World Championship 02: Carlsen strikes first

by Alejandro Ramirez
11/9/2014 – Today on November 9, 2014, we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and fittingly the prospect of a Berlin appeared on the board. Magnus Carlsen declined the option, and a long strategic battle ensued. Threats on the kingside led Anand astray and he got into a difficult position, blundering before the time control. Carlsen leads already!
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FIDE World Chess Championship Carlsen-Anand 2014

The FIDE World Chess Championship match between defending champion Magnus Carlsen and his challenger Viswanathan Anand is taking place from November 7 to 27, 2014 in Olympic Media Center located in the Adler City District of Sochi, Imeretinsky Valley, on the Black Sea.

The match is over twelve games, with time controls of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 61. The games start at 3:00 p.m. Sochi Time, which is the same as Moscow time:

Moscow (Russia) 3:00:00 PM MSK UTC+3 hours
New York (U.S.A. - New York) 7:00:00 AM EST UTC-5 hours
Paris (France) 1:00:00 PM CET UTC+1 hour
Beijing (China - Beijing Municipality) 8:00:00 PM CST UTC+8 hours

Round Two

Things started quietly as Carlsen refused to go into the Berlin Endgame

Cross-armed and cool; Carlsen knows when he has the
advantage, he was only unsure of how big it was

Anand was under tremendous pressure the entire game. The combination of having to
defend an unpleasant position for so long and time pressure caused him to crack.

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 The Berlin! Betting money that it would be seen this match would have had sure dividends; pretty much everyone expected this opening to be seen at some point in the match. Carlsen chooses not to go into the Berlin endgame and instead chooses one of the "quieter" d3 systems. Bc5 This is the "point" of Black's play. Usually he has to commit to playing the bishop to e7 and only then does White go d3, a variation that is becoming increasingly popular in the Spanish. In this particular move order, the bishop has no reason to fear going to c5. 5.0-0 d6 6.Re1 White has tried basically everything under the sun, but this peculiar move-order has yet to be employed. Normally they start with the move c3 or Nbd2. 0-0 7.Bxc6 bxc6 White cannot claim a real advantage. His pawn structure superiority is compensated by Black's solid position and pair of bishops. However it is a completely playable position; if anything Carlsen is making sure that the game is simply "playable" for both sides without trying to milk an advantage from the opening. 8.h3 Re8 9.Nbd2 Nd7 10.Nc4 Bb6 11.a4 a5 12.Nxb6 cxb6 13.d4 Qc7 In many cases the presence of opposite colored bishops means that any endgame will be drawn. This is still the case here, but White has a few resources to put some pressure. He does hold more space at the moment. 14.Ra3!? A creative rook lift. The queenside rook is trying to make its way to the kingside or even the center to put some quick pressure on that flank. 14.Nh4 was a serious suggestion, but after Nf8 Black seems to be too solid. 14...Nf8 14...exd4 15.Nxd4 Nc5 16.Bf4 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Nh4 Rd8?! Had Anand seen what happened to him in the game, he might have refused to play this move altogether. There is no reason to force White's queen to the attack as the d-file holds no value. 16...f6 setting up defenses as quickly as possible. 17.Rg3 Ne6 18.Nf5 g6 19.Qh5 Ng7! Exchanging the powerful knight. White's attack is not nearly as strong without it. 20.Nxg7 20.Nh6+ Kh8 21.Qd1 Ba6! Just leave sthe knight stranded on h6. 20...Qxg7 21.Qh4 Ba6= 17.Qh5 f6 18.Nf5 Be6? I believe this relatively careless move is the beginning of Black's problems. Vishy underestimates how quickly he has to repeal White's pieces. 18...Qf7 also looked like a possible way of repealing some of White's threats. 19.Qg4 Bxf5 20.exf5 Rd4 21.Qf3 Qd5= 19.Rg3 Ng6 19...Rd7! Was still more resilient. 20.Bh6 g6 21.Qh4 Qd8! This is st ill slightly unpleasant, but I don't see any immediate threats for White. 20.h4 Lots of pressure is piling up on the kingside! It is not obvious anymore how Black can repeal White's attack. 20.Bh6!? This interesting move leads to a long, forced variation. Rd7 20...gxh6 21.Rxg6+ hxg6 22.Qxg6+ Kf8 23.Qxf6+ Qf7 23...Bf7 24.f4! And White's attack will crash through. 24.Qh8+ Bg8 25.Re3+- is also good enough. 24.Qxh6+ Ke8 25.Qh8+ Kd7 26.Rd1+ Kc7 27.Qxe5+ Kb7 28.Nd6+ Rxd6 29.Rxd6 And White comes out wi th a material advantage, though Black should be able to hold by creating his own threats. Re8! 21.h4 -20.h4. 20...Bxf5 20...Rd7 21.Bh6! Bxf5 21...gxh6 allows White to recuperate the piece with devastating consequences. 22.Qxh6 Qd8 23.h5 and the advantage is clearly in White's court. 22.exf5 Nf8 23.Re4!? And White's pressure is nothing to scoff at. It is quickly mounting and hard to repeal. 21.exf5 Nf4 22.Bxf4 exf4 23.Rc3! c5 24.Re6! It is clear that W hite has tremendous pressure. The control over th e-file, the pressure on b6, the anchored rook on e6, and also importantly the complete lack of counterplay. Black is not lost yet but it is very unpleasant. Rab8 25.Rc4 Qd7 26.Kh2 Of course White has no interest in allowing Qd1+ with a queen trade. Rf8 Passive, but what else to do? There is a lack of a clear plan for Black. 26...Qd1? 27.Re8++- 27.Rce4 Rb7 28.Qe2 b5!? A nice opportunity to get rid of the pawn on b6 and open the b-file, but Black's c and a pawns now become targets. 29.b3 29.Re7! Qd6 29...Qc6 30.Rxb7 Qxb7 31.axb5 is hopeless. 30.f3 Rxe7 31.Rxe7 bxa4 32.Qe4 Qb7 is a big threat. Qb8 33.Qxa4 it is hard to believe Black can survive with absolutely no activity. 29...bxa4 30.bxa4 Rb4 31.Re7 Qd6 32.Qf3! The queen wants to start looking for ways of getting into the seventh rank. Rxe4 33.Qxe4 f3+ 34.g3 h5?? A horrible blunder in a very difficult position. 34...Qd2 The only good way of preventing the queen from coming to b7 is by attacking f2, but this gives up the f3 pawn. 35.Qxf3 Qxc2 36.Kg2 and Black's is close to lost, but not there yet. 35.Qb7 As once World Championship contender Nigel Short pointed out on twitter: "Blunders don't happen in a vacuum. 34...h5?? came after enormous sustained pressure.". Carlsen created something out of seemingly nothing and earned a great victory. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2863Anand,V27921–02014C65WCh 20142

