Like thirty-two healthy teeth

Viswanathan Anand – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
3rd Norway Chess; Stavanger, June 22, 2015
Sicilian Defence B90

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e6 7. g4 h6 8. Bg2 Nc6 9. Be3 Be7 10. f4 Nd7 11. 0-0. For 11. Nf3 b5 12. 0-0 Bb7 see Tate – Linster, 17th European Team Championship, Novi Sad 2009. 11. ... Nxd4 12. Qxd4 0-0 13. Qd2 Rb8 14. Ne2 b5 15. Rad1 Qc7 16. f5 Nf6 17. Ng3 Bb7. No better is 17. ... Re8 18. Bd4 e5 19. Be3 Bb7 20. Bxh6 gxh6 21. Qxh6 Nh7 22. f6 Bf8 23. Qh5 Qc5+ 24. Kh2 Qe3 25. h4 Qh6 26. Qxh6 Bxh6 27. g5 Bf8 28. g6 Bh6 29. Nf5 Bf4+ 30. Rxf4 Nxf6 31. gxf7+ Kxf7 32. Nxd6+ Ke7 33. Nxe8 exf4 34. Nxf6 Kxf6 35. Rd6+ Ke5 36. Rb6 f3 37. Bxf3 Rf8 38. Kg3 Bxe4 39. Bxe4 Kxe4 40. Re6+ 1 : 0 Navara – Grischuk, 41st Olympiad, Tromsø 2014. 18. Kh1!! “Forever Young” Anand prepares to open door with futuristic perfect timing! 18. ... Rbd8? “We both remembered Navara – Grischuk, but I couldn’t remember the details“, said Anand. “I couldn’t make it work at first. I was surprised that he allowed it. It was a safe sacrifice, because I always had at least a draw”. After the most stubborn 18. ... Kh7 (Anand) it’s not easy for White to exploit his initiative. 19. Bxh6! “I completely missed 19. Bxh6”, said Vachier-Lagrave. “I thought I was defending and suddenly I wasn’t defending at all. I felt during the game I should be OK”. 19. ... gxh6 20. Qxh6 d5 21. g5! Just “like thirty-two healthy teeth” (Nâzım Hikmet). 21. ... Qxg3 22. Rd3! A neat zwischenzug! Clearly not 22. gxf6?? on account of 22. ... Bd6 and Black wins. 22. ... Nh5. Comparatively best would have been 22. ... Nxe4, although after 23. f6! Bxf6 24. Bxe4 dxe4 24. Rxg3 Bg7 25. Qh4 Black cannot survive in the long run.

23. g6! “It’s amazing. He just has to drop the whole Queen!”, Anand said. 23. ... fxg6 24. fxg6 Rxf1+ 25. Bxf1 Nf6 26. Rxg3 dxe4 27. Be2 e3+ 28. Kg1 Bc5 29. Kf1 1 : 0.

Viswanathan Anand vs. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Photo: Chess.com