Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
Antalya Chess Express
Satranç Tarihi: Dünya Satranç Şampiyonası Tarihçesi
2012 Mayıs Cilt 3, Sayı 16
I. Zamandizinsel
Sorumlu Editör/Yayıncı: Dr Harun Taner
Đçindekiler Editörden ......................................................................................993 Redaksiyon ...................................................................................993 Satranç Tarihi: Dünya Satranç Şampiyonası Tarihçesi ...........993 Biyografiler ..................................................................................1003 Açılış Seçimleri............................................................................1018 Anand – Gelfand Preview of the Wch match......................1040
Editörden Champion Vishy Anand ile Challenger Boris Gelfand arasındaki dünya satranç şampiyonası maçı Moskovada Tretyakov Sanat Galerisinde başladı. Maçın ilk dört oyunu oynandı. Mayıs ayı boyunca sürecek olan 12 oyunluk maça birkaç özel sayıda yer vereceğiz. Bu ilk özel sayımızda dünya satranç şampiyonasının kısa tarihçesini, kısa oyuncu biyografilerini, oyuncuların açılış seçimlerini ve Chess dergisi editörlerinden John Saunders’ın maç öncesi değerlendirmelerini bulabilirsiniz. Kaynaklar: Turnuva www sayfaları, TWIC, TdF, CD, CE, CiT, CT, CV, internet chess portals Dr Harun Taner 16 mayıs Antalya
Redaksiyon Dr Harun Taner
993
Year
Country
Players
Result
Score
1886 1889 1890 1892 1894 1896 1907 1908 1909 1910 1921 1927 1929 1934 1935 1937 1948 1951 1954 1957 1958 1960 1961 1963 1966 1969 1972 1975 1978 1981 1984 1985 1986 1987 1990 1993 1993 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2000 2002 2004 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2010 2012
USA Steinitz - Zukertort 12,5:7,5 +10=5-5 Cuba Steinitz - Chigorin 10,5:6,5 +10=1-6 USA Steinitz - Gunsberg 10,5:8,5 +6=9-4 Cuba Steinitz - Chigorin 12,5:10,5 +10=5-8 USA/Canada Steinitz - Lasker 7:12 +5=4-10 Russia Lasker - Steinitz 12,5:4,5 +10=5-2 USA Lasker - Marshall 11,5:3,5 +10=7-0 Germany Lasker - Tarrasch 10,5:5,5 +8=5-3 France Lasker - Janowski 8:2 +7=2-1 Austria Lasker - Schlechter 5:5 +1=8-1 Cuba Lasker - Capablanca 5:9 +0=10-4 Argentina Capablanca - Alekhine 15,5:18,5 +3=25-6 Holland/Germany Alekhine - Bogoljubov 15,5:9,5 +11=9-5 Germany Alekhine - Bogoljubov 15,5:10,5 +8=15-3 Holland Alekhine - Euwe 14,5:15,5 +8=13-9 Holland Euwe - Alekhine 9,5:15,5 +4=11-10 Holland/USSR Botvinnik (WC) 14 out of 20 +10=8-2 USSR Botvinnik - Bronstein 12:12 +5=14-5 USSR Botvinnik - Smyslov 12:12 +7=10-7 USSR Botvinnik – Smyslov 9,5:12,5 +3=13-6 USSR Smyslov - Botvinnik 10,5:12,5 +5=11-7 USSR Botvinnik - Tal 8,5:12,5 +2=13-6 USSR Tal - Botvinnik 8:13 +5=6-10 USSR Botvinnik - Petrosian 9,5:12,5 +2=15-5 USSR Petrosian - Spassky 12,5:11,5 +4=17-3 USSR Petrosian - Spassky 10,5:12,5 +4=13-6 Iceland Spassky - Fischer 8,5:12,5 +3=11-7 Fischer - Karpov Wasn't held Philippines Karpov - Korchnoi 16,5:15,5 +6=21-5 Italy Karpov - Korchnoi 11:7 +6=10-2 USSR Karpov - Kasparov 25:23 +5=40-3 USSR Karpov - Kasparov 11:13 +3=16-5 England/USSR Kasparov - Karpov 12,5:11,5 +5=15-4 Spain Kasparov - Karpov 12:12 +4=16-4 USA/France Kasparov - Karpov 12,5:11,5 +4=17-3 England Kasparov - Short 12,5:7,5 +6=13-1 Holland/Indonesia Karpov - Timman 12,5:8,5 +6=13-2 USA Kasparov - Anand 10,5:7,5 +4=13-1 Russia Karpov - Kamsky 10,5:7,5 +6=9-3 Switzerland Karpov - Anand 3:3 (2:0) +2=2-2 USA Khalifman - Akopian 3,5:2,5 +2=3-1 England Kasparov - Kramnik 6,5:8,5 +0=13-2 Iran Anand - Shirov 3,5:0,5 +3=1-0 Russia Ponomariov - Ivanchuk 4,5:2,5 +2=5-0 Libya Kasimdzhanov - Adams 4,5:3,5 +3=3-2 Switzerland Kramnik - Leko 7:7 +2=10-2 Argentina Topalov (WC) 10 out of 14 +6=8-0 Russia Kramnik - Topalov 6:6 (2,5:1,5) +3=6-3 Mexico Anand (WC) 9 out of 14 +4=10-0 Germany Anand - Kramnik 6,5:4,5 +3=7-1 Bulgaria Anand - Topalov 6,5:5,5 +3=7-2 Russia Anand - Gelfand
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II. 1886-2012 Tarihçe
Great Russian chess maestro Mikhail Chigorin was the first one to challenge Steinitz. Chigorin had traditionally been a troublesome opponent for Steinitz, and their 1889 match in Havana proved to be uneasy for the champion. The match had a maximum of 20 games, and Chigorin led during the first third of them, but persistent Steinitz made a comeback in the middle of the match and won 10.5-6.5.
Wilhelm Steinitz The title of world chess champion was first awarded in 1886 and has been contested ever since then. In the nineteenth century, some outstanding players were considered unofficial world champions, including French player Louis Charles de La Bourdonnais, Englishman Howard Staunton, German combination genius Adolf Anderssen and the brilliant Paul Charles Morphy, Esq., of New Orleans, who conquered the Old World with a series of phenomenal victories but then retired from the game. However, it wasn’t until 1883, after a historic tournament in London, that a match for the title of strongest world player was first suggested. Prague-born Wilhelm Steinitz, considered the “uncrowned king” of chess after his match victory over Anderssen, unexpectedly came in second in that tournament, a whole three points behind Anderssen’s student Johannes Zukertort. Zukertort was highly educated, fluent in a dozen languages and edited a number of chess magazines, which he used to argue against Steinitz. The latter gave tit for tat, though – he wrote a chess column for The Field, Britain’s leading sports newspaper, and used it to air his views.
Emanuel Lasker A year later, Wilhelm Steinitz accepted a challenge from English-Hungarian chess master Isidor Gunsberg, who had won several important tournaments while Steinitz was sorting things out with Chigorin. The match in New York proved to be very close; once again, the winner had to score at least 10.5 points in 20 games. The defending champion made a sweeping finish and beat another challenger, this time by 10.5-8.5. At about the same time, a promotional telegraph match between Steinitz and Chigorin was organised, and the Russian contender secured an impressive landslide victory. Steinitz had to prove his dominance yet again. He crossed swords with the Russian maestro for the second time in 1892, again in Havana. This time the format of the match was somewhat different: the victor needed to win 10 games, and a 9-9 tie meant more games until one of the players scored three wins. The opponents were almost equal; however, when Steinitz led by 9-8, Chigorin gained a superior position, but out of exhaustion allowed his opponent a mate-in-two. Steinitz won 10-8 (with 5 draws).
However, after the tournament in London his job at the newspaper (and his fine salary!) was given to his historic adversary. Steinitz naturally wanted to recover the glory of the strongest player in the world. He emigrated to the United States, where the first match for the title of world chess champion was organised in 1886. That was a “first to 10 wins” match; draws did not count. A 9-9 tie would have been considered a draw. The competition was played in three cities: New York, St. Louis and New Orleans. Steinitz started disastrously, and Zukertort gained a 4-1 lead. However, after moving to St. Louis, there was a turning point in the match – Steinitz first evened the score and then clinched a remarkable 10-5 victory (with 5 draws), thus becoming the first world champion. From then on, any contender had to defeat the reigning champion to win the coveted title.
The first world champion was already nearing 60 and telling the media that he was ready to play his final match, only there was no worthy opponent to defeat him. But it turned out that there was one! Emanuel Lasker, a 25-year-old German, had burst into the ranks of the chess elite and wanted to play a contender match against Chigorin or Siegbert Tarrasch, but the two masters preferred to play each other. Then Lasker decided to challenge the world champion, and Steinitz, who never shied away 994
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from a fight, picked up the gauntlet. The match was held in 1894 in three cities: New York, Philadelphia and Montreal.
His next opponent was Dawid Janowski, a French-Russian chess master. Although not the strongest of all contenders, he managed to find a wealthy sponsor, who spent a generous sum to organise the match. The match between Lasker and Janowski was held in 1909 in Paris, the heart of Europe, and saw another convincing win for Lasker, 7 to 1 (with two draws).
The match remained equal for the first half, with both players showing tenacity, but when they got to the middle of the match, the aging champion lost a couple of excellent positions, and Lasker managed to snatch the requisite ten wins (10 to 5, with four draws). When congratulating his opponent, Steinitz said loudly, “Three cheers for the new world champion!”
Only in 1910 did Emanuel Lasker finally play a worthy opponent. Chess historians still debate whether the Emanuel Lasker – Carl Schlechter match held in Vienna and Berlin was for the World Chess Championship: there were too few games (ten), and the champion played the next official match, also in 1910. Some sources say that Schlechter needed a 6-4 victory. The Austrian master was very close to his goal, leading 5 to 4, but Lasker snatched the victory in the hard-fought final tenth game and the match ended in a draw.
According to the regulations, the former champion was entitled to a rematch, and Moscow was chosen as its venue. However, Steinitz was no longer any match for Lasker; besides, the loss of the title proved to be a crushing blow to the first champion and took its toll on his physical and mental health. During the match, Steinitz was taken to the hospital several times, and the match took much longer than originally planned. Lasker did not want to be declared champion without playing and managed to finish the match despite delays. He won convincingly with ten wins, two losses and five draws.
Jose Raul Capablanca Dawid Janowski dreamed of playing another match for the world championship title, and his dream came true with the help of his rich patron. The second Lasker-Janowski match was held in Berlin in 1910. The first player to have eight wins would be declared the overall winner, and the defending champion crushed his opponent 8 to 0 (with three draws).
This marked the beginning of his 27-year reign. In his first matches, the new chess king walloped his opponents. In 1907, Lasker played the best American chess player, Frank Marshall, in the United States and won the firstto-win-eight-games match 8 to 0 (with seven draws).
Despite the easy wins against weaker Janowski, the match with Schlechter made it clear that the champion had lost his comfortable lead over the best players of that time. To put it mildly, Lasker was not exactly eager to play a match against the most serious contenders. For example, the negotiated match against prominent Polish Grandmaster Akiba Rubinstein never took place. WWI started soon, and chess fell out of fashion in Europe. Unsurprisingly, the next World Championship match was organized across the ocean, and only in 1921, when Lasker, under serious public pressure, had to take up the gauntlet thrown by ingenious Cuban player Jose Raul Capablanca. At some point, the aging world champion even wanted to resign his title in favour of the great Cuban, but
Siegbert Tarrasch, reverently dubbed “Teacher of Germany”, once rejected Lasker’s challenge saying that the young talent first needed to prove that he was a worthy opponent. After Lasker won the world title, their roles changed, and it was Tarrasch who started seeking a match with Lasker. However, the German Chess Union didn’t manage to raise the money needed to organise the match until 1908. Lasker was at his very peak, while Tarrasch was already past his prime. The reigning champion dominated the match, played in Dusseldorf and Munich, and although Tarrasch won a few solid, brilliant games, Lasker won the title match handsomely (8 to 3, with five draws). 995
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chess enthusiasts naturally objected to such a move.
anyone believed that the Russian player would defeat the “Human Chess Machine”. Alekhine started off winning the first game, but then lost two. The two opponents fought bitterly, often until the kings were the only pieces left on the board, but most of the games were drawn. Alekhine managed to win three games in the middle of the match and led 4 to 2. The Cuban managed to win one game back, sensing the threat of losing his title, and was very close to levelling the match. However, Alekhine withstood the onslaught and came out on top, 6 to 3 (with 25 draws). Alexander Alekhine thus became the fourth world champion.
Capablanca’s appearance in the world of chess caused a real sensation. The Cuban had never lost a game in any of the tournaments he had played over the previous seven years. The title match was unkind to the 52-year-old defending champion – it was hard for Lasker to play in 40-degree heat against the mighty challenger. But the devastating war had brought Lasker to ruin, and he could not withdraw from a match with substantial prize money. The champion managed to withstand the fight early in the match, but the tension proved too much, and he surrendered when the score was 0 to 4 (after ten draws).
The two champions became enemies after the Buenos Aires match, and Alekhine did his best to push Capablanca outside the chess world – he even demanded that organisers of top tournaments refrain from inviting the Cuban. As a result, fans never saw a revenge match between Alekhine and Capablanca. Efim Bogoljubov, another Soviet emigrant, became Alekhine’s title match opponent, challenging him twice and losing both times. Alekhine used to say that he admired the great champions of the past and was ready for a match against Lasker. However, by that time, the World Chess Federation (FIDE) had gained weight and appointed Bogoljubov to be FIDE’s official challenger to Alekhine. Bogoljubov, being obviously inferior to Capablanca, did not offer much resistance. In 1929, the defending champion won 15.5 to 9.5 (Wiesbaden – Heidelberg) in a best-of-30games match (FIDE was opposed to an unlimited match), and in 1934, Alekhine won 15.5 to 10.5 in Germany.
Alexander Alekhine Jose Raul Capablanca became the third world champion and immediately took a number of decisive steps to protect his title. It was Capablanca who initiated the “London Rules”, an agreement signed by the champion and world title challengers (Alekhine, Reti, Vidmar, Rubinstein, Bogoljubov, Tartakower and Maroczy). The deal was very beneficial for the champion: the first player to win six games would win a World Championship match, and the champion would keep the title if there was a 5-5 draw. In addition, the champion was entitled to accept the challenge only for a prize of more than $10,000 in gold, which was an enormous amount at the time. The result was that many of the leading players of that time, notably Richard Reti and Aron Nimzowitsch, never managed to raise the money to challenge Capablanca, although there used to be a plaque on Nimzowitsch’s apartment door in Copenhagen that read, “Aron Nimzowitsch, contender for the title of world champion”.
Mikhail Botvinnik Despite his brilliant chess career, Alekhine’s personal life was far from perfect. At some point, the Russian champion became addicted to alcohol, and, unfortunately, the match with outstanding Dutch player Max Euwe (Holland, 1935) was organised during one of his bad spells. The schedule of the match had the players moving from one Dutch town to another, which wore out the older Alekhine. The fourth world champion took an early lead; however, in the middle of
Capablanca didn’t have to defend his title for six years, until Alexander Alekhine, a Soviet emigrant, managed to find sponsors during his tour of South America to help him organise a World Championship match against Capablanca in Buenos Aires in 1927. By that time Alekhine had won a few top-class tournaments, but his track record in games against Capablanca was poor, and hardly 996
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the match, when tension got high, Alekhine started drinking before each game to relieve stress. But that shouldn’t detract from Euwe’s magnificent achievement – his 15.5 to 14.5 win and the title of the fifth world champion were well deserved.
The winner of that landmark tournament, held in the Hague and Moscow in 1948, was Mikhail Botvinnik. Since then, the Soviet school dominated the world of chess; World Championship matches were held exclusively in Moscow and only between Soviet players until 1972. Mikhail Botvinnik aided FIDE in developing a coherent system for selecting challengers: Zonal, Interzonal and Candidates Tournaments. The winner of the Candidates plays a title match (24 games) against the champion. The champion retains the title if the match is tied; if he loses, the champion is entitled to a rematch.
Despite his problems with the schedule, Alekhine proved to be a very practical player. His contract with Euwe included a rematch provision. The Dutchman had promised a match with Capablanca, but first he had to play a rematch with the Russian master. The former champion had recovered his strength for the 1937 match and even bought a cow to include fresh milk in his diet. Alekhine won the rematch by a large margin (15.5 to 9.5) and regained his title.
David Bronstein won the first Candidates Tournament in 1950. Bronstein, a representative of the Ukrainian chess school and a bright and dynamic player, whose favourite openings were the King’s Gambit and the King’s Indian Defence, had an excellent chance of defeating the unpractised Botvinnik (after he won the title, Botvinnik stopped playing tournaments, and instead wrote his doctoral dissertation). The challenger led 11.5-10.5, but poorly analysed the adjourned 23rd game and surrendered. He still had a chance of winning if he won the final game of the match, but Botvinnik’s nerve prevailed and he made a draw in a better position, tied the match by a score of 12-12 and retained his championship.
Alas, that was Alekhine’s last World Championship match. He accepted the challenge of Czech grandmaster Salo Flohr, but the match was prevented by the beginning of World War II. After the war was over, some leading grandmasters accused the aging champion of cooperating with the Nazis (he had played German tournaments and wrote an unseemly article entitled “Aryan and Jewish Chess”) and demanded that Alekhine’s title be revoked. Alekhine did the only thing possible under the circumstances – he signed an agreement to play a match with Soviet champion Mikhail Botvinnik in the USSR. Before the war, the Soviet Union had produced a series of excellent players, and Botvinnik was the leader of the pack, having successfully played tournament matches against Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine and Euwe. But the historic match never took place – Alexander Alekhine died undefeated.
The year 1954 saw the beginning of a series of matches between Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov. The Moscow grandmaster had confirmed his status as one of the world’s top players back at the post-war international tournament in Groningen in 1946 and finished second in the 1948 tournament match. Smyslov came in first in the 1953 Candidates Tournament, finishing ahead of Bronstein, Keres, Reshevsky and other brilliant grandmasters, and won the right to play Botvinnik for the coveted title. However, his first attempt was unsuccessful – Botvinnik led at the start of the match, then Smyslov had a winning streak, but the match ended in a 1212 tie, and the sixth champion again retained his title. However, by the mid-1950s, Vasily Smyslov had built up power, and went on to win another challenger tournament and defeat Botvinnik in their second title match
Vasily Smyslov The public was in favour of declaring Max Euwe the world champion, as he was the only ex-world champion alive. But then it was decided to organise a title tournament with the six leading chess players in the world. At the last minute, American Reuben Fine withdrew, and only five grandmasters took part – Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Paul Keres (all of the USSR), Samuel Reshevsky (of the USA) and Max Euwe (of the Netherlands). 997
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(1957), leading from start to finish with a final score of 12.5-9.5, thus becoming the seventh world champion.
psychological trick, because he was ready for the 1963 match against challenger Tigran Petrosian and fought the best he could. The sixth champion won the first game, and then Petrosian scored two wins. Botvinnik managed to even the score after game 14, but “Iron Tigran” had three wins in the final half of the match and beat Botvinnik with a final score of 12.5-9.5, becoming the ninth World Chess Champion. By that time, FIDE had abolished the rematch provision, and Botvinnik retired from world championship tournaments, as he did not want to start a crusade for the crown as an ordinary Candidates contender.
The following year, Smyslov had to play a return match with his adversary. A scandal erupted prior to the match, when Botvinnik demanded that each player should have only one second (Botvinnik’s team lost to Smyslov’s seconds in the 1957 match in analysing adjourned positions). FIDE’s president met the demand of the former champion. Winning the psychological duel ahead of the match, Botvinnik seized the initiative and won 12.510.5, thus regaining the chess crown.
Anatoly Karpov
In the late 1950s, the chess world became entranced by an amazing chess master from Riga. Mikhail Tal was called a “wizard”, “sorcerer”, and “meteor”. He sacrificed pieces right and left and easily mated opponents hitherto considered impenetrable. After his triumph in the Candidates Tournament, Tal was to play the title match against Mikhail Botvinnik in 1960. The 49-year-old champion felt uneasy playing the young star. It was a head-to-head match up until the middle despite exhausting time pressure, but youth overpowered staidness, and Tal won by 12.58.5, becoming the eighth world champion.
