Leon 2017, Day 3: So Defeats Anand in Blitz Tiebreaks to Win the Tournament
Viswanathan Anand has won Leon nine times, but while he showed glimpses of his strengths - his preparation was especially good in some games, and he demonstrated his skills as a slippery defender by saving two lost positions in the final match - in other respects his play wasn't so good. Wesley So's play wasn't perfect either, but he seemed more consistent and was a deserved winner.
The final between So and Anand followed the format of the semi-finals, a best-of-four rapid match (20' + 10"/move), followed if need be by a pair of blitz games and, if still tied, by an Armageddon game.
So had White in the first rapid game, a 4.d3 Berlin. Anand came out of the opening fine, and then So had a slight edge, and then Anand was better before the game finished in a draw in an equal position. It was a good start for Anand.
Game two was a very different story. So probably surprised Anand with 7...Kf8 in a 7.Qg4 Winawer. He came out of the opening in good shape, and while he was briefly in trouble between 26...Rf8? and 28.Qf3?, most of the time things were in his favor. So was winning for around 25 moves, but Anand defended stubbornly, and So couldn't quite put him away. Another draw.
Game three was a lot like game one: So slightly outplayed Anand after the opening to get an edge, and was then outplayed by Anand who took over the advantage, and then the draw was agreed in an equal position.
Game four was rather crazy. So played a very bad opening, and by move 18 or so he was nearly lost. Anand's attack would play itself, as the cliche goes, once he got in g2-g4. So rose to the occasion, finding a neat tactical trick that Anand missed until it was too late. That allowed him to equalize, and then he outplayed Anand to achieve a winning endgame. But once again Anand defended well enough to make the win difficult - at least in a rapid game - and once again the game was drawn. On to the blitz.
In the first blitz game, Anand appeared to forget his prep. It seems as if he wanted to copy what he had done against Anish Giri in a rapid game a week ago, but messed up his move order and reached the same position a tempo down. While So missed a surprising tactical opportunity to take immediate advantage of Anand's error, his retained a pleasant advantage that quickly became decisive. Anand never got into the game, and resigned after just 23 moves.
In the second blitz game, Anand again achieved an advantage with White against the Petroff. So seemed at sea in game four, and nothing about the opening of this game suggested he was better prepared this time. He offered a dubious pawn sac that offered little if any compensation, but was bailed out when Anand blundered it away with 16.Rab1. White did get a very small chance several moves later, but after that there were no more opportunities. So defended very well, achieved the draw, and won the title.
Games here, some with my notes.
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