Immaculate prep helps Anand draw with ease against Giri
In a completely unexplored line, Anand with his team of seconds and powerful engines dug deep. They found new ideas which were impossible for Anish to deal on the board. Being the pragmatist that he is Anish took the safe way out, rather than testing Vishy's home preparation. The result was a quick draw in 31 moves. Here's the game with some detailed explanation by IM Sagar Shah.
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[Event "Candidates 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.03.19"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Viswanathan, Anand"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E36"]
[WhiteElo "2793"]
[BlackElo "2762"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[SourceDate "2016.03.19"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.03.19"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Viswanathan, Anand"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E36"]
[WhiteElo "2793"]
[BlackElo "2762"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[SourceDate "2016.03.19"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 {Until now we are following the game
between Levon Aronian and Vishy Anand. Here the Armenian went 5.Bf4 and Vishy
took the pawn with dxc4. Anish deviates with Qc2.} 5. Qc2 Bb4 {Here's the
most difficult question of the game: Is it a Nimzo, Queen's Gambit or Ragozin?}
6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Qxc3 O-O {Now we are somewhere in the Nimzo territory where
instead of dc4 Black has played Nbd7. Is this line inferior to the main line?
Well, Vishy shows that when you are well prepared even inferior lines look
good.} 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 c5 {Black is playing very logical chess. As he is
ahead in development he is trying to break the centre.} 10. e3 cxd4 11. Qxd4 {
This is the first new move but at the highest level nothing really has been
known about this line. So Anish was thinking on the board. Vishy on the other
hand was well prepared.} (11. exd4 dxc4 12. Bxc4 Nb6 $11) 11... Re8 $5 {
Subtle preparation by the Indian ace. The move in itself is not so scary. But
when you know that your opponent has prepared it in detail and you haven't
even seen it, then you shy away from the most critical move cxd5, which is
what Anish did.} 12. Bxf6 {This is not a move that you make proudly.} (12. cxd5
e5 {Is this really so strong? As Anish said in the press conference I am ready
to face this move against Anand but against Anand and Computer it is a little
bit too much.} 13. Qd2 (13. Qd1 Qa5+ 14. Qd2 Qxd5 {regains the pawn but white
maintains an edge after} 15. Rc1 $14) (13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Qd2 Qg6 $5 $44 (14...
e4 15. Nd4 Nb6 {is also possible.})) 13... g5 $5 14. Bg3 g4 15. Nh4 Ne4 16. Qb4
Ndf6 17. Bd3 Qxd5 18. Rd1 $14 {This might not be a thorough analysis of the
line but I think Anand must have worked out the details really in great depth
after cd5 e5.}) 12... Nxf6 13. cxd5 Nxd5 (13... Qxd5 {is also possible.}) 14.
Be2 {White has a small edge mainly because of the c8 bishop. But Black can
equalize without too many difficulties.} Nf6 $1 (14... e5 15. Nxe5 (15. Qc5 {
This is the move that Anand was afraid of. But I think Black is completely
fine here after} e4 16. Nd4 Qg5 $36) 15... Qa5+ 16. b4 Nxe3 $1 17. Qxe3 Qxe5
$11) 15. Qxd8 Rxd8 {As Giri said after the game, I held no illusions that I
could win such position against Vishy.} 16. O-O Bd7 17. Rfc1 Rac8 18. Kf1 Kf8
19. Ke1 Ke7 20. Ne5 Rxc1+ 21. Rxc1 Rc8 22. Rxc8 Bxc8 {More pieces are
exchanged and the game finally ends in a draw.} 23. f4 Nd7 24. Nxd7 Bxd7 25.
Kd2 Kd6 26. Kc3 e5 27. g3 b6 28. Bc4 f6 29. b4 g5 30. h4 gxh4 31. gxh4 {
A relatively good result for Anand especially considering that he was black.
Giri is still searching for his first win in the event.} 1/2-1/2
between Levon Aronian and Vishy Anand. Here the Armenian went 5.Bf4 and Vishy
took the pawn with dxc4. Anish deviates with Qc2.} 5. Qc2 Bb4 {Here's the
most difficult question of the game: Is it a Nimzo, Queen's Gambit or Ragozin?}
6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Qxc3 O-O {Now we are somewhere in the Nimzo territory where
instead of dc4 Black has played Nbd7. Is this line inferior to the main line?
Well, Vishy shows that when you are well prepared even inferior lines look
good.} 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 c5 {Black is playing very logical chess. As he is
ahead in development he is trying to break the centre.} 10. e3 cxd4 11. Qxd4 {
This is the first new move but at the highest level nothing really has been
known about this line. So Anish was thinking on the board. Vishy on the other
hand was well prepared.} (11. exd4 dxc4 12. Bxc4 Nb6 $11) 11... Re8 $5 {
Subtle preparation by the Indian ace. The move in itself is not so scary. But
when you know that your opponent has prepared it in detail and you haven't
even seen it, then you shy away from the most critical move cxd5, which is
what Anish did.} 12. Bxf6 {This is not a move that you make proudly.} (12. cxd5
e5 {Is this really so strong? As Anish said in the press conference I am ready
to face this move against Anand but against Anand and Computer it is a little
bit too much.} 13. Qd2 (13. Qd1 Qa5+ 14. Qd2 Qxd5 {regains the pawn but white
maintains an edge after} 15. Rc1 $14) (13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Qd2 Qg6 $5 $44 (14...
e4 15. Nd4 Nb6 {is also possible.})) 13... g5 $5 14. Bg3 g4 15. Nh4 Ne4 16. Qb4
Ndf6 17. Bd3 Qxd5 18. Rd1 $14 {This might not be a thorough analysis of the
line but I think Anand must have worked out the details really in great depth
after cd5 e5.}) 12... Nxf6 13. cxd5 Nxd5 (13... Qxd5 {is also possible.}) 14.
Be2 {White has a small edge mainly because of the c8 bishop. But Black can
equalize without too many difficulties.} Nf6 $1 (14... e5 15. Nxe5 (15. Qc5 {
This is the move that Anand was afraid of. But I think Black is completely
fine here after} e4 16. Nd4 Qg5 $36) 15... Qa5+ 16. b4 Nxe3 $1 17. Qxe3 Qxe5
$11) 15. Qxd8 Rxd8 {As Giri said after the game, I held no illusions that I
could win such position against Vishy.} 16. O-O Bd7 17. Rfc1 Rac8 18. Kf1 Kf8
19. Ke1 Ke7 20. Ne5 Rxc1+ 21. Rxc1 Rc8 22. Rxc8 Bxc8 {More pieces are
exchanged and the game finally ends in a draw.} 23. f4 Nd7 24. Nxd7 Bxd7 25.
Kd2 Kd6 26. Kc3 e5 27. g3 b6 28. Bc4 f6 29. b4 g5 30. h4 gxh4 31. gxh4 {
A relatively good result for Anand especially considering that he was black.
Giri is still searching for his first win in the event.} 1/2-1/2
Anand speaks about his game against Anish and how it feels to not have his wife Aruna at the event
Anish Giri on his game with Anand and more
Round seven article in the popular online news website: Firstpost
Click on the image below to read the entire article
