Tal Round 5: Anand roars back

[Event "10th Tal Mem 2016"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2016.10.01"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Gelfand, Boris"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2016.09.26"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {Gelfand's been using the Sveshnikov as a solid defense against 1.e4 for a while.} 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 (4... dxc6 {is the older continuation, though I'm not sure there was any good reason it fell out of fashion.}) 5. O-O Bg7 6. Re1 Nh6 7. c3 O-O 8. h3 d5 9. d3 c4 10. dxc4 dxe4 11. Qxd8 Rxd8 12. Rxe4 e5 13. Re1 f6 14. Nbd2 Nf7 {Gelfand played this twice against Inarkiev in their match, winning the second game. Hraczek also repeated it during the Olympiad, but no one had essayed Anand's next move yet.} 15. Ne4 {The fact that it's the computers main choice surely means that both Anand and Gelfand have looked at it.} f5 16. Neg5 e4 17. Nxf7 Kxf7 18. Bg5 Rd3 19. Nd4 Ba6 (19... Bxd4 20. cxd4 Rxd4 21. Rad1 Rxd1 22. Rxd1 Be6 23. b3 { is still a bit annoying for Black as the rook on d6 cannot be removed and it creates a permanent threat against the queenside pawns.}) 20. b3 c5 21. Ne2 h6 22. Be3 Rc8 23. h4 {Black cannot regain his pawn, so White emerges up material. } Bf6 (23... Bxc3 24. Nxc3 Rxc3 25. Bxh6) 24. Nf4 $6 (24. Bxh6 Bxh4 25. Nf4 Rdd8 26. Nd5 {was the superior move order, transposing into the game.}) 24... Rdd8 25. Nd5 Bxh4 $2 (25... Rxd5 26. cxd5 Bxc3 27. Bxh6 c4 {was the king of opposite colored bishop endgame Black should strive for. Down a pawn but close to a draw.}) 26. Bxh6 Bb7 27. g3 Bf6 (27... Bxd5 28. gxh4 (28. cxd5 Bf6 { is very bad for white.}) 28... Be6 {looks like an improved version of the game. }) 28. Nxf6 Kxf6 29. Be3 Rd3 30. Kf1 g5 31. Ke2 Rxc3 32. Rac1 {maybe a bit rushed.} (32. Kd2 Rd3+ 33. Kc2 {puts the king in a better square first.}) 32... Rxc1 33. Rxc1 {Black has recovered the pawn, but c5 will not be around for much longer.} Rd8 $1 34. Bxc5 f4 $1 {A good practical decision - to create counterplay.} 35. gxf4 gxf4 36. Bxa7 e3 37. Bxe3 $5 (37. fxe3 f3+ 38. Ke1 (38. Kf2 Rd2+ 39. Kg3 Kf5 $13) 38... Kf5 39. e4+ Kxe4 {is not easy to win by any means. Black's pieces are just too active.}) 37... fxe3 38. Kxe3 {White has four passed pawns for the bishop, and even though with perfect play I'm sure this is a draw, it is hard to play with the black pieces. Further analysis in ChessBase Magazine will reveal which one was the decisive mistake.} Bc8 39. Rc2 Bf5 40. Rd2 Ra8 41. Kd4 Ke6 42. Kc3 Ke5 43. a4 Be4 44. Kb4 Rb8+ 45. Ka3 Rf8 46. a5 Rf3 47. Kb4 Bb7 48. Rd8 {The game should be winning now for White. The rook and king are too active for Black's pieces.} Rxf2 49. Kc5 Rf6 50. Re8+ Kf4 51. b4 Rc6+ 52. Kd4 Rd6+ 53. Kc5 Rc6+ 54. Kb5 Rf6 55. Re7 Ba6+ 56. Kc5 Rf5+ 57. Kd4 Kf3 58. b5 1-0

[Event "10th Tal Memorial 2016"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "2016.10.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Gelfand, Boris"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Viswanathan Anand"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. O-O Bg7 6. Re1 Nh6 {This particular line is all the rage now. ...Nh6 is just exploding. To be honest, I had not been following the Rossolimo much but I noticed that Inarkiev played this against Gelfand. I was amazed that this had been bubbling underneath and it is hot now.} 7. c3 O-O 8. h3 d5 9. d3 c4 10. dxc4 dxe4 11. Qxd8 Rxd8 12. Rxe4 e5 13. Re1 f6 14. Nbd2 Nf7 {I decided to go for this endgame. The only difference is that we had prepared, instead of 15.Nb3 as in the Inarkiev-Gelfand match,} 15. Ne4 {this move.} f5 16. Neg5 {The whole idea is to get opposite-coloured bishops.} e4 17. Nxf7 {So I exchange everything and try to get that ending.} Kxf7 18. Bg5 Rd3 19. Nd4 Ba6 {to the extent of playing } 20. b3 c5 ({Basically, what I mean is} 20... Bxd4 21. cxd4 Rxd4 22. Rad1 $18 {because Black is missing all the dark squares here and White can even bring his king up the board and so on.}) {Of couse, he didn't give me the dark squared bishop.