Round - 4: Norway Chess: "Not this time Magnus...!"
"Chess is infinite, and chess players, in order not to lose their way in its vastness, are guided in the evaluation of positions and the choosing of plans by certain signposts, such as weak pawns, open lines, advantage in development, good and bad Bishops, poor King positions, and others. It must be said, however, that such signposts are not found in every game, so we cannot always compare the pros and cons of a position as the basis, for choosing the correct plan." - David Bronstein
After some hide and seek; provoking and avoiding the players entered a well known line in Ruy Lopez....no no no....this time it was not the old "dry lopez", but rather a pleasant win for the Indian. The Norwegian used to wring out every essence of a position that he played in the past few years to tire Vishy out in a dry desert....but not this time!
Vishy got a nice position where he could allow his instincts to takeover and registered a fine win!
Vishy Anand - Magnus Carlsen
19....Bc8
Perhaps, Black could have played 19....h5 here, before trying to assume initiative on the Queen-side.
20.Ng4 Nc5; 21.Nh6 Bh6
Or if 21....Kf8, not wishing to part with the Bishop, the Knight would remain a thorn and at some point you would be forced to exchange it.
22.Bh6 ba4; 23.Ra2?!
A move which does some favour in return; if not anything, Black with his natural next move, closes the a-file!
Having accomplished what it had, the Bishop could have returned to 'e3' and grabbed that Knight on c5 and kept the play open on the a-file!
23.....a3! 24.ba3 Nfd7; 25.f4!?
A fine attempt to stirrup the game! The game takes an interesting turn and Vishy follows it up with few fine cunning 'silent moves'!
25.....a5; 26.Rf1 f6; 27.f5 Nd3! 28.Bd3 cd3; 29.Qd1! Re7
Nice silent conversation is happening! While Vishy is bringing his forces towards Black King, Magnus is bringing his forces to fortify the squares around his monarch.
30.Raf2 Rf7; 31Qd3!?
At times, a player is required to take time out from what he does and indulge in certain activities which would divert the attention of the opponent from the scene of action. Obviously, the Queen needs to move on to the Kingside, but Vishy decided to grab this pawn enroute, which is a practical decision and proved good. Two things, he got the pawn and deflected the Bishop from staring some points, say f5, and more importantly, the move left a bait for the Bishop on the f1-square!
In such positions, it is not the direct value of pieces, but the relative value of pieces in relation to the need of the hour, which is important. The Rook on f1 weighs lightly under this consideration.
31.....Nc5; 32.Qf3 Ba6; 33.Qg4?
In any case, White has to take on g6 if the Queen has to attack that point from g4; why not now? Moreover, the move might wake-up Magnus and reconsider taking the bait on f1.
33.....g5?
33.....Bc8!
34.h4!
Black's position looks ominous, to say the least!
34.....Bf1; 35.Rf1 Qd7; 36.hg5 fg5; 37.Qh5
37.Bg5!
37....Kh8; 38.f6 Rg8; 39.Bg7 Rfg7; 40.fg7 Qg7; 41.Nf5 Qg6; 42.Qg6 Rg6; 43.Ne7 Kg7; 44.Ng6 Kg6; 45.Rf8 a4; 46.c4 h5; 47.Kf2; Magnus Resigned
Now, consider the Bronstein's quote given in the beginning: "What are the signposts that were available to the players in this game?"
White Rooks did play a silent part in the creation and at least were unobtrusive!
But, Black Queen remained a passive spectator for most part of the game and moved for the first time only on the 35th move
....and Black allowed White to infiltrate into his Kingside early and did not take any evasive action to prevent it.
Such finer considerations are enough in conducting a modern day chess game when the wits are level!
Anand made millions of his fans breath a great sigh of relief....he has recovered from the Norwegian infection
Thats for the day!!
After some hide and seek; provoking and avoiding the players entered a well known line in Ruy Lopez....no no no....this time it was not the old "dry lopez", but rather a pleasant win for the Indian. The Norwegian used to wring out every essence of a position that he played in the past few years to tire Vishy out in a dry desert....but not this time!
Vishy got a nice position where he could allow his instincts to takeover and registered a fine win!
Vishy Anand - Magnus Carlsen
19....Bc8
Perhaps, Black could have played 19....h5 here, before trying to assume initiative on the Queen-side.
20.Ng4 Nc5; 21.Nh6 Bh6
Or if 21....Kf8, not wishing to part with the Bishop, the Knight would remain a thorn and at some point you would be forced to exchange it.
22.Bh6 ba4; 23.Ra2?!
A move which does some favour in return; if not anything, Black with his natural next move, closes the a-file!
Having accomplished what it had, the Bishop could have returned to 'e3' and grabbed that Knight on c5 and kept the play open on the a-file!
23.....a3! 24.ba3 Nfd7; 25.f4!?
A fine attempt to stirrup the game! The game takes an interesting turn and Vishy follows it up with few fine cunning 'silent moves'!
25.....a5; 26.Rf1 f6; 27.f5 Nd3! 28.Bd3 cd3; 29.Qd1! Re7
Nice silent conversation is happening! While Vishy is bringing his forces towards Black King, Magnus is bringing his forces to fortify the squares around his monarch.
30.Raf2 Rf7; 31Qd3!?
At times, a player is required to take time out from what he does and indulge in certain activities which would divert the attention of the opponent from the scene of action. Obviously, the Queen needs to move on to the Kingside, but Vishy decided to grab this pawn enroute, which is a practical decision and proved good. Two things, he got the pawn and deflected the Bishop from staring some points, say f5, and more importantly, the move left a bait for the Bishop on the f1-square!
In such positions, it is not the direct value of pieces, but the relative value of pieces in relation to the need of the hour, which is important. The Rook on f1 weighs lightly under this consideration.
In any case, White has to take on g6 if the Queen has to attack that point from g4; why not now? Moreover, the move might wake-up Magnus and reconsider taking the bait on f1.
33.....g5?
33.....Bc8!
34.h4!
Black's position looks ominous, to say the least!
34.....Bf1; 35.Rf1 Qd7; 36.hg5 fg5; 37.Qh5
37.Bg5!
37....Kh8; 38.f6 Rg8; 39.Bg7 Rfg7; 40.fg7 Qg7; 41.Nf5 Qg6; 42.Qg6 Rg6; 43.Ne7 Kg7; 44.Ng6 Kg6; 45.Rf8 a4; 46.c4 h5; 47.Kf2; Magnus Resigned
Now, consider the Bronstein's quote given in the beginning: "What are the signposts that were available to the players in this game?"
- Black possessed the only open line in this game
- White's Rooks hardly played any 'active' role till the position got resolved
White Rooks did play a silent part in the creation and at least were unobtrusive!
But, Black Queen remained a passive spectator for most part of the game and moved for the first time only on the 35th move
....and Black allowed White to infiltrate into his Kingside early and did not take any evasive action to prevent it.
Such finer considerations are enough in conducting a modern day chess game when the wits are level!
Anand made millions of his fans breath a great sigh of relief....he has recovered from the Norwegian infection
Thats for the day!!
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Oh, come on. The boy is completely out-of-form in this tournament. It only proves that he is human.I can't believe that Anand's one victory could be interpreted as a "recovery from the infection".
ReplyDeleteAt least, not yet.