Anand-Gelfand 2012: Game 10

Before the start of the 2012 World Chess Championship, many notable experts on chess considered Boris Gelfand to be a weak contender and a huge underdog against Viswanathan Anand. Now that ten hard games have been fought, the underdog has proven himself to be the equal of the world champion. Perhaps Boris Gelfand will surprise the world again by demonstrating his superiority over Viswanathan Anand in the last two games. Regardless if Gelfand is successful or not, this should be very exciting chess to watch.

Below is my analysis of game 10 from the 2012 World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand:

[Event “Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship”]

[Site “Moscow, Russia”]

[Date “2012.05.24”]

[Round “10”]

[White “Viswanathan Anand”]

[Black “Boris Gelfand”]

[Result “1/2-1/2”]

[ECO “B30”]

[Opening “Sicilian”]

[Variation “Rossolimo, 3…e6 4.b3”]

1. e4 c5 {Another Sicilian defence.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {I was surprised to see Anand play the Rossolimo (3. Bb5) rather than the classical line of 3 d4. The Rossolimo and its cousin the Moscow (2. …d6 3. Bb5+) are favorites of players who want to avoid constantly relearning new trends in the ever-changing Sicilian.} e6 {Often times you see black play g6 or d6 here as well.} 4. Bxc6 {White has plenty of other options if he does not want to trade his bishop this early. However, capturing on c6 does score fairly well for white.} bxc6 {Taking back with the d-pawn is not to be recommended.} 5. b3 {This move is a bit of a rarity. More often white plays d3 here.} e5 {Speaking of rare moves! This move has only been used twice previously to this game. Wow! Boris Gelfand is incredibly confident and very well prepared.} 6. Nxe5 {This line is from the game Dmitry Bocharov vs. Evgeny Shaposhnikov, 2001. There are no other recorded games that contain this position.} Qe7 7. Bb2 d6 8. Nc4 d5 {Shaposhnikov played Qxe4 here. Boris Gelfand has other plans. It is immediately obvious that Gelfand gains space free of spending tempi.} 9. Ne3 d4 {Gelfand gains even more space. This is an interesting line. The added space and bishop pair roughly equals white’s advantage in pawn structure.} 10. Nc4 Qxe4+ {Now the queens will come off the board and we will have an equal yet imbalanced endgame ahead.} 11. Qe2 Qxe2+ 12. Kxe2 Be6 13. d3 Nf6 14. Nbd2 O-O-O {Boris Gelfand wants his king on the side of the board with his weak pawns. Now that Anand is missing his queen and light bishop, Gelfand feels confident that his king should be a useful piece and no longer hidden.} 15. Rhe1 Be7 16. Kf1 Rhe8 {I like all of Gelfand’s pieces except for his bishop on e7.} 17. Ba3 {Anand’s bishop was of very limited use on b2. Now it is targeting a weakness. Another way to gain influence for the bishop and the rook on a1 would be to play a3 followed by b4.} Nd5 {Anand should have been expecting this. Gelfand’s plan is to put his knight on b4.} 18. Ne4 Nb4 19. Re2 Bxc4 {This move might not be the first choice among amateurs. However, after the game, Anand claimed Gelfand’s exchange was necessary otherwise he would double his rooks in the “e” file and then move his bishop to f4 by way of c1.} 20. bxc4 f5 21. Bxb4 {Anand could have also placed his knight on g3. At least the move he chose is slightly more complex.} cxb4 22. Nd2 Bd6 23. Rxe8 Rxe8 24. Nb3 c5 {A beginner mistake is taking a2 with the bishop. After white plays b3 your bishop is trapped.} 25. a3 {Anand plans to get rid of his weak pawn and give his rook more scope. After the move was played, however, he offers Gelfand a draw.} 1/2-1/2