Game - 4: Measure for measure

....not feeling happy with his play so far

We will get to the game played, but before that I let the following story to guide us into an interim inference  

Aesop was a storyteller whose fables are still the best the world has ever known. He was a man of great wisdom.

One day Aesop was sitting by the side of the road when someone who was passing by asked him, "Could you tell me, sir, how far is the village and how long it will take me to get there?"

Aesop didn't say anything and he simply got up and started walking with the man. The man was a little frightened. He told Aesop not to trouble himself because all he wanted to know was the distance and the time it would take him, and then he would be on his way.

Aesop still didn't say anything but continued walking with the man. After fifteen minutes or so, Aesop stopped and said, "It will take you two hours."

The man replied, "What a crazy person you are!  You could have told me that from the beginning! There was no need to walk a mile with me."

Aesop answered, "How could I tell you the time it would take you before knowing how fast you walk? The time it will take isn't decided by the distance, but by the speed of the walker. Now I can tell you definitely that it will take you two hours."

We have travelled one third of this journey with the players....fairly gauged their current state of mind....right time for some interim conclusions:

"...hmm...I donno...Chennai score was 2 - 2 and here it is 2 - 2 after 4 games....hmm I don't see any difference...regardless of what mood you are in, the score is similar, since score is equal...everything is equal", said Magnus during the post match interview after the 4th game.

Anand did not give his view on the first four games collectively, but he should definitely be feeling a lot better after the 3rd and 4th game.

The tipping point in favour of Anand, despite the scores being level, is that he has won a game....powerfully.  He is allowing Magnus to come at him which is working in his favour; and unlike the previous match, Anand is growing in confidence!  

Carlsen on the other hand is not happy with his play which may or may not work in his favour.  It provides us enough clue to assume that this match would go upto the final game.

                     

Carlsen's expression in the dying moments of the fourth game!

The wry smile camouflages a self contempt, which was coming out in the form of ..hmmm...aa...and lot more gestures which betray my expression through words.  The questions asked in the post match conferences are also pretty ordinary...

"My last two games have been pretty bad...so..I have to improve on it. I missed several things.....hm...overall it was just not a high quality game....in general not good enough."

Magnus Carlsen is a magnificent player, camouflages his deep intentions through his seemingly simple moves, and lets the pieces talk.  The point he was trying to make in his above statement is that, he is falling into Vishy's plan and even in the fourth game despite he trying to steer the game into uncharted dessert, Vishy remained cool and if not spotting an oasis, showed that he cannot be dried out by the dessert heat; which took toll on him in Chennai 2013!

...no the game was not that boring!

Vishy was so dried out in Chennai that he even deprived himself of this natural act! 

Well, the game played was not so boring after all and was a good strategic skirmish.

1) e4 c5; 2) Nf3 e6; 3) g3 Nc6; 4) Bg2 d5; 5) ed5 ed5; 6) OO Nf6; 7) d4

No topical lines please!

Hence you reached this position which, when began, promised a mainline sicilian....could have been Paulsen...Taimanov....Scheveningen....after Vishy's 2).....e6..... but remember "once bitten 9 times shy"!

The term "Kings indian attack" is loosely attached to this set-up, which is as slimy as an earthworm which meanders through the mud, and I donno how the term "Indian" got tagged on to many chess opening lines, when no Indian right from Sultan Khan has not authored a single opening line!

Columbus thought he reached India through a different route when he stumbled into what we now call as America when he saw red people roaming around and as we in India call anyone with a stubbed nose as "Chinese" even if they happen to be from North East Indian Province, those red people were also called "Indians"!

And so, when someone finds it difficult to name something, the term "Indian" came in handy as did "Chinese" for us!

Ultimately, whatever name that you use or wish to call an opening, it serves to obey two primary laws of chess:

1) Control the central squares by hook or crook!
2) Bring out the pieces to some decent squares from where they can start flirting!!

Why complicate and confuse ourselves with names....which is merely phonetic and serves no other purpose after it gets out of our mouth!

Let us call it Kings Indian Attack.

7) ......Be7; 8) Be3 cd4; 9) Nd4 Bg4! 10) Qd3 Qd7

The skirmish begins!

Generally, the followers of any game prefers to see action and fails to appreciate the subtle build up to the attack, defence and counter attack!  In Cricket, spectators like only fours and sixes and wickets and does not appreciate a batsman biding his time to get into the grove by straight bat batting on the V and shouldering his arms to refrain from flirting.  Or a bowler who keeps probing a batsman by bowling persistently on a good line and length, occasionally surprising him with a well directed bouncer....a wrong one or a ball that leaves him with a heave, which in itself is more profound than the ball hitting the wood behind the legs!

Vishy's 9) .....Bg4! is a googly which made Carlsen re-consider his options and shift the focus to the light squares around his king; the "f3" and "h3".  And 10.....Qd7 would mean queenside castling only for novice eyes!

One needs to get to the classics....the history to understand the nuances of such fundamental aspects of playing chess.  There was a time when the players prefered to occupy the central squares to take a firm grip on the game before launching an attack.  Slowly, somebody started thinking differently and instead of occupying the central squares, they developed the pieces on the wings which indirectly controlled the center.  They were like Einstein groping to find a unified force at a cosmic level....looking afar!

