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Event: World Championship 2012 – Rapid Game 4 of 4
Game: Viswanathan Anand (IND) vs. Boris Gelfand (ISR)
Location: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Date: 30th May 2012
The pressure was visibly on Gelfand. Entering the last game of rapid round with a point down and playing with black, situation did not seem too friendly for the Israeli Grand Master. On the other hand Anand was in a comfortable position, but still had a final hurdle to clear. In order to retain his world championship title, the Indian Grand Master required at least a draw from this last rapid game or else the tournament would proceed to Blitz stages.
Anand opened with King’s pawn and Gelfand responded with a Sicilian defence 1.e4 c5. Could we be in for another game of Rossolimo variation? Apparently not! Gelfand seemed to be wary of the variation that had caused him to go down a full point in its previous occurrence and would prefer Najdorf variation instead. What needed to be seen was the level of preparation for this particular variation by the champion as well as the challenger 2.Nf3 d6.
3. Bb5+ Anand opted for an early exchange of pieces so as to simplify the position but was denied the simplification by Gelfand 3…Nd7. 4.d5 Ngf6 5.e5 the moves made by Anand were very quick, signifying a thorough analysis of the situation. Also the 5th move was something not expected by Gelfand who took a considerable time analysing the situation before responding. 5…Qa5+ gave a check to white king and at the same time threatened the bishop on b5. Anand responded with 6.Nc3 blocking the check and at the same time defending the bishop. 6…Ne4 forced an exchange 7.Bd2 Nxc3 8.Bxd7+ Bxd7 9.Bxc3 Qa6
The exchange placed Gelfand in a better position having two bishops against Anand’s bishop and knight. 10.exd6 exd6 11.Qe2+ Qxe2+ 12.Kxe2 f6, the turn of events further strengthened black’s position. Having fewer major pieces on board black stood a better chance of dominating the proceedings with its bishops’ 13.b3 showing signs of moving the king towards the queen side and preparing a better defense for it. 13…Bb5+ 14.Kd2 Bc6 15.Rad1 Kf7 16.Kc1 Be7 17.d5 Bd7 18.Bb2 b5 19.Nd2 a5, black was focusing all his resources into attacking while white was working on strengthening its defence around king. Anand needed to get something going on the attacking front very quickly.
20. Rhe1 Rhe8, Anand decided to double the rooks on the e-file but Gelfand would be more than happy taking the exchange. 21. Re3 f5, Anand proceeded with the plan, Gelfand making way for his bishop to move. 22. Rde1 g5, interesting move from Gelfand showing that the previous move was not intended to create space for the bishop, rather was a part of bigger plan of attacking from both sides 23.c4 b4, Anand tried to simplify the queen side position, Gelfand not interested in doing the same 24.g3 Bf8, Anand changed his focus towards King side, Gelfand finally deciding to go for the exchange of rooks. 25. Rxe8 Bxe8, took Rook out with Bishop, was a rather surprising move as it would be in black’s favor, simplifying the position.
26. Nf3 Kg6 27.Re6+ Kh5, Gelfand’s king was doing a lot of fighting on his own. His entire army was behind him now with an exception of a single pawn (which was not doing rather much in the game right now). Gelfand needed to put some serious thought about the position and start utilizing his minor pieces before it became too late 28.h3 Bf7 29.Rf6 Bg6 30.Re6 Re8, finally Gelfand decided to exchange the rooks.
31.Bf6 g4, white decided to ignore the rook and continued strangling the black king. Black tried giving breathing space to its king 32.hxg4+ Kxg4 and now the duel was between an escaping knight and a chasing king 33.Nh2+ Kh3 34.Nf3 f4 35.gxf4 Kg4 36.Ng5 Gelfand played 36…Ra8 taking the rook away without going for exchange and freeing the white rook to take its own course. Could this be a game changing decision? 37. Re3 Kf5 38.Bb2 a4 39.Ne6 attacking the bishop, 39…Bh6, Gelfand avoided the exchange as long as possible. 40. Rh3 not paying heed to Gelfand’s wish and forced him to take the exchange 40…Bxf4+ 41.Nxf4 Kxf4
42. Bf6, Anand going for the d6 pawn, 42…Ra7 blocked the bishop from coming in 43.Re3 Be4 44. Bh4!, changing the motive of bishop from attacking d6 pawn to defending f2 pawn! 44… axb3 45.Bg3+ Kf5 46.axb3 Ra1+ 47.Kd2 Ra2+ 48.Ke1 Ra6 defending the d6 pawn. Gelfand tried improving his position by playing the h pawn but a draw was inevitable 49.f3 Bb1 50.Kd2 h5 51.Kc1 h4 52.Bxh4 Kf4 53.Bg5+ Kxg5 54.Kxb1 Kf4 55.Re6 Kxf3 56.Kb2. The players agree to a draw and with that Anand successfully retained his title of World Chess Champion.
Rapid Game 4 Analysis:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d5 Ngf6 5.e5 Qa5+ 6.Nc3 Ne4 7.Bd2 Nxc3 8.Bxd7+ Bxd7 9.Bxc3 Qa6 10.exd6 exd6 11.Qe2+ Qxe2+ 12.Kxe2 f6 13.b3 Bb5+ 14.Kd2 Bc6 15.Rad1 Kf7 16.Kc1 Be7 17.d5 Bd7 18.Bb2 b5 19.Nd2 a5 20.Rhe1 Rhe8 21.Re3 f5 22.Rde1 g5 23.c4 b4 24.g3 Bf8 25.Rxe8 Bxe8 26.Nf3 Kg6 27.Re6+ Kh5 28.h3 Bf7 29.Rf6 Bg6 30.Re6 Re8 31.Bf6 g4 32.hxg4+ Kxg4 33.Nh2+ Kh3 34.Nf3 f4 35.gxf4 Kg4 36.Ng5 Ra8 37.Re3 Kf5 38.Bb2 a4 39.Ne6 Bh6 40.Rh3 Bxf4+ 41.Nxf4 Kxf4 42.Bf6 Ra7 43.Re3 Be4 44.Bh4! axb3 45.Bg3+ Kf5 46.axb3 Ra1+ 47.Kd2 Ra2+ 48.Ke1 Ra649.f3 Bb1 50.Kd2 h5 51.Kc1 h4 52.Bxh4 Kf4 53.Bg5+ Kxg5 54.Kxb1 Kf4 55.Re6 Kxf3 56.Kb2 ½ – ½.