Daniel King shows what happened today

Alekhine's gun! The major piece battery on the e-file tied down all of Black's camp

Anand looked disappointed during the press conference.
He will have a rest day tomorrow to figure out how to recover.

First victory! Carlsen strikes even earlier than he did last year.

Score

Game:
 Rtg
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Score
Perf.
M. Carlsen 2863
½
1
                    
1.5
 2982
V. Anand 2792
½
0
                    
0.5
 2673

Tournament details

Schedule: the match will be played over a maximum of twelve games, and the winner of the match will be the first player to score 6.5 points or more. If the winner scores 6.5 points in less than 12 games then the closing ceremony will take place on the day after the World Championship has been decided or one day thereafter.

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5!? The Grunfeld must be one of the most popular ways of meeting 1.d4 at the top level of chess; however it is not part of the World Champion's common repertoire. It is clear that Carlsen is bringing new things to the table and Anand's team will have to adapt quickly. 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 In the face of an opening that he did not expect, Anand decides to play a variation that is relatively quiet and is far from being a theoretical duel. Bg7 6.e4 Nxc3 7.Bxc3 0-0 8.Qd2 This type of Grunfeld focuses on holding the central tension without committing White's pawn to c3, which leaves it vulnerable to the pressure from the g7 bishop. In this case White will rely on his pieces to support his d4 and e4 pawns. Nc6 Carlsen played this relatively quickly, but it is a rare line. 8...c5 has been seen in many grandmaster games. 9.d5 e6 10.Bc4 was the very recent Tomashevsky-Kasimdzhanov from the Grand Prix last month. 9.Nf3 After this move Carlsen went on a 15 minute think. Interestingly, Carlsen this time around has already revealed that his seconds are "the Dane and the Hammer" referring to Nielsen and Hammer. However, many speculated that maybe Nepomniachtchi would help Carlsen, and this line has been played by the Russian player recently. 9.Ne2 is also possible but it blocks the development of the f1-bishop. 9...Bg4 10.d5 Bxf3 11.Bxg7 This is a novelty already. 11.gxf3 Ne5 12.Be2 c6 Moiseenko-Nepomniachtchi, 0-1 August 2014. 11...Kxg7 12.gxf3 Ne5 13.0-0-0 c6 13...Nxf3? Drops a kn ight. 14.Qc3+ 14.Qc3 f6 15.Bh3 cxd5 16.exd5! Anand ruins his structure! To compensate this he now has a strong hold over e6 and will be able to kick out Black's knight from e5. For Black, he will be able to reroute this knight somewhere else that is useful and his structure remains very solid. 16.Rxd5 Qb6 starts looking bad for White. His control of the d-file is worthless as long as the knight is stable on e5, since it guards d7. Kicking out t he knight is not an option. 17.f4? e6! And the strong threat is Rac8. Black would already be winning. 16...Nf7 17.f4 Qd6 Black's blockade on the dark-squres is keeping his position together. There is no easy way to penetrate and Black will create counterplay if left alone. The idea of pushing the a-pawn down the ranks comes to mind. 18.Qd4 A fascinating strategical game. White has a clear clamp on the position, but on the long-term he is worse because of his ruined pawn structure. Practically speaking it seems as if White has the easier time finding moves, but by no means do I think Black is objectively worse. Carlsen whos great resilience in finding passive but solid moves. Rad8 19.Be6 Qb6! I like this plan. Anand can now go into an endgame, but that seems counter-intuitive. 20.Qd2?! This might be turning point. The concession seems natural; give up the good position of the queen on d4 to avoid the queen trade. However It seems that after this White has no good way of continuing. 20.Qxb6 axb6 21.Kb1 Even though this might still be far from an advantage, the possibility of quickly going to c7 with the rook and the passive position of the black rooks allow White to have some chances to create problems. Nd6 22.Rc1 f5! 