The 1960s saw a generational shift in the Soviet chess world. Botvinnik, Keres, Smyslov and Bronstein could no longer really contend for the world title, so Boris Spassky became the new challenger in 1966. Spassky had early successes but entered a slump in world championship qualifying events, thus staying far from the top. However, as soon as he switched from his first trainer to famous grandmaster and coach Igor Bondarevsky, his results markedly improved. In 1966, FIDE replaced the Candidates Tournament with Candidates knock-out matches. He won the qualifiers and the right to a one-on-one match for the title with Petrosian, but his first attempt did not win him the title. Petrosian had trained hard for the match and won by 12.5-11.5. The challenger did not seem to be fully prepared for the title match and often played dubious lines. However, three years later, Spassky earned the right to play Petrosian again and didn’t miss his chance this time. The 1969 Petrosian-Spassky match was as hard as the first one. This time Spassky was much better prepared and managed to penetrate the defence of the “Iron Tigran” a few times, snatching the victory by 12.5-10.5. Boris Spassky thus became the tenth World Chess Champion.
Tigran Petrosian But one year later, Tal was to play a return match, as Smyslov had before. The young champion led a dissolute personal life – he never kept to a strict sporting schedule, was a chain smoker and enjoyed the well-deserved favours of girls. Tal did not train hard for the match, apparently believing that he could defeat the veteran hands down. Botvinnik, for his part, was very serious about the coming match. And the 1961 return match showed that Tal was in far from ideal shape. The public was surprised to see the 50-year-old former champion destroy the “Hussar from Riga” 13-8 and regain the world title once again.
In 1972, Reykjavik hosted what was probably the most politicised title match of all time. At the height of the Cold War, Soviet champion Boris Spassky had to confront U.S. chess genius Robert James Fischer, who had beaten Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen with perfect scores
Botvinnik would be almost 52 by the time of the next title match, and he published a statement that he was ready to resign his title provided a worthy Soviet player won the Candidates Tournament. It must have been a 998
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of 6-0 in the qualifiers and confidently defeated ex-champion Petrosian. For the first time since 1948, a non-Soviet chess player had a chance to grab the title. However, Fischer had a poor track record playing Spassky, with three losses and no wins. The American grandmaster failed to arrive in Iceland on time and kept making new demands. British banker Jim Slater increased the prize money to entice Fischer to play. They say it took a phone call from U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to persuade Fischer to fly to Iceland. But in the end, the match did take place. The first game proved to be a disaster for Fischer: while in a drawn position, he imprudently captured a poisoned pawn, thus allowing his bishop to be trapped, and couldn’t find the spectacular way to draw the game that was available. Spassky took an early lead of 1-0, but the American never showed up for the second game! The match was again under threat, and the Soviet champion was negotiating with Moscow on a daily basis – the USSR demanded that the match should be stopped. But Spassky decided to continue, although his nerve and morale had been undermined. Fischer soon evened the score and then took the lead by 6.5-3.5. At that point, Spassky was able to pull himself together and play with renewed vigour. He knocked Fischer out in game 11 and narrowed the gap, but the American stole game 13. Spassky never won another game, although he dominated throughout the second half of the match. After winning game 21, Robert Fischer became the eleventh World Champion (with a score of 12.5-8.5).
again, while rejecting the provision that Fischer retain his title in the event of a 9–9 tie. In this case, Karpov would have to secure at least a two-point margin, which was clearly unfair. Fischer, enraged, forfeited the title by refusing to play the match, and the 1975 Fischer – Karpov match, which could have been the greatest event in the history of the game, never took place. Anatoly Karpov became the twelfth World Chess Champion by forfeit.
Boris Spassky Nevertheless, even after Fischer resigned political overtones never disappeared from world chess. Very soon grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi, who lost the Candidates final to Karpov in 1974, emigrated from the USSR to Switzerland. This move must have put new heart in the disgraced player, and he won all of the Candidates matches brilliantly. The Soviet Union demanded that Korchnoi be disqualified and declared a boycott; however, Max Euwe, then-president of FIDE, did not allow the former Soviet grandmaster to be excluded from the qualifying cycle. The title match between Korchnoi and Karpov was held in Baguio City in the Philippines in 1978. Fischer’s unlimited format had been cut – the two used the Alekhine – Capablanca formula, with the first player to win 6 games being declared champion. The match was filled with scandals: the Soviet camp demanded that Korchnoi play without a flag, and after game 7 Karpov declined to shake his opponent’s hand, while Korchnoi gave numerous press conferences denouncing Mikhail Tal and other Soviet grandmasters who took Karpov’s side. Both fought over where Karpov’s personal doctor, Zukhar, should sit in the room, as the challenger believed the doctor was a parapsychologist. Karpov was the first one to lead, but Korchnoi evened the score, which was followed by the champion winning three games, to lead 4-1. The Baguio City final was one of the most hard-fought matches in history, and the longest one ever, with many draws. After Karpov opened up a 5-2 lead and seemed sure to win, it appeared that the Soviet champion, who had never been in superb physical shape, lacked the strength for the final attack. And then Korchnoi again tied the score – 5-5 – in a miraculous comeback.
Robert Fischer After winning the title, Fischer demanded that FIDE change the rules for the World Championship match and FIDE complied, introducing the unlimited match instead of the 24-game battle. In the meantime, it was young Soviet grandmaster who challenged Fischer, having won the Candidates Matches. Fischer had not played chess for three years, and his title was obviously in danger. Therefore, the American demanded that the title match should continue until one player wins 10 games, same as back in Steinitz’s times. The Federation satisfied the champion’s whims 999
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Both players needed just one victory to be declared winner, and Anatoly Karpov won 6-5 (with 21 draws), retaining the chess crown.
more games, bringing the score to 5-3, FIDE President Florencio Campomanes called the match off without announcing a winner. Both opponents were resentful of the decision, and both Karpov and Kasparov criticised the FIDE president.
Viktor Korchnoi never came to terms with his defeat and managed to repeat the achievements of Smyslov and Spassky, wining the right to play Karpov for the title for a second time in 1981. But unlike his predecessors, his second attempt was unsuccessful. The boycott of Soviet chess players forced the disgraced contender to miss most of the top tournaments, while Karpov played a lot of successful matches, making his superiority over other grandmasters even more apparent. Karpov dominated during the next title match, held in Merano, Italy, and led comfortably 3-0 after just four games. Korchnoi came back with two wins, but could not yield any more victories, and Karpov defended his title relatively easily by a score of 6-2, with 10 draws.
Garry Kasparov A new title match was scheduled to take place in late 1985, again in Moscow. FIDE had decided to return to the Botvinnik 24-game formula, and in the case of a tie, reigning champion Karpov would retain the title. Furthermore, a rematch clause was in effect. Kasparov secured an early lead in the match, but Karpov bounced back to take the lead after games 4 and 5, bringing the score to 3-2. The Baku grandmaster managed to recover in game 11 and pulled ahead after brilliant victories in games 16 and 19, leading by a score of 10.5-8.5. Karpov made an extra effort and minimised the gap, 12-11. The defending champion needed just one victory, but it was Kasparov that snatched the win in the final game, winning the match by 13-11 and the title of the thirteenth World Chess Champion. He was 22 at that time, which made him the youngest ever World Champion.
The match made it clear that Korchnoi would not be able to really contend for the world title any longer, the more so because a new generation of Soviet chess talents, including Garry Kasparov, Alexander Beliavsky and Lev Psakhis, was ready to fight for the crown. The biggest talent of them all – Baku grandmaster Kasparov – won the Candidates cycle. All of the Karpov-Kasparov matches are etched in the history of the game in golden letters and are known as “The Great Confrontation”. The first title match against Karpov, held in Moscow in 1984-1985, was a closely contested battle – Anatoly Karpov had prepared thoroughly for the match against his younger opponent and secured a quick lead, winning five games to establish a dominating score of 5-0. The format was first-to-6-wins, not counting draws, and Kasparov found himself on the edge. He managed to win one game after a series of draws, and with a score of 5-1, the match turned into a marathon. Games were often postponed, because the venue, the Pillar Hall of the House of the Unions, was needed for other events (sometimes for funerals). Anatoly Karpov had a few “goal chances”, but never managed to score, and the match outlasted everyone’s expectations. More than 40 games had been played, and when Kasparov finally managed to win two
Karpov exercised his right to a rematch against Kasparov a year later, in 1986. The title match was to be played in both London and Leningrad. After the London round, Garry Kasparov led 6.5-5.5, playing strongly and confidently. In Leningrad, he secured a 9.5-6.5 lead, but just when it looked like the former champion would be easily defeated, Karpov rose from the ashes and won three consecutive games, levelling the score at 9.59.5! At this point, a scandal erupted in Kasparov’s team – the champion accused his second, Evgeny Vladimirov, of selling information to Karpov’s team, and Vladimirov left Kasparov. The Baku grandmaster scored one more win and kept his title with a final score of 12.5-11.5. Now Karpov had to get through the Candidates Matches to once again become challenger, and he succeeded in doing so after handily defeating Andrei Sokolov. The next Kasparov-Karpov World Championship 1000
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match took place in Seville, Spain, in 1987. The defending champion kept a one-point lead until game 16, and then Karpov, playing black, managed to win an important game and even the score at 8-8. The former champion redoubled his efforts during the final phase, and Kasparov miraculously escaped defeat a few times. Nevertheless, after game 22, the match was tied 11-11. During the two final games, true drama developed. First, Kasparov forgot his analysis at the end of game 23, made an incorrect rook sacrifice and had to concede defeat a few moves later. Now Kasparov needed a victory. He started the final game aggressively, and although Karpov could have saved the match, he overlooked a simple combination when he started slipping behind on the clock. The Black had no chance to draw in the adjourned position – Kasparov skilfully converted his extra pawn into a final victory and kept his title by sheer miracle at 12:12.
Candidates Tournament in Holland and Indonesia. Karpov won 12.5-8.5 to become FIDE World Champion. In the Kasparov-Short match, the young challenger was unable to offer credible resistance to the great champion, and the Russian won easily by 12.57.5. The following year saw the start of qualifying rounds under both FIDE and the Professional Chess Association (PCA), established by Kasparov. Both rounds were dominated by young, new wave players: Kasparov was challenged by Indian Viswanathan Anand and Karpov was to play against a Leningradborn American, Gata Kamsky. In 1996 Karpov defeated Kamsky in Elista with a score of 10.57.5. The hard-fought Kasparov-Anand match in New York ended with a similar score in favour of Kasparov. Anand even led 5-2 after game 9, but then suffered several defeats. The conflicting sides had difficulty agreeing on a unifying match between Karpov and Kasparov and new qualifying rounds were problematic because of a lack of funds. As a result, the PCA fell apart and Kasparov was left only with his title and the reputation of an invincible player. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who had become president of FIDE, started to hold world championships according to the knockout system. In 1998 Viswanathan Anand won the qualifying knockout tournament but then lost to Anatoly Karpov in Lausanne by 3-5 (3-3 in classical chess and 0-2 in rapid chess). In 1999 Alexander Khalifman of Russia became FIDE World Champion, but in 2000 the title went to Anand.
The last battle between Kasparov and Karpov took place in 1990 in two cities, Lyon and New York, after Karpov had again won the Candidates Tournament with flying colours. The match was neck-and-neck until game 18: Kasparov gained the lead twice but Karpov recouped twice. However, the fate of the match was sealed after the champion won games 18 and 20. Under the wire, Karpov scored a consolation goal, bringing the last showdown between the two Ks to 12.5-11.5 in Kasparov’s favour. The match was also preceded by a conflict between the contestants, as Kasparov had decided to play under the Russian tricolour flag while Karpov remained loyal to the Soviet flag.
Vladimir Kramnik
It seemed that a new, sixth duel between the two Ks was inevitable. However, the Candidates matches in 1993 were sensationally won by Nigel Short of Britain who defeated Karpov in the semi-finals. Short then offered to play a match against Kasparov outside the aegis of FIDE in order to avoid the dictate of Campomanes and not let FIDE pocket 20% of the prize fund. Kasparov agreed and as a result the chess world was split. FIDE disqualified Kasparov and Short and hastily staged a match between Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman who had lost the
Kasparov had not defended his title for four years while attempts to stage a match with Alexei Shirov or Viswanathan Anand had failed. However, in 2000 London agreed to host a match between Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, who was rated number two. Kramnik was thought to be not very good at playing matches after suffering defeat in the Candidates rounds in the 1990s and trailing behind Shirov. However, the challenger began the “match of his life” with guns blazing. For the first time, Kasparov failed to score a single 1001
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win whereas Kramnik twice defeated his opponent. It was a 16-game match and Vladimir Kramnik won 8.5-6.5 to become the fourteenth world champion in classical chess.
toilets and instead open one common public toilet. In protest against the decision, which violated the contract, Vladimir Kramnik did not show up for the fifth game, which was registered as a forfeit loss for him. The match in jeopardy, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov immediately flew to Elista. After changes in the Appeals Committee, the game resumed from the 3-2 score, meaning the fifth game was awarded to Kramnik’s opponent. Inspired by this turnaround, Topalov took initiative and in the eighth game brought the score to a 4-4 draw and then established a 5-4 lead in the ninth game. The buzz in the media was that Kramnik was thrown off balance by the scandal and was unlikely to be able to recoup, but the Russian restored the balance in game 10 (5-5). The two final classic chess games were drawn and the match went into a tiebreak, meaning 4 rapid chess games. With the score at 7.5-7.5, Vladimir Kramnik won the crucial fourth game.
Meanwhile, the winner in the FIDE knockout cycle was Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine in 2002 and Rustam Kasimdzhanov, a grandmaster from Uzbekistan, in 2004. Eventually the Prague Agreement was signed to unify the cycle. Under its terms, Kasparov was to play against the FIDE world champion and Kramnik against the winner of the Brain Games selection tournament, which turned out to be Peter Leko of Hungary. The winners of these matches would then play each other. However, attempts to organise Kasparov – Ponomariov and later Kasparov – Kasimdzhanov matches failed and unification of the chess world was delayed, although Kramnik had fulfilled his obligations under the Prague Agreement. The Kramnik – Leko match took place in Brissago in 2004. The world champion won the first game but the Hungarian Grandmaster managed to come back and gain the lead. Before the last and fourteenth game, Peter Leko led by 7-6 and a draw would have made the challenger the fifteenth chess champion. However, Kramnik, playing white, won the crucial game to retain his world title.
After the reunification of the chess world, it was decided to hold a world championship tournament with the top eight Grandmasters taking part: Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Boris Gelfand, Peter Leko, Peter Svidler, Alexander Morozevich, Levon Aronian and Alexander Grischuk. In the event of failure, Kramnik would have the right to play a match against the winner. The tournament, held in Mexico City in 2007, was won by Viswanathan Anand, who scored 9 points out of 14 with no losses, overtaking Kramnik and Gelfand by one point. Kramnik availed himself of the right to play a match against the tournament winner and Anand and Kramnik crossed swords in 2008 in Bonn, Germany to battle for the title of the world’s number one chess player. The schedule of the match was a replica of the Kramnik-Topalov match: 12 games and a tiebreak if the score got to 6-6.
In 2005 Garry Kasparov announced that he was retiring from professional chess. Meanwhile, FIDE and Vladimir Kramnik finally agreed on a merger. The 2005 FIDE World Championship in St. Louis was won by Bulgarian Grandmaster Veselin Topalov. In 2006 Elista hosted the long-awaited unifying match between Topalov and Kramnik, consisting of 12 games. If the score was 6-6 the match would be decided in rapid chess. The match got off to a nervous start with the two players making angry statements in the press and in the first two games, both parties made many mistakes. As a result, Kramnik led by 2-0. The next two games ended in a draw and before the fifth game the Bulgarian side lodged a complaint accusing Kramnik of visiting the public toilet too frequently and spending a long time there, suspecting the Russian of foul play. The Appeals Committee decided to close the participants’ personal
The Indian Grandmaster had prepared very well for the opening and at the beginning trounced Kramnik three times. The score reached 4.5-1.5 in Anand’s favour. To Kramnik’s credit, he fought on and even won a consolation tenth game. However, Viswanathan Anand won the match 6.5-4.5 to become the fifteenth world champion.
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Veselin Topalov did not take part in the 2007 tournament in Mexico City and missed the next cycle of World Championship qualifying competitions. As compensation, FIDE allowed the Bulgarian Grandmaster to play a match against Anand if he defeated World Championship winner Gata Kamsky. Topalov was better prepared for the match than the American. The Anand – Topalov match took place in Sofia in 2010 and had the same format as the Kramnik – Topalov and Anand – Kramnik matches. The battle between Anand and Topalov was one of the highest quality in the whole history of chess matches and was marked by the high tensions both over the chessboard and away from it. Topalov pointedly played all positions until bare kings remained and after the games the rivals did not shake hands. The Bulgarian Grandmaster used a powerful supercomputer to analyse the opening positions, while Anand had Kasparov and Kramnik as his advisors. In the first game the Indian Grandmaster rather recklessly played a sharp line of the Grunfeld Defence and fell victim to a powerful follow-up developed by the Bulgarian team. Topalov took the lead. Anand then completely changed tactics, avoiding dramatic moves and managing twice to out-manoeuvre his opponent, bringing the score to 2.5-1.5 in his favour. In game 8, Topalov outwitted the champion in the endgame, bringing the score to 4-4. The players were both highly resourceful, but neither Anand nor Topalov managed to stun the opponent. The score was level at 5.5-5.5 before the last game. Remembering his setback in the tiebreak with Kramnik, Topalov tried to sew up the outcome during regular time, but overestimated his chances and Anand won by launching an elegant counter-attack. The final score was 6.5-5.5 and Anand remained the champion.
won the World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk (2009) and the Candidates Matches in Kazan (2011).
Biyografiler Champion Viswanathan ANAND (India) Born 11 December 1969 in Madras FIDE World Champion 2000, World Champion since 2007 Rating on 1 Jan 2012: 2799 (peak rating: 2817) Early years. Anand was born on 11 December 1969 to a well-to-do family in Madras. His parents belonged to the highest caste in Hinduism: his father, Viswanathan, was an engineer, and later General Manager of the Southern Railway; his mother, Susheela, was a housewife. The future champion was given the name Anand at birth. Indian people do not have family names, so in his own country he was known to everyone by his first name. But when Anand began to travel to Europe in the mid-1980s, he was “renamed”: his first name was taken as his surname, and people began to call him by his father’s first name, and then shortened it to “Vishy”. This form of address might have seemed crude and inappropriate to Anand, but he took a completely calm attitude towards it, and it soon became established in chess circles. Anand learnt to play chess at the age of 6, at the instigation of his mother, and within a year he started going to the local chess club, named after Mikhail Tal. From his first acquaintance with the play of the eighth world champion he fell in love with Tal’s chess, and to this day Anand names him as his favourite chess player, along with Fischer. It very soon became clear that the Indian had a lot in common with his idol – the same talent for combinations and eagerness to take the initiative, and also incredibly fast thinking. Vishy did not waste time – he would spend not two hours but just 25–30 minutes on a serious game…
In May 2012 Viswanathan Anand will defend his title against Israeli Grandmaster Boris Gelfand. The two most powerful tournament and match players of recent times will play in Moscow in May. World Champion Anand is the only player in the history of chess to win match, tournament and knockout competitions. The challenger is Gelfand, who shared second place with Kramnik in the tournament match in Mexico City (2007), and 1003
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organisers of the biggest international tournaments… Vishy immediately received an invitation to his first big round-robin tournament – in Wijk aan Zee!
His parents strictly “rationed” Anand’s interest in chess. He only played if things were going well for him at school – they once stopped him playing for a whole month. Vishy never had a chess tutor: the main sources of his knowledge were books and magazines. He worked everything out for himself!
It was after this tournament, in which Anand shared 1st-4th places with Nikolic, Ribli and Sax, people started to refer to him as one of the leaders of the new generation. And he himself felt that he had taken a qualitative leap forward in his chess development.
First successes. The breakthrough in Anand’s results occurred in 1983. He won the Indian Under-16 (9 wins out of 9) and Under-19 championships successively – and won a place in the country’s adult championships. After finishing in fourth place in these, the 14year-old talent won a place in the Indian national team! Then, accompanied by his mum, he set off for his first Olympiad in Salonika. Anand played very successfully on board 4, with a result of +6=3-2, and his game against Hergott ended up in Chess Informant.
Challenger 1. In the middle of 1990 Anand’s rating went above 2600 for the first time, and as he set off for the inter-zonal match in Manila he was already one of the favourites. And he succeeded in justifying his supporters’ expectations! After a “bumpy” start Vishy finished the tournament in hurricane style – 3.5 out of 4, becoming a challenger at 19 years of age! India was delighted and made every effort to get his 1/8 final match against Dreev played in Madras. His rival was considered more experienced and stronger, but on the outside Vishy coped fairly easily with the pressure. His won the first game, and after a defeat in the third he achieved a hat trick and finished the match early, winning 4.5:1.5.
