Two Men by the Sea

Viswanathan Anand – Garry Kimovich Kasparov

6th Grand Chess Tour; 3rd stage; Blitz Tournament; time control: 5 minutes plus 2 seconds per move; Zagreb, July 10, 2021

Sicilian Defence B96

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qc7. “This move has been a favourite of the Soviet GM Balashov for many years. Black allows his Kingside Pawns to be weakened by Bg5xf6, but hopes for compensation in the two Bishops”, Ken Smith and John Hall wrote in their book “Modern Art of Attack”, Chess Digest, Dallas, 1988, p. 131. 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. Qf3. Kasparov’s experiences with 9. Be2 date back to happy days as a predestined Word Champion: 9. ... Nc6 10. Qd2 (10. Nb3 b5 11. Bh5 Bg7 12. Qg4 0-0 13. 0-0-0 Ne7 14. Nd4 b4 15. Nce2 f5! 16. exf5 e5! 17. fxe5 dxe5 18. Qg5 h6 19. Qg3 Nxf5 20. Nxf5 Bxf5 21. Rd2 Rac8 22. Qb3 e4 23. Kb1 Be6 24. Qg3 Qa5 0 : 1 Yudasin – Kasparov, 49th USSR Chess Championship, Frunze 1981) 10. ... Bd7 11. 0-0-0 h5 12. Kb1 Be7 13. Bf3 Nxd4 14. Qxd4 0-0-0 15. f5 Kb8 16. Qd2 h4 17. Ne2 Bc8 18. fxe6 fxe6 19. Nf4 Rhg8 20. Qe3 Rg5 21. Rd3 Bf8 22. Rhd1 Bh6 23. Ne2 h3 24. g3 Rh5 25. Qf2 Rc5 26. Nd4 Rc4 27. Qe2 Rg8 28. b3 Rc5 29. Qf2 Re5 30. Qf1 d5 31. Qxh3 dxe4 32. Bxe4 Bg7 33. Bf3 f5 and Black’s two Bishops compensate for the Pawn, Timman – Kasparov, International Tournament, Nikšić 1983. 9. ... b5 10. a3 Nc6 11. 0-0-0. Three rounds earlier, Kasparov suffered a burning defeat at the hands of the young Dutch star Jorden van Foreest: 11. Nxc6 Qxc6 12. f5 Qc5 13. Be2 Ra7 14. 0-0-0 Qe5TN (14. ... Rc7 15. Rhf1 Rg8 16. fxe6 fxe6 17. Qxf6 Qg5+ 18. Kb1 Qxf6 19. Rxf6 Bg7 20. Bh5+ Kd8 21. Rf7 Be5 22. Rxc7 Kxc7 23. Bf3 Bxc3 24. bxc3 e5 25. Rd3 Kc6 26. h3 ½ : ½ van der Wiel – Tukmakov, 46th Hoogovens International Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 1984) 15. Rhf1 Rc7 16. Kb1 h5 17. h4 Be7 18. Qe3 Qc5 (18. ... Rb7!?) 19. Qg3 Kf8 20. fxe6 fxe6? (⌓ 20. ... Bxe6) 21. Qg6 Qe5 22. Rd3 Bd8 23. Rg3 Rf7 24. Rg5! Qd4 25. Bxh5 1 : 0 J. van Foreest – Kasparov (Round 10). 11. ... Nxd4 12. Rxd4 Qc5. The round before, Kasparov tried, with little luck, to frighten Polish Grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda (another young bright star of Caïssa’s pantheon) with 12. ... Rb8 13. Be2 Bd7 14. f5 Qc5 15. Rhd1 Qe5 16. Qh5 Be7 17. fxe6 Bxe6 18. Nd5 Qxh5 19. Bxh5 Rg8 20. Nc7+ Kd8 21. Nxa6 Rb6 22. Nb4 Rxg2 23. R4d2 Rxd2 24. Kxd2 f5? (the same idea could be executed without material losses by 24. ... Bf8 followed by the transfer of the Bishop to the h6-c1 diagonal) 25. exf5 Bg5+?? 26. Ke2 1 : 0 Duda – Kasparov (Round 12). 13. Rd3 Rb8 14. b4 Qa7 15. f5 a5 16. Na2 Be7 17. Be2 h5 18. Kb1 Bd7 19. Rhd1 h4

20. bxa5!? Anand apparently doesn’t fear the consequences of such a weakening of his castle. 20. Qg4 was probably safer and more profitable. 20. ... Qxa5. 20. ... b4!? 21. axb4 Qxa5 doesn’t make all that difference, as after 22. Rb3 Qe5 23. b5 White stands better. 21. Nb4 Rc8 22. Qg4? White could no longer afford a “zero risk” safety policy and had to take the plunge — 22. Rxd6! Bxd6 23. Rxd6 Qc7 24. Qd3 with a cushing bind. 22. ... Kf8 23. fxe6 Bxe6 24. Qf3 Rc5 25. Qe3 f5? An impulsive move that should cost the game. A reasonable continuation was 25. ... Kg7 and if 26. Nd5 then 26. ... Bxd5 27. exd5 Qc7 with complex but basically stable play.

26. Bf3? Anand errs in too much caution. 26. Rxd6! Bxd6 27. Rxd6 Qc7 28. e5+− would have been crushing. 26. ... fxe4? But Kasparov misses his great opportunity for redemption — 26. ... Bf6!↑ in order to carry out the attack, if allowed as possible, with ... Kf8-g7 followed by ... Rh8-a8 and ... Qa5xb4+. 27. Bxe4 Rc4? And here he misses his last chance to save the game: ⌓ 27. ... Rhh5! so as to reply to 28. Rf1 with 28. ... Rc4 29. Bd5 Re5∞ still staying in the safety zone. 28. Bd5 Bf6. Threat: ... Rc4xb4+. 29. Bxc4 bxc4 30. Rxd6 1 : 0. Black lost on time, but his position was bad enough to be resigned.

The two who sat on the roof of the world could not deny themselves the thrill of sailing on a board along the Adriatic Sea. Photo © Lennart Ootes.