World Championship G2 – Anand shows his hand as Semi-Slav is played

by ChessBase
5/12/2012 – Although the second game failed to develop the tension that might have led to a decisive victory, it did answer an important question: what did Anand have planned as his main black weapon? Against Topalov it had been the Grünfeld, then the stultified Catalan. This time the Semi-Slav was chosen, though it developed into a calm position that ended in a draw. Express report with GM commentary.
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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 two: Anand shows his hand with Semi-Slav

Press Release by Team Anand at NIIT

The reigning World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand demonstrated his defensive skills precisely and perfectly to draw against Challenger Boris Gelfand in the second game of the World Chess Championship at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow on Saturday night. Anand, the NIIT MindChampion was delightful in his defence with the dark pieces, often making unexpected moves as against the ones suggested by the experts and the chess engines following the game. The pieces and the position however appeared harmonious and Anand hardly appeared in trouble in the Anti-Meran game which lasted 25 moves.


Boris Gelfand at the start of game two of the World Championship

Anand later commenting on the ending position explained: "White did have a slight edge initially but in the end there were many defensive structures for Black.” Gelfand admitted: “I offered the draw as there was no option left. I could not get the slightest idea to mobilize the pieces.”


Cool with a Semi-Slav: World Champion Viswanathan Anand

In the initial stages, it appeared that Gelfand had a slight edge but Anand soon neutralized it by some quick exchange of pieces, including the queens. As expected there were no initial surprises by Gelfand as he stuck to his usual Queen Pawn Opening, while Anand opted for the Slav. He had stuck to the Grunfeld disastrously and then the Catalan against Veselin Topalov at the last World Championship at Sofia in 2010.

It was Anand who uncorked a novelty on the 14th turn with a knight move which left Gelfand thinking. However once the pawns and the pieces were cleared from the centre, there was not much play left.

Game two express analysis by GM Romain Edouard

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6!? The first surprise. Anand deviates from the more usual 5...Nbd7. 6.b3 The main move nowadays. 6.Qc2 is also very popular, while Gelfand already played 6.Bd3 and 6.c5!? in the past. 6...Bb4!? Black considers White's bishop will be misplaced on d2, since it would be more logical to put it on b2 later. 6...c5 is also possible: a typical reaction against systems with b3. 7.Bd2 Nbd7 8.Bd3 0-0 9.0-0 Bd6 10.Rc1!? A rare move, which is probably the second surprise of the game. 10.Qc2 is the most popular move. 10.e4 dxc4 11.bxc4 e5 is supposed to be fine for Black. 10.Re1!? is kind of a last-fashion move, which both players surely analyzed quite deeply. 10...e5 The most logical reaction. 10...Re8 and 10...h6 have already been played by several strong players. 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.e4!? A recent idea, but already played twice by GM Riazantsev. 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5 14.Ne2 with the idea of Bc3 used to be considered as very slightly better for White, but it seems after Ne4! Black is more or less able to solve all problems: 15.Bxe4 dxe4 16.Bc3 Bg4! 17.Bxe5 Qxd1 18.Rfxd1 Bxe2 19.Rd7 Rac8 20.Rdc7 1/2-1/2 (20) Najer,E (2638)-Jakovenko,D (2602) Olginka RUS 2011 12...dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 Nf6!?N And a third surprise! Until today's game, Black had never been able to solve all problems in that line. 14...exd4 15.Rc4! Nc5 15...Nf6 16.Bb1!? Bg4 (probably not the most accurate move) 17.Bg5 h6 18.Bh4 Bxf3 19.Qxf3 g5 20.Bg3 1/2-1/2 (46) Riazantsev,A (2688) -Matlakov,M (2630) St Petersburg RUS 2011 16.Bg5 f6 16...Qe8!? might be a better move. 17.Bxh7+!N 17.Bd5+ Kh8 with the idea of ...Bxh2+ was fine for Black in Riazantsev,A (2710)-Antoniewski,R (2559) Warszawa POL 2011 (65) 1/2-1/2 17...Kxh7 18.Rxd4 fxg5 19.Rxd6 Qe7 20.Re1 Ne6 21.Re5! and White is better according to my friend Houdini. 15.dxe5 15.Bg5 exd4 16.Rc4 16.Qxd4?! Bxh2+ and White loses a pawn. 16...h6! transposes into a game (which initially came 14...exd4 15.Bg5 Nf6 16. Rc4): 17.Rxd4 17.Bh4 g5 18.Rxd4 Nxe4 19.Rxe4 Qb6 is simply OK for Black. 17...hxg5 18.Rxd6 Qe7 19.Bb1 Bg4 20.Re1 Bxf3 21.Rxe7 Bxd1 22.Rxd1 Rfd8= 1/2-1/2 (37) Goganov,A (2480)-Rublevsky,S (2682) Taganrog RUS 2011 15...Nxe4 16.exd6 Qxd6 17.Be3 White has a symbolic advantage but the position is a draw. Bf5 18.Qxd6 Nxd6 19.Nd4 19.Rfd1 looks like a better option at first sight, but after Rfd8! 20.Bb6 Rdc8! Black holds easily. 19...Rfe8 20.Nxf5 Nxf5 21.Bc5 h5! 22.Rfd1 Rac8 23.Kf1 f6 24.Bb4 Kh7 25.Rc5 Not such a fascinating game, but still quite an interesting one from theoretical point of view. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gelfand,B2727Anand,V2791½–½2012D45Wch Match 20122