In 1985 Anand became an International Master, the youngest Asian player to hold this title. In 1986 he won the Indian adult championship, and in 1987, at his fourth attempt, he won the Under-20 World Championship, winning 10 out of 13. In “faraway Baguio” he beat Ivanchuk by half a point in an incredible race, and also defeated him in a head-to-head game. The other contenders were left trailing far behind. For this achievement the 18-year-old “chess prince” became a Grandmaster, the youngest at that time.
Immediately after this, Anand started his first Linares tournament. The Indian began with two victories – over Kamsky and Karpov – but then suffered one misfortune after another. After losing in devastating style to Ivanchuk with white, Anand fell to the lower half of the table… On seeing this game, Kasparov started talking about Vishy’s “glass jaw”: he’s a striking and talented player but he hasn’t learnt to “roll with the punches”.
But according to Anand, the main thing for him was that at last people noticed him: “I didn’t need to waste loads of time playing in ordinary Indian tournaments where I could pump up my rating and wait for an invitation to some good tournaments…” He was immediately invited to a strong open competition in Lugano, and also to Brussels, where the young chess prince found himself acting as one of the commentators on the World Cup tournament.
In addition, when the experts discussed Anand’s style, they noted that he had two shortcomings: the lack of a “school”, which led to a not very convincing way of approaching the game, and being too hurried when taking important decisions. Of course, he wasn’t spending 30 minutes on a game as he had in his youth, but at times he was clearly hurrying, making second-class moves – and thereby spoiling games that he had played very well…
While at this great chess forum, the young and sociable Anand managed to renew his acquaintance not only with the entire international elite but also, far more importantly for him at that point, with the 1004
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But in his quarter final match with Karpov, who before the start had looked like the favourite, Anand managed to improve his play. Mikhail Gurevich helped him to eliminate many of his shortcomings and taught him to work seriously on his openings without losing the inherent lightness of his game. And the ex-champion felt the full force of the new Vishy.
“This match proved to be an important point in my career, since it gave me a big boost in courage when I beat Ivanchuk,” Anand believes. “After all, he was the first really strong opponent that I defeated in a match. I took this as a good sign before the forthcoming world championship cycle…” In 1993, as we know, the chess world divided into FIDE and the PCA, and Anand was faced with the prospect of playing in two world championship cycles at the same time. People even rushed to attribute words to the Indian – who was seen as one of the main favourites for both cycles – which he had not uttered, that there was no better way of uniting the crown than to win a match against both Kasparov and Karpov.
This match was probably a breakthrough for the future Anand. “At the beginning I was annoyed by the toss,” Vishy recalls. “But later I started to stick to the view that you can’t become a champion without meeting your most powerful rivals. You simply have to beat everyone you meet on the way!” In the majority of games the Indian held the initiative, but his lack of match experience told. Anand did not win the third and fifth games, and instead the rivals exchanged blows in the fourth and sixth. In the seventh, Vishy attempted to “squeeze out” a victory, but instead he managed only to squeeze himself out. In the deciding eighth game Karpov proved to be fresher and bolder.
True, to play a match with the champion it was necessary to play an inter-zonal tournament and then Candidates’ matches. And at Biel 1993 (FIDE), Vishy nearly slipped up. In order to go through he had to win “+4”, and he finished with “+3”, but in the last round five (!) games in a row ended in the right way, and Anand got the last place to go through. In Groningen (PCA) there were no surprises: “+4” and sharing 1st-2nd places.
It has to be said that defeat in this match did not crush Anand. On the contrary, he drew the right conclusions, and this, he says, had an effect as early as the next cycle…
Anand went from victory to victory for the whole of the following year. At the beginning he soundly beat the “old men” Yusupov 4.5:2.5 (FIDE) and Romanishin 5:2 (PCA), but then unexpectedly lost to Kamsky. Their match took place in Sanghi Nagar, India, and after five games Vishy was leading 3.5:1.5. In order to get a match with Karpov, all he needed was to draw two of the three remaining games. Alas, Vishy did not manage to do this. The familiar surroundings of home played a nasty trick on him: at the time he literally did not know where to hide from the intrusive attention of his compatriots.
Challenger 2. The fact that Vishy was in good shape was shown by his two victories over Kasparov – at the tournaments in Tilburg and Reggio Emilia. In Italy the Indian for the first time left the whole international elite, including both world champions, trailing in his wake. In 1992 he shared victory at the Euwe (Amsterdam) and Alekhine (Moscow) memorials. But the landmark event for him was the “friendly” match against Vassily Ivanchuk in Linares. They were both (with Gelfand) considered the heirs of the two “Ks”, but which of them would come out in front? Before the match in Linares Vassily’s shares were rated a little higher, but afterwards Anand’s “rate” went up… It was not only that the Indian won 5:3 (and might have won by more), but his game was more integrated and his palette was richer.
Anand lost the sixth and seventh games weakly, after which, as if hypnotised, he also lost both of the “rapid” games in the tie-break. In the concluding game Vishy surrendered on his seventeenth move, giving people an excuse, if one were needed, to chatter about his extreme vulnerability. 1005
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again, the effectiveness of his team would be higher than in 1995.
And so he dropped out of the FIDE cycle. But in the PCA “world” he advanced to the very end – a match with Kasparov. Along the way he first overcame Adams, 5.5:1.5, and then took revenge on Kamsky for his “home” defeat. But he lost the first game in Las Palmas to Gata through inertia (he ran out of time in an overwhelming position). But later Anand was almost irreproachable, totally in control of the game. He won the third, ninth and eleventh games, finished the match 6.5:4.5 ahead of schedule and went through to the title match!
The moral climate was not the best either. On the threshold of the “match of his life”, Anand was burdened with a rather difficult relationship with the PCA leadership. He was very hurt that the opinion of the title challenger was not being taken into account – they were simply presenting Vishy with a fact. First, that the match would be transferred from Cologne to New York. Then that the prize fund for the contest would be reduced to $1.35 million. He was also irritated by everyday worries, so that by the start of the match the Indian was very tense.
Anand played in the Tal Memorial (Riga) as a challenger. He came second after Kasparov and lost to him in a head-to-head game, but Vishy’s mood remained good. “My game was very convincing, and I felt on form!” Vishy recalled. “I had every reason to be in good spirits at the moment when I had only just started preparing for a world championship match…”
But anyway, he was ready enough for the big fight. On which subject, the first eight games against Kasparov, who had far more match experience and generally beat the Indian in head-to-head games, were drawn! Vishy yielded nothing to his awesome rival, and several times even held the initiative… Most of the games ended within about 20 moves, when the opponents were exhausting the conflict in the game and a draw was beginning to look obvious.
At the top. Unfortunately, the actual match against Kasparov did not work out for Anand. He probably over-prepared for this match – he effectively didn’t play anywhere for half a year – and he lost the lightness of play and freshness of perception that was so customary for him.
But from the eighth game onwards they began having a real fight! It was Anand who gave the signal for battle to commence. His two brilliant replies in this game forced the champion to switch from playing for victory to seeking a draw… And in the ninth game Vishy moved ahead, breaking through Kasparov’s Scheveningen defence at the fifth attempt!
Also, according to Kasparov, the Indian’s trainers paid too much attention to his rival, organising the preparations in such a way as not to allow Kasparov to make any headway under any circumstances, completely forgetting to develop Anand’s own best qualities. “They imposed a way of playing on him that was not natural for him, they put him in a box where a priori he had no way of showing what he was capable of with his gift… It was as if Vishy had forgotten about his rich intuition and completely excluded risk from his game!” The penalty for his lack of experience – Anand for the first time put his own “team” together. He invited four Grandmasters that he knew well and with whom he had worked previously: Ubilava, Wolff, Speelman and Yusupov. In the “final straight” he also added Dvoretsky. At the end of the match the Indian was saying that if they got together with him
Alas… then they played the tenth game: here Garry used his amazing novelty, sacrificing a rook and winning by using his home analysis. And Vishy “snapped”, as he had already done a number of times before. The eleventh game would be the key one. In what was an approximately even endgame Kasparov suddenly, and it seemed at the drop of a hat, “blundered away” an exchange! Anand lost his concentration and made the most obvious move, after which he lost the game and the match in literally two moves… 1006
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His rival accomplished the whole thing at lightning speed. Left without two pawns, Vishy immediately stopped the clock.
Khalifman, Almasi, Shirov, Gelfand and Adams, Anand got through to the final, where a “fresh” Karpov was already waiting for him. The whole point was that FIDE wanted to put an end to the “two kings” regime and had decided to allow the two “Ks” straight into the semi-final. But while Kasparov declined this privilege and his $300,000m, Karpov was not prepared to pull any punches. Their final match started in Lausanne, Switzerland, literally a few days after the end of the intense 23-day marathon.
In the twelfth, the challenger won half a point with black, but… in the thirteenth Anand again lost through a crude blunder – the game ended in 25 moves! Kasparov also beat his opponent in the fourteenth game, bringing his lead up to three points. The match was one-sided now… “I think one of my main problems in the match against Kasparov was that I didn’t have the faintest idea what pressure I would have to withstand in a match like this,” said Anand on his sad exit from the match. “When I think back to the eleventh and thirteenth games, I don’t need a team of four ‘seconds’ to know where I slipped up in these matches – I simply made basic errors!”
Anand was losing 2:3 after five games, but managed to win the sixth, where a victory was crucial for him, taking the match to a tie break. “I won’t say the game was particularly good, but… it shows something in my character: despite all the difficulties I was able to win it,” said Vishy with pride. “Previously I probably couldn’t have done this, but I have become stronger over the years, especially in critical situations!”
But just as he did after his challenger’s match against Karpov, Anand gradually recovered and did not give up thinking about scaling the chess Olympus again.
Alas, in the tie break a huge tiredness made itself felt. Anand managed to gain a dominant position but not only failed to win the game but even lost. His attempt to draw level a second time did not work, and Karpov successfully defended his title as champion.
The chess world split. Throughout 1996 Vishy “simply played chess” with gusto. The most surprising thing is that despite a lot of brilliant games and excellent results, he did not win first place in anything! But coming second in the Las Palmas six-way tournament between the world’s strongest chess players – Kasparov was first, and behind Vishy came Topalov, Kramnik, Ivanchuk and Karpov – was quite enough to confirm the Indian’s status. Vishy was right behind Garry, even though on the basis of his results for the year he was rated third, yielding second place to Kramnik. This “world scene” remained the same in 1997.
“I regard Groningen as a huge success and in a way I believe that I have won the FIDE world championship,” said Anand, making his position clear. “The terms in the final were so unequal that… it’s difficult for me to regard it as part of the competition.” The mood among the chess-loving public was roughly the same. Karpov had the official title and the money, but all the glory went to Vishy Anand. It’s no accident that at the end of the year the Indian was awarded a Chess Oscar!
One good result for Vishy gave way to another! He won in Monte Carlo, Dos Hermanas, Leon, Frankfurt, Biel and Belgrade… However, the main event for him in 1997 was taking part in the FIDE World Knockout Championship in Groningen. “After winning the tournaments in Biel and Belgrade I set off for the championships in very good spirits!” said Anand, recalling that year.
In 1998 Anand received an Oscar statuette for the second time, having secured victory in five super-tournaments – Wijk aan Zee, Linares, Madrid, Frankfurt and Tilburg. In 1999 Kasparov had talks with Anand about a new world championship match. Having lost the support of Intel, the PCA could not stage a Candidates’ cycle, and Garry had no
Working his way consistently past Nikolic, 1007
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alternative but to accept challenges, as in the “pre-FIDE” days. However, this time the champion himself was looking for a challenger.
Tehran, Shirov – 3.5:0.5. “The consequences of my victory in the FIDE world championship were extraordinary,” recalled Vishy. “When I returned to Delhi, I was met at the airport by thousands of people, and I was accompanied by a cortege of vehicles on a trip round the city… There were flags flying everywhere on the streets, just as they do on a national holiday!” In Madras Anand was seated in a carriage, carried through the centre of the city and decorated on behalf of the government. A real “chess fever” broke out in India itself, like the one in the Soviet Union in 1925.
The Indian agreed to play, but, remembering the story of 1995, during the work on the documents he demanded that the sponsors that Kasparov had found in the USA provide guarantees and also a deposit in case the match fell through. The talks were resumed several times, then things would go quiet again, until finally they became deadlocked… Anand missed the 1999 FIDE world championship in Las Vegas as a result. But the next time, when it was held in New Delhi, Vishy succeeded in becoming the champion!
The champion himself, understanding that it would not be easy to win his third knockout tournament in a row right on cue in a year’s time, did not intend to rest on his laurels. “When I won the title I experienced a sense of profound satisfaction with what I had achieved at the chess board, and I was looking forward to whatever new challenges fate might bring!” And he didn’t have to wait long.
Champion. It is interesting that in 1999 and 2000 the Indian was only winning “rapid” tournaments”. In classical chess things were different… “At the beginning of 1999 I was still swimming with the tide of almost uninterrupted success, which started after I beat Kramnik in Belgrade-97,” Vishy recalled. “However, sooner or later all good things have to come to an end.” The failures that ensued toughened Anand, making him seize every chance and get the maximum out of the situation.
The following year, 2001, did not work out very successfully as a whole for Anand. Vishy did not win a single victory in classical tournaments, and in the FIDE Knockout Championship in Moscow he lost 1.5:2.5 to Ivanchuk in the semi-final and lost his champion’s title. And this defeat by his historic rival had a “domino effect” on the Indian. Having acquired a new champion (Ponomariov), FIDE ruled Anand out of the Prague Unity Agreements for 2002, and the Indian, who was contracted to FIDE, was not included on the list of challengers for a match with Kramnik in Dortmund.
Another factor in this was the six-week preparation for the match with Kasparov that did not take place. “I discovered something: the work you’ve done always brings you a reward in the end, although sometimes that can be definitely not in the game you’d like or in the tournament you’d hope for…” For Vishy, it was in New Delhi.
Vishy took a philosophical view of this: “It doesn’t matter, I said to myself. The chess life is about more than competing for the world championship! You can play in ordinary tournaments and get satisfaction from that. You can be happy regardless of money and titles – and even of playing chess.” And by way of “compensation” Anand scored a victory in Prague (in the final Vishy beat Karpov), in the World Cup (in the final he beat the future FIDE champion Kasimdzhanov), and in Mainz, where one of his rivals was Ponomariov.
However, in 2000 he became the double champion, having won the World Blitz Chess Championship in Warsaw and then the World Cup in Shenyang. “I was very motivated in my approach to the FIDE championship in New Delhi. To play 21 games in such a strong competition without a single defeat says that I was in peak form!” On his home ground Anand overcame Bologan, Lputjan, Macieja, Khalifman and Adams, and in the final, which took place in 1008
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Anand took the news that again he had something to prove almost philosophically. “I thought, since I had been able to beat Kramnik so confidently in the tournament match, I would probably have a good chance against him in a head-to-head match too. I’m well prepared, I have permanent trainers… Why not, if this match is so necessary and if it’s the only way to get a respite?”
What next? For two years Anand “went with the flow”, with a fairly intense tournament schedule. In 2003–2004 Vishy was first in Wijk aan Zee, was among the first in Monte Carlo and Dortmund, and was also the traditional winner of the “championship match” in Mainz. This was followed by “rapid” tournaments in Bastia, Cap d’Agde and Benidorm. In 2005, when FIDE finally gave up the knockout and defined a new format for the world championship – a two-round tournament of the best eight – Anand returned to the fight for the crown. But the FIDE world championship in St. Luis proved to be a magic moment for Topalov. He swept through the first round – 6.5 out of 7 – after which he calmly reached the finish with draws. Vishy was the only one who did not lose once to Veselin, but he had to make do with sharing 2nd-3rd place with Svidler – 8.5 out of 14.
This time Anand studied the mistakes of his 1995 match… First, he got together a superb “team”: Nielsen, Kasimdzhanov, Wojtaszek and Ganguly, who constantly plied him with novelties and important reinforcements. Second, he had a “strategic plan” for the match, which he succeeded in fully implementing. And third, he simply approached this contest in fine form and did not show the slightest weakness. The decisive factor in the outcome of the match was Kramnik’s two “white” games, in which Anand made a risky choice. Vladimir set himself the objective of denying his opponent at any cost – but did not manage to do this in either the third or the fifth game… The Indian won two very important victories, and then added another – in the sixth game, after which the result of the match was a foregone conclusion.
His time had still not come! In 2006 he had his traditional victory at Wijk aan Zee and was unstoppable in rapid chess, and in 2007 he scored victories in Morelia/Linares… But Anand was mainly focusing on the world championships in Mexico. He spent more than a month preparing for this tournament, and straight away “took the bull by the horns”. After finishing the first round with a result of +3, thanks to his victories over Aronian, Svidler and Grischuk, the Indian seized the lead and left no one in any doubt even for a second about his superiority over his rivals. The result was 9 out of 14 and a one-point lead over Gelfand and Kramnik. And… the champion’s title!
Kramnik could only score a “consolation goal”, while Vishy only needed to win half a point in the three remaining games to retain the title. The story of his match with Kamsky was not repeated – Anand’s “jaw” was no longer “glass”…
At the top. Unlike Topalov, who became champion without any “buts”, Anand, or rather FIDE, still “owed” something ever since the Prague days. According to the regulations, in order to become the fully fledged king, Vishy would still have to confirm his title – in a match with the “classic world champion” Kramnik, whom he had already surpassed in Mexico. Once again the Indian was a “hostage of the system”, but… there was nothing he could do about it, so he started preparing for the new challenge. Their match was due to take place in Bonn.
This victory mollified the Indian – now he was first without any reservations and could do whatever he liked! Following Kasparov’s retirement from chess in 2005, the most worthy candidate had now become the world champion. “For many years in a row I have taken part in all the prestigious competitions and accepted any challenge, but now I’m going to be more careful about how I choose my tournaments,” he said after the match. “The title of world champion places obligations on me, but I don’t want them to define my life. I’ve done too much and I want to live for a bit for my own pleasure!” 1009
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single super-tournament. Vishy is always at the top, taking 2nd-3rd places, but first place always goes to someone else. Aronian, Carlsen, Kramnik… But all the evidence suggests that this does not bother him too much, although from time to time it becomes the subject of discussion among his colleagues or on the pages of chess newspapers and magazines. Anand is the world champion, and that says it all, and he has won dozens of super-tournaments in his life.
In 2009–2010 his tournament motivation clearly declined. Anand did not take a single first place in either classical or rapid chess. He even ceded his first place in the ratings list first to Topalov and then to Carlsen. But this did not prevent Vishy from defending his champion’s crown – in a tense contest with Topalov, even on his rival’s territory, in Sofia in 2010. But this time Anand had to summon up all his strength to prove his superiority…
In May 2011 Anand found out the name of the latest challenger to his throne. It is Boris Gelfand, with whom he competed back in their youth in the mid-1980s, after which they followed “parallel paths” for a long time… It is quite a pity that their match will take place only now, when they have both passed the 40year mark and possible have passed their peak. However, it’s better to ask their rivals about being “past their peak” – these players have not managed to prevent Vishy and Boris meeting in a contest for the chess crown!
Veselin was brilliantly prepared. Playing at home with his own supporters, he was clearly burning with a desire to regain the crown he had lost in a scandalous contest with Kramnik. He played the first game in grand style, but did not shake Vishy – the latter replied in the second, but mainly in a brilliant fourth game, which was a credit to this match. After seizing the lead Vishy went through a difficult patch. Despite the fact that Vishy had two white games from the fifth to the seventh game, Veselin dictated his own terms, and in the eighth he levelled the score to 4:4… With only four games left to the finish, the will and determination of the players would decide everything. And their match experience. It turned out that Anand had more – he had been through duels with the greats!
Challenger Boris GELFAND (Israel) Born
24
June
1968
in
Minsk
Grandmaster, winner of the 2009 World Cup and of the 2011 Candidates’ Matches
Vishy was very close to victory in the ninth game: several times he came close to forcing a win, but he could not find a solution. He had to seek a draw in the tenth game, “in retaliation”. The next one ended in a calm draw. But in the twelfth Topalov lost his nerve! Anand, on the contrary, was cold and dispassionate: he used his rival’s indecisiveness to settle the game – and the whole match – with a direct attack.
