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Event:World Championship 2012 – Rapid Game 1 of 4
Game: Boris Gelfand (ISR) vs. Viswanathan Anand (IND)
Location: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Date: 30th May 2012
And so it was another draw! The game started at a very quick pace with neither of the players spending more time on making moves, and progressed rapidly till about the 11th move. The game started with Gelfand opting for the Queen’s pawn opening and progressed towards the Slav Defence 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6
The players were playing by the book and exhibited a strong level of preparation anticipating the opponents move and responding to the same in no time 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7. Gelfand responded by opting for the Anti-Meran variation 6.Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8.O-O e5
Gelfand took the opportunity of opening up the center by exchanging the pawns and Knights 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.e4exd4 11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.exd5 h6 13.b3 Ne5 14.Nxe5 Bxe5. After the simplification of the game, both players had a single pawn on the d-file with both the c and e files open. It was time to bring the rooks into play.
15. Re1 Re8 16.Bb2 Bd7. Evidently both the players were trying hard to gain control of the centre 17.Qd2 Qf6 18.g3 Rac8. The 19th move saw a surprise from Gelfand when he played 19.a4 which provided the black an opportunity to dictate the terms. 19…Qf3 limiting the movement options for the White King, while at the same time threatening to capture the lone pawn at d5. 20. Be4 forcing the Queen to give up its position and saving the d5 pawn but at the same time giving away the b3 pawn 20…Qxb3.
Time came into picture now with both the players being forced to make quick decisions thereby losing on some great possibilities 21.Reb1 Bxg3 (21…Rc4 could have been a better positional move) 22.Ra3 Qb6 23.Bxd4 Bxh2 24.Kxh2 Qd6 25.Rg3 Rxe4 26.Bxg7 Kh7 27.Rxb7 Rg8 28.Qxh6 Qxh6 29.Bxh6 Rxg3 30.Kxg3 Bc8. It was a slugfest with both the players being forced to move due to time constraints and the quick responses forced several good moves to be overlooked. The draw was agreed by the players after the 30th and both the players ½ points each in the first of the rapid matches.
Rapid Game 1 Details:
1. d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O e5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.e4 exd4 11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.exd5 h6 13.b3 Ne5 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.Re1 Re8 16.Bb2 Bd7 17.Qd2 Qf6 18.g3 Rac8 19.a4 Qf3 20.Be4 Qxb3 21.Reb1 Bxg3 22.Ra3 Qb6 23.Bxd4 Bxh2 24.Kxh2 Qd6 25.Rg3 Rxe4 26.Bxg7 Kh7 27.Rxb7 Rg8 28.Qxh6 Qxh6 29.Bxh6 Rxg3 30.Kxg3 Bc8
