Game 2
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. b3 e5 6. Nxe5 Qe7 7. d4 Deviation by Anand from a previous game.
7…d6 8. Nxc6 Qxe4+ 9. Qe2 Qxe2+ 10. Kxe2 Bb7 11. Na5 Bxg2 12. Rg1 += Neither player believes in King safety. Must be very confusing for beginners who try to follow the basic rules of chess 🙂
12…Bh3 13. dxc5 dxc5 14. Nc3 Black will have a harder time finding accurate moves. As I said earlier, this rapid portion may be decided by opening surprises. Black has to be very careful with his Kingside undeveloped. No way humans can calculate all of this in rapid 14. … Nf6 15. Bg5 O-O-O 16. Kf3 Bf5 17. Nc6 Re8 18. Rae1 Rxe1 19. Rxe1 Bxc2 20. Bxf6 gxf6 21. Nxa7+ Kb7 22. Nab5 f5 23. Rc1 Bd3 24. Rd1 c4 25. bxc4 Bxc4 26. Nd6+ Bxd6 27. Rxd6 =
14…O-O-O 15. Bf4 Gelfand is trying to survive the opening improvement by Anand. I don’t know if you follow boxing but this is like a boxer going for body shots and then eventually a knockout punch. Anand with the opening improvement is like going for the body. This is causing Gelfand to waste time thinking and may eventually blunder later on.
15…Bd6 This is a mistake. I have a bad feeling about this move. 15…Nf6 was more accurate. Gelfand forgets that the Knight on a5 could go back to c4 then e3 to protect the King. He will be down in material with little compensation. Anand’s position is very pleasant while Gelfand’s every move can prove costly. It is like walking on egg shells.
16. Bxd6 Rxd6 17. Rg5 White will be up in materials.
17…Nf6 Gelfand will need a miracle to save this position. 17…Nh6 would be more accurate.
18. Nc4 Anand is playing safe. 18. Nb5 is more dangerous for Gelfand. As I mentioned earlier, Gelfand forgot about Nc4 then Ne3 to defend. Anand is now simply up a pawn with chances to take 1st lead in the match.
18…Re8+ 20. Ne3 Ng4 += Anand up a pawn and about 10 minute on the clock. Anyone believes in miracle for Gelfand?
21. f3 White is clearly better but Anand missed big opportunities by playing safe, starting with 18. Nc4 instead of 18. Nb5, followed by 20. Ne3 instead of 20. Kf3. Now 21…Bc8 and black may be able to hold.
21…Bc8 I think Anand lost some of his sharpness. This caused him to be more cautious = missed opportunities. Now Anand has to be careful. Black has enough compensation for the pawn.
24. Re1 Rh6 25. Rh1 Rhe6 26. Rc3 f5 27. Kd2 Still += but saving the game is a strong possibility for Gelfand. Still behind on time.
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. b3 e5 6. Nxe5 Qe7 7. d4 d6 8. Nxc6 Qxe4+ 9. Qe2 Qxe2+ 10. Kxe2 Bb7 11. Na5 Bxg2 12. Rg1 Bh3 13. dxc5 dxc5 14. Nc3 O-O-O 15. Bf4 Bd6 16. Bxd6 Rxd6 17. Rg5 Nf6 18. Rxc5+ Kb8 19. Nc4 Re8+ 20. Ne3 Ng4 21. Nd5 Nxe3 22. Nxe3 Bg4+ 23. f3 Bc8 24. Re1 Rh6 25. Rh1 Rhe6 26. Rc3 f5 27. Kd2 f4 28. Nd5 g5 29. Rd3 Re2+ This is the accurate game score. I missed some moves earlier.
30. Kc1 Rf2 31. h4 Gelfand can technically draw now. The question of time still remains.
31…Ree2 32. Rc3 Bb7 33. Rd1 gxh4 34. Nxf4 Re8 += Still very tense for Gelfand as he has almost no time left. Therefore, nothing is simple.
35. Rh1 Rc8 36. Rxc8+ Bxc8 37. Rxh4 Bf5 Anand has chances again. He is up on time by a big margin. Gelfand is running on fume.
38. Rh5 Bxc2 39. Rb5+ Ka8 40. Nd5 a6 41. Ra5 Kb7 42. Nb4 Bg6 43. Nxa6 Rxf3 44. Nc5+ Kb6 45. b4 Rf4 46. a3 Rg4 47. Kd2 += Objective a drawn game but Gelfand is down to seconds only. It will take a huge effort to play correctly to hold. Doable but not so easy.
47…h5 48. Nd7+ Kb7 49. Ne5 Rg2+ 50. Kc3 Be8 51. Nd3 h4 52. Re5 Bg6 53. Nf4 Rg3+ 54. Kd4 Bc2 55. Rh5 Rxa3 56. Rxh4 Rg3 57. Nd5 Rg5 58. b5 +=
58..Bf5 59. Rh6 Bg4 60. Rf6 Rf5 61. Rb6+ Ka7 62. Rg6 Bf3 63. Rg7+ Kb8 64. Nc3 Bb7 65. Kc4 Bf3 66. Kb4 Bd5 67. Na4 Rf7 This is a technical draw. The only question is time. Gelfand is playing on increments only.
68. Rg5 Bf3 69. Nc5 Kc7 70. Rg6 Kd8 71. Ka5 Rf5 72. Ne6+ Kc8 73. Nd4 Rf8 74. Nxf3 Rxf3 75. Kb6 Rb3 76. Rg8+ Kd7 77. Rb8 1-0 As it turned out, Gelfand did not manage to find the right defenses with no time left.
Bad loss for Gelfand.