Rating on 1 Jan 2012: 2739 (peak rating = 2762) Early years. Boris entered the world on 24 June 1968 in Minsk, born into a family of engineers. His parents – Abram and Nella – had difficult backgrounds: they were both born not long before the Great Patriotic War, were both evacuated, and after the war they returned home to Minsk. The family was constantly moving from one construction site to another in Byelorussia, Lithuania and Russia… The parents were accustomed to a nomadic lifestyle, and their sun picked this up from them.
What Kasparov had done to Anand in 1995, Anand himself did to Topalov 15 years later, and he didn’t even need to sacrifice a rook to do it! The title of world champion was in Vishy’s hands for a second time. And again it was deserved.
The Gelfands were a typical intellectual family in the then USSR: chess was as much an integral part of their culture as the cinema, the theatre or books. It is therefore not surprising
A new challenge? It is worth noting that as world champion Anand has not yet won a 1010
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that when Boris was four years old his father bought his son his first book about chess: Journey to the Chess Kingdom, by Averbakh and Beilin.
continued for nearly 12 years… Gelfand was given access to the trainer’s huge library and was able to ask Kapengut any question about chess.
“I decided that we would look at one diagram per day,” Abram recalled. “That way we’d be able to get through the book in a year!” The pair of them worked on chess every day, and the son became increasingly immersed in the world of the 64 squares. During the week Boris could not wait for his father to come home so that they could start a new lesson… And within a few months he had already started to work on his chess independently. “At first I had thought that Boris would lose interest in chess, but I soon discovered that he had already got to the end of our book and was trying to reenact some of Grandmasters’ games!”
Another formative stage in Boris’s chess was his participation in 1980-1983 in sessions of the “Petrosian School” – Gelfand went to three two-week sessions, where he not only attended lectures by teachers but also spent time with the former world champion himself. “That was something special! To have the opportunity to spend time with a great player, just like that,” Boris recalled with delight. “I remember Petrosian saying to me that I shouldn’t make a single move without having an idea: ‘Even when you’re playing blitz, always think!’ That idea played an enormous role in the subsequent development of my way of playing…”
Gelfand’s first trainer was the well-known teacher Eduard Zelkind. Boris was not yet seven when he joined his group. At first Zelkind did not want to take the lad, but he got the measure of his chess talent when Boris pointed out the winning move in Bronstein’s famous game against a computer. It became clear to Zelkind that Gelfand had not only memorised the moves but could also feel what was happening on the chess board…
First successes. The fact that in 1979 the USSR championships took place in Minsk also played an important role in Gelfand’s development. It was won by the 54-year-old Geller – Efim Petrovich beat the young Yusupov and Kasparov in a fierce contest. The 11-year-old Gelfand was the most attentive spectator in the room: he did not miss a single game and got the autographs of all 18 participants, as well as that of Flohr, the head judge. On seeing the boy’s obsession, Kapengut’s wife said: “Soon people will be asking for your autograph too!”
Boris studied with Zelkind for five years. The boy proved himself as a player in the combination style, but also made substantial progress in studying endings and game technique. In 1979 Tamara Goleva, a talented teacher and strong player, took Boris under her wing. She became a second mother to him and was very fond of him. “We never worried about Boris when he set off for another tournament with Tamara,” Abram recalled at the time. And their work together was undoubtedly beneficial. Then Albert Kapengut appeared in Gelfand’s life.
The next few years were fairly successful for Gelfand. He proved himself to be one of the strongest young chess players in the USSR, winning prizes in many individual and team tournaments. Then in 1983 came his breakthrough. In that year Gelfand, like Kasparov five years earlier, “wangled” his way into the Sokolsky Memorial in Minsk – and caused another sensation! Boris finished the tournament ahead of two Grandmasters without losing a single game, and immediately fulfilled the requirements to be a master, although bureaucratic delays meant he did not become one until 1985.
The favourite pupil of Boleslavsky, a strong player, theoretician and method trainer, he gave Boris systematic knowledge about chess, taught him to work on it independently and instilled in him the habit of generating new ideas. In the apt phrase of Razuvaev, Gelfand became “Boleslavsky’s chess grandson”. Their creative collaboration began in 1980 and
In the same year, 1983, the 15-year-old 1011
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Gelfand played in the Byelorussian adult championship for the first time. He won it in both 1984 and 1985!
most impressive Swiss-system tournament in the history of chess. And it had a single winner! Gelfand won six of the first seven games. His victims included Dlugi, Adams and King… His final result – 7.5 out of 9 – was reminiscent of his triumphant junior victories, which had left not the slightest doubt about his superiority.
In 1985 Gelfand played in the USSR Junior Championship for the first time. In a fierce battle for first place he came in ahead of another rising star – Vassily Ivanchuk – by half a point. Two years later in Arnhem he outperformed him in the European Under-21 Championship, after going through a tough selection before it. Vassily managed to beat him in a head-to-head meeting, but this did not trouble Boris: he won the other 11 games, and when his hold on first place was no longer threatened he “gifted” his opponents one draw. It was an unconditional victory.
Such a brilliant success simply could not go unnoticed, and at the end of the tournament Gelfand received an invitation to two supertournaments, in Tilburg and Linares. In the first tournament, in Linares in 1990, the novice had to play Kasparov himself. And Boris passed the test of his first meeting with the world champion. A very fierce struggle to the last move held the spectators in huge tension – and despite the fact that this game ended in a draw it was acknowledged as the best in the tournament.
A year later, in 1988, in Arnhem again, Gelfand repeated his achievement and became twice (joint) Champion of Europe. Before this he shared first place in the USSR Junior Championship and the Under-20 World Championship in Adelaide. Boris also played brilliantly in the first league, earning his place in the USSR adult championship.
After this “warm-up”, Kasparov and Gelfand both won four games in a row, virtually removing any question about who would be contending for first place… In 1989 another Linares debutant, Ivanchuk, had also started the tournament with a game against Garry – he won it, and then the whole tournament. Alas, Gelfand did not manage to repeat Vassily’s feat – he finished half a point behind Kasparov, despite his six victories!
Take-off. By 1989 the whole chess world had started talking about Gelfand! Successes came one after another, and his rating rose rapidly… Boris was still not 20 when after adding 66 points at once he rapidly broke into the top 10 with a rating of 2673! He then consolidated these figures with more brilliant successes.
Having passed this “exam” brilliantly, Gelfand was numbered among the world’s leading players. And after he – together with Ivanchuk! – shared victory in the inter-zonal in Manila, people began talking about the Byelorussian as a possible challenger for the chess throne.
Thus Gelfand made it onto the winners’ podium at the USSR championship at his first attempt – he shared third place in Odessa (the champion was Rafael Vaganian). This success won him a place in the USSR national team – and together with this young and ambitious team he was victorious in the European championship. A year later he was playing for the USSR team at the Olympiad in Novi Sad. In his career to date Gelfand has played in nine Tournaments of Nations, heading first the Byelorussian team and then Israel.
Unfortunately, Gelfand’s first “move” for the crown came to an abrupt halt at the quarterfinal stage. As it had, incidentally, for Anand with Ivanchuk. After a difficult victory over Predrag Nikolic – 4:4 in normal time and 1.5:0.5 in the rapid playoff – Boris lost to Nigel Short 3:5. But in this cycle no one could stop the British player, and Nigel got as far as Kasparov!
But the main event for Boris in 1989 was the grand GMA Candidates Tournament in Palma de Mallorca. One hundred and fifty Grandmasters started: it was probably the
Gelfand did not intend to make a tragedy out of this defeat, the first in his rapidly developing career. Boris gave his opponent his due for his exceptional pressure in the white game and 1012
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his ability to attune himself to victory – and got ready for another assault on Olympus in two years’ time. He was just 22.
defeated in the eighth round (as he had also done, incidentally, three years earlier, at the inter-zonal in Manila). Having become the challenger, Gelfand did not go to the PCA candidates tournament in Groningen.
But it turned out that after losing his match against Short, Boris had an indirect hand – Karpov, Timman and Kasparov also “connived” in this – in splitting the world of chess. In 1993 Garry and Nigel played a match for the crown outside FIDE’s jurisdiction, and the chess world entered an era of dual power. This situation could not have made Gelfand happy. For him, the world of chess had always seemed like a pyramid, at the top of which should be the world champion, and his main aim was to get to the top.
The fact that Gelfand’s approach to this cycle was totally serious was shown by the result of his very first match with the “twice challenger” Adams. Boris was superior to him in all aspects of the game and did not give Michael a single chance, winning 5:3. After failing to win in Linares (eleventh place) and a victorious Dos Hermanas he went away for more than two months to prepare for a contest against the 19-year-old Kramnik.
But in 1993, when FIDE and the PCA began to run two cycles in parallel, there were suddenly two of these peaks. And Boris was just about the only one who did not try to “kill two birds with one stone”. He decided to concentrate on the FIDE line.
To this day Boris considers this match victory – 4.5:3.5 – one of his most important. Despite his youth, Vladimir was already among the five leading players in the world, and there was no doubt that more successes awaited him. Together with his assistants Alexander Huzman, Mark Kogan and Valery Atlas, Gelfand succeeded in discovering the shortcomings in his opponent’s play – and in hitting the key areas of his opening analyses. The situation was “complicated” by the fact that Boris and Vladimir were good friends and had worked together on their chess more than once.
Challenger 1. However, before celebrating success in an inter-zonal tournament for a second time in 1993, Gelfand achieved a lot. In 1991 he won brilliantly in Belgrade, and in 1992 he shared second place with Kasparov in Reggio Emilia, won at Wijk aan Zee, and won the Alekhine Memorial towards the end of the year… This success in Moscow was one of the most brilliant triumphal pages in the Grandmaster’s career.
The match as a whole was dictated by Gelfand. He put on pressure with white, and Kramnik found himself with effectively no opening – and was forced to shift the emphasis of the battle to the middlegame. Vladimir did take the lead after winning a victory in the fascinating third game, but the score was immediately levelled in the fourth. Then after a series of draws Gelfand finished off his opponent by winning the final, eighth, game of the match – 4.5:3.5.
This was one of the tournaments in which Gelfand succeeded in literally everything, and his brilliant creative game reached its apogee! Boris won three brilliant victories over Karpov, Anand and Salov, and only an “unnecessary” defeat by Shirov denied him an “outright” victory. Various publications got so carried away in their delight at Gelfand’s play that they named him the direct heir of Alekhine.
Gelfand finished 1994 with a victory in the rapid knockout tournament in Cap d’Agde, in the final of which he beat his opponent in the candidates’ match, Anatoly Karpov, 4:2!
However, not much can compare with an outright first place at the inter-zonal in Biel in 1993. Before Boris, Bronstein had managed to win two inter-zonals – at Saltsjobaden in 1948 and Gothenburg in 1955 – but no one had won two in a row. Gelfand confidently scored “+5”, and the key game in his overall success was the one against Anand, whom he
At that moment his victory in the FIDE cycle seemed entirely realistic. Anatoly, true, had a score of 3:1 in non-draw matches with Boris, having beaten him with both white and black, 1013
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but… “that was before” – and Gelfand set off for Sanghi Nagar not only confident of victory but also with a clear idea of how he could achieve it.
And Gelfand, a player who approached his every game, almost his every move, with trepidation, was suddenly forced to play every third day. In the next two years he played an inconceivable 183 “classical” games, not to mention rapid chess and blitz chess. Boris travelled all over the world without a breathing-space… Wijk aan Zee, Amsterdam, Dos Hermanas, Madrid, Novgorod, Dortmund, Vienna, Yerevan, Tilburg and Groningen, plus appearances in leagues in 1996. Linares, Dos Hermanas, Novgorod, Dortmund, Biel, Polanica-Zdroj, Belgrade and again Groningen, and the first FIDE knockout world championship in 1997. Anyone would “break” under such an exhausting schedule of appearances.
At the start Karpov was having serious problems: having saved himself in the first game, he could do nothing in the second and fell apart in the third. But… feeling that the match wasn’t going in the right direction, the FIDE champion mobilised all his inner reserves and managed to regain control. In his trademark subtle style he got the better of Gelfand in the fourth and sixth games and, after changing his opening, confidently secured a draw with black in the fifth. The key game of the match was the seventh. Here Boris, who had missed several chances as play progressed, opted for the “wrong” endgame! He traded knights instead of taking the bishop and securing an easy draw. Anatoly converted his advantage into a victory in exemplary style. This defeat really took the wind out of Gelfand’s sails. The battle was over – 3:6.
It goes without saying that Gelfand simply had no time to think about high places – he had to get ready for the next game! It is surprising that he managed to maintain his rating, staying on the edge of the top 10. When asked about unimportant results at that time he would simply throw up his hands: “I simply don’t have the energy, because I’m playing too much…” His emotional tiredness led to a loss of technique and to frequent errors in games that were not going badly. He was caught in a vicious circle.
This contest, or rather the chance that Boris lost in it, would “reverberate” in his life for a long time to come. At that time, at 27 he was at the height of his creative force and opportunities… After the match in Sanghi Nagar it was said that Gelfand had been in a hurry to lay out all his trump cards in front of Karpov, and that Karpov, with his huge match experience, had known exactly how to adapt to him. Boris was not flexible enough.
Before this, Boris had more than once declined invitations to tournaments, wishing to focus on preparing for candidates’ matches. After FIDE gave them up, deciding to determine the champion in a knockout tournament, he had nothing to save his strength for. And he did not have any. But Gelfand got ready for his first knockout in Groningen.
One of the elite. Fortunately the collapse of the challenger’s hopes did not obstruct Gelfand’s further career. In the same year, 1995, Boris found himself among the winners in Dos Hermanas and Biel, and in Belgrade he shared 1st-2nd place with Kramnik, with “+5” each!
Boris had some very difficult contests – all three went to a tie-break: Lautier, Tkachiev and Dreev. But in the quarter-final he was up against Anand. After a rapid draw in the first game, there was no threat to Boris in the second, but his nervous tension had an effect. While in a good position he blundered away an exchange; he tried to give up a piece for two pawns but did not hold out for long. Anand went through to the semi-final against Adams. The Indian took “revenge” for two defeats in the inter-zonals, each of which had
In the next two years a cornucopia of invitations to major tournaments came the Byelorussian’s way, and he probably overestimated his physical capacity. But what could he do? The world championship cycle had collapsed, and all that was left was “simply playing”… 1014
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been almost fatal for him. And Gelfand was again two steps away from the throne…
These bold and frank statements by Gelfand, who had taken an active stance against the bombing of Yugoslavia, were taken at face value by the public.
A new life. On his return home Gelfand decided to start a “new life”. He had been nurturing plans to move to Israel for a long time… But he did this only in 1998, when he moved to Rishon LeZion - a small town to the south of Tel Aviv.
At the end of 2000 people began to talk about Gelfand’s “return” to the chess Olympus… Boris got as far as the semi-final of the World Cup in Shenyang, losing only to Anand, and that in the blitz chess. And for a second time he won the Rubinstein Memorial brilliantly.
Brussels – Boris shared his free time approximately evenly between this city and Minsk – thus did not become his home. But Rishon LeZion – a small town to the south of Tel Aviv – did, and immediately became a centre of chess activities.
Things did not work out for him in the knockout championship in New Delhi, it is true: he only got through two rounds, losing to the future finalist Alexei Shirov 1.5:2.5… But a year later in Moscow he “made amends” and got as far as the quarter-final. Gelfand managed to overcome Cabrera, Dominguez, Delchev and Azmaiparashvili. He was halted only by Svidler.
Having changed his “chess citizenship”, Gelfand faded into the background for a while: the organisers of big tournaments stopped noticing him. As a result Boris began to sit at the chessboard much less frequently.
Boris lost to him in a protracted blitz series and once again spoke out on the subject of the imbalance between the significance of the championship title and the actual knockout format. His statements were quickly taken up by the press, and by other players too, as a result of which FIDE soon abandoned the knockout in favour of the classical world championship cycle format with a match for the crown. Meanwhile the knockout tournament received, to general satisfaction, the status of the World Cup, one of the candidates’ stages in the world championship…
But his rare appearances were more “fruitful”. A win in Polanica-Zdroj with a one point lead over Shirov in 1998, and another at the first super-tournament in Tel Aviv and Malmo in 1999. And then in the FIDE knockout world championship in Las Vegas Boris lost “by tradition” to the future world champion Alexander Khalifman in the qualifying round for the last 32… In April 1999 Gelfand, who was never shy about expressing his opinion, spoke for the first time on matters other than chess. In a column in the large-circulation German paper Die Welt the Israeli Grandmaster went against public opinion and expressed sharp condemnation of the NATO bombing in Yugoslavia.
In 2002 Gelfand made an attempt to get selected for a world championship match with Kramnik. But the candidates’ tournament in Dortmund did not work out for Boris – he could not get through from his group into the playoff, losing to Topalov and Shirov.
“For us chess players, these towns – Bugojno, Niksic, Banja Luka, Pula and Belgrade – are not simply points on a map. They are the places where our good friends and real supporters of chess live!” Boris wrote. For nowhere in Europe took as much interest in chess as the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Gelfand was not trying to throw down a challenge to anyone; he simply regarded it as his duty to express his position.
There was another reason for Gelfand’s failure, apart from chess problems – three explosions by suicide bombers that occurred literally one block from his house in Rishon LeZion on the very eve of the tournament. This threw Boris into disarray. Not even an invitation from Boris Postovsky, the legendary captain of the Burevestnik sports society and the Russian national team in the 1990s, to join his team 1015
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could
help
revive
his
fighting
spirit.
But despite being knocked out of the World Cup, Gelfand was included in the 16 candidates who were due to compete for four places in the 2007 round robin world championship a year later in Elista. The prospect of once again having to fight for the champion’s title was more than a serious irritant for Gelfand.
But if Gelfand had only himself to blame for the failure of his 2002 campaign, the fact that he did not get into the 2004 world championship was due only to FIDE, which chose Libya as the venue for the tournament. It is well known that citizens of Israel are forbidden to travel to this country. Two dozen players at that time fell foul of this, which caused a storm of indignation in the world of chess. “A shameful act, in the opinion of many chess players, spectators and organisers,” said Boris, speaking frankly in interviews… “One can only imagine where we’ll end up if the situation in the world of chess remains this stable in the years to come!” And indeed, the chess world had seen nothing like this since 1976, when the USSR and company boycotted the Olympiad in Haifa.
And he confidently earned the right to travel to Mexico City. First he beat Rustam Kasimdzhanov: six draws in normal time and total superiority for Gelfand in the tie-break – 2.5:0.5. Then Kamsky was defeated too: Boris needed only five main games to beat Gata, and he won two with black – 3.5:1.5… Three months later the 39-year-old Gelfand was… the “main discovery” of the world championship in Mexico! Boris was incredibly prepared in the opening. He played Petrov’s Defence as black and the Catalan opening as white; it was simply some kind of Kramnik personified. But the main thing was that he was full of energy, with a big stock of new ideas. He had not displayed such force and desire to play for victory in every game in tournaments for several years.
In 2002-2006 Gelfand Challenger 2. experienced successful performances alternating with not very successful ones, brilliant bursts of creativity with periods of creative drought. With his rating and track record he was always a welcome guest in second-rank tournaments. But the only tournament with the prefix “super” that remained on his credit side was Amber, although time after time Boris achieved nothing special in it: neither in the rapid games nor in the blindfold games – he invariably finished in the lower half of the table.
However, in the first round with black against Anand he did not have enough of this attitude, otherwise Gelfand would have taken the pawn that Vishy left vulnerable, and… who knows how the whole tournament would have turned out? But the Indian held his ground, finishing the first round with five points out of seven. Boris had half a point less – two “white” victories over Aronian and Morozevich; and with all his main opponents Boris secured confident draws with black.
“Between 1998 and 2006 I played in perhaps five or six ‘classical’ super-tournaments, and that’s in eight years!” said a perplexed Gelfand. “My rating was always between number six and 16. Nowadays a player with that kind of rating would play more tournaments in two years than I did during that whole period! A conspiracy? An objective situation in the world…”
Unfortunately the “fairy tale” ended in the ninth round, in a game with Grischuk. The latter, who had finished the first round with a 50% result, was beaten outright in the second, with only a single victory. And that was against Gelfand… After that, Vishy could not be caught, even despite the fact that Boris achieved a determined victory over Aronian. Gelfand could not even get an outright second place, because of Kramnik, who rolled on to the finish.
In 2005 Gelfand took part in the first World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. He got as far as the quarter-final, where he was beaten 4:2 by Grischuk (it is interesting that several years before this, when the 17-year-old Grischuk was a semi-finalist in the FIDE knockout in New Delhi, Boris did a few training sessions with him at the request of his trainer Anatoly Bykhovsky). 1016
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a par with my previous achievements. It was something special!”
