Baden Baden R5: Anand makes his move in Baden-Baden

2/12/2013 – The Grenke Chess Classic reached the mid-way point, and tournament underdogs Meier and Fridman had Adams and Caruana on the ropes, while Arkadij Naiditsch had a full-blooded game against Vishy Anand. In the end, however, the aristocrats of world chess drew, while the king upheld the social order with a win that saw him move into outright second place. Round five report.

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Baden-Baden GRENKE Chess Classic

Round five: Anand makes his move in Baden-Baden

5th round on 11 February 2013 at 15:00
Caruana Fabiano 2757
½-½
 Fridman Daniel 2667
Meier Georg 2640
½-½
 Adams Michael 2725
Anand Vishy 2780
1-0
 Naiditsch Arkadij 2716

The win felt long overdue, though the criticism World Champion Vishy Anand had received in some quarters for his previous four draws (with White only once) was absurdly overblown. It clearly wasn’t for the lack of trying, and in round five the dam finally burst. Of course that also had a lot to do with his opponent – Arkadij Naiditsch continued his record of providing the day’s only decisive game. It wasn’t, at least on the surface, about the opening.

Anand rejected the Berlin Defence and went for a complex Ruy Lopez that looked playable for both players. He noted afterwards that Naiditsch’s pieces were somewhat tied up on the queenside, but the whole game essentially revolved around Naiditsch’s strange neglect of his kingside cavalry. It was a puzzling sequence of play from the German no. 1, but today was all about the World Champion. You could feel what it meant to him: “I was trying very hard not to screw this one up. I’ve been tossing away too many of these.”

[Event "1st GRENKE Chess Classic"] [Site "Baden-Baden GER"] [Date "2013.02.11"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2780"] [BlackElo "2716"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2013.02.07"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 d6 5. c3 Be7 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Nf1 Re8 8. Ng3 Bf8 9. O-O Bd7 10. h3 h6 11. Re1 Ne7 $146 12. Bxd7 Qxd7 13. d4 Ng6 14. c4 c5 15. d5 b5 16. cxb5 Qxb5 17. Qc2 Nd7 18. Nd2 Nf4 19. Re3 g6 20. a4 Qa6 21. a5 Rab8 22. Nc4 Rb4 23. b3 Reb8 24. Bd2 R4b5 25. Ra3 h5 $6 {was welcomed by Anand as it already left the f4-knight with no squares to which it could retreat.} 26. h4 Nf6 27. Nf1 {When the World Champion played this his plans were crystal clear - as he told IM Lawrence Trent afterwards in the post-game interview, he had other options, but "if you see a piece then you want to get it!"} { Naiditsch attempted to solve his problems with the pseudo-aggressive} Bh6 $2 { which may objectively have been the losing move.} {Anand responded with the quiet but deadly} 28. Re1 $1 {when not only does the knight have no squares, it's pinned to the h6-bishop.} {It was somewhat astonishing, therefore, that Naiditsch almost blitzed out} Kh7 (28... Qc8 {immediately runs into} 29. Nxd6 $1 {which is why the computer recommends three moves that defend d6: 28...Bf8, 28...Ne8, 28...Rd8 (in that order).}) 29. g3 Qc8 30. f3 {Vishy: "a cold-blooded move. I did it with some trepidation, but I couldn't see a way for him."} Qh3 31. gxf4 Qxf3 {Here Anand had the luxury of a choice and a comfortable 40 minutes on his clock.} 32. Qd1 $1 {Ruling out any counterplay based on the g4-square.} ({His first intention was to play the nice} 32. b4 $1 {to allow the distant a3-rook to control matters on the kingside, but he didn't like the idea of Black getting some decent squares for his pieces.}) 32... Qh3 33. fxe5 Rxb3 {Little more than desperation.} 34. Rxb3 Rxb3 35. exf6 Rf3 36. Qe2 Bxd2 37. Ncxd2 Rf4 38. Qh2 1-0

Video interview with Anand after the game

For much of the round it had seemed more likely we’d see decisive action elsewhere. Georg Meier has been struggling in Baden-Baden and remains in bottom place, but he pulled off the rare feat of leaving Mickey Adams in dire straits by move 12. Adams explained, “I think I was a bit casual in the opening and Black was on the edge for a long time”. He also credited his opponent, however, noting the direct plan with 6.Nc3 is rarer than the quieter 6.Qc2, while Meier said his 7.Bg5 was a novelty.

[Event "1st GRENKE Chess Classic"] [Site "Baden-Baden GER"] [Date "2013.02.11"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Meier, Georg"] [Black "Adams, Michael"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E00"] [WhiteElo "2640"] [BlackElo "2725"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2013.02.07"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bd6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Bg5 c6 8. Bg2 Nbd7 9. e4 $146 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Bb4+ 11. Nc3 Qa5 12. Bd2 e5 $5 {Adams: "What else could I play? I had to try something." Suddenly the computers were proclaiming Meier had a close to winning edge, but the chances of an upset were all but extinguished a couple of moves later.} 13. a3 $1 Bxc3 14. Bxc3 Qa6 15. Nxe5 $2 ({After the game both players agreed that} 15. O-O {was the move, with the problem for Black being that his queen is in real danger of getting stuck after the line Adams was planning to play:} Qxc4 16. dxe5 Nd5 17. Bd4 $1 {with Rac1 to follow.}) 15... Nxe5 16. dxe5 Qxc4 17. Qd4 Qxd4 18. Bxd4 Rd8 $1 19. Rd1 Nd5 20. O-O Be6 21. f4 f5 22. exf6 Nxf6 23. Be5 Kf7 24. h3 h5 25. Rfe1 g6 26. Kf2 Bb3 27. Rd4 a5 28. Bf3 Be6 29. Kg2 Rxd4 30. Bxd4 Rd8 31. Bb6 Rd2+ 32. Re2 Rd3 33. Re3 Rd2+ 34. Re2 Rd3 35. Re3 Rd2+ 1/2-1/2

Daniel Fridman played the Petroff, but that opening has by now almost lost its drawish reputation, largely due to the variation we saw today where White castles queenside. Sergey Karjakin memorably once crushed Vladimir Kramnik with the white pieces, but on this occasion the German grandmaster knew exactly what he was doing.

