The Tiger King

Viswanathan Anand – Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin
Candidates Tournament; Moscow, March 24, 2016
Spanish C65

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 0-0 6. 0-0 d6 7. h3 Ne7 8. d4 Bb6 9. Bd3 d5 10. Nxe5. For 10. dxe5 Nxe4 11. Nbd2 f5 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. Re1 Bf5 14. Nf1 Bxd3 15. Qxd3 Ng6 16. Be3 Ne4 see Ivanchuk – Karjakin, 2nd SportAccord World Mind Games, Rapid Event, 北京 (Beijīng) 2012. 10. ... Nxe4 11. Nd2 Nd6 12. Nb3 c6 13. Nc5 Ng6 14. Qh5 Bxc5 15. dxc5 Ne4 16. Bxe4 dxe4 17. Rd1 Qe7 18. Nxg6 hxg6 19. Qg5 Qxg5 20. Bxg5 f6 21. Be3 g5 22. Rd6 Re8 23. Rad1 Be6 24. b3 Kf7 25. R1d4 Bf5 26. a4 Re7 27. g4 Bh7 28. b4. Anand has managed to exert pressure on both wings almost out of nothing! 28. ... Bg8 29. b5 Rc8 30. Rd7 Re8 31. b6 a6 32. Rc7 Kf8 33. c4 Be6. Giving up the e-Pawn is a strange idea, but (maybe) not irreversibly wrong. The alternative was 33. ... Bf7, leaving Anand the uneasy task of getting something out of it. 34. Rxe4 Kf7 35. f4! Rxc7 36. bxc7 Rc8? Much better seems 36. ... f5(!) in order to force an opposite coloured Bishop endgame. 37. f5 Bd7

38. h4! g6 39. Rd4 Rxc7 40. hxg5 fxg5 41. Bxg5. With the obvious threat of Bg5-f4. 41. ... Be8 42. f6! Kf8 43. Bf4 Rh7 44. Kg2. Even stronger looks 44. Bd6+ Kg8 (on 44. ... Kf7? 45. Re4! wins) 45. g5 and Black pretty soon will end up in a kind of Zugzwang position. 44. ... Bd7. 45. Bg5 Be6 46. Rd8+ Kf7 47. Rb8 Bxc4. Even worse is 47. ... Bxg4 48. Rxb7+ Kg8 49. Rxh7 Kxh7 50. Kg3 Be6 51. Kf4 Bxc4 52. Ke5 Kg8 53. Kd6+- (André Schulz’s analysis). 48. Rxb7+ Kg8 49. Rb8+ Kf7 50. Kg3. “[...] 50. Rb6 was stronger, but practically this looks winning too”, Grandmaster Teimour Radjabov said. 50. ... Ke6 51. Re8+ Kf7 52. Rc8 Bd5 53. Kf4 Ke6 54. Re8+ Kd7 55. Ra8 Ke6 56. Re8+. 56. Rxa6 Rh3! (Δ ... Rh3-f3 mate) 57. Bh4 (the only move) 57. ... Rxh4 58. Kg5 was very unclear. 56. ... Kd7 57. Re3 a5 58. Kg3 Rf7 59. Kf4 Rh7 60. Re1 Kc8 61. Kg3 Rf7 62. Re8+ Kd7 63. Ra8 Kc7 64. Kf4 Rd7 65. Bh4! Kb7 66. Re8 Bf7 67. Re4 Bd5 68. Re3 Bf7 69. Kg5 Ka6 70. Re7 1 : 0.

Viswanathan Anand vs. Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin
Photo: Worldchess.com