Nevertheless, the experts unanimously noted that at nearly 40 years of age Gelfand had literally found his “second wind”. However, Boris was only displaying it in competitions connected with the fight for the title of world champion. In “ordinary” round robin tournaments he lacked stability, and he played in them with variable success.
After his victory in the World Cup Boris was again invited to Linares, after a 13-year interval. In addition, Gelfand played in tournaments in Astrakhan and Bazna, and then performed brilliantly for the team of “veterans” in a cross-generation match in Amsterdam.
On the one hand there were blatant failures in Wijk aan Zee and Sochi in 2008, and some very average results in Nalchik and Biel in 2009. And on the other hand there were brilliant results in Bazna and Jermuk, and steady and confident play in the Tal memorials.
But the main challenge for Boris in 2011 was the candidates’ matches! This time he did not go to the match tournament but straight to a duel for the crown with Vishy Anand… Before the battle started in Kazan, there was a lot of talk about the mismatch between the importance of this event and its format: the matches were too short, and they were to be played one after another, and there was too much rapid and blitz chess. Even Magnus Carlsen, who was number one in the world ratings, had declined to take part, believing that it was impossible to decide who was strongest in this way.
Breakthrough. Even a brilliant victory in the 2009 World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk did not change this “picture of the world”. Gelfand was able to move through this tournament, which lasted three weeks, in top gear! On the way to the final he got past Obodchuk, Amonatov, Polgar, Vachier Lagrave, Yakovenko and Karyakin. Half the matches went to a tie-break, and Boris effectively did not have a single day off. And a titanic struggle with Ponomariov still awaited Gelfand in the final. The main games ended in draws, and then the “fireworks” started. Twice Boris was just one step away from victory, and twice Ruslan fought back in the last game. But… Gelfand still finished 7:5!
The majority of matches turned into a real lottery, with the main events happening at the flag fall. Gelfand took a philosophical view of the format: in the words of the poem, “We don’t choose our times, we just live and die”! We have no choice – we have to play…
It would have been most unfair if victory had slipped from his grasp – the Israeli Grandmaster had invested all his strength in this tournament, and even a bit more… His young seconds were “dying” under the pressure, but their boss turned out every day as if for his last fight, as if it were nothing special, and he could not get enough of it, just kept playing and playing. As Alexander Huzman, who had served as his second for 20 years, put it: “After all, none of the elite players loves chess as Boris does…”
His first opponent was Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, and the key game in their match was the third. Here his opponent attacked fiercely, but Boris put up an effective defence. When the smoke of battle cleared it turned out that the Baku player had an extra rook, and the Israeli had six potential queens. The other three games ended in draws – 2.5:1.5. In the next match against Gata Kamsky all the main events came in the tie-break. Here too Gelfand could have resolved all issues in his own favour in the main time – again with black in the third game – but in the zeitnot he wrongly retreated his queen. A draw.
Even Gelfand himself, turning over his past successes in his mind, could not decide which of them had been the most impressive. Two victories in the inter-zonals, Mexico in 2007, Belgrade in 1995, Moscow in 1992… “I’m not about to put my victory in Khanty-Mansiysk on
The result of this match seemed to trouble Boris: he eased off his attack in the fourth 1017
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game and played uncertainly in the rapid chess. But if Gata “excusedâ€? him in the first game, in the third Gelfand, playing white, was left without a piece by the sixteenth move! He had just one slim chance left to save the match – to win the last game, playing black. As this game proceeded, Kamsky had more than one chance to put the outcome of the match beyond doubt, but he hesitated and retreated, while‌ it was not obvious that Gelfand would win. In the blitz chess there was no contest – Boris won both games and secured himself a place in the final.
Maç Üncesinde Gelfand ve Anand basĹn toplantĹsĹnda
AçĹlÄąĹ&#x; Seçimleri
Awaiting him there was Alexander Grischuk, who had seen off his two most dangerous opponents – Aronian and Kramnik – before this in tie-breaks. In Kazan the Muscovite played without white, securing quick draws, and was ready to withstand a siege with black. He was very close to losing, but his brilliant playing qualities enabled him to “hold the balance�.
MaçĹn ilk dĂśrt oyununda, Gelfand, GrĂźnfeld SavunmasÄąnÄą, Anand ise YarÄą Slav SavunmasÄąnÄą yeÄ&#x;ledi. AĹ&#x;aÄ&#x;Äąda, bu açĹlÄąĹ&#x;larÄą birkaç Ăśrnek ile ele alÄąyoruz. I. Gelfand – Anand Biel 1993 (Gelfand – Anand Nice 2008)
The final match also followed the same scenario. It seemed it would be impossible to avoid a tie-break after five drawn games, but Gelfand managed to go all out in the sixth, which was really “the game of his lifeâ€?. It seemed as though white had gained nothing in the opening and black was already beginning active operations against its “weak kingâ€?, when suddenly it became clear that‌ it simply had no moves! Grischuk perished quickly in a futile search for a counter-play.
Gelfand,Boris (2670) − Anand,Viswanathan (2725) [D47] Biel Interzonal Biel (8), 1993 [Saunders,John,Taner,Harun] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.a3 [Diagram
Gelfand won the match 3.5:2.5 and won the right to a match for the crown!
+ + + + + + + + + + + ! + +" # ! $% !$+ & ' ! + !! !( ) * %Q,- +*. /012345678
“I’ve always had great respect for the title of world champion,â€? said Boris after his victory. “So when the cycle effectively collapsed in the mid-1990s, I found it emotionally more difficult to train and to prepare properly for tournaments‌ I lacked the motivation. As soon as the normal cycle was resumed, my results immediately improved! In 2007 in Mexico I shared second place with Kramnik, then I won in Khanty-Mansiysk in the World Cup, and now I’ve won the candidates’ cycle too!â€?
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17.e4 Nb6 18.Qb3 Qe7 19.Rab1 Bxa3 20.Qxb6 Bb4 21.Ne1 0–0 22.Nc2 Rfd8 23.Nxb4 axb4 24.Qxb4 Qxb4 25.Rxb4 Ba6 26.Bxa6 ½–½ (26) Gelfand,B (2733)Kramnik,V (2769) Mexico City 2007]
] 9...b4 [Anand employed 9...Bd6 to defeat Gelfand at the Melody Amber in 2008. Gelfand himself has been known to push 9...b4 for Black. 10.0–0 0–0 11.Qc2 a6 12.b4 a5 13.Rb1 axb4 14.axb4 Qe7 15.e4 e5 16.dxe5 Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Bxe5 18.Ne2 Qe6 19.f4 Ra2 20.Qd1 Ba1 21.e5 c5 22.exf6 Bd4+ 23.Rf2 Bxf2+ 24.Kxf2 Qd5 25.Bb2 Qxg2+ 26.Ke1 c4 27.Bc2 Bf3 28.fxg7 Re8 29.Be5 f6 30.Bxh7+ Kxh7 31.g8Q+ Kxg8 0–1 (31) Gelfand,B (2737)-Anand,V (2799) Nice 2008 [D46]]
12.axb4 Bxb4+ 13.Bd2 14.Nxd2 c5 [Diagram
Bxd2+
+ + + + + + + + + + + + !%+ +" #+ + ! + & ' ! $ !! !( ) * +Q,- +*. /012345678
10.Ne4 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + + !%+ +" # ! + !$+ & ' ! + !! !( ) * %Q,- +*. /012345678
] 15.Qc2 [This awkward pin on the c-file is one reason why 11...Qc7 has gone out of fashion.] 15...Qb6 16.dxc5 Qxc5 17.Qa4 [17.Qxc5 Nxc5 18.Bxb7 Nxb7 was equal in Bareev-Kramnik, Linares 1994, but the text looks better. 19.Ke2 Nd6 20.Ra5 0–0 21.Rc1 Rab8 22.Rc6 Nb5 23.Ne4 Rfd8 24.b4 Rb7 25.f4 h6 26.g4 Kf8 27.h4 Ke7 28.f5 exf5 29.gxf5 Kf8 30.Kf3 Ke7 31.h5 Rdb8 32.Ra1 Rb6 33.Rc5 Rd8 34.Rac1 Nd6 35.Re5+ Kf8 36.Rd5 Nb7 37.Rxd8+ Nxd8 38.Rc8 Ke8 39.Rc7 a6 40.Ra7 Rxb4 41.Rxa6 f6 42.Ra8 Ke7 43.Nc3 Kd7 44.Nd5 Rb5 45.e4 Rb7 46.Nf4 Nf7 47.Ne6 Ng5+ 48.Nxg5 hxg5 49.Rg8 Kd6 ½–½ (49) Bareev,E (2685)-Kramnik,V (2710) Linares 1994]
] 11...Qc7 [A move long since abandoned by opening theorists, who now favour 11...bxa3 12.0–0 Nf6 13.Bd3 axb2 14.Bxb2 a5 15.Qa4 (15.d5 Nxd5 16.Ne5 Nf6 17.Qa4 Bb4 18.Nxc6 Bxc6 19.Qxc6+ Ke7 20.Rfd1 Rc8 21.Qf3 Qb6 22.Bd4 Qb8 23.Ba6 Rcd8 24.Bb7 h5 25.h3 h4 26.Rab1 e5 27.Rxb4 axb4 28.Bc5+ Ke6 29.Ra1 Rd6 30.Bxd6 Kxd6 31.Qc6+ Ke7 32.Ra8 Qd6 33.Qxd6+ Kxd6 34.Rxh8 b3 35.Ba6 Nd7 36.Rxh4 Nc5 1–0 (36) Carlsen,M (2775)-Aronian,L (2737) Bilbao 2008) 15...Bb4 16.Ba3 Nd5
17...Rb8 18.0-0 0-0 [The best of a bad job 1019
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29.Qf4 [Diagram
but White is better.]
+ + + + + + + + + + + + +! + + Q +" #+ + ! + & ' ! + ! !( )+ + +*,- . /012345678
19.Qxd7 Rfd8 20.Bxh7+! Kxh7 [Gelfand, in his ChessBase notes, preferred 20...Kf8 21.Qa4 Rxd2 which he thought led to equality.] 21.Qxf7 [Diagram
+ + + +Q + + + + + + + + + + +" #+ + ! + & ' ! $ !! !( ) * + +*,- . /012345678
A very nice win, but 19 years is a long time to wait for the next one!] 1-0 II. Anand – Eljanov Bremen 2012 Anand, Gelfand’Ĺn yeni sekundantlarÄąndan Eljanov ile Almanya satranç liginde oynadÄą. Ăœlkemiz liginde de oynayan Eljanov açĹlÄąĹ&#x; olarak, Anand’Ĺn repertuvarÄąndaki açĹlÄąĹ&#x;lardan yarÄą slav savunmasÄąnÄą seçti.
] 21...Rxd2? [The correct continuation is 21...Bxg2! 22.Kxg2 Rxd2 but now there is a curious oversight in the notes given by Gelfand on ChessBase. To 23.Ra4 he appends two question marks on the grounds that it loses to 23...Qc6+ but your analysis engine will blithely inform you that 24.Kh3! Qxa4 25.Rg1 wins out of hand. This perhaps shows the difference in strength between analysis engines of 2012 and those available in 1993. Black has to play 23...Rb4 rather than the check, when he is worse but might survive the ending.]
Anand,Viswanathan (2817) − Eljanov,Pavel (2683) [D31] Bundesliga 2011–12 Bremen, 17.03.2012 [Garcia,Leontxo,Taner,Harun] [El campeĂłn del mundo interrumpiĂł su concentraciĂłn para el duelo con GuĂŠlfand en mayo y sufriĂł en esta tremenda lucha con EliĂĄnov (Eljanov en la lista oficial):]
22.Ra4 Qg5 23.g3 [Supporting the rook check and thus winning the queen.]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 e6 [(renuncia a situar el alfil fuera de la cadena de peones, con 5...Bf5 )]
23...e5 24.Rh4+ Qxh4 25.gxh4 Rd6 26.h5 Be4 27.Qe7 Rbb6 28.Qxe5 Re6
6.e4 Bb4 7.e5 Nd5 8.Bd2 b5 9.axb5 1020
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Bxc3 10.bxc3 cxb5 11.Ng5 h6 [Relevant: 11...Nc6 12.Qh5 Qe7 13.h4 b4 14.Bxc4 bxc3 15.Bc1 Nxd4 16.0–0 h6 17.Bxd5 exd5 18.Ba3 Qc7 19.e6 Bxe6 20.Nxe6 Nxe6 21.Qxd5 Rd8 22.Qb3 h5 23.Rfe1 Rh6 24.Qb4 Kd7 25.Rac1 Rb8 26.Qa4+ Kc8 27.Bb4 1–0 (27) Morozevich,A (2765)-Jakovenko,D (2729) Sochi 2012]
probablemente favorable al blanco por el par de alfiles; las negras confĂan en el plan a5–b4)] 20.Bg2 Nc6 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + + ! + + + + +" #+ ! + +!& ' + % !% !( ) * + ,- +*. /012345678
12.Qh5!? [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + ! $Q + ! + +" #+ ! + + & ' + % !! !( ) * + ,-%+*. /012345678
] 21.0-0! [(lo prioritario es abrir la posiciĂłn cuanto antes)] 21...Nxe5?! [(es mĂĄs lĂłgico ir al grano con 21...a5 )]
]
22.f4 Nd3 23.f5 gxf5?! [(lo sensato es cerrar la posiciĂłn con 23...g5 )]
12...g6 [12...0–0 13.Ne4 Nc6 14.Bxh6 gxh6 15.Qxh6 f5 16.Qg6+ Kh8 ½–½ (16) Deep Junior 11.1a 64–bit 2CPU (2952)Komodo 1.0 64–bit (3023) CCRL 2010]
24.Rxf5+ Ke6 25.Rh5 a5 26.Rxh6+ Ke5! 27.Be1! N5f4 28.Bg3 Kf5!? 29.Rf1!? [(?QuĂŠ vale mĂĄs, la Ta8 o el Ag2?)]
13.Qh3 f5N [(novedad, en lugar de, Predecessor: 13...Kf8 14.Ne4 Kg7 15.g4 Bb7 16.Bg2 Nd7 17.0–0 a5 18.Nd6 Bc6 19.f4 f5 20.gxf5 gxf5 21.Rf3 Nf8 22.Rg3+ Ng6 23.Bxd5 exd5 24.Rxg6+ Kxg6 25.Qxf5+ 1–0 (25) Andreev,K (2330)Karasik,M St Petersburg 1997]
29...Kg5 30.Rb6 Rab8 [(mejor que 30...Nxg2?! 31.Kxg2 Rd5 32.Rff6! , con un fuerte dolor de cabeza para las negras)] 31.Ra6 Rf8!? [Diagram
14.exf6 e5 15.f7+ Kf8 16.Ne6+ Ke7! 17.Nxd8 Bxh3 18.gxh3 Rxd8 19.dxe5 Kxf7 [(una posiciĂłn difĂcil de evaluar, pero 1021
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+ + + + + + *+ + + + + + , + + +" #+ ! + %!& ' + + +% !( )+ + +*,- . /012345678
] [(las mĂĄquinas demuestran que lo correcto era 41.Kf3 )] 41...Re8+?! [(el primer tren a la victoria pasaba por 41...b4! 42.cxb4 c3 43.Rc5 c2 )] 42.Kf5 Ne3+? [(la segunda oportunidad era 42...Rd5+! 43.Kg6 Ne5+! 44.Kf6 Rd6+ 45.Kf5 Rd7! 46.h5 Rf7+ 47.Kg5 Rg8+ 48.Kh6 Ng4+ 49.Rxg4 Kxg4 50.Rxb5 Rf6+ 51.Kh7 Rg5! , con ventaja decisiva)]
] 32.h4+ Kg4 [(si 32...Kh5?? 33.Bf3# mate)]
43.Kg6 Nd5 44.Rxb5 Nxf4+ 45.Bxf4 Rd3 46.h5 Rxc3 47.h6 Rb3 [. Tablas. Tras]
33.Bf3+ Kh3 34.Bd1? [(Anand admitiĂł que este plan fue un error; tras la normal 34.Rxa5 , habrĂa cierta ventaja blanca)]
48.Rxb3+ cxb3 49.Bc1 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + +- ! + + + + + + + +" #+ + + + & ' + + + !( )+ % + + . /012345678
34...Rg8 35.Rf3?! Rbd8! [(!EstĂĄn mejor las negras!)] 36.Kf1 Ne5 37.Rxf4 Rxd1+ 38.Ke2 Rgd8 39.Rxa5? [(lo preciso era 39.Rd4! R1xd4 40.cxd4 Nd3 41.h5! (, pero no 41.Rxa5? por 41...b4 42.h5 Nc1+! 43.Kd1 Nb3 , con mucha ventaja)) ] 39...R1d2+ 40.Ke3 Ng4+ 41.Ke4? [
+ + + + + + + + + + + * + + + + +- * !" #+ ! + % & ' + + !( )+ + + + . /012345678
las negras sacrificarån su torre por el peón de h6 y capturarån el de h2.] ½-½ YarĹ Slav SavunmasĹndan gßncel Ürneklerle sßrdßrßyoruz. III. Cmilyte – Muzychuk Gaziantep 2012
1022
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Cmilyte,Viktorija (2497) Muzychuk,Anna (2583) [D43]
25.Nxd4 Qe3 26.Nf3 gxf3 27.Bxf3 Bd4 28.Qc2 Be4 29.Qxe4 Qxe4 30.Bxe4 Rxf2 31.Kh2 Rxb2 32.Rd1 Bf6 33.Rd6 Kg7 34.Rd7+ Kf8 35.Kh3 c3 36.Kg4 b4 37.Kf5 Be7 38.Rc7 Rf2+ 39.Ke6 Re2 Moiseenko,A (2706)-Grachev,B (2705) Sochi 2012 ½–½ (66)]
−
Europeo Femenino Gaziantep (TurquĂa), 12.03.2012 [Garcia,Leontxo,Taner,Harun] [Quedaron atrĂĄs los aĂąos en que la mayorĂa de las partidas entre jugadoras de ĂŠlite eran tranquilas, como se aprecia en esta vibrante pugna entre dos estrellas. Muzychuk es, desde el miĂŠrcoles, la subcampeona de Europa, tras perder el desempate ante la rusa Gunina:]
10...Nh5N [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + !!+ +" #+ $ +$ % & '! !Q+% !! !( ) * + ,- +*. /012345678
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 [(contrariamente a lo que ocurre en muchas partidas decisivas entre hombres, ambas arriesgan mucho)] 9.Be2 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + !!+ +" #+ $ +$ % & '! ! +% !! !( ) * +Q,- +*. /012345678
] [(novedad, en lugar de Predecessor: 10...g4 ; en principio, el centro blanco compensa el peón de menos) 11.Ne5 Qxd4 12.Rd1 Qb6 13.Nxg4 Nxg4 14.Bxg4 Nd7 15.Be2 Bb7 16.0–0 Ne5 17.Rd6 0–0 18.Rfd1 Rfd8 19.Nxb5 Nd3 20.Bxd3 cxd3 21.R1xd3 Ba6 22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 23.Rxd8+ Qxd8 24.Nd6 Qa5 25.h3 c5 26.Qb3 Qb6 27.Qa4 Kh7 28.b3 Be2 29.Qd7 Bh5 30.Nxf7 Qa5 31.Ng5+ 1–0 (31) Avrukh,B (2600)Livshits,G (2415) Ramat Aviv 2004]
]
11.Rd1 Nxg3 12.hxg3 g4 13.Nh2!? f5!? 14.exf5 exf5 15.d5! [(las blancas podrĂĄn enrocar sin riesgo, y las negras no)]
9...Bg7!? 10.Qc2 [Relevant: 10.0–0 0–0 11.a4 a6 12.axb5 cxb5 13.e5 Nh5 14.Nxb5 axb5 15.Rxa8 Bb7 16.Ra1 Nc6 17.h3 Nxg3 18.fxg3 h5 19.Rf2 f5 20.exf6 Qxf6 21.d5 Nd4 22.dxe6 g4 23.hxg4 hxg4 24.e7 Qxe7
15...Qf6 16.dxc6 Qxc6 [Diagram
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+ + + + + + + + + + + + ! + $ +" #+*+ + ! & '! + !! $( )+ +% Q ,- . /012345678
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + +" #+ $ + ! & '! !Q+% !! $( )+ +*,- +*. /012345678
] 31...Rc1! 32.Qxe6+ Qxe6 33.Nxe6 Rxd1+ 34.Nf1 Nc4! [(el caballo de f1 estĂĄ moribundo)]
] 17.0-0?! [(mucho mås incisivo, y mejor, era romper la partida con 17.Nxg4! fxg4 18.Nxb5! 0–0 (-si 18...Qxb5 19.Qg6+! Kf8 20.Rd8+ Ke7 21.Qd6+ Kf7 22.Qc7+ Kg6 23.Rxh8 Bxh8 24.Qxc8 , con clara ventaja-) 19.Bxc4+ Kh8 20.Nd6 , y hay compensación por la pieza)]
35.Nxg7 Kxg7 36.Rc3 Nd2 37.Rc7+ Kf8 38.Rc6 Nxf1 39.Rxh6 Nxg3+ [Diagram
+ + , + + + + + + + + * + + + + ! + + +" #+ + + & '!+ + !!+( )+ + + ,- . /012345678
17...a6! 18.Nd5 Ra7 19.b3 c3 20.Rd3?! [(plan errĂłneo: lo importante no es peĂłn de c3 sino la actividad y el ataque al rey: 20.Rfe1! 0–0 21.Nf1 , con pronĂłstico incierto)] 20...0-0 21.Rc1 Be6 22.Nxc3? [(era mejor 22.Nf4 )] 22...Rc8 [(fĂjese el lector en el caballo de b8, la Ăşnica pieza pasiva de las negras, que decidirĂĄ la lucha)]
, y Cmilyte se rindiĂł ante el jaque en h1.]
