots may choose the color. The player with the white pieces shall receive 5 minutes, the player with the black pieces shall receive 4 minutes whereupon, after the 60th move, both players shall receive an increment of 3 seconds from move 61. In case of a draw the player with the black pieces is declared the winner.
Ok, Anand trying to win the last game in Nimzovich style. Well this is sicilian, not Nimzovich-Larsen opening, but he is using the queenside fiancetto, that is appreciatible!
The match should go to tie-breaks, so that the chess world can have more fun..!
This is the game he prepared 40 yrs for — there the journalist, building up the expectations.
Sometimes you only get one shot for the title and you have to live with the result — Thats where Anand stands apart, he had missed a few c
hances when he was young, and of all champions, earned his title in the hardest ways possible as well.
Hi Susan ,
I have a question .. what happens when a player runs out of time even before the decision is taken ??
Hi Susan . what happens if a player runs out of time even before any decision is taken ??
Chess has turned into a memory game: hard work, huge memory, seldom surprises
So thats why the Rossolimo is not popular for white because you can’t win with it against a prepared opponent.
A nice position sac is turned by the the common expedient of returning the pawn (and Anand hadn’t fully seen that option?!) and now Queens are going off so its a draw.
I suppose Anand thinks that he can win in the fast games but its not the right way to determine the world champion – or even the challenger since a lot got thru the candidates matches the same way.
At least giving the World Champ draw odds would mean the challenger would have to win the match – and maybe the prize money could be split evenly in that case – and then it would be decided in classical time-limits.
Thank you for your comments Susan. They are really interesting. You know, I’m just learning chess and I actually understand very little of what happens on the board. Your commentary really helps me in figuring out how the match is going. Greetings from Italy.
Castling wud be nice to bring rook into attack
Ah, looks like a draw. Now this is not the exchange of ideas, this is about winning. Otherwise both can win. But the computer shows Anand might have chances, I personally don’t know. Thinking for the next 30s scratch that 10s, I would play Rfe1, and I had not seen the new position, I don’t know know what this is worth, next I would think 5 minutes to think on it, I know only playing quick but not rapid things. I look again, 40s I’d like to play Rac1. 🙂
Ah, that was Anand’s move 19. Wouldn’t have given the queenside pawn chain:). I forget things, I believe intuition has its part, though ‘technical’ matters have their part. I am almost a novice, will start learning Japanese.
Ah, here I think was my latest saved game, perhaps I should analyse it, because of the new Yahoo interface I was not aware it was saved. I cannot look it through with the game going on, takes ½h for me, but here my offering for this important occasion.
1. e2-e4 e7-e5
2. b1-c3 d8-f6
3. f1-c4 c7-c6
4. g1-e2 d7-d6
5. o-o f6-g6
6. f2-f4 c8-h3
7. e2-g3 e5xf4
8. f1xf4 h3-e6
9. b2-b3 e6xc4
10. b3xc4 b8-d7
11. d1-f1 d7-e5
12. d2-d4 e5-g4
13. a1-b1 b7-b6
14. d4-d5 c6-c5
15. c3-d1 g4-e5
16. d1-e3 f8-e7
17. c1-b2 e7-g5
18. b2xe5 d6xe5
19. f4-f3 g5-f4
20. e3-f5 g8-h6
21. a2-a4 h6xf5
22. g3xf5 g6-f6
23. g2-g3 f6-g6
24. g1-h1 f4-d2
25. f1-d3 d2-b4
26. b1-f1 h7-h5
27. f5-h4 g6-g4
28. f3xf7 o-o-o
29. f7xa7 g7-g5
30. f1-f7 g5xh4
31. a7-a8++
draw
Hi Susan Polgar,
Nice game – Both legends do know what they do – Good.
Very healthy sign for “Anand” that he plays the game in his natural style – Very good.
By
Venky [ India – Chennai ]
Great commentary and analysis. Was really helpful. Thanks a lot!
Great commentary and analysis. Was very helpful. Thank you very very much!!
I don’t really understand Anand’s decisions in this match. He seems to offer draws when his opponent is really in deep time trouble. Even in today’s game, he could’ve played on for few more moves to test Gelfand out. I mean what’s the rush to offer draws??
Unbelievable. 12 games played with 10 draws. It seems Anand doesn’t have the abilities of a world champion anymore. Or maybe they agreed to play chess in a certain way and just split the money in the end.
If it weren’t for the hollow title, would anyone care about this match?
Kramnik v Aronian was more entertaining by far.
Horrible match. This is the second game in a row where Gelfand has been in serious time trouble and Anand has offered a draw.
Something’s not right with Anand. I actually think Boris is going to win the tiebreaks.
10…. c4 was a brilliant idea, wasn’t it?
When Gelfand was thinking over it for nearly an hour, people kept remarking that he needs to move things along. Well, he needed the right plan, and he found one!
Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but since 11. Nxc4 Ba6 12. Qf3 Qd5 didn’t lead to much, how do you all evaluate 11. bxc4
While takes in a couple of weaknesses of his own, but forces the Black weaknesses to persist as well. The c6 pawn continues to hamper the light sq bishop, and d5 is not available to the queen. however, the b-file is up for grabs. What do you think?