Mistress of the Kings

Garry Kimovich Kasparov – Viswanathan Anand

6th Grand Chess Tour; 3rd stage; Blitz Tournament; time control: 5 minutes plus 2 seconds per move; Zagreb, July 11, 2021

Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 c6 7. Qc2 g6 8. e3 Bf5 9. Qb3 Qb6 10. Nh4 Be6 11. Bd3 Nh5 12. Be5 0-0 13. g4!? Bxg4!? Anand does not fear to take the responsibility of capturing the Pawn. The more cautious 13. ... Ng7 has also worked well for Black: 14. Bxg7?! (14. Nf5! f6! 15. Nh6+ Kh8 16. Bg3 c5⇄) 14. ... Kxg7 15. Qc2? (⌓ 15. h3) 15. ... Qd8 16. Ng2 Bxg4 17. Nf4 Qh4∓/−+ Radovanović – Bosman, 32nd European Chess Club Cup, Novi Sad 2016 — but that was not entirely due to the second player’s merit. 14. Rg1 Be6

15. Qc2? Curiously enough, as in the aforementioned game, 15. Qc2 is probably White’s decisive mistake! White ought to play 15. Qd1! Ng7 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Qh5 Rg8! 18. f4! (Δ f4-f5) with good prospects for initiative. 15. ... Nd7 16. Bxg6!? Very bullish, but once you say A, you must also say B. 16. ... fxg6 17. Nxg6 Nxe5! 18. Nxf8+ Kxf8 19. dxe5

19. ... Qc7 (19. ... d4!−+) 20. f4 Qf7 21. 0-0-0 Bf5 22. Qb3 a5 23. Ne2 Ng7 24. Nd4 Bc5? (24. ... Be4 25. f5 Qe7−+)

25. Rg3? No time to calculate! Yet salvation was there: 25. Rxg7! Kxg7 26. Nxf5+ Qxf5 27. Qxb7+ Kh6 28. Qxc6+ Kh5 29. Qxa8 Bxe3+ 30. Rd2 Bxd2+ 31. Kxd2 Qxf4+ with a likely draw. 25. ... Bxd4 26. exd4 0 : 1. And here Kasparov exceeded the time limit for the second time against Anand.

Maybe it’s worth mentioning how Kasparov eventually apologised to his fans for not doing more: “Sorry I couldn’t do better [...] But time is undefeated, and Caïssa is a jealous mistress who punishes anyone who ignores her as much as I do!”. Photo © Lennart Ootes.