23.b4 Rd7 24.Re3 Rdc7 25.Qd2 Nd7 26.Bd1 Ne5 27.Ne2 Nc4 28.Qe1 Qd6! 29.Rb3 Nb2! 30.Rxc7 Rxc7 31.Nf4 [Diagram
0-1 IV. Kaidanov – Hess Saint Louis 2012
Kaidanov,Gregory S (2594) − Hess,Robert L (2635) [D45] 1024
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ch-USA 2012 Saint Louis USA (6), 13.05.2012 [Baburin,Alex,Taner,Harun]
] 10.Qc2 [Gelfand against Anand played 10.Rc1]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 a6 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 [Diagram
10...e5 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + + ! ! + +" #+! $ !$+ & '!+ % !! !( ) * +Q,-%+*. /012345678
+ + + + + + + + + + +! ! + +" #+! $% !$+ & '!+Q % !! !( ) * + +*,- . /012345678
] 7...0-0 [Relevant: 7...Nbd7 8.Bd3 0–0 9.0–0 Qe7 10.Ne5 Nxe5 11.dxe5 Nd7 12.f4 g6 13.Qc2 b5 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Ne2 Bc5 16.Nd4 Bb7 17.Bc3 b4 18.Bb2 a5 19.Bb5 Bb6 20.Bxd7 Qxd7 21.Qd2 Rac8 22.a4 Ba6 23.Rf2 Qe7 24.h3 Rc7 25.Rc1 Rxc1+ 26.Bxc1 Rc8 27.Bb2 Rc7 28.Kh2 Rc8 29.Kg1 Rc7 30.Kh2 Rc8 31.Qd1 Kf8 32.Qd2 ½–½ (32) Riazantsev,A (2710)Eljanov,P (2704) Sochi 2012] 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.0-0 Nbd7 [Diagram
] [10...h6 11.Rad1 (11.Ne2 Re8 12.Ng3 e5 13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.Rad1 exd4 15.Nxd4 Nb4 16.Bh7+ Kh8 17.Qb1 Nd5 18.Bf5 Qc7 19.Rfe1 N7f6 20.e4 Ne7 21.Bxc8 Raxc8 22.Qc1 c5 23.Nf3 Ng4 24.Ba5 Qxa5 25.Rxd6 Qxa2 26.Re2 Qxb3 27.h3 Nxf2 28.Rxf2 Kg8 29.Nh5 Rc6 30.Rd7 Ng6 31.Qa1 1–0 (31) Gelfand,B (2723)-Sokolov,I (2689) Wijk aan Zee 2006) 11...dxc4 12.Bxc4 b5 13.Be2 Bb7 14.e4 c5 15.e5 cxd4 16.exf6 Nxf6 17.Nxd4 Rc8 18.Qd3 Qc7 19.Bf3 Bxh2+ 20.Kh1 Be5 21.Nce2 Bxf3 22.Qxf3 Qd6 23.Bc3 Rfd8 24.g3 Nd5 25.Bb2 Qb6 26.Rd2 Nf6 27.Rfd1 Rd5 28.Nf4 Bxf4 29.gxf4 Rcd8 30.b4 Qb7 31.Kg1 R8d6 32.Qg2 Nh5 33.Nb3 Rxd2 34.Rxd2 Qxg2+ 35.Kxg2 Nxf4+ 36.Kf3 Nd5 37.a3 f6 38.Nc5 ½–½ (38) Atalik,S (2585)Gurevich,M (2631) Istanbul 2008; 10...Re8 11.Rfe1 h6 12.h3 e5 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.e4 dxe4 15.Nxe4 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 exd4 17.Bh7+ Kh8 18.Rxe8+ Qxe8 19.Re1 Qd8 20.Bf5 d3 21.Qxd3 Nf6 22.Bc3 Bxf5 23.Qxf5 Bf8 24.Bxf6 Qxf6 25.Qxf6 gxf6 26.Rd1 b5
+ + + + + + + + + + + +! ! + +" #+! $% !$+ & '!+ % !! !( ) * +Q+*,- . /012345678 1025
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
Leitao, Sao Paulo 2008.) 18...Nf6 19.Bc3 Be7 20.Rad1 Qxd4 21.Bxd4 Rfd8 22.Be5 Kf8= Avrukh-Wang Hao, Dagomys 2008.]
27.Nh4 Kg7 28.g4 Rc8 29.Rd2 h5 30.Kg2 hxg4 31.hxg4 Bb4 32.Re2 Kf8 33.Nf5 Rc1 34.Kf3 Rc3+ 35.Ke4 Rc8 36.Kd5 Rc5+ 37.Kd4 Rc8 38.Kd5 Rc5+ 39.Ke4 Re5+ 40.Kf3 Rc5 41.Kf4 Rc8 42.Ne3 Bc5 43.Nd5 Kg7 44.Kf5 Bd4 45.Rd2 Ba1 46.Ne3 Rc5+ 47.Rd5 Rc7 48.Rd6 a5 49.Rd5 Rb7 50.Ke4 Re7+ 51.Kf3 Rb7 52.Nf5+ Kh7 53.Ke4 a4 54.Kd3 axb3 55.axb3 Be5 56.Nd4 Bxd4 57.Kxd4 b4 58.Kc4 Kg6 59.Rb5 Re7 60.f3 Re3 61.Rf5 Re8 62.Kxb4 Re1 63.Kc4 Rc1+ 64.Kb5 Kg7 65.b4 Rc3 66.Kb6 Kf8 67.Rxf6 Ke7 68.Rf5 1–0 (68) Gelfand,B (2717)-Dreev,A (2694) Khanty Mansiysk 2005]
15...Bg4N [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + +!+ + + + +" #+!+%+$+ & '!+Q % !! !( )+ + **,- . /012345678
11.cxd5 cxd5 12.e4 exd4 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.exd5 Nf6 [Diagram
] [15...h6 16.Nxd4 Nxd5 17.Bc4 Nb6 18.Ba5 Bc7 19.Bxb6 Bxb6 20.Nf5 Bd4 21.Ne7+ Kh8 22.Qe4 Qb6 23.Nd5 Qa7 24.Rd1 Bc5 25.Nf4± b5 26.Bd3 g6 27.Qe5+ Kg8 28.Nd5 Bd4 29.Ne7+ Kh7 30.Bxg6+ fxg6 31.Rxd4 Re8 32.Re1 Bf5 33.g4 Bc2 34.Rf4 Rf8 35.Nd5 Qg7 36.Qxg7+ Kxg7 37.Re7+ Kh8 38.Rxf8+ Rxf8 39.h4 a5 40.g5 hxg5 41.hxg5 Rf5 42.Nf6 Rxg5+ 43.Kh2 1–0 (43) Yevseev,D (2541)Dzhakaev,D (2401) St Petersburg 2001; Predecessor: 15...h6 16.Qc4 Nxd5 17.Qxd4 Be6 18.Bb1 Rc8 19.Qd3 Nf6 20.Nd4 Bd7= 21.Rd1 Rc5 22.Bb4 Rd5 23.Bxd6 Rxd6 24.Qc2 Bg4 25.f3 Rxd4 26.fxg4 Rxd1 27.Qxd1 Qxd1 28.Rxd1 Nxg4 29.Be4 b6 30.b4 Re8 31.Bf3 Ne5 32.Bb7 a5 33.bxa5 bxa5 34.a4 Rb8 35.Ba6 Rb4 36.Rd5 Ng4 37.Bd3 g6 38.Rxa5 Rd4 39.Be2 h5 40.h3 Rd2 41.Bf3 Ne3 42.Re5 Nf5 43.Kf1 Ra2 44.a5 Kg7 45.Bb7 Timoscenko,G (2536)Godena,M (2490) Padova 1999 1–0 (81)]
+ + + + + + + + +!+ + + + +" #+!+%+$+ & '!+Q % !! !( ) * + +*,- . /012345678 ] 15.Rae1 [15.Rfe1 Bg4 16.Nxd4 Rc8 17.Qb2 Rc5 18.h3 (18.Be4 Nxe4 19.Rxe4 Bc8 20.Nf3 Bf5 21.Rd4 Rc2 22.Qb1 Bc5 Aleksandrov-Kharlov, 23.Qe1 Re82 Moscow 2009.) 18...Rxd5 19.Bc3 Bc5 20.hxg4 Bxd4 21.Bxd4 Rxd4 22.g5 Ng4 23.Be2 Rf4 24.Bf3 Qxg5³ Peralta-Illescas, Barcelona 2008.; 15.Qc4 Bg4 16.Qxd4 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Nxd5 18.Kh1 (18.Rad1 Bc7 19.Bc1 Nf4 20.Bxf4 Qxd4 21.Bxh7+ Kxh7 22.Rxd4 Bxf4 23.Rxf43 Greenfeld-
16.Nxd4 Rc8 17.Qb1 Rc5! [Diagram
1026
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
+ + + + + + + + !+ + + $ + +" #+!+%+ + & '!+ % !! !( )+Q+ **,- . /012345678
26.h3 Bb8 27.Re3 Bb5 28.Rxd5 Nxd5 29.Qd4 Bc7 30.Re1 Nf4 31.Qa1 Bb6 32.Rd1 Bd4 33.Qb1 Bd3 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +" #+!+ + +!& '!+ + !!+( )+Q+*+ ,- . /012345678
This idea is identical to the manoeuvre Ža1– c1–c4! (Riazantsev-Matlakov, St Petersburg 2011), which was mentioned in CT-4204.] 18.Bg5? [š18.Be3 Rxd5 19.h3=]
] 0-1
18...Rxd5 19.Bxh7+ Kh8 20.Nf5 Nxh7!? [This is a typical human decision,]
V. Onischuk - Ramirez Saint Louis 2012
[while computer advocates 20...g6!]
Onischuk,Alexander (2660) − Ramirez,Alejandro (2593) [D45]
21.Bxd8 Bxf5 22.Qc1 Rxd8 23.Rd1 Bd3 24.Rfe1 Kg8 25.Qc3 Nf6 [Diagram
ch-USA 2012 Saint Louis USA (6), 13.05.2012 [Baburin,Alex,Taner,Harun]
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +" #+! Q + + & '!+ + !! !( )+ +* * ,- . /012345678
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 a6 5.e3 e6 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + + ! ! + +" #+! $ !$+ & '!+ % !! !( ) * +Q,-%+*. /012345678
White is in trouble as he has no targets to hit, while Black can prepare an attack against the enemy king.] 1027
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
17.cxb6 Bxb6 18.Qc1 Nd5 19.Rfe1 Ra7 20.Ne5 Rc7 21.Qb2± Nb4 22.Bc3 Nxd3 23.Rxd3 f6 24.Nc4 Rcf7 25.Qd2 Ra7 26.Bb2 Bc7 27.Ba3 Rf7 28.Bc5 Ra8 29.a4 Qd5 30.Qc3 Qd8 31.Qc2 Rb8 32.Rc3 Qd5 33.Ne3 Qh5 34.h3 Qg5 35.Bd6 Bxd6 36.Rxc6 Rf8 37.Rxd6 Qf4 38.Nc4 Rb4 39.Rc6 Bb7 40.Rcxe6 Qxd4 41.Re7 f5 Aronian,L (2768)-Inarkiev,E (2675) Jermuk 2009 1–0]
] 7...0-0 [Relevant: 7...Nbd7 8.Bd3 0–0 9.0–0 Qe7 10.Ne5 Nxe5 11.dxe5 Nd7 12.f4 g6 13.Qc2 b5 ½–½ (32) Riazantsev,A (2710)-Eljanov,P (2704) Sochi 2012] 8.Bd3 Bd6 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + +! ! + +" #+! $% !$+ & '!+ % !! !( ) * +Q,- +*. /012345678
12...e5 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Bc3 Nxf3+ 15.Qxf3 Qg5 16.h3 [16.Rfe1 Bg4 17.Qd3 Rad8 18.Bxh7+ Kh8 19.h3 Bc8 20.Qc2 f5 21.Ba5 Rd7 22.c5 Be7 23.Re3 Kxh7 24.Rae1 Bf6 25.R3e2 Rd5 26.Bd2 Qg6 27.Bf4 Bd7 28.Bd6 Re8 29.Rxe8 Bxe8 30.Bf4 Bf7 31.Kf1 Qh5 32.Kg1 Qh4 33.Bd6 Qb4 34.Re2 b6 35.Kh1 bxc5 36.Be7 Bc3 37.Kg1 Bg6 38.Qc1 f4 39.h4 Bd3 40.Re6 Bf5 41.Re2 Qb5 0–1 (41) Bright 0.3b (2843)-Naum 3.1 64–bit PL10 (2944) CCRL 2008]
Maybe this move is inaccurate as now (without his knight not yet on d7) he can't meet e3–e4 with ...e6–e5.]
16...Qf4= [Diagram
9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 Nd7 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + +!+% +" #+! % +Q+!& '!+ + !!+( ) * + +*,- . /012345678
+ + + + + + + + + + + + +! !%+ +" #+!+ +$+ & '!+ % !! !( ) * +Q,- +*. /012345678
] 17.Qxf4 Bxf4 18.g3 Bc7 19.Kg2 Re8 20.Rfe1 Be6 21.f4 f5 22.Bf3 Rad8 23.Rad1 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Kf7 25.Kf2 g6 26.Rd3 h5 27.h4 Rd8 28.Ke2 Rxd3
] 12.0-0N [Predecessor: 12.c5!? Bc7 13.Qc2 Nf6 14.Bd3 b6 15.Rd1 h6 16.0–0 a5 1028
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
29.Kxd3 Bb6 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +!+ ! !" #+! %-+% ! & '!+ + + +( )+ + + + . /012345678
[Fabiano Caruana triunfĂł ayer, invicto, en Reikiavik, y es el 6_| del mundo a los 19 aĂąos. Ya no es sĂłlo un gran tĂĄctico, sino que ha mejorado mucho en la profundidad estratĂŠgica:] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bb5+ c6 8.Ba4 0-0 9.Ne2 c5 10.0-0 Nc6 11.Be3 Na5 12.dxc5!? [Diagram
+ + + + + + + ! + + %+ +!+ +" #+ ! % + & '!+ +$ !! !( ) * +Q+*,- . /012345678
] 30.Bd4 Ba5 31.Bf2 Bb4 32.Kc2 Ke7 33.Kb2 Kd7 34.a3 Be7 35.Bb6 Bf6+ 36.Kc2 Be7 37.Kb2 Bf6+ 38.Kc2 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + % + + + + + + +!+ ! !" # !!+ +% ! & ' +-+ + +( )+ + + + . /012345678
] 12...Qc7 [(lo normal es 12...Nc4 como en Topålov - Kaspårov, Linares 1998) 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.Bg5 Bd7 15.Bb3 Na5 16.Bxe7 Re8 17.Bd6 Rxe4 18.Nd4 Nxb3 19.axb3 Bxd4 ½–½ (19) Topalov,V (2740)-Kasparov,G (2825) Linares 1998] 13.Bb3 [(protege c4; hasta ahora se jugaba]
] ½-½
[13.Nf4 )]
Şimdi de Grßnfeld savunmasĹndan birkaç gßncel oyunu sunuyoruz.
13...Bg4N [Predecessor: 13...Rd8 14.Qc2 Bd7 15.Rfd1 Rac8 16.Rac1 b6 17.cxb6 axb6 18.Bf4 Be5 19.Bxe5 Qxe5 20.Rd5 Qc7 21.Rcd1 Nxb3 22.axb3 Be6 23.Rxd8+ Rxd8 24.Rxd8+ Qxd8 25.f3 Qd6 26.Nd4 Bd7 27.Qf2 e5 28.Nc2 Qd1+ 29.Ne1 Qxb3 30.Qe3 Qe6 31.Qd2 Qc6 32.Nd3 Qd6 33.Qe3 Bc8 34.Nb4 Bb7 35.Kf2 Kf8
VI. Cheparinov - Caruana Reykjavik AçĹk 2012
Cheparinov,Ivan (2664) − Caruana,Fabiano (2767) [D85] Abierto de Reikiavik Reykjavik, 11.03.2012 [Garcia,Leontxo,Taner,Harun] 1029
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
36.Ke1 Qc5 37.Qxc5+ bxc5 38.Nd5 Bxd5 39.exd5 c4 40.Ke2 Ke7 41.Ke3 f5 ½–½ (40) Sanchez Rodenas,J (1794)-Arias de Reina Martinez,F Madrid 2008]
82.Kb4 Ng5 83.Ne1 e4 84.fxe4 Bxe4 0–1 Zappa Mexico II x64 1CPU-Deep Shredder 12 x64 1CPU CEGT Blitz 40/4 (2Ghz) 2009]
14.f3 Bd7 [Diagram
15...e6 16.Rd1 Rfd8 18.Qb2 Bf8 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + ! + + + +!+ +" #+% ! %!+ & '!+ +$+! !( ) * +Q+*,- . /012345678
17.Kh1
Be8
+ + + + + + + + ! + + + +!+ +" #+% ! %!+ & '! Q +$+! !( ) * +*+ +-. /012345678
] 15.Qb1?! [(extraĂąo; no es fĂĄcil saber cuĂĄl es la idea de CheparĂnov)]
] 19.f4?! [(no parece coherente con haber llevado la torre a d1)]
[15.Qd3 Rfd8 16.Rad1 Bf8 17.Kh1 Be8 18.Qc2 e6 19.Bg5 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Qxc5 21.Bf6 Bg7 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.Nd4 e5 24.Ne2 Qc7 25.Bd5 Bb5 26.Qb2 Ba6 27.Ng3 Rc8 28.Qf2 b6 29.Qd2 h6 30.Rc1 Nc4 31.Qe2 Qe7 32.Qf2 Qg5 33.Re1 Qd2 34.Qxd2 Nxd2 35.Rc1 Rc5 36.Kg1 Rb5 37.Nf1 Rb1 38.Rxb1 Nxb1 39.c4 Nc3 40.Ne3 Nxa2 41.c5 Nb4 42.cxb6 axb6 43.Kf2 b5 44.Ke1 Bc8 45.Kd2 Na6 46.Kc3 Bd7 47.Bb3 f5 48.Bc2 f4 49.Nd5 h5 50.Nb6 Be8 51.Nd5 h4 52.Nb4 Nc7 53.Bb3 Kf6 54.Ba2 Ke7 55.Bb3 Kd6 56.h3 g5 57.Bg8 Bd7 58.Nd3 Na6 59.Ne1 Nc5 60.Kb4 Kc6 61.Ka5 Be8 62.Bd5+ Kc7 63.Bg8 Kd6 64.Kb4 Na6+ 65.Ka5 Nb8 66.Kb4 Nc6+ 67.Kc3 Nd4 68.Ba2 Ne2+ 69.Kb4 Nd4 70.Kc3 Nc6 71.Bd5 Nb8 72.Nd3 Na6 73.Ne1 Bd7 74.Nd3 Nc5 75.Ne1 Kc7 76.Bf7 Kb6 77.Nc2 Na4+ 78.Kb4 Bc6 79.Bb3 Nc5 80.Kc3 g4 81.hxg4 Nxe4+
19...Bxc5 20.Nd4 Bf8! [(muy profundo: Caruana estĂĄ convencido de que el plan de su rival es un error, y espera a su ejecuciĂłn para sacar ventaja de ello)] 21.f5?! [(tan coherente como errĂłneo; este avance tendrĂa mucho sentido si el Ab3 no pudiera ser eliminado de inmediato, pero no es el caso)] 21...Nxb3 22.axb3 e5! 23.Nf3 f6! [(excelente criterio: los peones centrales negros limitan mucho la acciĂłn de las dos piezas menores blancas, y fijan la debilidad en e4, que decidirĂĄ la partida, mientras el par de alfiles negros espera agazapado el momento de atacar)] 24.c4 Bc6 25.Qc2 Rxd1+! [(Hace cien aĂąos, Capablanca nos enseùó que en este 1030
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
38.Bd8?! [Diagram
tipo de posiciones el bando con ventaja debe eliminar lo superfluo para concentrarse en lo decisivo)]
+ % + + Q + + , + + + ! + ! + + +" #+ + +$+ & ' + + ,-! !( )+ + + + . /012345678
26.Rxd1 Rd8 27.Rxd8 Qxd8 [(e4 es muy dĂŠbil, ya que a la defensa Cd2 seguirĂĄ Ab4)] 28.fxg6 hxg6 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + + +!+!+ +" #+!+ %$+ & ' +Q+ +! !( )+ + + +-. /012345678
] [(las negras hubieran ganado mĂĄs tarde tras 38.c6 Qxc6 39.Be3 )] 38...e4! [(expulsado el caballo, el ataque va solo)] 39.Ne1 Qd2+ 40.Kg3 Qf4+ [Diagram
+ % + + Q + + , + + + ! + + ! + +" #+ + + ,- & ' + + +! !( )+ + $ + . /012345678
] 29.Bxa7!? [(estratĂŠgicamente perdido, CheparĂnov intenta revolver el rĂo)] 29...b6 30.c5 b5! [(la idea clave era 30...bxc5 31.b4 ; por el contrario, el Aa7 queda ahora fuera de juego)] 31.b4 Bh6! 32.Kg1 Kg7! [(se anticipa a la maniobra 32...Qa8 33.Qa2+ Kg7 34.Qe6 , con ciertas molestias)] 33.Kf2 Qa8 [(misiĂłn cumplida)]
, y CheparĂnov se rindiĂł en vista de]
34.Qa2 Bxe4 35.Qa5 Qb7! [(evita el jaque en c7, y tambiĂŠn la maniobra Ab6 para cambiar las damas)]
[40...Qf4+ 41.Kh3 Qf5+ 42.Kg3 Bf4+ 43.Kf2 Bb8+ , etcĂŠtera.]