} 21. Ne2 h6 22. Be3 Rc8 {Here, I have to play} 23. h4 $1 { because otherwise, he can play ...g5, and ...f4 and get compensation for his dark squares.} Bf6 ({We were discussing} 23... Bb7 {to stop White's knight establishing itself on d5.}) 24. Nf4 Rdd8 25. Nd5 Bxh4 {It is very important that I bring his bishop to h4 before I take} 26. Bxh6 Bb7 27. g3 Bf6 ({Now, if he takes} 27... Bxd5 {Then I get the opposite-coloured bishops that I want.} 28. gxh4 (28. cxd5 Bf6 {maybe I can sac the exchange and try this as well, but that's speculative.}) 28... Be6 {Basically, the idea is to use the queenside pawn structure as a wall against the black bishop.} 29. Rad1 {Now the thing to remember is that if he goes} Rd3 30. Rxd3 exd3 31. Bg5 {I just take away the d8 square and he wil lose the d3 pawn for nothing. If he tries with ...Rc6, I will just play Bf4, f3, and win the bishop and pawn ending.}) 28. Nxf6 Kxf6 29. Be3 {Anyway I get the wall} Rd3 30. Kf1 {Why did I play Kf1?} ({Because suddenly I wasn't sure about} 30. Rac1 Rh8 31. Kf1 {looks winning, but surprisingly} Rxe3 32. fxe3 (32. Rxe3 Rh1+ $19) 32... Rh2 {It is difficult to get back the second rank and Black has some counterplay with Kg5, Kg4, etc. Somwhere, his counterplay can get out of hand, so I thought it would be irresponsible to allow that.}) 30... g5 {But here it is not that trivial because he is threatening to generate counterplay..} 31. Ke2 Rxc3 32. Rac1 { perhaps this is not ideal.} ({I could have tried} 32. Kd2 Rd3+ {to put it on c2 } 33. Kc2 {The point is that now that I am secure on e3, I can go to the h-file. With two rooks he cannot stop me from entering. With one rook it is possible to stop it with ...Kg6, and that is what he did in the game.}) 32... Rxc1 33. Rxc1 Rd8 ({What I am threatening is Rh1, and when he stops it with ... Kg6, I can go Rd1, and things should break down. There is this alternative} 33... Kg6 34. Rd1 Kh5 35. Rd7 Bc6 {Before he can play ...Kg4 and ...f4, I hammer it,} 36. Rg7 {so, it is difficult to execute this plan. The rook will loop around all over the place and it is difficult for his two pieces to control it.}) 34. Bxc5 {I don't see how to make progress without this. Now I find myself in a situation where I can't really enter...} f4 (34... Kg6 35. Be3 {and then go b4, b5. Already I can consider Rc2, d2 and the endgame.} (35. Bxa7 Ra8)) 35. gxf4 gxf4 36. Bxa7 e3 {I decided to go for this endgame with four pawns for the piece.} 37. Bxe3 ({It is important not to get distracted with} 37. fxe3 f3+ {And he can go Be4 which is just annoying as I will always be fighting against the f pawn. So, I decided that best is to just play the text.} ) 37... fxe3 38. Kxe3 Bc8 {I would most likely lose the f-pawn somewhere along the way, but the advantage for white is that in the meantime, if I build up the pawn strucure, let's say a6-c4, then I can just ditch the f-pawn.} 39. Rc2 Bf5 40. Rd2 Ra8 41. Kd4 Ke6 (41... Ra3 {is a good sameple line to understand this.} 42. Kc3 (42. Rb2 {I guess I don't want to do this, because he may use this chance to slide over to the queenside.}) 42... Bb1 {He is not threatening to take becauase of Kb2, but at the same time I cannot make progress. Then I found} 43. Kb4 Rxa2 44. Rxa2 Bxa2 45. Kc3 Bb1 46. Kd4 Ke6 47. b4 Kd6 48. b5 Bf5 49. f4 {he will never be able to stop both pawns. I was gonna double check this, but my hunch is this is just winning.}) 42. Kc3 Ke5 43. a4 Be4 {I think the important move in the ending was} 44. Kb4 (44. Re2 {was my original idea threatening f3..} Rf8 45. a5 Rf3+ 46. Kb4 Kd4 47. Rd2+ Bd3 48. a6 Rf8 {I was not sure about this.}) 44... Rb8+ {but here my rook is perfectly placed on d2.} 45. Ka3 {Now there is no going back for him. If he goes Ra8, I go b4-b5, and if he goes Rc8, I go a5. I guess it is just slowly winning.} Rf8 46. a5 Rf3 47. Kb4 Bb7 48. Rd8 Rxf2 49. Kc5 Rf6 50. Re8+ Kf4 51. b4 Rc6+ 52. Kd4 Rd6+ 53. Kc5 Rc6+ 54. Kb5 Rf6 55. Re7 Ba6+ 56. Kc5 Rf5+ 57. Kd4 Kf3 58. b5 Bxb5 {His king is cut off so far that I will get a Lucena anyway.} (58... Bxb5 59. cxb5 Rxb5 60. a6 Ra5 61. a7 Kf4 $18) 1-0