Game two express analysis by IM Malcolm Pein

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6 Black often plays this on move 4 as well. Black prepares to play b7-b5 taking space. 5...Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 Is the Slav Meran Variation where Black sometimes plays a7-a6 later to defend b5 and allow c6-c5 challenging the centre. So we could transpose 6.b3 So that b7-b5 can be calmly met by 7.Bd3 Bb4 A clever move designed to force a white bishop onto a poor square 6...b5 7.Bd3 7.Bd2 7.Bb2 Qa5 8.Rc1 Qxa2 7...Nbd7 8.Bd3 0-0 9.0-0 Bd6 Boris started to think. He had lost to Kasparov in 1991 playing Black in this position after 10. e4 9...Qe7!? 10.Qc2 Re8 11.Rad1 10.Rc1 10.e4 dxc4 11.bxc4 e5 12.c5! Bc7 13.Na4 exd4 14.h3! 1-0 Kasparov,G (2800)-Gelfand,B (2700)/Linares 1991 10...e5 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.e4 Boris hopes his slightly more advanced development will assist in a more open position 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5 Produces an Isolated Queen's Pawn position where Black's active pieces more than compensate for the slight weakness of pawn. If a white bishop was on b2 and not d2 he might be slightly better but here Black is fine 14.Ne2 14.Ne2 Bg4 14...Bxh2+ 15.Kxh2 Ng4+ 16.Kg3+- 12...dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 Nf6 Very solid, a real challenge for White to extract something 'A slight symbolic edge' - Gelfand At this stage it was clear that if there was an advantage to be secured Boris needed to think hard and he did for 30 minutes before deciding against 15.Bg5 15.dxe5 15.Bg5 exd4 Seems to work in all lines 16.Nxd4 16.Qxd4 Bxh2+ 17.Kxh2 Qxd4 18.Nxd4 Nxe4 16.Rc4 h6 17.Rxd4 hxg5 18.Rxd6 Qe7= 19.Bd5 Bg4 16...Bxh2+ 17.Kxh2 Qd6+ 18.Kg1 Nxe4 15...Nxe4 16.exd6 Qxd6 17.Be3 Bf5 And now I guess Qxd6 and Rfd1 White has an edge for sure but the opposite bishops might make it fizzle out. Indeed after the game Anand said he had checked this position and determined it was level 18.Qxd6 Nxd6 19.Nd4 A natural move but the white knight is now closer to the black knight and if they are exchanged it's very drawish with opposite coloured bishops. However that's not the way it turned out 19.Rfd1 Rfd8 20.Bb6 Rdc8 21.Nd4 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Rc8= 19...Rfe8 It's one of those positions where a few accurate moves should secure the draw but as Nigel Short pointed out, such accuracy often requires tactical skill and here we see an example 20.Nxf5 Vishy equalises easily now indeed from the video I sensed he might have been feeling more relaxed after this. White appears to be winning after 20.Bf4 but Re4!= 20.Rc7 Bg6 21.a4 f6 22.Rfc1 Continues the struggle but I cannot see any way for White to progress 20...Nxf5 21.Bc5 h5 White has bishop v knight on an open board but the knight is well placed and stable 22.Rfd1 Rac8 23.Kf1 f6 24.Bb4 Kh7 'A clever way to get the king in the game' - Gelfand 25.Rc5 Not a very exciting game but these are two supremely well prepared players. ' I couldn't see any possibility to continue' - Gelfand 25.Rc5 Kg6 26.Rdc1 Rxc5 27.Rxc5 Rd8 28.Rc7 Rd1+ 29.Ke2 Ra1= ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gelfand,B2739Anand,V2799½–½2012D45WCh 20122

Ananlysis of game two by GM Daniel King on Playchess

Video stream of round two (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
                    
1.0
2727
  
 Boris Gelfand  
2727
½
½
                    
1.0
2791
  

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.

Sun May 13 Rest day  
Mon May 14 Game 3 Yannick Pelletier
Tues May 15 Game 4 Daniel King
Wed May 16 Rest day  
Thur May 17> Game 5 Daniel King
Fri May 18 Game 6 Loek van Wely
Sat May 19 Rest day  
Sun May 20 Game 7 Lawrence Trent
Mon May 21 Game 8 Oliver Reeh
Tues May 22 Rest day  
 
Wed May 23 Game 9 Daniel King
Thur May 24 Game 10 Yannick Pelletier
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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