The center control is same and the hope for unified theory is also the same. But these days, Chess masters approach it with innocuous looking moves which are tangent and seldom straight like the physicist narrowing his gaze into subatomic level.

If the former defied the vision by distance and magnitude the latter by its invisibility to naked viewing!

Yet, the search will be on at all times; whether you and I understand or not or whether the author of the move himself understands or not!!

Science is searching and so does Chess!

11) Nd2 OO; 12) N2f3 Rfe8; 13) Rfe1 Bd6!?

"Typical isolani position...black uses the squares and activity in compensation for the isolani", said Vishy.

At times, your own pawns would occupy some vital squares that your pieces may want to go and halt for a view around.  What Vishy meant was precisely this, the pawn on "d5" which is commonly called as an "Isolani" in chess parlance - because it has lost its neighbors in the war - aids movement for his superiors to move around him and to use the squares, "e4" in particular, if given a chance. The weakest point of the isolani is the square just in front of it "d4" and the fragile nature of the pawn which lacks the support of its neighbor.

The next few move revolve around these squares directly or indirectly.

14) c3 h6; 15) Qf1!? 

A typical "Carlsenish" move - he allows his queen who is too fond of her king, to go near him for a "passionate kiss", amidst serious strategizing hours!!

The idea is to get control of "h3" to drive the bishop on g4; as its presence there is not making the move Rad1 comfortable.

15) .....Bh5!?

Both the players are in height of their senses: they smell and emanate subtle clues!

If Magnus wants to drive that bishop, Anand moves it out before Magnus plays h3, not only to get to the diagonal h7-b1 faster and take control of "e4"; but also letting a 'hidden' threat of Ng4 to flash through the minds eye!

16) h3 Bg6; 17) Rad1 Rad8

This is the first resting place in this game.  Both the sides played out their cards and obtained what they bid for.

The subtle moves of both the sides: Nd2-Nf3; Qf1 for white and Bd6; h6; Bh5-Bg6 for black ensured that nothing untoward happened.  Now Carlsen begins to take some active measures and Vishy plays out his counter.

18) Nc6 bc6; 19) c4 Be4; 20) Bd4 Nh7! 21) cd5 Bd5!? 22) Re8 Re8; 23) Qd3!

The loving is over, Carlsen queen comes out for 'incubation'!!  Such maneuvers Qd3-f1-d3 define Carlsen!

The move aims at Nf3-h4-f5 as an option. The white bishop on d4 is a finely centralise piece and with an additional rook on the board and the white pawn on h2 (instead of h3), this would look a menacing position. But...

23).....Nf8; 24) Nh4 Be5; 25) Bd5 Qd5; 26) Be5 Qe5; 27) b3 Ne6; 28) Nf3 Qf6; 29) Kg2 Rd8; 30) Qe2

"I dint think I had too much...perhaps I thought I was a little bit better.  Black pieces are doing fine....hmm.... I started to drift a bit....Qc2 instead of 30) Qe2....and I can claim to be symbolically better" replied Carlsen on a question how he felt about the game!

If something different he could have done, it was probably in the phase between move 24 and now. Carlsen spewed strongly..."...hmm...I thought I played terribly....hmm....there was a draw, thats ok.."

30) .....Rd5; 31) Rd5 cd5; 32) Ne5 Qf5; 33) Nd3

And this is what he meant by that statement..."I started to drift":  he wasn't sure what to do with this knight and allowed it to wander; f3-h4-f3 and Ne5 after going there he found that the intended travel to "c6" gets defeated by a hidden tactic: 34) Nc6 Nf4! followed by 35)......Qg6.

33) ......Nd4; 34) g4 Qd7; 35) Qe5 Ne6; 36) Kg3 Qb5!; 37) Nf4 Nf4; 38) Kf4

Like in the real war, the King arrives on the battlefield last and only if it warrants!  Anand in the meanwhile found a route for his queen to enter White's arena!

38) .....Qb4; 39) Kf3 d4; 40) Qe8 Kh7; 41) Qf7 Qd2!  

"I was considering 41) .....Qc3; 42) Ke4 d3 and then found 43) Qf3 would result in a blunder and then I had to see that extra square "d2" that it can move", said Anand.

42) Qf5 Kh8; 43) h4!? Qa2; 44) Qe6 Qd2!

In time to prevent 45) g5 and allow the pawn to reach "g6" with the threat of mate!

45) Qe8 Kh7; 46) Qe4 Kh8; 47) Qe8 Kh7;   1/2 - 1/2

And Carlsen extended his right arm!

The neatly arranged captured White pieces indicate Vishy's tranquil state of mind!  The statement that he made in the press conference reflected this: "There wasn't a moment that I was really worried about. It is a very complex position. I was trying hard to get a grip and understand it but there wasn't a moment I was very concerned".

On the contrary, Carlsen said, "My last two games have been pretty bad so I have to improve on it. I missed several things....overall it was just not a high quality game...in general not good enough".

Well, obviously there would be chances to improve upon any move, any position, any game, any result...

Last time he could manage to pressurise Vishy with any move, any position, any game to achieve only one result, but Vishy woke up after that and is keeping strict vigil!

A fine positional fight notwithstanding what Magnus said.

The next two games before the next rest day would probably be defining in terms of giving a direction....especially today's White...which is all the more crucial because, Magnus will get two consecutive Whites and Vishy two consecutive Blacks after today!

Till then....!