World Championship G10 – An offbeat Sicilian is flavor of the day

by ChessBase
5/24/2012 – With two whites to go, Anand chose 1.e4 as one means to try and keep his opponent off-balance. Gelfand was ready with his Sicilian, and even Vishy's 3.Bb5, and fairly offbeat 5.b3, were replied to nearly instantly. The queens came off by move eleven after which the position remained equal until their handshake at move 25. Illustrated report with GM analysis and videos.
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The World Chess Championship 2012 is being staged in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, between the current World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India and the winner of the Candidates tournament Boris Gelfand of Israel. The match is over twelve games and lasts from May 11 to 30. The prize fund is US $2.55 million, the winner getting $1.53 million (60%), the loser $1.02 million (40%).

Round ten – An offbeat Sicilian is flavor of the day


Gelfand arrives first at the board, showing a hunger for play that is fitting


Strike a pose

As in the fifth game, Viswanathan Anand started the tenth game with 1.e4. The opponents once again played the Sicilian Defence, but on the third move the world champion veered away from the Sveshnikov variation, choosing 3.Bb5. Just two moves later Boris Gelfand showed a new plan – 5…e5, which resulted in an interesting position with mutual chances.


The play gets underway


5...e5? Never saw that before... is it good?

Judging by how quickly the moves were made, the Israeli grandmaster had analysed this variation very deeply.


The online coverage by the Russian Federation has been nothing short of stellar. In
Russian they had Sergey Karjakin, Ilya Smirin, and Alexander Grischuk providing commentary.


In English, Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Alexander Morozevich, and Peter Svidler opined.
For game eleven, Kramnik will be the full-time commentator in English. Don't miss it!

Soon the queens were exchanged, the position simplified considerably, but, according to many experts, all three results of the game were still possible. Black’s position was weakened by doubled pawns on the queenside, but he had the two-bishop advantage. New exchanges followed, and the position simplified even further. On move 25 the opponents agreed to a draw.


Vladimir Potkin, Vladimir Below, and Anatoly Karpov gave a simul to talented children

Game ten analysis by GM Romain Edouard

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Avoiding the Sicilian Pelikan: not such a surprise in my opinion! e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.b3 A side-move known to be interesting. e5!? Almost a novelty! This brillant move simply solves all problems immediately. Black wants to play ...d6 next with a very good position, which forces White to take on e5. 5...d6 6.e5! is known to be good for White because of dxe5 7.Nxe5 Qd4 8.Nc4! Qxa1 9.Nc3± 6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.Bb2 d6 8.Nc4 d5! Only a few moves have been played, and it is already almost clear that the game is going to be a draw. 8...Qxe4+ 9.Ne3 would be wrong for Black due to White's advance in development. 9.Ne3 9.Ne5 f6 10.Nxc6 10.Qh5+? g6 11.Nxg6? Qxe4+-+ 10...Qxe4+ 11.Kf1 11.Qe2? Qxe2+ 12.Kxe2 a5! 11...a5!? The knight on c6 feels a bit alone! 9...d4 10.Nc4 Qxe4+ 11.Qe2 Qxe2+ 12.Kxe2 Be6 Black is just equalizing: the bishop pair compensates for the doubled c-pawns. 13.d3 Nf6 14.Nbd2 0-0-0!? 14...Be7 15.Rhe1 0-0 was also possible. 15.Rhe1 Be7 16.Kf1 Rhe8 17.Ba3 Nd5!? 17...Kc7 18.Re2 Bf8 19.Rae1 Nd5 with the idea of 20.Ne4 Nf4! was also possible: 21.Rd2 Bxc4 22.dxc4 Nxg2 23.Kxg2 f5 24.Rde2 Rxe4 25.Rxe4 fxe4 26.Rxe4 Kd7= 18.Ne4 Nb4 19.Re2 Bxc4 Anand was slowly improving his position, so it was time to take a decision. 20.bxc4 f5 21.Bxb4 21.Ng3 g6 is simply fine for Black. 21...cxb4 22.Nd2 Bd6 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24.Nb3 c5 25.a3 It is quite impressive how the Israeli player manages to surprise his opponent in almost every game. Not many people on earth would manage to draw several games so easily against Anand with Black: Gelfand is not only a challenger, but also a real candidate for the World Champion title. 25.a3 bxa3 26.Rxa3 Kb7= ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anand,V2791Gelfand,B2727½–½2012B30World Chess Championship Match10

Game ten analysis by Malcolm Pein

IM Malcolm Pein comments on the games on TWIC and live during each game via Twitter #telegraphchess.

