The 2018 world championship match will return to a city that is no stranger to hosting the game’s ultimate event.
FIDE and match sponsor World Chess made it official last week, announcing that Norwegian world champ Magnus Carlsen will defend his title against a yet-to-be-determined challenger in the British capital in a 12-game match that starts Nov. 9, 2018. Two American grandmasters, Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So, are in the eight-player candidates tournament in Berlin in March to pick Carlsen’s opponent.
It’s the fourth championship match of the modern era to be played in the city since 1986, when Russian Garry Kasparov defended his title against longtime archrival and compatriot Anatoly Karpov. But the 1986 match actually ended a long title drought for the city.
England was a dominant chess power in the first half of the 19th century, and London was the site for the epic La Bourdonnais-McDonnell match of 1834 and hosted two title matches played by English great Howard Staunton.
But the 1866 match in which Austria’s Wilhelm Steinitz narrowly dethroned German Adolf Anderssen would be the last (unofficial) title bout in London for 120 years. Let’s hope Carlsen-Whoever will match the excitement of that 1866 match, which saw nary a draw in the Austrian’s 8-6 victory.
Anderssen sometimes gets a bad rap as a Romantic-era dinosaur, but Game 6 win in the match displayed a very modern positional feel. In a Closed Sicilian, Steinitz as White makes some questionable pawn pushes (11. f5?! and 23. d5?!), easing the central tension and allowing Black to pursue a queenside pawn storm unhindered.
Black builds up a significant edge with 23…Qa7! 24. Bxb6 (dxc6?? Bxe3+) Qxb6+ 25. Kh1 Nd8 26. Qg5?! (better was the positional sacrifice 26. c5! Qxc5 27. Rc1 Qa7 28. Rac1 Qd4 29. Qxd4 exd4 30. Rxa5) Kf8 27. f6 g6 28. h4 Nb7 29. Bh3, when Anderssen makes his only significant misstep by missing the powerful 29…Nc5!.
Despite White’s ingenious attempt to change the subject with 34. Be6!?, Black stays true to the position’s demands: 34…Qb7! (fxe6?! 35. dxe6 Ke8 36. Rd5 Qc7 37. Rad2 Nxe6 38. Rxd6 Qc8 39. R6d5 a4 40. Rxe5 gives White plenty of counterplay for the sacrificed piece) 35. Kg1 a4! 36. bxa4 b3!, and the passed b-pawn will prove a bone in White’s throat.
Anderssen is deadly accurate in converting his advantage into a win: 44. Qh6 (Qe2 Rxb1 45. Rxb1 Na4, with the nasty threat of 46…Nc3) Rxb1 45. Rxb1 Qb4! (rightly judging that White’s kingside foray is harmless) 46. Qf8 Qd2+ 47. Bg2 (see diagram; on 47. Kh3, very Anderssenesque would be 47…Rxg3+!! 48. Kxg3 Nxe4+ 49. Kf3 Qf4+ 50. Ke2 Qf2+ 51. Kd3 Qf3+ 52. Kc2 Qc3+ 53. Kd1 Qd2 mate) Qd3! (hitting the rook and the g3-square) 48. Qxf7+ Nd7 49. c5 Qxg3+ 50. Kg1 Rc3 51. cxd6+ Kb6! (Kxd6?? 52. Qe6+ Kc7 53. d6+! Kb8 54. Qe8+ Rc8 55. Rxb2 throws it all away) 52. Rxb2+ Kc5 53. Rb1 Rc2 54. Rb5+ Kc4!, and there’s no defense against the threat of mate on g2. Steinitz resigned.
Steinitz-Anderssen, Game 6 World Championship Match, London, July 1866
1. e4 c5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 e5 4. Ne2 Nf6 5. Nbc3 d6 6. O-O Be7 7. f4 h5 8. h3 Bd7 9. Nd5 Qc8 10. Nxf6+ Bxf6 11. f5 Ne7 12. c4 Qd8 13. Nc3 Bc6 14. d3 Qd7 15. a3 a5 16. b3 b5 17. Be3 b4 18. axb4 cxb4 19. Na4 Bxa4 20. Rxa4 Nc6 21. Qd2 Bd8 22. d4 Bb6 23. d5 Qa7 24. Bxb6 Qxb6+ 25. Kh1 Nd8 26. Qg5 Kf8 27. f6 g6 28. h4 Nb7 29. Bh3 Rd8 30. Ra2 Ke8 31. Rd1 Ra8 32. Qd2 Nc5 33. Qe3 Kd8 34. Be6 Qb7 35. Kg1 a4 36. bxa4 b3 37. Raa1 b2 38. Rab1 Rxa4 39. Bh3 Kc7 40. Bf1 Rha8 41. Rd2 Rb4 42. Kh2 Ra1 43. Rdd1 Rb3 44. Qh6 Rxb1 45. Rxb1 Qb4 46. Qf8 Qd2+ 47. Bg2 Qd3 48. Qxf7+ Nd7 49. c5 Qxg3+ 50. Kg1 Rc3 51. cxd6+ Kb6 52. Rxb2+ Kc5 53. Rb1 Rc2 54. Rb5+ Kc4 White resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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