[Event "World Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.11.12"] [Round "4"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B40"] [WhiteElo "2863"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "94"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 $1 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 d5 5. exd5 {Normally one would "blame" Carlsen for already drying up the game, but in fact the "fault" is with Anand's last move; 4...Nf6 would lead to sharper play.} exd5 6. O-O Nf6 7. d4 Be7 8. Be3 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Bg4 ({Caruana reputedly helped Anand before the match in some capacity, and it turns out he has also been on the black side of this position.} 9... O-O 10. Nc3 (10. h3 Re8 11. Re1 h6 12. Nd2 Bd6 13. c3 Bd7 14. Qb3 a6 15. Rad1 Qc7 16. Nf1 Re7 17. Qc2 Rae8 18. Nf5 Bxf5 19. Qxf5 Qa5 20. Qb1 Qb5 21. b3 Bc5 22. Qd3 Bxe3 23. Rxe3 Qa5 24. Qd2 Rc8 25. Bxd5 Nxd5 26. Qxd5 Rxe3 27. Qxa5 Rxg3+ 28. Nxg3 Nxa5 29. c4 Rc7 30. Rd8+ Kh7 31. Ne4 Nc6 32. Rf8 Kg6 33. Kg2 Nb4 34. Nc3 Rd7 35. Rb8 Kf5 36. Na4 Rc7 37. Nc3 {1/2-1/2 (37) Short,N (2696)-Caruana,F (2675) Wijk aan Zee 2010}) 10... Bg4 11. Qd3 a6 12. Rfe1 Qd7 13. Nxc6 bxc6 14. Na4 Qf5 15. Bf4 Bb4 16. Qxf5 Bxf5 17. c3 Ba5 18. Bf1 Bd8 19. b3 Ne4 20. h4 Bf6 21. Rac1 g5 22. hxg5 Nxg5 23. Bg2 Nh3+ 24. Bxh3 Bxh3 25. Be5 Bg5 26. f4 Be7 27. Bd4 Rfe8 28. Re3 Bf5 29. Nc5 Bxc5 {1/2-1/2 (29) Jones,G (2635)-Caruana,F (2767) Reykjavik 2012}) 10. Qd3 Qd7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. N2f3 Rfe8 13. Rfe1 Bd6 $1 14. c3 h6 15. Qf1 Bh5 {The start of a nice rerouting of the bishop to its ideal square, e4.} 16. h3 Bg6 17. Rad1 Rad8 18. Nxc6 bxc6 19. c4 Be4 20. Bd4 {The position is about equal here, but after Black's next two moves White has an edge, which he kept much of the rest of the way. Neither the computers nor the commentators liked Anand's plan, but he seemed rather pleased by it in the post-game presser.} Nh7 21. cxd5 Bxd5 {This especially came as a surprise; 21...cxd5 was expected.} 22. Rxe8+ Rxe8 23. Qd3 {This not only restricts Black (no ...Qf5, for example), it also steps up the pressure on the d-file and gives White's queen access to c3, with potentially annoying pressure on the long dark-squared diagonal.} (23. Qa6 {is more direct, but Carlsen's choice emphasizes constriction.}) 23... Nf8 24. Nh4 Be5 25. Bxd5 (25. Bxe5 Rxe5 26. f4 $14) 25... Qxd5 26. Bxe5 Qxe5 {Black's activity and well-coordinated pieces are sufficient to make up for his weak c-pawn.} 27. b3 Ne6 28. Nf3 Qf6 29. Kg2 Rd8 30. Qe2 (30. Qc2 {was a bit better, and an example Carlsen himself pointed to as showing his poor play in the game. The point is that Black cannot play} Rd5 {in this case due to} 31. Rxd5 cxd5 32. Qc8+ {, when all of Black's options are problematic. If he moves the king or blocks with the knight, then 33.Qb7 wins a pawn, while} Qd8 {allows transposition into a knight ending that is very dangerous for Black.} 33. Qxd8+ Nxd8 34. Nd4 $16 {Mikhail Botvinnik famously said that knight endings are pawn endings, by which he meant that many of the same techniques and assessments applying to the latter apply to the former as well. Were this a pure king and pawn ending White would be winning due to his outside pawn majority, and while it's not as simple with the knights on the board Black is in an unpleasant situation here.} ) ({The good news for Black is that 30...Rd5 is not forced - he can play} 30. Qc2 Rxd1 31. Qxd1 Qe7 {, if nothing else, and a draw remains by far the likeliest result. Nevertheless, playing 30.Qc2 gave White more chances and should have been played.}) 30... Rd5 $1 {Now trading rooks gives Black a passed pawn, and a bit of counterplay, especially if the White queen goes on any long hunting expeditions on the other side of the board.} 31. Rxd5 ({ Trying to fix things with} 31. Qc2 {won't quite work, as Black can now play} Qd8 {, but}) (31. Re1 {was worth considering.}) 31... cxd5 32. Ne5 Qf5 33. Nd3 (33. Nc6 $6 {was another Carlsen oversight, but one averted in time. This would be very strong, were it not for} Nf4+ 34. gxf4 Qg6+ {, reclaiming the piece with a slightly better position thanks to White's fractured pawns. Even here, though, a draw remains overwhelmingly likely.}) 33... Nd4 34. g4 Qd7 35. Qe5 Ne6 36. Kg3 Qb5 37. Nf4 Nxf4 38. Kxf4 Qb4+ 39. Kf3 d4 {And here we had a self-confessed oversight by Anand, though he saw the remedy almost immediately. } 40. Qe8+ Kh7 41. Qxf7 Qd2 $1 (41... Qc3+ $2 {was Anand's intention at the moment he played 39...d4, but as he played that move he realized that} 42. Ke4 d3 43. Qf3 {would eliminate the d-pawn and make the resulting endgame very unpleasant. Fortunately for him, a good alternative was available and he spotted it.}) 42. Qf5+ Kh8 43. h4 Qxa2 44. Qe6 Qd2 $1 {A good move, protecting the d-pawn and stopping any mating tries involving g4-g5. Carlsen thought for a while, but found nothing better than repeating moves.} 45. Qe8+ Kh7 46. Qe4+ Kh8 47. Qe8+ Kh7 1/2-1/2