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Event: World Championship 2012 – Rapid Game 3 of 4
Game: Boris Gelfand (ISR) vs. Viswanathan Anand (IND)
Location: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Date: 30th May 2012
Anand now has a decisive lead and only needs to draw the next two matches in order to retain his title as the world champion. Gelfand on the other hand has a steep task ahead of him. He needs at least a win in order to equalize with the champion, and in order to displace him from the position Gelfand has to either win both the matches in the rapid format, or proceed to the Blitz stage and defeat Anand twice. Either way, it’s going to be an uphill task for Gelfand.
Gelfand starts with the queens’ pawn opening and the game quickly progresses to the Slav Defence 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.O-O Bd6 10.h3 O-O
11. Qc2 shows the white’s intent to focus the attack on the king side. 11…Qe7 shows blacks focus on the b8-h2 diagonal. 12. Rd1 causes the overcrowding of the d file with as many as 6 pieces placed on it. 12…Rac8 13.c5 forcing the black bishop to move 13…Bb8 and now White blocks the black Bishop’s range with 14.f4 Ne8 Black takes its knight back in order to make way for the pawns to come into play. 15.b4 g5 and with this both the players are now focusing on the king side attack and counter attack. However 16.Rb1 played by Gelfand came as a surprise. Probably he was anticipating a move from Anand on the queenside which never came. 16…f5 17.b5 showed that Gelfand had shifted his attack from the kingside to the queen side and also that the previous move was not in anticipation of Anand’s retaliation, but in order to strengthen the attack on the queen side. Both players exhibited a great sense of understanding towards the complexity of position on the board. 17… gxf4 18.exf4 Nef6 19.bxc6 bxc6
20. Ba6 attacking the black rook. 20…Rc7 is somewhat of a weak reply as it now completely neutralizes he black bishop which can no longer make any movements. Perhaps the black could have moved the rook on the rank itself. 21. Be3 Ne4 22.Rb2 showing that Gelfand is preparing for the double rook on the b-file. 22…g5 23.Rdb1 gxf4 24.Bxf4 e5 25.Bxe5 Nxe5 26.Rxb8 was a shocking move as the black bishop was hardly a part of the game with no space to move. This provided Anand with some breathing space and a chance to come back in the game. The time had started to come into picture with both players clock having less than half a minute on them. 26…Ng6 27.Nxe4 fxe4 28.Qf2 increasing the attack on the rook at f8 28…Qg7 consolidating the blacks position and providing a stronger defence to the king. 29. Kh2 Rcf7 and black have got all his forces gathered around the king now.
30. Qg3 Nf4 provoking the white to go ahead with the exchange. However, white decides somewhat strangely, not to proceed with the exchange and plays 31.R8b3 even though the exchanges would have placed white in a far better position. I guess the clock has started to play a crucial role in determining the moves of players. 31…Qxg3+ 32.Rxg3+ Kh7 33.Rd1 switching the white from the offensive to the defensive. Gelfand is now trying to defend the pawn on d4 rather than attacking. 33…Ne6 attacking the pawn on d4. 34. Be2 Rf2 35.Bg4 Nf4 attacking on the a2 pawn. 36. Rb1 for a counter attack. 36…Rf7 defending the king. 37. Rb8 Rxa2 38.Rc8 e3 39.Rxe3 Rxg2+ 40.Kh1 Rd2 attacking the d4 pawn.
41. Rxc6 Ne6 further strengthening the attack on d4 as well as threatening a check mate in case white decides to go for the knight. 42. Rf3 playing the strongest defence in the given situation. 42…Rxf3 43.Bxf3 Nxd4 44.Rc7+ Kh6 45.Bxd5 Rc2 46.Be4 Rc3 47.Kg2 Kg5 48.Kh2 Nf3+ 49.Bxf3 Rxf3
The end game was more about making quick moves due to the time constraints. Gelfand made a calculation mistake on the 59th move playing 59.Rh7 instead of 59.Kg3 and from that point there was no recovery and agreed to a draw. White had a definite advantage with two additional pawns on board but wasn’t able to capitalize on the lead and made some hasty decisions. With only one game remaining and that too with Anand having white, the chances of a win for Gelfand looks very slim. The score after the 3 rapid games are Anand 2 – 1 Gelfand.
Rapid Game 3 Details:
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.O-O Bd6 10.h3 O-O 11.Qc2 Qe7 12.Rd1 Rac8 13.c5 Bb8 14.f4 Ne8 15.b4 g5 16.Rb1 f5 17.b5 gxf4 18.exf4 Nef6 19.bxc6 bxc6 20.Ba6 Rc7 21.Be3 Ne4 22.Rb2 g5 23.Rdb1 gxf4 24.Bf4 e5 25.Bxe5 Nxe5 26.Rxb8 Ng6 27.Nxe4 fxe4 28.Qf2 Qg7 29.Kh2 Rcf7 30.Qg3 Nf4 31.R8b3 Qxg3 32.Rxg3 Kh7 33.Rd1 Ne6 34.Be2 Rf2 35.Bg4 Nf4 36.Rb1 Rf7 37.Rb8 Rxa2 38.Rc8 e3 39.Rxe3 Rxg2 40.Kh1 Rd2 41.Rxc6 Ne6 42.Rf3 Rxf3 43.Bxf3 Nxd4 44.Rc7+ Kh6 45.Bxd5 45…Rc2 46.Be4 Rc3 47.Kg2 Kg5 48.Kh2 Nf3+ 49.Bxf3 Rxf3 50.Rxa7 Rc3 51.Rc7 Kf4 52.Rc8 Ke5 53.c6 Kd6 54.h4 Ra3 55.Kg2 Re3 56.h5 Re5 57.h6 Rh5 58.Rh8 Kxc6 59.Rh7? Kd6 ½ – ½.
