[Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.05.31"] [Round "9"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "2751"] [BlackElo "2864"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {[%evp 0,80,29,34,33,22,36,12,4,10,18,26,27,2,21,-4,18,19,29,-10,17,20,29,1,33, 16,20,19,32,-15,-1,9,23,5,6,6,6,21,0,-40,-10,-15,-6,-2,-2,-30,-2,65,43,72,82, 73,159,158,150,150,157,155,155,159,159,165,165,165,165,108,116,116,51,59,28,22, 29,60,21,20,14,13,22,13,27,0,7]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 {Not the most topical Italian nowadays, but definitely the most complex one. White does not want to trade a single pawn yet.} Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 d6 7. a4 Na5 8. Ba2 c5 9. c3 Nc6 10. Na3 {One of the routes to shift the knight towards the juicy d5 and f5 outposts. This one has the advantage of not obstructing the bishop.} h6 {Carlsen deviates from an earlier game of his (see below). And it seems as this move does not go well with his setup.} ({In Berlin, Aronian demonstrated good defensive play following:} 10... Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Bd2 a6 13. b4 cxb4 14. cxb4 d5 15. Nc2 b5 16. axb5 axb5 17. Rxa8 Qxa8 18. exd5 Nxd5 19. Nxe5 Ncxb4 20. Nxb4 Nxb4 21. Qb3 Qd5 {Dominguez Perez,L (2752)-Aronian,L (2772) Berlin 2022}) ({The world champion did better the previous time he faced this line after} 10... a6 11. Nc2 Rb8 12. h3 b5 13. axb5 axb5 14. Ne3 Be6 15. Bxe6 fxe6 16. Bd2 Qd7 17. Qe2 d5 {Giri,A (2782)-Carlsen,M (2855) Leuven 2016}) 11. Nc2 a6 12. Ne3 Be6 13. Nd5 {Mission accomplished. Carlsen needs to decide how to deal with the intruder, but that is far more difficult than it seems.} Re8 $146 { In a way, this looks logical, the rook is opening a square for the bishop. On the other hand, after the potential trade on d5, Black would rather have the rook back to it's initial position, from where it can support the f7-f5 advance.} ({Black held in an email predecessor after:} 13... Rb8 14. Nd2 Qd7 15. Nc4 Bd8 16. Nxf6+ Bxf6 17. Nb6 Qd8 18. Nd5 Bg5 19. Bxg5 Qxg5 20. Re3 Kh7 21. Rg3 Qd8 {Achilles,E (2444)-Colin,S (2437) ICCF email 2016}) ({Anand explained in the studio the importance of including the h7-h6 move. It is favoring him in case of the logical} 13... Bxd5 14. exd5 Nb8 {as after} 15. Nh4 $1 {followed by Qd1-f3 and later Nh4-f5 Black cannot easily get rid of the annoying knight and \"that pawn (on h6) will hurt.\" (Anand)}) 14. Nd2 b5 { This looks dubious.} ({It made sense to proceed with} 14... Bf8 $5 {in order to open a square for the queenside knight and position it better in case of} 15. Nf1 ({But perhaps Carlsen disliked} 15. Qf3 $5 Bxd5 16. exd5 Ne7 17. Bb3 { with the positional threat of a4-a5.} ({Or even} 17. Bc4 {with a bind.})) 15... Bxd5 16. exd5 Ne7 17. Qf3 Nh7) 15. Nf1 {Now if Black does not want to allow his opponent permanent control of the center, he needs to take} Bxd5 ({White is also significantly better after} 15... Rb8 16. axb5 axb5 17. Bd2) 16. Bxd5 $1 {\"I wanted to take with the bishop, so that I could get this 'knight thing. '\" (Anand)} Nxd5 ({Certainly not} 16... Qc7 17. Ne3) 17. exd5 Na5 18. b4 Nb7 { This is the \"knight thing\" the former world champion was referring to. The knight is trapped for a very long time.} 19. Re2 $1 {The next sequence of moves was also well calculated by Anand.} ({But perhaps an even better move was } 19. Qg4 $5 {with the main idea of infiltrating the opponent's camp after say} Kh8 20. axb5 axb5 21. Rxa8 Qxa8 22. Qd7 Bf8 23. Qxb5) 19... cxb4 20. cxb4 a5 21. axb5 axb4 22. Rb1 Qd7 {\"I was surprised that he let me go like this, because basically, this is just-resigns.\" (Anand)} ({Indeed} 22... Nc5 $1 { would have been a better chance when after} 23. Rxb4 Ra1 {\"is a bit irritating.\" The Indian GM intended to go for} 24. b6 {and believed this should work, but things are far from clear after} Qa8 25. Qc2 Qxd5 (25... Rb8 26. d4 {is not as good for Black.}) 26. Bb2) 23. Reb2 Nc5 ({The blockading attempt} 23... Bd8 {would be rejected with} 24. b6 $1) 24. Rxb4 Qf5 25. Be3 $1 {With the removal of this once-a-poor piece, but now-a-good-blockader, the b-passer becomes almost unstoppable.} Nxd3 ({Or else a lost endgame after} 25... Qxd3 26. Qxd3 Nxd3 27. R4b3 Nc5 28. Bxc5 dxc5 29. b6) 26. Ng3 Qh7 27. R4b3 Nc5 28. Bxc5 dxc5 29. b6 {The pawn is moving.} Red8 30. b7 Rab8 31. Rb6 c4 {The culmination of the game. Anand knew he was winning, but miscalculated with } 32. Rc6 ({The most convincing win would have been} 32. Qg4 $1 {Not only attacking the c4-pawn and hitting the back rank, but also threatening the black king concretely, as in the line} Rxd5 33. Nf5 (33. Qxc4 Rc5 {is less convincing.}) 33... Bf8 34. Nxh6+) ({Also good would have been} 32. Qa4 Rxd5 33. Qxc4 Rc5 {although here White needs to find some more convincing moves.}) 32... Qd3 $1 {Carlsen grabs his chance.} 33. Qf1 ({It was never clear what Anand missed. Probably this was the line} 33. Qxd3 cxd3 34. Nf5 ({The machine still finds an edge for White after} 34. Kf1 $1 {as Black cannot defend with} Rxd5 ({But instead he has} 34... Bf8 $1 35. Rc7 Rxd5 36. Ke1 {and it is still very messy.}) 35. Nf5 Bf8 (35... Bf6 36. Rxf6 $1) 36. Rc8) 34... Bf8 35. Rc7 g6 36. Ne3 Bd6 $1 {when Black somehow holds the pawns, say} 37. Rc6 Rd7 38. Rc8+ Kg7 39. Rxb8 Bxb8 40. f3 f5) 33... Bf8 34. Rxc4 {Frustrated, Anand forces a draw.} ({The last chance to fight for more was the line} 34. d6 Bxd6 35. Rd1 Qg6 36. Rb6 c3 37. Qc4 c2 38. Rc1 {and now Black needs to find the study-like} Bf8 $3 39. Rxg6 Rd1+ 40. Nf1 Rxc1 41. Rc6 Rxb7 42. Rc8 Rbb1 43. g4 Rxf1+ 44. Qxf1 Rxf1+ 45. Kxf1 {and it is not clear if White's advantage is enough for the win.}) 34... Qxf1+ 35. Kxf1 Rd7 36. Rc8 Rbxb7 37. Rxb7 Rxb7 38. Nf5 Rd7 39. g4 g6 40. Nxh6+ Kh7 {Forcing the swap of the minor pieces, and the pawn split. PLAY CHESS, NO WAR $1} (40... Kg7 41. g5) 1/2-1/2