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Don't
call it a comeback! Viswanathan Anand stormed to his third consecutive victory
in Dortmund and what a win it was. Not only was it against the leader of the
tournament, Viktor Bologan, it was a spectacular tactical demolition with the
sacrifice of a full rook. It was quite a way to avenge his loss to Bologan in
the second round.
(Right: Bologan pensive after his stunning loss.)
Radjabov managed to swindle Leko with a perpetual and Naiditsch-Kramnik was a short draw. Bologan's lead is down to one point and he now has two pursuers with four rounds to go. Leko is still the only player in the tournament without a win to his credit. Kramnik's draw was his sixth in a row and it gave young Naiditsch a 50% score in the tournament against the world champion!
Standings after round seven
Anand with his second, Rustem Dautov, after the game.
Until this game Bologan was 3/3 in the Caro-Kann in Dortmund. One win with white (against Anand) and two wins with black!
Anand,V (2774) - Bologan,V (2650) [B17]
Dortmund GER (7), 07.08.2003
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6 8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Qc7 11.0-0 b6 12.Qg4 g5 [12...Kf8 13.Re1 (13.Bd2 c5 14.dxc5 Nxc5 15.Bc3 e5 16.Bf5 h5 17.Qh3 Ne6 18.Qh4 Nf4 19.Bxc8 Rxc8 1/2:1/2 Lobzhanidze-Galkin, RUS-Cup Krasnodar 1998) ] 13.Qh3 Rg8 (D1)
14.Re1!!
Till now everyone had played Nd2 here, for obvious reasons! It's never a
good thing when the third-ranked player in the world offers you a piece on move
14 of an opening you thought you knew well. It just screams deep, computer-checked,
nuclear homework.
14...Bf8 Trying to get the bishop out of the way of the queen while protecting h6 at the same time. [14...g4 Let's see what in the name of Fritz happens if Black plays the obvious move. It's bound to be painful and fun. 15.Qxh6 gxf3 16.Rxe6+ Having said "A"... 16...fxe6 17.Qxe6+ Kf8 18.Bh6+ Rg7 19.Qf5+ Ke7 (19...Nf6 20.Qxf6+ Kg8 21.g3! Bf8 22.Bc4+ Kh7 23.Bf4) 20.Bxg7 Kd8 21.Qxf3 That's four pawns for the knight and the attack continues. Kaput.] 15.Qf5 Cleverly coming closer. [15.Rxe6+ This is playable immediately. 15...Kd8 16.Re1 Ne5 17.Bf5 g4 18.Qh5 gxf3 19.dxe5 Rxg2+ 20.Kh1]
15...Bg7 (D2) [15...Qd6]
16.h4!
Anand wants all of his pieces in the attack, including the c1 bishop.
16...Kf8 17.Qh3 Rh8 18.hxg5 hxg5 19.Qg4 c5 20.Bxg5 Now White has the attack and his cake, too. Bologan tried to ignore accepting any material, and succeeded. But White got a massive attack anyway and at no material cost. At least not yet...
20...cxd4 21.Rad1 Everybody is in position now.
21...Bb7? (D3) It's hard to criticize Bologan for missing the explosion that follows. It turns out that removing the bishop from the c8-h3 diagonal is fatal. Even a move like 21...a5 would have been better for Black.
[21...a5 22.Nxd4 (22.Rxe6 Nc5 23.Re7 Bxg4 24.Rxc7 Bxf3 25.Be7+ Kg8 26.gxf3
Nxd3 27.Rxd3) 22...Qh2+ 23.Kf1 Ne5 24.Qe4 Ra7 Ahh, ..a5 is more than a pass
move in this line, and several others. The rook defends along the second rank.]
22.Rxe6!! This rook will not be denied its meat! Apart from the game line, White is threatening Be7+ Kg8 Rg6!.
22...fxe6 The alternatives are no better.
[22...Bxf3 23.Qxf3 Rc8 24.Re7 Qh2+ 25.Kf1 f6 26.Bf4 (26.Rxd7 Re8 27.Be4 Qe5 28.R1xd4 Rh1+ 29.Ke2 Qxg5 30.Rd8) 26...Qh1+ 27.Ke2 Qxd1+ 28.Kxd1 Kxe7]
23.Be7+ Kxe7 [23...Kg8 24.Qxe6#] 24.Qxg7+ Kd6 25.Nxd4 Qc5 (D4)
Anand is closing in for the kill and the fact that he here misses an immediate win with 26.Nb5+! shows that the sacrifice was speculative and not analyzed at home all the way to mate in every variation.
26.Bf5?! Making his job much harder.
[26.Nb5+! Junior 8. This shot would have shortened the game considerably. 26...Kc6 (26...Kd5 27.Be2+ Ke4 28.Qg4+ Ke5 29.Qg5+ Ke4 30.Bf3#) 27.Be2!
Perhaps this is the subtle move Anand missed. Studies have shown that diagonal retreating moves are the hardest to find. (27.Qg4 is also devastating.) 27...Rad8 28.b4 The queen can't maintain control of the d6 mate square.]
26...Qe5 27.Nf3+ Qd5 28.Qg3+ Ke7 29.Rxd5 Bxd5 30.Qg5+ White has a little extra material, but more importantly he still has an attack against Black's open king.
30...Kd6 31.Qf4+ Ke7 [31...e5? 32.Qd2] 32.Be4 Rh5 33.Nh4 Rg8? The pressure is too much. There are simply too many dangerous lines to navigate. Now the queen and knight penetrate. [33...Bxe4 34.Qxe4 Rg8 35.Ng6+ Kf7 36.Nf4 Re5 37.Qb7]
34.Ng6+ Kd8 [34...Ke8 35.Qd6] 35.Qf7 Re8 36.Bd3 1-0 (D5)
[36.Bd3
Threatening the deadly Bb5. Black can play ..Bc6 here but then White has the
cute Nf8. 36...Bc6 37.Nf8! Discovering an attack on the h5 rook.
37...Re5 38.Nxd7 Re1+ 39.Kh2 Bxd7 The passed g-pawn is enough and Black's king is still open.]
Clearly the game of the tournament so far on the board and the crosstable. Anand moved up a full point in the standings with this spectacular win and Bologan almost looks within range.
Anand seems unlikely to score his fourth win in a row with black against Kramnik tomorrow. Bologan will try to steady the ship with white against Leko. Radjabov will be looking for payback against Naiditsch.
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