It took 122 moves of grinding defense, but Indian challenger Viswanathan Anand may have claimed a little momentum Monday in drawing Game 7 with world champion Magnus Carlsen in their scheduled 12-game title match in Sochi, Russia. With the draw, Carlsen now enjoys a 4-3 edge, with two wins, four draws and a loss in the match’s first seven games.
The Indian challenger’s ability to grind out a draw from the Black side of a Ruy Lopez Berlin gives him three whites and two blacks in the final five games to try to even the score. Even better, Monday’s game was just the kind of struggle Carlsen exploited in winning the title from Anand a year ago — a risk-free torturing of his opponent that repeatedly produced last-hour mistakes from the older Anand.
The past week has seen some high drama in Sochi, with Anand using some fine home cooking in a tricky QGD line to win Game 3. The game followed a 2008 game (see below) that the challenger apparently knew and the champ didn’t.
Then came the double blunder heard around the world in Game 6. In a Sicilian, Carlsen as White was pressing even after an early exchange of queens, using his bishop pair and more active rooks to press the play.
But the game’s critical moment came on 25. Bc2 Rdg8 (see diagram) 26. Kd2??, when both players overlooked that Anand had the two-move combination 26Nxe5! 27. Rxg8 Nxc4+ 28. Kd2 Nb2+ 29. Kd2 Rxg8, and Black has won two pawns and White is on the verge of defeat. Instead, blind to the gift given him, Black quickly played 26a4?, allowing White to resume his slow strangulation of his opponent’s position. Black erred again on 32. Be4+ Bc6? (sacrificing the exchange with 32Ka7 33. Bxa8 Rxa8 gives Black better drawing chances) 33. Bxg6, and Black’s kingside pawns can’t be saved and Anand resigned.
Game 8, with Anand playing the White pieces will be played Tuesday.
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World championship matches can shed a spotlight on unexpected openings and games. Anand’s Game 3 win had everyone scurrying to find a six-year-old game from the Russian Superfinals, won by GM Evgeny Tomashevsky over fellow Russian GM Alexander Riazantsev. While Tomashevsky throws in an 8. h3 that wasn’t played in Sochi, it’s clear the Indian challenger was channeling White’s play in the 2008 game.
It’s not clear if Carlsen didn’t know or didn’t remember the earlier game in this line, but Tomashevsky’s winning recipe is eerily similar to Anand’s: a powerful passed pawn on c7, a tripling of the minor pieces on the c-file, and some winning tactics based on blocking Black’s desperate blockade.
With 25. 0-0 Rc8, Riazantsev at least managed to get his rook in the way of the passed pawn, but Black’s game was already beyond salvation: 26. Rc6! h6 27. Rfc1 Kh7 28. Qa6 (with the idea of 29. Rb6 e5 30. Qxc8! Qxc8 31. Rb8 32. Qxc7 32. Rxc7 Bd6 33. Bxe5! Bxe5 34. dxe5 Rd1+ 35. Kh2 a2 36. Ra8 a1=Q 37. Rxa1 Rxa1 38. Rxf7, with a winning ending) Rf5 29. Bd6! Bh4 (Bxd6 30. Rxd6 Qe8 31. Qxc8 Qxc8 32. Rd8 Qa6 33. c8=Q Qd3 34. Qc2 Qxe3+ 35. Kh1 and wins) 30. Qxa3+ Bf2+ 31. Kh1 Rd4 32. Bf4, and the Black a-pawn is eliminated while White retains all his threats.
It’s over after 35. Be5 Bd8 (Black gets mated on 35…Bf6 36. Bxf6 gxf6 38. Rb8 Rd6 38. Qa5 Kg6 39. Qa8 Rxc7 40. Rg8+ Kh5 41. Qf3+ Kh4 42. Qg3+ Kh5 43. Qg6+ Kh4 44. Qxh6 mate) 36. Rb8, and Black resigned in light of 36…Rxe5 37. Rxc8 Qxc8 38. cxd8=Q Qxd8 39. dxe5 and wins.
Anand-Carlsen, Game 3, World Championship Match, Sochi, Russia, November 2014
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 c6 8.Bd3 b6 9. b4 a5 10. a3 Ba6 11. Bxa6 Rxa6 12. b5 cxb5 13. c6 Qc8 14. c7 b4 15. Nb5 a4 16. Rc1 Ne4 17. Ng5 Ndf6 18. Nxe4 Nxe4 19. f3 Ra5 20. fxe4 Rxb5 21. Qxa4 Ra5 22. Qc6 bxa3 23. exd5 Rxd5 24. Qxb6 Qd7 25. O-O Rc8 26. Rc6 g5 27. Bg3 Bb4 28. Ra1 Ba5 29. Qa6 Bxc7 30. Qc4 e5 31. Bxe5 Rxe5 32. dxe5 Qe7 33. e6 Kf8 34. Rc1 Black resigns.
Carlsen-Anand, Game 6, World Championship Match, Sochi, Russia, November 2014
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Qd3 Nc6 8. Nxc6 dxc6 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 1. e5 Nd7 11. Bf4 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Kc7 13. h4 b6 14. h5 h6 15. O-O-O Bb7 16. Rd3 c5 17. Rg3 Rag8 18. Bd3 Nf8 19. Be3 g6 20. hxg6 Nxg6 21. Rh5 Bc6 22. Bc2 Kb7 23. Rg4 a5 24. Bd1 Rd8 25. Bc2 Rdg8 26. Kd2 a4 27. Ke2 a3 28. f3 Rd8 29. Ke1 Rd7 30. Bc1 Ra8 31. Ke2 Ba4 32. Be4+ Bc6 33. Bxg6 fxg6 34. Rxg6 Ba4 35. Rxe6 Rd1 36. Bxa3 Ra1 37. Ke3 Bc2 38. Re7+ Black resigns.
Tomashevsky-Riazantsev, Russian Superfinals, October 2008
1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 c6 8. h3 b6 9. b4 a5 10. a3 Ba6 11. Bxa6 Rxa6 12. b5 cxb5 13. c6 Qc8 14. c7 b4 15. Nb5 a4 16. Rc1 Ne4 17. Nd2 Ndf6 18. f3 Ra5 19. Nxe4 Nxe4 20. fxe4 Rxb5 21. Qxa4 Ra5 22. Qc6 bxa3 23. exd5 Rxd5 24. Qxb6 Qd7 25. O-O Rc8 26. Rc6 h6 27. Rfc1 Kh7 28. Qa6 Rf5 29. Bd6 Bh4 30. Qxa3 Bf2+ 31. Kh1 Rd5 32. Bf4 f5 33. Qc3 Bh4 34. Rb6 Bg5 35. Be5 Bd8 36. Rb8 Black resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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