Joint lead at 2.0/3 for Anand

[Event "Candidates 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.03.13"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2794"]
[BlackElo "2762"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "79"]

1. e4 {It worked for him in game one and Vishy continues with 1.e4.} e5 2. Nf3
Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {Berlin! I wonder how the a-pawn must be feeling at this point
of time. Earlier just about everyone used to push it. Now no one really cares
about it and goes for Nf6!} 4. d3 {This seems to be Anand's weapon against the
Berlin in this event.} Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 O-O 7. h3 $5 {A small change by
Anand. In his game against Topalov he had gone Nbd2 where as here he plays the
little rook pawn move. It has two advantages. 1. It stops Bg4 in future 2. It
gets Caruana out of his preparation.} Ne7 {Caruana sticks to his plan of
transferring his knight to the kingside.} 8. d4 Bb6 9. Bd3 {Definitely more
common is Re1. However, Anand quickly played this move. Caruana went into a
thought after this, which meant that he hadn't really revised this line before
the game. The variation with Bd3 is less played than Re1 but it has been
essayed by players like Magnus Carlsen and Vasily Ivanchuk!} (9. dxe5 {Leads
to absolutely othing for White after} Nxe4 $11) 9... Ng6 (9... d5 {was
Kramnik's reaction against Magnus. And after} 10. Nbd2 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12.
Bxe4 exd4 13. Qc2 h6 14. a4 $5 {we saw an extremely interesting game develop.})
10. Re1 Re8 11. Qc2 {At this point Anand had used only two minutes of his time
while Caruana down by twenty five minutes. The interesting thing is that Anand
has already played this opening with Black against Michael Adams in 2013.} exd4
$146 {Caruana comes up with a new move but this is not home preparation. It
was played after due thought.} 12. cxd4 c5 {An interesting move by Caruana
trying to fight for the dark squares.} 13. dxc5 (13. d5 Ba5 {Leads to a very
odd kind of a Benoni which should be completely fine for Black.}) (13. e5 $5 {
is an interesting move.Although both players rejected it after Nd5, it could
be interesting to see a few more moves.} Nd5 {Threatening Nb4.} (13... dxe5 14.
dxe5 {looks completely crushing for White as after} Nd7 15. e6 fxe6 16. Bxg6
$18 {Black is busted.}) 14. Bg5 $1 (14. a3 {might be too slow as after} cxd4 {
Black is completely fine.}) 14... Qc7 {After the game Fabi said that he was
planning to play this move but it wouldn't have been great as White can now
play} (14... Nb4 15. Qc3 Qc7 16. Bb5 $13) (14... f6 $6 15. dxc5 $1 dxc5 16. Nc3
$1 Nxc3 17. exf6 $1 gxf6 18. Bxg6 {with a very strong attack.}) 15. Nc3 $1 {
Main idea is to conmect the rooks on the first rank.} Nb4 (15... Nxc3 16. exd6
$1) 16. exd6 $1 $18 {Not an easy move to see from a distance but now the rook
on e8 is undefended.}) 13... Bxc5 14. Nc3 Be6 15. Be3 Qc8 (15... Ne5 $5 {
After the game Miroshnichenko suggested this smart move for Black which seems
to equalise immediately.} 16. Nxe5 Bxe3 $1 17. Nxf7 Bxf2+ 18. Qxf2 Bxf7 {
This looks like a much preferable position for Black than what was reached in
the game.}) 16. Bxc5 Qxc5 17. Qd2 Ne5 18. Be2 $1 Nxf3+ 19. Bxf3 {Black has an
isolated pawn on d6 while White is relatively solid. This should give white an
edge. However, it is not so clear as to how White should proceed.} Rad8 20.
Red1 $5 {One of the most difficult questions in the game of chess is where
should I place my rooks. In this position White has many options. The most
natural of course looks like Rad1 but Red1 also has its point. Vishy would
like to put the a rook on c1.} (20. Rac1 {looks natural. Black could reply with
} Qe5) (20. Rad1 {is also answered by} Qe5 21. Qd4 a6 22. Qb4 $14 {when White
has an edge.}) 20... h5 $5 21. Qd4 Qg5 22. Qd2 (22. Qxa7 Bxh3 $132) 22... Qe5 {
I asked Fabiano whether he wanted to play on and that was the reason why he
chose Qe5 instead of Qc5 and he said, his queen was much better placed on e5
than on c5 and Vishy would not have repeated the position again.} 23. Qe3 $1 {
Attacking the a7 pawn and getting ready to double rooks on the d-file.} a6 24.
Rd4 Bd7 $5 {The bishop wasn't doing much on e6. On c6 it would not only
control the d5 square but also attack the one on e4.} 25. Rad1 Bc6 26. g3 Re6
27. Bg2 {White gets ready to start his expansion with f4. Vishy truly has
played really well until this point.} h4 28. gxh4 $1 {An extremely bold move
by Vishy. Usually in chess not many times you would see people taking such a
pawn and accepting doubled rook pawns. However, here it is more important to
make sure that White is getting in f4 and hence this gxh4 move is very
flexible and meets the demands of the position.} (28. g4 $5 {Keeping the pawn
structure intact is definitely an idea. But it can be possible that Vishy was
afraid of} g5 {When f4 is stopped. However, White should at least be a tad
better after} 29. Qd2 $14) (28. f4 $2 Qc5 29. g4 $2 Bxe4 $1 30. Nxe4 Nxe4 31.
Bxe4 Rde8 $15) 28... Rde8 (28... Nh5 $2 {Trying to keep an eye on the f4
square loses to} 29. Rd5 $1 Bxd5 30. Rxd5 $18) 29. Bf3 {After the game Vishy
thought that this was extremely clever as he was preparing Bg4.} (29. f4 Qc5
$13 {The e4 pawn would be falling in this case.}) 29... a5 30. a4 (30. Bg4 R6e7
(30... Nxg4 31. hxg4 $16) 31. Rxd6 Nxe4 32. Nxe4 Qxe4 {Should be around equal.}
) 30... Qc5 31. Qf4 (31. Bg4 R6e7 $11) 31... Re5 32. R1d3 {Not really sure
what this move is all about but it keeps up the pressure.} (32. Rxd6 Nxe4 33.
Nxe4 Bxe4 $11) 32... R8e6 33. Kh2 Qb6 34. Rd2 Qd8 35. Qg3 $6 {This lets
Caruana equalise immediately.} (35. h5 $5 Nxh5 36. Bxh5 Rxh5 37. Rxd6 Rxd6 38.
Qxd6 Qxd6+ 39. Rxd6 f5 {Black should regain his pawn but in any case White
will maintain a small edge.}) 35... Bxe4 36. Nxe4 Nxe4 37. Bxe4 Rxe4 38. Rxe4
Rxe4 39. Rxd6 Qxh4 40. Qxh4 {And a draw was agreed. It should be said that
Anand seemed to be slightly better throughout the game but was never really
able to cash in.} 1/2-1/2