[Event "1st GRENKE Chess Classic"] [Site "Baden-Baden GER"] [Date "2013.02.11"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Fridman, Daniel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2667"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2013.02.07"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Qd2 O-O 9. O-O-O Ne5 10. h4 c6 11. Kb1 Qa5 12. Nxe5 dxe5 13. Bc4 b5 14. Bb3 Qc7 15. Bg5 a5 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 {Caruana regretted playing} 17. a4 ({instead of} 17. a3) 17... Rb8 {Caruana hadn't seen the cunning trap Fridman and his second Konstantin Landa had cooked up on the morning before the game. The natural} 18. axb5 $146 {was met by a pawn sacrifice:} a4 $1 19. Bc4 ({Actually sacrifice is perhaps the wrong word, as the pawn could hardly be more poisoned:} 19. Bxa4 Qa7 $1 {and the bishop is lost after} 20. b3 (20. Bb3 Ra8 $1 {leads to a quick mate}) 20... cxb5) 19... cxb5 20. Ba2 b4 21. cxb4 Rxb4 22. Qd6 Qxd6 ({The other option was} 22... Qb7 $5 {and the board is on fire - a possible line begins} 23. Qxe5 {(not Houdini's top move, but the move the players had considered during the game)} a3 $1 24. h5 Bf5 $1 {(the queen can't take the bishop as it's stopping mate on b2) and it's hard to fathom what might happen next. The best recommendation is to watch the post-game press conference and marvel at the amount of tactics the players, and especially Caruana, saw throughout the whole game. And some would call it a quiet draw.}) 23. Rxd6 Bf5 24. Kc1 Rfb8 25. Rhd1 Kf8 26. Rd8+ Rxd8 27. Rxd8+ Ke7 28. Ra8 Rxh4 29. Ra7+ Kd6 30. Bxf7 Rh1+ 31. Kd2 Rf1 32. Ke2 Rc1 33. c3 Rc2+ 34. Ke3 Bd7 35. Bg8 h6 36. Ra6+ Ke7 37. Rb6 a3 38. bxa3 Rxc3+ 39. Ke4 Rxa3 40. Kxe5 Ra1 41. Ke4 1/2-1/2

So at the half-way stage of the GRENKE Chess Classic Fabiano Caruana continues to lead on 3.5/5, though Viswanathan Anand is back in the running only half a point behind. The full standings are:

Tuesday 12 February is the tournament’s only rest day.

Report by Colin McGourty, photos Georgios Souleidis, videos Macauley Peterson

Full video report of the round:

Schedule and results

1st round on 07 February 2013 at 15:00
Naiditsch Arkadij 2716
½-½
 Fridman Daniel 2667
Adams Michael 2725
½-½
 Anand Vishy 2780
Caruana Fabiano 2757
1-0
 Meier Georg 2640
2nd round on 08 February 2013 at 15:00
Fridman Daniel 2667
½-½
 Meier Georg 2640
Anand Vishy 2780
½-½
 Caruana Fabiano 2757
Naiditsch Arkadij 2716
1-0
 Adams Michael 2725
3rd round on 09 February 2013 at 15:00
Adams Michael 2725
½-½
 Fridman Daniel 2667
Caruana Fabiano 2757
1-0
 Naiditsch Arkadij 2716
Meier Georg 2640
½-½
 Anand Vishy 2780
4th round on 10 February 2013 at 15:00
Fridman Daniel 2667
½-½
 Anand Vishy 2780
Naiditsch Arkadij 2716
1-0
 Meier Georg 2640
Adams Michael 2725
½-½
 Caruana Fabiano 2757
5th round on 11 February 2013 at 15:00
Caruana Fabiano 2757
½-½
 Fridman Daniel 2667
Meier Georg 2640
½-½
 Adams Michael 2725
Anand Vishy 2780
1-0
 Naiditsch Arkadij 2716
6th round on 13 February 2013 at 15:00
Fridman Daniel 2667   Naiditsch Arkadij 2716
Anand Vishy 2780   Adams Michael 2725
Meier Georg 2640   Caruana Fabiano 2757
7th round on 14 February 2013 at 15:00
Meier Georg 2640   Fridman Daniel 2667
Caruana Fabiano 2757   Anand Vishy 2780
Adams Michael 2725   Naiditsch Arkadij 2716
8th round on 15 February 2013 at 15:00
Fridman Daniel 2667   Adams Michael 2725
Naiditsch Arkadij 2716   Caruana Fabiano 2757
Anand Vishy 2780   Meier Georg 2640
9th round on 16 February 2013 at 15:00
Anand Vishy 2780   Fridman Daniel 2667
Meier Georg 2640   Naiditsch Arkadij 2716
Caruana Fabiano 2757   Adams Michael 2725
10th round on 17 February 2013 at 13:00
Fridman Daniel 2667   Caruana Fabiano 2757
Adams Michael 2725   Meier Georg 2640
Naiditsch Arkadij 2716   Anand Vishy 2780

Links

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