36.Bb6 Qd7! 37.Qa7 Bb7! [(con damas, el rey blanco estĂĄ en peligro mortal)]
0-1
1031
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
16.Be2 Rac8 17.Kd2 e6 18.Kd3 Nb5 19.Rxc8 Rxc8 20.Rb1 a6 21.a4 Nc3 22.Rxb7 exd5 23.exd5 Nxd5 24.Bd1 Rd8 25.Bb3 Nxe3+ 26.Kxe3 Bd4+ 27.Ke2 Rf8 28.Rc7 Poobesh Anand,S (2416)Karavade,E (2321) Atul 2006 ½–½; 13...Bxf3 14.gxf3 e6 15.Bc4 Nc6 16.d5 exd5 17.Bxd5 Nb4 18.Bxb7 Nd3+ 19.Ke2 Nxc1+ 20.Rxc1 Rab8 21.Rb1 Rbd8 22.Bxa7 Bd4 23.Bxd4 Rxd4 24.Ke3 Ra4 25.Bd5 Ra3+ 26.Kf4 Ra7 27.Kg3 ½–½ (27) Sargissian,G (2667)-Navara,D (2708) Wijk aan Zee NED 2011]
VII. Hracek - Bosiocic Plovdiv 2012
Hracek,Zbynek (2627) − Bosiocic,Marin (2562) [D85] 13th EICC Plovdiv BUL (10.42), 30.03.2012 [Taner,Harun] [D85: Exchange GrĂźnfeld: Unusual White 7th moves and lines with 7 Nf3] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 c5 8.Qd2 Qa5 9.Rc1 cxd4 10.cxd4 Qxd2+ 11.Bxd2 0-0 12.Nf3 Bg4 13.Be3 [Diagram
14.Bc4 Nb6 [White has an active position]
+ + + + + + + + + + + + !!+ +" #+ + %$+ & '!+ + !! !( )+ * ,-%+*. /012345678
15.Bb3 Rac8 16.0-0 Rxc1 17.Rxc1 Rc8 [17...Bxf3!? has some apparent merit 18.gxf3 Rc8 19.Rxc8+ Nxc8²] 18.Rxc8+F Bxc8 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + !!+ +" #+%+ %$+ & '!+ + !! !( )+ + + ,- . /012345678
Black has a cramped position] [13.Rc7 Bxf3 14.gxf3 Bxd4 ½–½ (14) Koubkova,A (2792)-Stritecky,B (2747) Le Fou Numerique 2004]
] 19.Ng5 e6 20.d5 exd5 21.Bxb6 axb6 22.Bxd5 Kf8 23.Nxf7 Ke7 24.f4 Bd4+ 25.Kf1 Be3 26.g3 Bd7 27.Ke2 Bc5 28.Ng5 Bg4+ 29.Kf1 h6 30.Nf7 Bh3+ 31.Ke1 h5 32.Ng5 Bg2 [32...Bd7 33.e5+–]
13...Nd7N [13...Nc6 14.d5 Bxf3 (14...Na5 15.Bd3 e6 16.Bd2 b6 17.0-0 exd5 18.exd5 Rad8 19.Bxa5 bxa5 20.Rc5 a4 21.Bc2 Bxf3 22.gxf3 Bd4 23.Rb5 a3 24.Rd1 Be5 25.Rb7 a5 26.Ba4 Bd6 27.Bc6 Rb8 28.Rdb1 Bb4 29.Ra7 Ragger,M (2628)-Areshchenko,A (2664) Solingen 2011 ½–½ (34)) 15.gxf3 Nd4
33.h4 b5 [33...Be3 34.Bxb7 Bg1 35.Ke2+– ] 1032
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
+ + + + + + + + !+ + + +!+ +" #+ ! %Q+ & '!+ + !! !( ) * + +*,- . /012345678
34.Bxb7 b4 35.Bd5 Bb6 36.Bc4 Bd4 [36...Kf8 doesn't change anything anymore 37.Be2+–] 37.Be2 [37.Bd3 and White can already relax 37...Bb6+–] 37...Bf6 38.Kf2 Bxg5 39.Kxg2 Bh6 40.Kf3 Bf8 41.g4 hxg4+ 42.Kxg4 Bh6 43.e5 Ke6 44.Kf3 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + ! + + ! !" #+ + +-+ & '!+ +%+ +( )+ + + + . /012345678
] 15.Bd2 [15.Rac1 b6 16.Qe2 Bxc3 17.Rfd1 Rfd8 18.Bg5 b5 19.Bxe7 Re8 20.d6 Bd4 21.e5 Rxe7 22.dxe7 Re8 23.Qf3 Rxe7 24.Rxd4 cxd4 25.Rc8+ ½–½ (25) Nowak,A-Lyashenko,S (2063) ICCF 2007] 15...Qa6 [15...Rad8 16.Qd3 c4 17.Qxc4 e6 18.Rfd1 exd5 19.exd5 Qxd5 20.Qxd5 Rxd5 21.Be3 Ra5 22.Bd4 b6 23.Kf1 Rd8 ½–½ (23) Mollov,E (2430)-Berebora,F (2400) Balaguer 1996] 16.Rfe1N [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + !+ + + +!+ +" #+ ! +Q+ & '!+ % !! !( ) * + * ,- . /012345678
] 1-0
VIII. Kanter - Lupulescu Plovdiv 2012
Kanter,Eduard (2394) − Lupulescu,Constantin (2616) [D85] 13th EICC Plovdiv BUL (3.57), 22.03.2012 [Taner,Harun] [D85: Exchange GrĂźnfeld: Unusual White 7th moves and lines with 7 Nf3] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Bb5+ Nc6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Be3 Bg4 11.d5 Ne5 12.Be2 Nxf3+ 13.Bxf3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 Qa5 [Diagram
] [16.Rfd1 Qc4 17.Bg5 Rfe8 18.Rd3 a5 19.Qe2 b5 20.Rc1 h6 21.Bf4 g5 22.Bg3 b4 23.e5 a4 24.Qd2 b3 25.a3 Rab8 26.Rf1 Rb7 27.Re3 Rd7 28.Rd1 Red8 29.Rd3 e6 30.d6 Qe4 Ponomariov,V (2326)-Kornev,A 1033
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
(2359) Kurgan 2001 0–1 (31)] ] 25.Re3? [š25.Qg5!?³ and White hangs on]
16...Rad8 17.Bg5 [White threatens to win material: Bg5xe7]
25...Qxa2-+ 26.Rf3 [š26.Re1–+]
17...Rd7 18.e5 Qc4 [Black threatens to win material: Qc4xd5]
26...Qd2 27.Re3 Rd3 28.Qg5 Rxe3 29.fxe3 Qd1+ 30.Kh2 Qh5 31.Qf6 [31.Qd8+ Kh7 32.Qc7 Qxh4+ 33.Kg1 Qe1+ 34.Kh2 Kg7 35.Qxc5 Qh4+ 36.Kg1 b6–+]
[18...h6 19.Bxh6 Bxh6 20.Qh3 Rxd5 21.Qxh6Âł] 19.Rad1= [Diagram
31...Qf5 32.Qd8+ Kg7 33.Qc7 b6 34.g3 [34.c4 doesn't change anything anymore 34...Qe4–+]
+ + + + + + + + + ! ! % + + + +" #+ ! +Q+ & '!+ + !! !( )+ +* * ,- . /012345678
34...Qc2+ 35.Kh3 [35.Kg1 does not save the day 35...Qxc3 36.Kf2 b5–+] 35...Qxc3 36.Qxa7 b5 37.Qb7 Qxe5 [š37...b4 and Black wins 38.Qf3 Qxe5 39.e4–+] 38.Qxb5 Qxe3 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + , + + + + +Q + + + + + !" #+ + !-& ' + + + +( )+ + + + . /012345678
] 19...h6 20.Bxh6 [20.e6 fxe6 21.Qe3 Kh7 22.Qxe6 Rd6 23.Qxe7 Rxd5 24.Rxd5 Qxd5=] 20...Bxh6G [Black wins a piece] 21.Qh3 Rxd5 22.Rxd5 Qxd5 23.Qxh6 Rd8 24.h4 e6 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + Q + ! + + + + !" #+ ! + + & '!+ + !!+( )+ + * ,- . /012345678
] 0-1
IX. Khenkin - Vachier Lagrave Plovdiv 2012 1034
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
Malisauskas,V (2489) Warsaw 2009 ½–½ (35)) 16.Bd1 Nf6 17.Ng5 h6 18.f3 Bf5 19.g4 Bd7 20.Ne4 Nxe4+ 21.fxe4 Rxe4 22.Bf3 Re5 23.Bxc5 h5 24.Bd4 hxg4 25.Bxe5 Bxe5 26.Bxg4 Bxg4 27.Rce1 Bd6 28.Kc3 Rc8 29.Kd4 Bc5+ Smith,S (2080)Karlsson,S (2080) corr Cat-X m/0335/0 1994 0–1 (32)]
Khenkin,Igor (2632) − Vachier Lagrave,Maxime (2682) [D85] 13th EICC Plovdiv BUL (9.10), 29.03.2012 [Taner,Harun] [D85: Exchange GrĂźnfeld: Unusual White 7th moves and lines with 7 Nf3] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Be3 Bg4 9.Rc1 0-0 10.Be2 Qa5 11.Qd2 e6 12.d5 exd5 13.exd5 Nd7 14.c4 [Diagram
15...Bxe2 16.Kxe2 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + + !+ + +!+ + +" #+ + % + & '!+ $- !! !( )+ * + +*. /012345678
+ + + + + + + + + !+ + +!+ + +" #+ + %$+ & '!+ Q% !! !( )+ * ,- +*. /012345678
White loses the right to castle] 16...Rae8 17.Kd3 f5 18.f4 g5 [18...Rf6 19.Rb1 Rb8 20.Nb3=]
] 14...Qxd2+ [14...Qa3 15.0–0 Rae8 16.Rfe1 f5 17.d6 Kh8 18.h3 Bxf3 19.Bxf3 Ne5 20.Bg5 h6 21.Be7 Kh7 22.Bxb7 Nd3 23.d7 Nxc1 24.Bxf8 Rxf8 25.Re8 Rf7 26.d8Q 1–0 (26) Volkov,S (2621)Sutovsky,E (2692) Aix les Bains FRA 2011]
19.Rhe1 [Instead of 19.fxg5 f4 20.Bg1 b5=] 19...g4 [Black gains space] 20.Bf2 Kf7 21.a4 a5 [21...b6 22.Nf1²] 22.Nb3 b6 [Prevents intrusion on a5]
15.Nxd2N [15.Kxd2 Rfe8 (15...Nf6 16.Bd3 Bxf3 17.gxf3 b6 18.Bc2 b5 19.cxb5 Nxd5 20.Be4 Rad8 21.Bxd5 Rxd5+ 22.Ke2 Bd4 23.Rc4 Bxe3 24.Kxe3 Rfd8 25.Rhc1 Rd3+ 26.Ke4 f6 27.R1c3 Rxc3 28.Rxc3 Rd4+ 29.Ke3 Ra4 30.Rxc5 Melkumyan,H (2530)-
23.Rxe8 [23.Nd2 Bh6 24.Bg3 Bg7Âą] 23...Rxe8 24.Re1 Bh6 25.Rxe8 Kxe8 [Diagram
1035
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
+ + + + + + , + + + + !+ + !+!+ ! +" #+ +-+ ! & ' + + + !( )+ + + + . /012345678
+ + + + + + + + + + !+ + !+!+ ! +" #+$+-+ + & ' + + %! !( )+ + + + . /012345678
] ½-½
A minor pieces endgame occured]
X. Kozul - Areshchenko Plovdiv 2012
26.Be3 Nf6 27.Nd2 Nh5 28.g3 Nf6 29.Nf1 Bg7 30.Bd2 Ne4 31.Ne3 [White threatens to win material: Ne3xf5] 31...Nd6 [Diagram
32.Bc3
Bxc3
Kozul,Zdenko (2602) − Areshchenko,Alexander (2688) [D85] 13th EICC Plovdiv BUL (5.23),
33.Kxc3
24.03.2012 [Taner,Harun] [D85: Exchange GrĂźnfeld: Unusual White 7th moves and lines with 7 Nf3]
+ + + + + + + + + + !+ + !+!+ ! +" #+ ,- $ ! & ' + + + !( )+ + + + . /012345678
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Rb1 0-0 9.Be2 Nc6 10.d5 Ne5 11.Nxe5 Bxe5 12.Rb3 c4 13.Bxc4 Qc7 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + +! + +%+!+ +" #+* ! + + & '!+ + !! !( )+ %Q,- +*. /012345678
A knight endgame occured] 33...Ke7 34.Kd3 Kf6 35.Nd1 Ne4 36.Nc3 Nxc3 37.Kxc3 h5 38.Kd3 Ke7 39.Ke3 Kd6 40.Kd3 Ke7 [Diagram
1036
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
19.Re1 Qd6 20.Qb4 Qxb4 21.Rxb4 e6 22.dxe6 Bxe6 23.Rxb7 a5 24.h3 Rfd8 25.Rb5 Ra7 26.Ree5 Bxa2 ½–½ (26) Gupta,A (2380)-Areshchenko,A (2625) Port Erin 2005]
] 14.Be2 [14.Qe2 Bg4 15.Qxg4 Qxc4 16.Bd2 b6 17.Qe2 Rfc8 18.f4 Bg7 19.Kf2 Qa4 20.Rhb1 Qxa2 21.e5 f6 22.Kg1 fxe5 23.fxe5 Rf8 24.c4 Bxe5 25.Qxe5 Qxd2 26.Qe6+ Kh8 27.Qe5+ Kg8 28.Qe6+ Kh8 Shulman,Y (2632)-Kamsky,G (2720) Saint Louis 2009 ½–½]
16.Bh6 [White threatens to win material: Bh6xf8] 16...Rd8 17.Qd2 e6 18.0-0 exd5 19.exd5 Bxh2+ 20.Kh1 Be5 21.Re1 [21.Bg5!?=]
14...Bxc3+ 15.Bd2 [White threatens to win material: Bd2xc3] 15...Be5N [Diagram
21...Bf5G [Diagram
+ + + + + + + + + +! + + +!+ +" #+*+ + + & '!+ %% !! !( )+ +Q,- +*. /012345678
+ + + + + + + + % + +! + + + + +" #+*+ + + & '!+ Q% !!+( )+ + * +-. /012345678
Black threatens to win material: Be5xh2]
] 22.Re3 Rac8 23.Bc4 Qxc4 [The isolani on d5 becomes a target]
[15...Bxd2+ 16.Qxd2 Qe5 17.0–0 (17.Re3 b6 18.0-0 Bb7 19.Rh3 f5 20.Bc4 fxe4 21.Re1 Rad8 22.Rhe3 Bxd5 23.Rxe4 Qf5 24.Rd4 a6 25.h4 Rc8 26.Bd3 Qf6 27.Rg4 Rc3 28.Rf1 Kh8 29.Bxg6 Rc4 30.Rxc4 Bxc4 31.Rc1 Bd5 Sharavdorj,D (2448)-Phadke,S (2232) Manila 2010 1–0 (34); 17.Rb4 Rd8 18.Rd4 Qd6 19.f4 e5 20.fxe5 Qxe5 21.0-0 Rd6 22.Rc4 Bd7 23.Rfc1 b5 24.Qd4 Re8 25.Qxe5 Rxe5 26.Rd4 f5 27.Bf3 fxe4 28.Bxe4 Kf8 29.Rc7 a5 30.Kf2 Ke7 31.Ra7 a4 Jankovic,A (2446)-Brkic,A (2500) Zagreb 2006 ½–½ (34)) 17...Qxe4 18.Bf3 Qe5
24.Rxe5 f6 [Black threatens to win material: f6xe5] 25.Re7 Rxd5 26.Rg7+ Kh8 27.Rc7 [White threatens to win material: Rc7xc4] 27...Qxc7 28.Qxd5 Qd7 [29.Qxd7 Bxd7 30.Re7 Bc6³]
29.Qb3
29...g5 [29...b6 30.Kh2µ] 30.Kg1G Qd2 [Black threatens to win material: Qd2xe1] 1037
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
+ + + , + +*+ + + + + % + + + + + + +" #+ + + ! & ' + + ! +( )+ + +-+ . /012345678
31.Re3 [31.Qe3 Qxe3 32.Rxe3 b5Âł] 31...Qc1+ [31...Rc1+!? 33.Rg3 Rc7Âľ]
32.Kh2
Qd6+
32.Kh2G [Diagram
+ + + , + + + + + % + + + + + + +" #+Q+ * + & '!+ + !!,-( )+ + + . /012345678
Black has a new passed pawn: b4. ] 44.Ke1 b3 [He broke from his leash] 45.Kd2 Rb8 46.Bg7+ Kg8 47.Kc1 Rc8+ 48.Kb2 Bc6 49.Re7 Bd5 50.Bc3 Bf7 51.Re5 h6 52.Re4 h5 53.Re5 Kf8 54.Bb4+ Kg7 55.Rc5 Re8 56.Bc3+ Kg6 57.Re5 Rf8 58.Re2 Bc4 59.Rd2 Re8 60.Rd4 Bf7 61.Rd6+ Be6 62.Rb6 Kf7 63.Rb5 [White threatens to win material: Rb5xh5] 63...Rf8 64.Re5 Ra8 65.Ra5 Rxa5 [
] 32...Qc7+ 33.g3 [š33.Kg1³] 33...Bg6?? position]
[ruins a clearly
superior
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +" #+ % + ! & ' ,- + ! +( )+ + + + . /012345678
[š33...g4!?¾] 34.Qb2 [White threatens to win material: Qb2xf6] [š34.Qe6 secures 35.Bxf8+–]
the
point
34...Rf8
34...Qf7= 35.Rf3 [35.Qd4!?= is worth looking at] 35...Be4∓ 36.Qxf6+ Qxf6 37.Rxf6 g4 38.Rf7 Bd5 39.Rd7 Bf3 40.a3 [40.Kg1 Re8 41.Kf1 a5Âł]
] ½-½
40...a5 41.Kg1 b5 42.Kf1 b4 43.axb4 axb4 [Diagram
XI. Ivanisevic - Gabrielian Plovdiv 2012
1038
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
Ivanisevic,Ivan (2645) − Gabrielian,Artur (2554) [D70]
(2407)-Shishkin,V (2493) Bucharest 2008 0–1 (49)]
13th EICC Plovdiv BUL (9.35), 29.03.2012 [Taner,Harun]
13...Nxc3+ 14.Qxc3 Bd5 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + ! $ + ! + +" #+ Q %!+ & '! ! + +! !( )+-+*+%+*. /012345678
[D70: GrĂźnfeld: Unusual White 3rd moves (met by ...d5)] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 [Can d4 get defended?] 9.0-0-0 f5 10.e5 Nb4 11.Nh3 Be6 12.Kb1 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + ! + ! + +" #+ $ %!+$& '! ! Q +! !( )+-+*+%+*. /012345678
The bishop likes it on d5] 15.h4 Qd7 16.Bd3 Rac8 17.Bc2 Nc4 18.h5 h6 [Black threatens to win material: h6xg5] 19.Nh3 g5 20.Nxg5 hxg5 [Black wins a piece] 21.h6 [White threatens to win material: h6xg7] 21...Bh8 22.h7+ [22.Bxg5 c5²] 22...Kf7= [Diagram
] 12...N4d5 [12...Qd7 13.Nf4 Bf7 14.a3 (14.h4 Rfd8 15.g4 N6d5 16.Ncxd5 Nxd5 17.gxf5 gxf5 18.Rg1 Kh8 19.Nh3 Nb6 20.b3 Bd5 21.Be2 Rg8 22.Bh6 Bxh6 23.Qxh6 Qe6 24.Qe3 Qd7 25.Qh6 Qe6 26.Qe3 Qd7 27.Qh6 ½–½ (27) Gelas,C (2047)-Lamard,G (2162) Montluçon FRA 2011) 14...a5 0–1 (14) Morais Carlos RN (2703)-Stritecky,B (2747)]
+ + +! + + + + + + ! + ! + +" #+ Q %!+ & '! !%+ +!+( )+-+*+ +*. /012345678
13.Ng5N [13.Nf4 Nxf4 14.Bxf4 Qe8 15.Qc2 c6 16.h4 Qf7 17.h5 gxh5 18.Bd3 Nd5 19.Nxd5 Bxd5 20.b3 a5 21.g4 a4 22.b4 e6 23.gxf5 exf5 24.Rdg1 Kh8 25.e6 Bxe6 26.Rxg7 Qxg7 27.Be5 Rf6 Raceanu,V 1039
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
] 23.Bxg5 improved]
Ke8
[Black king safety 30.Bxf8 Nxd1 [30...Qxh7 doesn't improve anything 31.Rxe6+ Kxf8 32.Rh6 Qxh6 33.Qxh6+ Bg7 34.Qg5+–]
[23...c5 24.f4=]
31.Bd6 Kd7 [31...Nc3+ doesn't change anything anymore 32.bxc3 Kd7 33.Bxc7 Kxc7 34.Bd1 Be4+ 35.Kb2+–]
24.Rh6 [24.Bd3 Nb6²] 24...c6 [24...c5 25.dxc5 Rxc5 26.Qb4=]
32.Bxc7 [š32.Bxd1 makes it even easier for White 32...Rc8 33.Rg8 Qxh5 34.Bxh5 b4+– ]
25.f4 [White has a new backward pawn: g2] [25.Bc1 Kd8²]
32...Ne3 [32...Nxb2 cannot undo what has already been done 33.Kxb2 Kxc7 34.Rg5 Qxh5 35.Rxh5+–] 33.Bd6 Nxg2 [33...c5 hardly improves anything 34.Qh6+–]
25...b5= [Black has a new backward pawn: c6] 26.Qh3 [Diagram
+ + + +! + + + * + + ! % + ! ! +" #+ + + +Q& '! !%+ +!+( )+-+*+ + . /012345678
34.Qg5 Qxh7 35.Rh6 [Diagram
+ + + + + + + % + * + + ! Q + ! ! +" #+ + + + & '! !%+ + +( )+-+ + + . /012345678
] 26...Rc7? [š26...Be6² and Black can hope to live]
] [35.Rh6 Qg7 36.Rxh8 Qxg5 37.fxg5+–] 1-0
27.Rg6+- e6?? [shortens the misery for Black] [š27...Bf7 28.Bxf5 Bxg6 29.Bxg6+ Kd8+–]
Anand – Gelfand Preview of the Wch match
28.Qh5 Qf7 29.Bh6 Ne3 [29...Bxg2 doesn't change the outcome of the game 30.Bxf8 Bf3 31.Qh6 Bxd1 32.Rg8 Bxc2+ 33.Kc1+–] 1040
Anand-Gelfand Preview2_Chess mag - 21_6_10 28/03/2012 10:19 Page 8
T
HE BUILD-UP to the AnandGelfand world championship is now in full swing. There is now an official website – moscow2012.fide.com – and a couple of press releases have been issued.