23.Rc7 Kf6 24.Bd7! Ne4 25.Rxb7 is only slightly unpleasant for Black. 20...Rd6 21.Rhe1 21.Kb1 Nd8 22.Bg4 Nc6!? 22...e6 23.Bf3 exd5 24.h4!? This kind of computer idea is hard to play over the board. It is, at least immediately, not c lear to me why White has enough compensation for the pawn. There is some initiative on the queenside but Black's position does look solid. 23.h4 Nb4 24.Bf3 Rc8 21...Nd8 22.f5 Nxe6 23.Rxe6 Despite White's bind on the e6 square, it is Black that is now better. As soon as he solidifies his e7 pawn he can start working on grinding down White's structure. Qc7+ 23...Rxe6 24.fxe6 Rc8+ 25.Kb1 Qd6 is also rather appealing, but it does seem that Black might run out of ideas if the blockade must be preserved. 24.Kb1 Rc8?! perhaps letting White establish a rook on e6 is not a good way to push for any advantage. 25.Rde1 Rxe6 26.Rxe6 Rd8 27.Qe3 Rd7 28.d6! A tactical way of getting rid of his weakness. Anand is v ery close to equalizing. exd6 29.Qd4 Rf7 30.fxg6 hxg6 31.Rxd6 White's structure on f2 and h2 is still somewhat weak, but with his piece activity it does seem as if he should hold comfortably. a6 32.a3 Qa5 33.f4 Despite the computer's approval of this move, it is somewhat strange. Why push the f-pawn instead of the h-pawn? 33.h4 Qf5+ 34.Ka2 Qe5 perhaps Anand didn't want to deal with another rook endgame, considering how haunted by them he was last year... 35.Qxe5 fxe5 36.Re6= 33...Qh5 34.Qd2 Qc5 35.Rd5 Qc4 36.Rd7 Qc6 36...Rxd7 37.Qxd7+ Qf7 would force the queen to permanently defend the second rank, leaving it as a simple draw. 37.Rd6 37.Rxf7+ Kxf7 38.Qe3 a5! This would be what we have been calling a "Carlsen position". With the weak structure on the kingside Black has some chances of making progress by bringing in the king, as long as there is no perpetual, but of course with perfect play it should be drawn. 37...Qe4+ 38.Ka2 Re7 39.Qc1 a5 White has no way to improve so Black tightens the noose around White's king ever so slightly. This doesn't have a particular threat in mind, it is simply improving Black's chances. 40.Qf1 a4 With time control reached it is clear that the position is nothing but unpleasant for White. He is now passive, has to defend f4, and his king doesn't feel very comfortable. 41.Rd1 Qc2 42.Rd4 Black has to set-up some kind of lethal threat to make progress. The main thing is that if he can create real problems to the White king, White might run out of resources to defend both the king and the pawns on the kingside. Re2?! 42...Re3 The commentary team was very worried about this move appearing on the board. 43... Rxa3+! is a lethal threat. 43.Qd1 43.Rd7+ Kf8 44.Rxb7 Rb3 45.Rxb3 axb3+ 46.Ka1 Qxh2 White's badly placed king and the need to keep the queen on the first rank (or at lest protect the checkmate threats on the first rank) make this an incredibly unpleasant endgame that might just be lost. 47.Qd1! immediately threateining perpetuals. 47.Qd3 Qh1+ 48.Qb1 Qf3 49.Qxg6 Qxf4 47...Qh3! A hard move to find, especially from far away. 47...Qxf4 48.Qd8+ Kg7 49.Qd7+ Kh6 50.Qh3+ Kg5 51.Qxb3= 48.a4 Kg7 49.a5 Qe6! 50.Kb1! Qe4+ 51.Kc1 Qxf4+ 52.Qd2 Qf1+ 53.Qd1 Qc4+ 54.Kd2 Qd4+ 55.Ke1 Qe5+ 56.Kf1 Qxb2 57.Qd7+ Kh6 58.Qh3+ Kg5 59.Qe3+ Kf5 60.Qf3+ Ke6 61.Qg4+ Kd6 62.Qf4+ Kd7 63.Qg4+ f5 64.Qa4+ Ke6 65.Qc6+ Ke5 66.Qc7+ Ke4 67.Qc6+ Kd3 68.Qb5+ Kc2 69.Qe2+ Kb1 And Black has finally run away from the checks. 43...Qxd1 44.Rxd1 Rb3 is very unpleasant as Black's king will march in and once b5 is played the queenside is locked down. 43.Rb4 Now White's defensive set-up also includes pressure against the b7 pawn. Black cannot be careless with his own king. b5 Paralyzing White's position, but Anand still has an important resource. 44.Qh1! Incredibly important! Now Black's king is under threats of a perpetual. Re7 45.Qd5 Re1 46.Qd7+ Kh6 47.Qh3+ Kg7 48.Qd7+ ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anand,V2792Carlsen,M2863½–½2014D85WCh 20141
Carlsen,M2863Anand,V27921–02014C65WCh 20142
Anand,V2792Carlsen,M28631–02014D37WCh 20143