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1.e4 c5 I was very impressed in game 9 how Boris bounced back from the game 8 debacle. He showed he was not crushed by it and pushed for the win 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 3.d4 got nowhere e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.b3 e5 Novelty at the top level. Black prevents any dark square strategy from White directly. He intends d7-d6 with a chunky pawn mass and f7-f5 might open things up for the bishop on c8 5...Ne7 6.Bb2 Ng6 7.h4 h5 8.e5 c4 9.bxc4 Rb8 10.Bc3 c5 McShane-Grischuk 2003 5...Ne7 6.Bb2 Ng6 7.h4 h5 8.e5 d6 9.exd6 Qxd6 10.Qe2 f6 11.Qe4 Kf7 12.Nc3 e5 Adams-Shirov 2003 It ended England 0-2 Russian speakers 6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.Bb2 d6 8.Nc4 d5 Technically the novelty. Black gains space with tempo and proceeds to block the Bb2 He has some long terms concerns as his c5 pawn could be vulnerable but right now he is active. His light squared bishop is unchallenged. Although this position is new, positions of this type occur frequently in this line 9.Ne3 d4 10.Nc4 Qxe4+ 11.Qe2 Qxe2+ 12.Kxe2 Be6 I had some vague ideas of positioning the knights to pressure the c5 pawn but I guess it was impractical 13.d3 Nf6 14.Nbd2 0-0-0 Some potential for Black to gain space with his kingside pawns perhaps. Peter Svidler was wondering about h7-h5-h4 and Rh5 but Boris plays more sedately 15.Rhe1 Be7 16.Kf1 Rhe8 If Boris can avoid giving up the white squared bishop he should be OK although in the game he gives it up and is OK! I suspect Vishy's next move is not absolutely the best as Boris neutralises any aggressive intent but White has nothing here. I reckon 5...e5 was a master stroke, it avoided all the sharp stuff 17.Ba3 17. a3 was suggested by the Russian commentators. "I thought that if Black plays Nd5 and Nb6 somewhere I didn't find a way to make this b4 idea work." - Anand. 17.Re2 Nd5 18.Rae1 Kc7 Black has no particular problems 17...Nd5 17...Bd5 18.Rxe7 Rxe7 19.Bxc5 Red7 20.Ne5 Rc7 21.Ndf3 Bxf3 22.Nxf3 Rcd7 23.Re1 18.Ne4 18.Re5 Nb4 19.Bxb4 cxb4 20.a3 bxa3 21.Nxa3 Bd6 18.Rxe6 fxe6 Doesn't change evaluation - Anand, it's a lovely fortress 18...Nb4 19.Re2 Bxc4 Justified by concrete tactics and according to Anand, after "any other waiting move then I will double and play Bc1-f4 Not 19...Bd5?? 20.Ned6+ Kd7 21.Nxe8 Rxe8 19...Bxc4 20.bxc4 f5 21.Ng3 g6 22.Bc1 Bd6 Is very comfortable for Black the Ng3 has no prospects 19...Bf8 20.Rae1 h6 21.Bxb4 cxb4 22.Ng3 Bd7= 19...f5 20.Bxb4 cxb4 21.Ng3 20.bxc4 f5 21.Bxb4! 21.Ng3 g6 As above 21...cxb4 Boris offered draw. Again if Ng3 g6 22.Nd2 Bd6 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24.Nb3 c5 Black's structure is completely safe the knight cannot do any damage. In fact it might have to watch a5 and prevent a long king march 25.a3 Vishy offered a draw ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anand,V2799Gelfand,B2739½–½2012B30WCh 201210

Rest day reflection by GM Daniel King

Analysis of game ten by GM Daniel King on Playchess

Video commentary by Andrew Martin

 

GM Robert Fontaine and his video producer Gérard Demuydt are in Moscow, producing video reports and interviews after each round for the French chess magazine Europe Echecs. We are grateful to receive the reports very soon after the end of the games, so that we are able to publish them on the same day. It is also great to catch a glimpse of the many interesting personalities that visit the World Championship.

 

Video report by Vijay Kumar for Doordarshan Indian TV Network

 

Pictures by Anastasya Karlovich in Moscow

Video stream of the round (from the official World Championship site)

Once again the Russian organisers are providing unprecedented coverage,
with a HD video stream of the action and commentary by visiting grandmasters.

Scoreboard

 Players
Rtng
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Tot.
Perf.
+/–
 Vishy Anand
2791
½
½
½
½
½
½
0
1
½
½
    
5.0
2727
–9
 Boris Gelfand  
2727
½
½
½
½
½
½
1
0
½
½
    
5.0
2791
+9

Remaining schedule

Days of play, with live commentators on Playchess.com. Note that the games start at 15:00h local time = 13:00 CEST, 07 a.m. New York or here in your location.

Fri May 25 Rest day  
Sat May 26 Game 11 Daniel King
Sun May 27 Rest day  
 
Mon May 28 Game 12 Sam Collins
Tues May 29 Rest day  
Wed May 30 Tiebreaks  
Thurs May 31 Closing  

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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