Viswanathan Anand (2)

In the previous installment, we discussed how Viswanathan Anand became world champion for the second time, during a period when FIDE and the breakaway chess union led by Kasparov and Short were merging. In 2008, the famous "reunification match" took place between FIDE and the PCA. In this match, Anand managed to defeat Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn. From that moment on, there was only one recognized world champion, as the PCA was dissolved.

However, negotiations for this "reunification battle" were tough, and one player was left out: Veselin Topalov, the reigning world champion in the previous period. To address this perceived unfairness, FIDE decided to give Topalov another chance. Originally, Anand was supposed to play against Kamsky, who had won the FIDE knockout tournament, but FIDE determined that Kamsky should play a "challenger match" against Topalov to designate the challenger. Topalov won that duel, earning the right to another title fight.

The match for the undisputed world title took place in 2010 in the "lion's den," the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. The battle was closely contested, but in the final game, Anand managed to strike and secure (or rather, retain) the world title once again. This victory came in a historic and fantastic game, which we will discuss in detail.

Two years later, in 2012, Anand faced another title defense. This time, his opponent was Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand (originally from Belarus), who had won the candidates’ matches. The duel took place in Moscow, and against all expectations, Gelfand proved to be a very tough opponent. In their 12-game match, Gelfand struck first by winning the seventh game. However, Anand immediately responded by winning the eighth game, and all other games ended in draws. The tiebreak consisted of four games, where Anand won the second game, and the rest ended in draws, allowing him to successfully defend his title once again.

Just a year later, in 2013, Anand faced a new challenger: the young Magnus Carlsen from Norway. Carlsen had luck on his side after a dramatic ending on the final day of the double round-robin Candidates Tournament in London. Carlsen lost to Svidler with White in the last round, and then watched how Ivanchuk managed to defeat Kramnik, who would have won the tournament with a draw. Although Carlsen and Kramnik were tied in points, Carlsen had the better tiebreak - the number of wins - which gave him the right to challenge the world champion.

This time, the match was held in Anand's hometown of Chennai, thanks to his securing enough sponsorship. However, Anand had to concede to the younger Carlsen, who convincingly won the match with a score of 6½–3½, becoming world champion for the first time. As Garry Kasparov put it, this marked the beginning of a new era in chess. But more on that later.

The diagram position comes from a game played in the 2010 World Championship match between Topalov and Anand, where the black player was working to turn the game in his favor. In this position, White played 41.Nf5+. How the game continued will be analyzed in detail, but the key question is: What did Anand have in mind after 41.Rxa8? Can you find a forced checkmate after this move?

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