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Schedule

Saturday 08.11.2014 Round 1 Daniel King, Parimarjan Negi
Sunday 09.11.2014 Round 2 Simon Williams, Nicholas Pert
Monday 10.11.2014 Rest day  
Tuesday 11.11.2014 Round 3 Daniel King, Loek van Wely
Wednesday 12.11.2014 Round 4 Daniel King, Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Thursday 13.11.2014 Rest day  
Friday 14.11.2014 Round 5 Simon Williams, Irina Krush
Saturday 15.11.2014 Round 6 Daniel King, Yannick Pelletier
Sunday 16.11.2014 Rest day  
Monday 17.11.2014 Round 7 Simon Williams, Loek van Wely
Tuesday 18.11.2014 Round 8 Daniel King, Loek van Wely
Wednesday 19.11.2014 Rest day  
Thursday 20.11.2014 Round 9 Simon Williams, Irina Krush
Friday 21.11.2014 Round 10 Daniel King, Simon Williams
Saturday 22.11.2014 Rest day  
Sunday 23.11.2014 Round 11 Chris Ward, Parimarjan Negi
Monday 24.11.201 4 Rest day  
Tuesday 25.11.2014 Round 12 Simon Williams, Rustam Kasimdzhanov

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Our team of World Championship commentators (English)


Irina Krush: The female in the commentator team, several times US Women's Champion.		  
Daniel King: Well known, popular, experienced, and very good. Author of many Fritztrainer DVDs

Simon Williams: Englisher grandmaster, author of two popular ChessBase King's Gambit DVDs.		  
Chris Ward: Dragon expert and chess commentator at the London Chess Classic.

Niclas Pert: Grandmaster, trainer, and author of a number of excellent Fritztrainer DVDs.		  
Loek van Wely: Several times Dutch champion and quick-witted chess commentator.

Parimarjan Negi: Once the world's youngest grandmaster, author of books and DVDs.		  
Rustam Kasimdzhanov: The FIDE-World Champion 2004, former second for Vishy Anand

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  • Oliver Reeh: Also known as "Tactics Reeh" for his regular column in the ChessBase magazine and the ChessBase website
  • Dr. Karsten Müller: Graduated mathematician and chess grandmaster. His works on the endgame changed endgame training completely.
  • Thomas Luther: Several times German champion. Active in the FIDE commission for the handicapped.
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Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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