From Bricks to Books

Viswanathan Anand – Magnus Carlsen
6th Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, August 21, 2018
Sicilian Defence B31

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 0-0 8. Be3 b6 9. Qd2 e5 10. Bh6 (10. Nxe5? Nxe4⩱) 10. ... Qd6. It’s just interesting to note that Carlsen’s challenger, Fabiano Caruana, in one of his last U.S. Championship games, continued instead 10. ... Re8 11. Bxg7 Kxg7 12. Qe3 Qd6 13. Ne2 a5 14. 0-0 Nh5(!) with satisfactory play for Black, 梁世奇 (Awonder Liáng) – Caruana, 62th U.S. Chess Championship, Saint Louis 2018. 11. Bxg7. Anand has recently won a brilliant game by castling Queenside, but the brilliancy of the victory has little to do with the opening: 11. 0-0-0 a5 12. g4 a4 13. Kb1 Be6 14. Ne2 b5 15. Ng3 Rfd8 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Qg5 Nd7 18. Nf5+ Bxf5 19. gxf5 a3 20. b3 h6 21. Qg3 Kh7 22. Rhg1 Qf6 23. h4 gxf5 24. Qh3!? f4 25. Rg5 Qe6 26. Rf5 Rg8?? (26. ... f6!⩱) 27. Ng5+! hxg5 28. Rxf7+! Qxf7 29. hxg5+ Kg7 30. Qh6 mate, Anand – Grischuk, 11th Tal Memorial Rapid, Moscow 2018 11. ... Kxg7 12. a4!? Very strange move and, perhaps, a new idea. Maybe mindful of his game with Grischuk, Anand seems apparently eager to stop all of Black’s Queenside counterplay. At first glance, it is not clear where White’s King will hide, but time will tell pretty soon. If 12. Nh2 there might follow 12. ... Nh5 13. Ng4 f6 14. g3 Be6 15. Ne2 Rad8 16. 0-0-0 Kh8∞ Ivanchuk – Radjabov, World Blitz Chess Championship, Astana 2012. 12. ... Ne8 13. Nh2 Nc7 14. Ng4 f6 15. f3 Ne6 16. h4 Nd4 17. h5 g5 18. Ne3 Be6 19. Ne2 Kh8 20. Ng3 Rad8 21. Kf2. It seems incredible that White’s King may afford to take such an itinerary, and yet Anand proves it possible. 21. ... Qe7 22. Qd1. Anand leaves free hand to his opponent to do what he intended to do. 22. Qe1 could be answered by both 22. ... f5 and 22. ... Qg7 with quite an unclear play.

22. ... c4! A temporary Pawn sacrifice by which Black seizes a volatile initiative. Also interesting seems 22. ... Qf7, apparently keeping alive all potential themes and motifs. 23. dxc4 f5! The corollary of the previous move. The trite 23. ... Nb3 was anything but appealing, because of 24. cxb3 Rxd1 25. Raxd1 with plenty of compensation for the Queen. 24. exf5 Nxf5 25. Ngxf5 Bxf5 26. Qe2 g4 27. Kg1 gxf3 28. Qxf3 Bxc2 29. Qg3 Bd3. Black just needs the time to continue with ... Rf8-f4 followed by ... Rd8-g8, and everything would be over in a few moves. Of course, Anand doesn’t let him do it. 30. Rh4! Rd4 31. Rg4! Rxg4 32. Nxg4 e4 33. Qe5+ Qxe5 34. Nxe5 Kg7. Now the game inexorably drifts towards a draw. 35. Rd1 Rd8 36. Nxc6 Re8 37. Kf2 e3+ 38. Ke1 Bxc4 39. Rd4 Bf7 40. g4 a5 41. b4 axb4 42. Rxb4 Be6 43. g5 Bf7 44. h6+ Kg6 45. Rb5 Ba2 46. Re5 Rxe5 47. Nxe5+ Kxg5 48. Nd7 Bb3 49. Nxb6 Bxa4 50. Nxa4 Kxh6 51. Nc3 e2 52. Nxe2 Kg5 53. Ng3 h5 54. Nxh5 ½ : ½.