World Chess Championship 2013, Round 2: declining the sacrifice

Nov 10, 2013 · 2 minute read · 0 Comments
chess World Chess Championship Magnus Carlsen Viswanathan Anand

Yesterday, I covered the first round of the World Chess Championship between Anand and Carlsen, which ended in a quick draw.

Today, in the second round, the colors were reversed, with Anand as White and Carlsen as Black. The game also ended in a draw, but featured much more interesting positions and possibilities.

Game and notes below:

Summary

Anand played an interesting attacking idea in the opening that featured maintaining a strong Knight on the e5 square to hamper Black’s development. This idea inherently involved offering a sacrifice of his h4 Pawn.

If Carlsen had accepted the sacrifice, I believe Anand would have had good winning chances. It was a positional sacrifice, with no immediate punishment in sight if Black had taken the Pawn, but there would have been long-term compensation for White. Carlsen wisely declined to take the Pawn, but in doing so deprived spectators of a fierce attacking game!

Unfortunately, after Anand offered a trade of a Knight, the result was that all the Knights were traded off, and then Carlsen offered to trade Queens. Anand could have held out and refused, but for some reason decided to trade, which meant a resulting position that was clearly drawn, and sure enough, a draw was agreed shortly thereafter.

Carlsen can be happy about the outcome of the game. Anand seemed too quick to trade off pieces when it was not necessary, even if White’s spatial advantage and head start on the King side attack was only small, and there was always the danger that allowing Black to start a counterattack on the Queen side would create complications.

This is now the second game in a row in which Anand had some advantage but rejected opportunities to maintain complexity in search of a win.

The game

Move comment:

Event: FWCM 2013
Site: Chennai
Round: 2
Date: 2013.11.10
White: Anand, Viswanathan
Black: Carlsen, Magnus
Result: 1/2-1/2

Side to move: white

Last move: 1. variations:
Next move: 1. e4 variations:

1. e4 c6

An interesting psychological choice by Carlsen. Anand is the one who plays the Caro-Kann as Black!

2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 de4 4. Ne4 Bf5

The solid Classical Variation.

5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 e6 8. Ne5

Unusual. h5 followed by Bd3 is the well-worn main line.

8... Bh7 9. Bd3 Bd3 10. Qd3 Nd7 11. f4

Interesting attempt to maintain hold of the e5 square. It is potentially weakening and time-consuming, however. White's King side looks loose, especially the h4 Pawn.

11... Bb4

A typical maneuver to provoke White into moving the c Pawn and weaken the Queen side, since White is obviously going to castle Queen side soon.

12. c3 Be7

Attacking the h4 Pawn.

13. Bd2

$201 Offering the h4 Pawn as a sacrifice!

13... Ngf6

Carlsen wisely declines the sacrifice. [13... Bh4 Accepting the sacrifice looks very dangerous for Black. 14. O-O-O Black now has to figure out how to get his King to safety before White blasts through ( with suitable preparation ) with ideas like f5. 14... Bg3 Best to get rid of the Bishop that is hampering Black's Queen mobility and remaining Knight development. (14... Bf6 Keeping the Bishop, hoping to use it for defending g7. Also there is a threat of taking on e5. 15. Qe2 Getting out of the way of the pin on the d4 Pawn and maintaining pressure. White clearly has compensation for the sacrificed Pawn. A natural progression will have Black managing to castle Queen side but White attempting to regain the Pawn on the King side while retaining a positional advantage. The problem for Black is that he cannot castle as long as f7 is undefended from White's strong Knight on e5. So the Knight must be exchanged off, but that leaves the f7 square vulnerable again because of the half-open f file. So Black has nothing to look forward to in this position.) 15. Qg3 But now Black's dark squares are weak. It may be that the position is defensible for Black, but it is clearly unpleasant: Black's King may never get to castle in the rest of the game!]

14. O-O-O O-O 15. Ne4

Trying to make way for an attack starting with g4. But it means allowing a trade of pieces, which benefits the side under attack ( Black ) .

15... Ne4 16. Qe4 Ne5

Continuing to simplify.

17. fe5

Now Black must do something about White's plan to attack on the King side.

17... Qd5

Attacking the a2 Pawn.

18. Qd5

Very surprising to me. Anand allows the Queen trade! This is tantamount to accepting a draw. [18. Qb1? Protecting the a2 Pawn is possible but terrible. 18... c5 The thematic counterattack against White's center. In this case, White's King is also vulnerable. White stands poorly.] [18. Qg4 White could have avoided the trade of Queens and attempted to keep the game alive. 18... Kh7 19. Kb1 White retains attacking chances against Black's King, although Black can also attack on the other flank very soon with c5, etc.]

18... cd5

White's position may look better, but there should be no way either side can make progress. White has the half open f file, but Black has the half open c file. White has more space, but not enough pieces to force a break. If both sides had an extra Knight, there would be more chances.

19. h5 b5

Starting the thematic "minority attack" against White's c3 Pawn.

20. Rh3 a5 21. Rf1 Rac8

Eventually Black will continue with b4, but is not in any rush.

22. Rg3

Seeing nothing, Anand forces a draw by repetition rather than allow the minority attack to begin against c3, which would tie White down for a draw anyway.

22... Kh7 23. Rgf3 Kg8 24. Rg3 Kh7 25. Rgf3 Kg8

Franklin Chen

World Chess Championship 2013, Round 2: declining the sacrifice

Summary

The game