Photo: Arvind Aaron
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
Let’s take stock of the schedule first: the opening ceremony is on 10 May, with game one on 11 May. Games are played on successive days with a rest day on every third day. That takes us through to the final game 12 on 28 May, followed by a rest day and tie-breaks happening on 30 May if required. Then, on 31 May, the world champion will no doubt be garlanded in traditional fashion at the closing ceremony. The prize fund: $2.55 million, with the winning taking 60% and the loser 40%. And the venue: the games will be played inside Moscow’s Tretyakov State Gallery. WHO’S FAVOURITE: VISHY! What are the odds? A public poll at www.anand-gelfand.com has received in excess of 450 votes at the time of writing, with 85% of the voters expecting Vishy Anand to win during the regulation 12 games. 8% think Gelfand will win within the 12, with 4% favouring an Anand tiebreak win and 3% taking Gelfand. Phew! 89% plumping for Vishy Anand... perhaps the greatest odds on a champion since... Kasparov in 2000? Or Alekhine in 1935? Well, we know what happened in both of those cases, don’t we? The champion lost! Maybe Boris Gelfand should take this as a good omen. Why are the odds on Anand so heavy? He’s been a consistent world champion since taking the title from Vladimir Kramnik, winning matches against both Kramnik and Topalov. And yet his recent tournament form has been sub-standard, suggesting either that his mind is on his title defence or that perhaps the usual chessplayer’s decline in his forties is beginning to kick in. But neither factor holds much consolation for Gelfand: he too is well past his 40th birthday and his tournament form is not currently tip-top. It is presumably Anand’s huge experience of big-time events and his rating, which has been consistently well ahead of
Boris Gelfand and Vishy Anand met in a mini-match to decide the semi-final of the FIDE World Cup in 2000 in China. The match was decided in Anand’s favour in a blitz play-off.
Gelfand’s for decades, which make him the odds-on favourite. HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORDS What can past performances tell us about the coming encounter? Let’s look at their head-to-head record at classical time controls. They first met at Moscow in 1989, when Anand was 19 and Gelfand was 20, and the game ended in a draw. Gelfand then won three games on the bounce against Anand, in 1990 and 1991. The next two meetings were draws and then Gelfand beat Anand at Name the 1992 Alekhine Memorial tournament.
1041
8
Turning to rapidplay (which, we must remember, could decide the title in Moscow): they have played 26 formal rapidplay games, mainly at the Melody Viswanathan Anand
Boris Gelfand
11 December 1969
24 June 1968
2799
2727
2817 (May 2011)
2761 (Jan 2010)
Age achieved GM
17
21
Age achieved 2600
20
20
Age achieved 2700
23
22
Indian
Israeli (ex-Belarus)
Tamil Nadu, India
Minsk, Belarus
married
married
One
Two
Spain
Rishon le Zion ISR
Date of Birth
So, +4 from seven games for Boris – an excellent score. But in 1993 Vishy recorded his first win in their head-to-head games, at Linares (with the black pieces). Boris secured his revenge at Biel but since then he has not won a single game against Vishy with White, and won just one rapidplay game with Black (at the 2008
Melody Amber). From 1994 onwards, they have played a further 28 classical games, with Anand scoring +5, =23, -0. Not much fun for Boris. Prospective spectators of the 2012 match, on the other hand, might be concerned about all those draws. Worryingly, their last 15 classical games since 1997 have produced just one decisive result!
Current Rating Peak Rating
Nationality Place of Birth Status Children Residence
April 2012
Anand-Gelfand Preview2_Chess mag - 21_6_10 28/03/2012 10:19 Page 9
Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
Anand
Anand
Gelfand
Gelfand
Rating
Ranking
Rating
Ranking
Jul 1993
2725
3
2670
9
Jan 1993
2710
4
2690
5
Jul 1992
2690
5
2685
6
Jan 1992
2670
5
2665
6
Jul 1991
2650
9
2665
6
Jan 1991
2635
14
2700
3
Jul 1990
2610
19
2680
3
Jan 1990
2555
69
2615
15
Jul 1989
2555
62
2590
23
Jan 1989
2515
129
2600
27
Jul 1988
2555
49
2585
33
Jan 1988
2520
96
2505
133
Jul 1987
2505
123
2510
114
Jan 1987
2500
122
Jul 1986
2420
438
Jan 1986
2405
560
Jul 1985
2385
700
Jan 1985
2380
713=
Jul 1984
2345
1030=
Jan 1984
2285
1752=
Table showing the rating progress of Anand and Gelfand Boris shone from 1987 onwards but Vishy overtook him in 1992 and never looked back
Amber tournament, with Anand scoring +9, =17, -1 (although four of Anand’s wins were at blindfold rapidplay). They have met six times in significant blitz competitions, with Anand scoring +2, =4, 0. So Boris won’t want the match to go to ‘extra time’. Even so, given his winless run against Vishy, it might be a better chance for him than winning a longplay game. Matchplay against each other? They have not played a formal match as such, but met in the 2000 FIDE World Cup Semi-Final for two regulation games, followed by two rapidplay games and two blitz games, with Anand clinching the tie in the final quick game. RATINGS COMPARED Ratings tell a similar story. Vishy Anand entered the rating list as a mid-teenager in 1984 with a humble grade of 2285, though he progressed rapidly to 2500 in 1987. Boris Gelfand was a relatively old 19 when his rating was published for the first time in July 1987, but it was mightily impressive: he sprang into the FIDE List fully armed, like Athene from the head of Zeus, with a phenomenal first rating of 2510, just eclipsing Anand’s 2505 rating for that period. By January 1989 Boris had raced to 2600 (which meant he was 27th in the world on only his fourth published list!), while Vishy had wobbled a bit and recorded a relatively modest 2515 rating. In July 1990 Boris leapt up to 2680, which was good enough in those days to make him the third ranked player in the
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world after Kasparov and Karpov, while Vishy had just entered the top 20 with 2610. Boris topped 2700 to hold his world number three spot in January 1991 but a year later Vishy overtook him – and he has stayed ahead of Boris ever since, usually by 30-80 rating points. So we have the same story as with their head-to-head: Boris making the better progress whilst the two were in their late teens and early twenties, perhaps with the benefit of the better Soviet chess education then on offer, but Vishy zooming ahead in his mid-twenties and leaving Boris in his wake. OPENINGS Gelfand with White Against Anand What openings can we expect in Moscow? In games with White, Boris has nearly always played 1 d4 against Vishy, with a handful of 1 ¤f3s and one 1 c4. The last game between them, at the Tal Memorial in November 2011, saw a QGD with ¥f4. Two years before, at the same event and with the same colours, it was a fairly orthodox Catalan and drawn in a similar number of moves. In fact, they have played the Catalan several times, including an instance in the Mexico world championship tournament of 2007 when Anand became undisputed world champion. Earlier the same year Anand had pushed 1...d5 and a Semi-Slav ensued. About 12 years ago, Vishy was more likely to go for a Nimzo-Indian, with Boris steering for the line named after his hero Rubinstein. As mentioned above, we have to go all the way back to 1993 to find Gelfand beating Anand with White. It was a game of some interest and is well worth revisiting. Biel Interzonal 1993 B.Gelfand - V.Anand Semi-Slav 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 ¤c3 ¤f6 4 e3 e6 5 ¤f3 ¤bd7 6 ¥d3 dxc4 7 ¥xc4 b5 8 ¥d3 ¥b7 9 a3 b4 Anand employed 9...¥d6 to defeat Gelfand at the Melody Amber in 2008. Gelfand himself has been known to push 9...b4 for Black. 10 ¤e4 ¤xe4 11 ¥xe4 £c7 A move long since abandoned by opening theorists, who now favour 11...bxa3. 12 axb4 ¥xb4+ 13 ¥d2 ¥xd2+ 14 ¤xd2 c5 15 £c2 This awkward pin on the c-file is one reason why 11...£c7 has gone out of fashion. 15...£b6 16 dxc5 £xc5 17 £a4 17 £xc5 ¤xc5 18 ¥xb7 ¤xb7 was equal in Bareev-Kramnik, Linares 1994, but the text looks better. 17...¦b8 18 0–0 0–0 The best of a bad job but White is better.
19 £xd7 ¦fd8 20 ¥xh7+! ¢xh7 Gelfand, in his ChessBase notes, preferred 20...¢f8 21 £a4 ¦xd2 which he thought led to equality. 21 £xf7 ¦xd2? The correct continuation is 21...¥xg2! 22 ¢xg2 ¦xd2 but now there is a curious oversight in the notes given by Gelfand on ChessBase. To 23 ¦a4 he appends two question marks on the grounds that it loses to 23...£c6+ but your analysis engine will blithely inform you that 24 ¢h3! £xa4 25 ¦g1 wins out of hand. This perhaps shows the difference in strength between analysis engines of 2012 and those available in 1993. Black has to play 23...¦b4 rather than the check, when he is worse but might survive the ending. 22 ¦a4 £g5 23 g3 Supporting the rook check and thus winning the queen. 23...e5 24 ¦h4+ £xh4 25 gxh4 ¦d6 26 h5 ¥e4 27 £e7 ¦bb6 28 £xe5 ¦e6 29 £f4 1–0 A very nice win, but 19 years is a long time to wait for the next one! My guess: Maybe it will be back to a Semi-Slav again – but might Boris try trampling on Vishy’s own territory by playing the Queen’s Indian? We need to
THE VENUE The State Tretyakov Gallery is the national treasury of the Russian fine art and one of the greatest museums in the world. Founded in 1856 by the Moscovite merchant Pavel Tretyakov, the Gallery was donated to the city of Moscow in 1892. Throughout the years, the Tretyakov Gallery developed into not only an immense museum known around the world, but also an important research center engaged in the preservation, restoration and study of its treasures, as well as raising public awareness of them. Today, the Tretyakov Gallery is home to over 170,000 works of art. The Tretyakov Gallery Engineering Wing which will host the match is designed for large exhibitions, conferences and other cultural events.
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Antalya Chess Express c3 s16
Event
VA-BG
1989 Moscow
½-½
1990 Manila izt
0-1
1991 Linares
0-1
1991 Munich
0-1
1992 Reggio Emilia
½-½
1992 Linares
½-½
1992 Alekhine Memorial
0-1
1993 Linares
1-0
1993 Biel izt
0-1
1994 Linares
½-½
1996 Wijk aan Zee
1-0
1996 Euwe Mem
½-½
1996 Dos Hermanas
1-0
1996 Dortmund
½-½
1997 Linares
½-½
1997 Dos Hermanas
½-½
1997 Dortmund
½-½
1997 Biel
1-0
1997 Biel
½-½
1997 Belgrade
½-½
1997 FIDE WC K.O.
½-½
1997 FIDE WC K.O.
1-0
1998 Wijk aan Zee
½-½
1999 Dos Hermanas
½-½
2000 World Cup prelim
½-½
2000 World Cup s-f
½-½
2000 World Cup s-f
½-½
2004 World-Armenia
½-½
2004 Calvia Olympiad
½-½
2006 Wijk aan Zee
1-0
2006 Turin Olympiad
½-½
2007 Dortmund
½-½
2007 World Champ Tourn
½-½
2007 World Champ Tourn
½-½
2008 Wijk aan Zee
½-½
2009 Tal Memorial
½-½
2011 Tal Memorial
½-½
Anand wins Gelfand wins Draws TOTAL
6 5 26 19-18
think in terms of surprise choices, so maybe this will be it. Gelfand with White in General So Gelfand has not played 1 e4 against Anand before. Can we rule it out of contention in Moscow, then? Not entirely: Boris does punt 1 e4 now and again, mainly in less serious chess but also very occasionally in classical games. He wouldn’t be the first player to make a radical change of opening philosophy in a world championship match if he did. One of his most notable wins, against Karpov in the FIDE Candidates’
competition in 1995, started with 1 e4, with Gelfand probably targeting Karpov’s Caro-Kann. Whether he would risk moving away from familiar territory against a player with such a sturdy Black repertoire as the current world champion remains to be seen. Otherwise, his main general repertoire is much as he plays against Anand. Anand with White against Gelfand
An ailing but good-humoured Boris Gelfand resting up for a coming battle in the early 1990s. Tea and strawberry yoghurt - for secret messages?
Anand’s last four games with White against Gelfand have begun 1 ¤f3 (a blitz game in 2007); 1 c4 (2008, Amber Rapidplay); 1 e4 (2009, blitz); and 1 d4 (2011, Amber Blindfold). Just to give Boris something to think about! Their last ‘real’ game with Vishy having White, in the 2007 World Championship tournament, was a Petroff, as were quite a number of its predecessors. Their last decisive game, at Wijk aan Zee in 2006, was a Najdorf Sicilian: a lively encounter in which Vishy sacrificed the exchange for a pawn and eventually won, though it was a tough struggle. As well as Najdorfs and Petroffs, their rapidplay and blitz head-to-heads have featured the French Defence, with Vishy playing 3 ¤c3 and Boris opting for the exchange variation. One of Vishy’s earliest successes against Boris, at Wijk aan Zee in 1996, was with the Grand Prix Attack – let’s hope we get to see this again (although I am not optimistic). My guess: unless Vishy has found something to concentrate on in Boris’s Petroff, I suspect he’ll go for 1 d4 and we’ll be seeing a Queen’s Indian or two (though I’ve already guessed this for when Boris is White! Well, who knows...). Anand with White in General Vishy was almost exclusively a 1 e4 man until his 2008 world championship match with Kramnik when he switched allegiance to 1 d4. These days his opponents don’t know which centre pawn will be advancing towards them: he mixes it up, making it harder to prepare for him. That said, he stuck to 1 d4 during his Topalov match, so perhaps Boris can theorise it that it is his preference for world title matches. Vishy’s choice of variations is mainstream: Ruy Lopez and 1043
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Photo: Rosa de las Nieves
Classical Head-to-Head
Sicilian main lines with 1 e4, with the occasional slightly offbeat 3 ¥b5 against 1...c5. After 1 d4, he is similarly mainstream, even having the courage to play the Catalan against the world expert in the line, Kramnik. Anand with Black in General Anand’s repertoire with Black against 1 d4 is built around 1...¤f6 and 2...e6, often with ...b6 (Queen’s Indian) or transposing into a QGD or QGA. He also plays 1...d5 and often a Semi-Slav or Meran, with an early ...c6 ensues. Were Gelfand to try 1 e4, he could expect a Scheveningen or Najdorf Sicilian, or perhaps a main line Ruy Lopez, either open or closed. Of course, players like to spring surprises in title. Anand memorably played the Scandinavian Defence (1 e4 d5) against Garry Kasparov in their world championship match in 1995, though the experiment proved costly and one imagines he would be unlikely to repeat it. In rapidplay games against Alexei Shirov in 2011, Vishy also tried the CaroKann, and very successfully too. One wonders whether he might be tempted to promote it to his ‘test match’ repertoire in 2012. Whilst on the subject of surprises, Vishy has also been known to play the Grünfeld – in the tenth game of his title defence against Topalov in 2010 – so Boris (or one of his seconds) will have to spend time looking at that, too. So my overall prediction? I am absolutely certain that the world champion, come 31 May, will be one of the most affable, courteous and gentlemanly chessplayers you could wish to meet. In fact, I’m prepared to put money on it. Anyone care to make a bet?
April 2012