Game - 1: A few butterflies in the stomach!

"There are two ways of detecting something that no one has yet seen: one is to aim at the finest detail by getting as close as possible with the best available analyzing instruments; the other is merely to look to things from a new angle where they show hitherto unexposed facets..." -  Hans Selye

Dr.Hans Selye - the man who applied the term "Stress" biologically and explored its pros and cons, gives me the direction on how to approach.... and I commence my groping!  With one man essentially the same and the other looks his usual self - after transfixing his doubts and stemming his misgivings of last November....wow, this match has already started showing some promise - despite some wobbling and missing a few heartbeats in the dying moments!

White: Vishwanathan Anand - Black: Magnus Carlsen:  Score: 1/2 - 1/2

A game worthy enough for a beginning, to an event of this magnitude. 

Nice to see both the players shaking their brains harder and longer before shaking their hands. In the end one was relieved to have overcome anxious moments earlier and the other later - and all is well that ends well!

This is how a true world championship match feels like. You could feel the intensity oozing out of both the players. Vishy Anand made a  nice step forward when Carlsen sank into deep thought, with lot of gesticulations as early as move 9; expending 15 odd minutes to play 9….Bg4, which seemed a natural one in that position - and not before some nail biting by both the players for different reasons!   

Peter Svidler in his excellent commentary on air in the official site, analysed the pros and cons of this position which primarily revolves around how black will counter white’s strong center and also find meaning for the unusually placed black knight on c6 square.  

For the benefit of non chess players, I wish to mention that in the 1) d4 lines, the black’s queen knight seldom jumps to the “c6” square with the pawn still remaining on “c7”.  In the classical age, Carlsen would have been profusely admonished for this 'insanity'; boy, Chess has evolved and what was once blasphemous is now sacrosanct!  For the records, Chessbase throws only 4 games where black dared to play the move 9).....Nc6!? which leads to the following position.

Hard to believe that players could run out of established lines as early as this, in a World Chess Championship - but the fact is, Carlsen did and unconventionally!

Grunfeld is the name of this opening named after Ernst Grunfeld who belonged to a species called 'hyper-moderns' who chose to differ from the classicists, by not occupying the center with their pawns, but rather preferring to control it from the wings and postpone the confrontation with opponent's central pawns and the contest for center control to a later moment!

GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly stole words from my mouth and tweeted "That was an excellent anti-Berlin". Incidentally, it was the eve of 25th anniversary of the demolition of Berlin Wall!

Let us pick up play from the following position, with white to move.

Anand has a sound central pawns which form a wedge, bifurcating the center diagonally. His bishop has a nice square on "h3" from where it will not only prevent the all important break e7-e6 but more importantly cover the square "c8" from black rooks!  The fractured Kingside pawns preempts castling on that side. Hence...

13) OOO  c6;

Obviously black cannot leave White's central pawns unchallenged for ever and this is the only decent way to do. Also, it opens the c-file for black pieces to exert some pressure on the White king.

14) Qc3

How often you see a queen getting placed on the same line with his king on a semi-open file with your opponent already trying to open it fully! Yet the positional rules are dynamic and depend greatly on that particular position, with the interplay of its constituent members.

Here, it was essential for Anand to stem the activity of Black's knight and "c3" is the right square, as the bishop would take care of the vital "c8" square to ensure safety.  And White is threatening to play f4, forcing Black to play...

14) ......f6; 15) Bh3 cd5; 16) ed5 Nf7; 17) f4

This move narrows the range of Black's knight and leaves Carlsen's pieces to contest for the "d6" square.

Both Carlsen and Anand have achieved their initial objectives: Black has a classical and solid pawn structure and his only weakness "e7" is easily defendable.  The main point is the availability of the "d6" square which Carlsen will use as a stepping pad to manoeuvre his pieces.  He has a target in "d5" if Anand exchanges his bishop for knight.

On the other hand, White has a lot of space, covers one light diagonal and dark diagonal beautifully, retains play on the "e" file with recurring tactical themes like the push d5-d6 at an appropriate moment to weaken the f6 pawn (assuming that the bishop will get exchanged and his rook will appear on the "e6" square, as it happened in the game).  His concern however is his fractured kingside pawns which portend a bleak future in some endings and hence, Anand is required to keep creating sufficient play so as to not let the game drift...

17) .....Qd6!

Though this square is tailor made for the black knight, the weakness of e7 does not allow the luxury of using it for his knight.

