Riding the Tiger

Viswanathan Anand – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
5th GRENKE Chess Classic; Karlsruhe, March 31, 2018
English Opening A17

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Bd6 5. b3 0-0 6. Bb2 c5 7. g4!? In a very similar (almost identical) position, with Black’s a-Pawn on a6 and c-Pawn still on c7, Russian Grandmaster Ian Aleksandrovich Nepomniachtchi played this way against Anand himself, who was eventually defeated: 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 a6 5. b3 Bd6 6. Bb2 0-0 7. g4 Nxg4 8. Rg1 f5 9. cxd5 e5 10. h3 Nf6 11. Ng5 Qe7 12. Qf3 Kh8 13. Ne6 Bxe6 14. dxe6 Qxe6 15. Qxb7 Nbd7 16. Bc4 Qe7 17. Qg2 Nb6 18. Be2 a5 19. Bb5 Rad8 20. Qg5 g6 21. Qh6 Ng8 22. Qg5 Nf6 23. Rd1 e4 24. Qh6 Rg8 25. Ne2 Be5 26. Bxe5 Qxe5 27. Nf4 g5 28. Rxg5 Rxg5 29. Qxg5 Rg8 30. Qh6 Rg7 31. Bc4 Nxc4 32. bxc4 Qb2 33. Ke2 a4 34. Ne6 Rf7 35. Nf4 Rg7 36. a3 Ne8 37. Qc6 1 : 0 Nepomniachtchi – Anand, 9th London Chess Classic, London 2017.
7. ... d4!? On her turn Black dogmatically counterattacks in the centre through a Pawn sacrifice. The “nonsensical” 7. ... a6 might transpose into 8. g5 Ne4 9. cxd5 Nxc3 10. dxc3 b5 11. c4 where White stands decidedly better, Khismatullin – Bosiočić, 6th World Rapid Chess Championship, ar-Riyāḍ (Riyadh) 2017.

8. exd4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 e5 10. Nf5 Bxf5 11. gxf5 Nc6! A powerful novelty by 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). 11. ... e4 12. d4 Nc6 seems also to be fine for Black, Loxine – Santos Ruiz, 37th German Schach Bundesliga, Aachen 2017.
12. Bg2? Engines give 12. Qf3 as White’s best move, without fearing 12. ... Nd4 (because of 13. Qd3), and preparing for Queenside castling.

12. ... Nb4! And this looks like a refutation, even if (perhaps) it isn’t. Whatever it is, after only twelve moves, Black can boast the initiative already.
13. Qe2! Since 12. 0-0 Nd3 could hardly inspire any trust, Anand comes up with a deeply conceived Exchange sacrifice — in fact his last (and only) saving clause — which will give him enough compensation, especially thanks to his very powerful light-squared Bishop.
13. ... Nc2+ 14. Kd1 Nxa1 15. Bxa1 Qd7 16. Ne4 Qxf5 17. Nxf6+ Qxf6 18. Bxb7 Rad8 19. Kc2 Rfe8 20. Bc3

20. ... Bc5. Interesting was 20. ... Bb4!? forcing the exchange of a pair of Bishops (21. Bxb4 Qb6).
21. f3 Bd4 22. Re1 g6 23. Qe4 Kg7 24. Bd5 Qb6 25. b4

25. ... f5 (⌓ 25. ... a5!)
26. Qd3 Bxc3 27. dxc3 Qd6 28. a4 a5 29. Kb3 Rb8 30. b5 Qc5 31. h4 Rbd8. Unfortunately, Black can’t push too hard into White’s position without exposing herself to serious risk of losing; for example: 31. ... Qf2? 32. Re2 Qxh4? 33. c5 and White’s Pawns rampantly run to queen.
32. h5 Kf6 33. hxg6 hxg6 34. Qe3 Qxe3 35. Rxe3 Rd6 36. Re1 Rc8 37. Rh1 Kg7 38. Kc2 g5 39. Rd1 Kf6 40. Kd3 Rb6 41. Rh1 Kg7 42. Rg1 Kf6 43. Ke3 Rd6 44. Rb1 Rb6 45. Ke2 Kg6 46. Kf2 Kf6 47. Rh1 Kg7 48. Re1 ½ : ½. A very interesting game, especially from a theoretical standpoint.

She who rides the tiger dares not dismount. Photo: Georgios Souleidis.