I particularly liked the way Carlsen manoeuvred unhurriedly, using this square!

18) Qd4!

A fine centralising move!

18) ......Rad8; 19) Be6 Qb6; 20) Qd2 Rd6; 21) Rhe1 Nd8; 22) f5

Very logical; securing the "e6" square and the best way to turn his 'weakness' into some strength!

The alternative 22) Bh3 retaining the bishop is counterproductive as it will let Black pieces pound on White's "d5" and push the bishop to a passive defence.

22) .....Ne6; 23) Re6 Qc7; 24) Kb1 Rc8; 25) Rde1 Re6; 26) Re6 Rd8; 27) Qe3

The economy of movement by both the queens on the dark squares: d2-c3-d4-d3-e3 for white and d6-b6-c7 for Black, is pleasing for the eyes!

27) .....Rd7; 28) d6!

Appropriate!  The pawn has done enough and Anand utilises it to get rid of one of his weaklings, whilst pushing Carlsen to assume a defensive mode.

28) ......ed6; 29) Qd4 Rf7; 30) fg6 hg6; 31) Rd6 a6; 32) a3

Anand has a nice centralised queen & rook and has got rid of his back-rank weakness. Black has a robust pawn structure and safe king. And with his next few queen moves, Carlsen tries to probe Anand's weak kingside pawns.  The position is in balance with pros and cons matching.

32) .....Qa5! 33) f4 Qh5; 34) Qd2

This queen kept moving on these two vital squares in this game: "d4" for offence and "d2" for defense!

34) ....Qc5; 35) Rd5 Qc4; 36) Rd7 Qc6

With his queen sortie, Carlsen pushed White queen from the strong "d4" square and managed to lure the rook out of the strong d6 square targeting the "f6" pawn.

37) Rd6?

And the moment of indiscretion arrived!  "Imperceptible careless moves" answered Anand in response to a question during the post match Q&A session.  Plausibly the plural in his statement has some reference to his distant past!

The truce was not far off after 37) Rf7 and that would have been the logical conclusion to this finely contested game!

37) .....Qe4!

From the dark squares to the light squares!  Suddenly Anand has awoke the 'boa' hiding in Carlsen, which started sensing prey!

38) Ka2 Re7; 39) Qc1

....and suddenly Anand has to search for some decent moves, which started becoming increasingly scarce, as the game progresses!  A typical boxing ring action where one gets pushed back only to find an opportune moment to recover and counter push the opposition. "Chess is a matter of delicate judgement knowing when to punch and how to duck" - Robert James Fischer

Such is the nature of this game which has enable it to survive a century & half and thrive, despite the repeated prognosis of premature death!

39) .....a5! 40) Qf1

This queen suddenly looks ugly when it is forced to move out of the all important central squares, where it was hovering all the while!

40) ....a4!

And the concrete threats become apparent!   The king though hidden in the corner, finds himself absolutely vulnerable.  A few designs of mate is appearing on the back-rank in conjunction with the "b3" weakness.

41) Rd1 Qc2; 

Compare this position with the one after 32.a3!  Commentators and twitters portend repeat of last November and even started discussion on how this will affect the course of this match!

Chess can be so cruel at times.  It required a lot of time and Anand's innate ability to build  a fortresses and emerge scot free.

From now on, Carlsen can afford the luxury of ease, but Anand needed to do a tightrope walking and cannot afford even a single wrong step!

42) Rd4!

In such positions, passivity means a certain death and as Dr.Emmanuel Lasker said a century back, "attack is the best form of defense"!

42) .....Rd2!

Ominous! Fortunately the White Rook is on time to find a square to attack as well as defend!

43) Rb4! b5! 44) Qh1!!

And this move saves the day for Vishy! The anxious moments that he spent after Carlsen's 40.....a4 would have slipped in to despair if this option was not available for him. The move threatens Qb7 check and the grabbing of black's queenside pawns - with the Rook on b4 depriving "b3" and "c4" squares for Black queen.

44) .....Re7

Carlsen replied "I do not find any win, please show me if you know anything" to a question whether he missed a win!

45) Qd5 Re1; 46) Qd7 Kh6; 47) Qh3 Kg7; 48) Qd7 1/2 - 1/2

   

Chess offers enough resources, but to the discerning eyes!  Both Anand and Carlsen went quite deep and explored their resources and created a fine piece of modern art which made millions of chess lovers perceive its beauty corresponding to the level of their comprehension!

I do not mind a few wrong strokes or colours, they add value!