World Chess Championship 2013: Anand vs. Carlsen Game 1

The FIDE World Chess Championship Match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen got off to a quiet start in Chennai, India. Viswanathan Anand had no issues with securing a draw with the black pieces and got the job done in a mere sixteen moves. This has to be seen as a small victory for the “Anand camp” and a missed opportunity for Magnus Carlsen to pressure opponent with the white pieces. Below are my thoughts on the brief encounter:

[Event “World Chess Championship”]
[Site “Chennai”]
[Date “”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Magnus Carlsen”]
[Black “Viswanathan Anand”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[Eco “D02”]
[Annotator “Chris Torres”]
[Source “”]

1.Nf3 d5

2.g3 {Magnus Carlsen has selected a very “quiet approach.” His team must feel that
his best chances lie with outmaneuvering Viswanathan Anand in strategically complicated “closed” middlegames.}
g6

3.Bg2 Bg7

4.d4 c6 {Anand chooses the safe path. If it were the final game in the match and he
needed to win, Anand might have played something like this:}
( 4…Nh6 5.c3 Nf5 6.Nbd2 Nd6 7.h4 c6 8.h5 Bf5 9.Nb3 Nd7 10.Nh4
Be6 11.f3 Bf6 12.g4 g5 13.Nf5 Bxf5 14.gxf5 Nxf5 15.e4 Nh4 16.Bh3
e6 17.Qe2 a5 18.Be3 Qc7 19.O-O-O a4 20.Na1 Nb6 21.Kb1 Nc4 22.Bc1
Be7 23.Nc2 h6 24.e5 {…0-1, Nikolic Predrag (BIH) 2670 – Agdestein Simen (NOR) 2600 , Reykjavik 1996 It (open)}
)

5.O-O Nf6

6.b3 {Magnus Carlsen is playing a double fianchetto. Generally, this is not a popular approach at
high level events but perhaps its reputation is about to change.}

O-O 7.Bb2 Bf5 8.c4 {So far, the position is very even with Magus Carlsen having an advantage in “space.”}

Nbd7 {Leko chose “Ne4” in a battle against against Nakamura which also ended in a draw .}
( 8…Ne4 9.Nbd2 Nd7 10.Nh4 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 Be6 12.e4 dxe4 13.Bxe4
Bh3 14.Rfe1 Qc7 15.Nf3 Nf6 16.Bc2 Rad8 17.Qe3 Rfe8 18.Bc3 Qc8
19.Rad1 Bf5 20.Bxf5 Qxf5 21.Kg2 Qc8 22.h3 Qc7 23.Qe5 Nd5 24.Qxc7
Nxc7 25.Ba5 Rd7 26.Ne5 Bxe5 27.dxe5 Red8 28.Rxd7 {…1/2-1/2, Nakamura Hikaru (USA) 2778 – Leko Peter (HUN) 2730 , London 9/23/2012 It “FIDE Grand Prix” (cat.20)}
)

9.Nc3 {“Nbd2” is also playable here.} ( 9.Nbd2 Ne4 10.Nh4 Nxd2
11.Qxd2 Be6 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.Rac1 Qb6 14.Nf3 Rfc8 15.Ba3 Bf6 16.e3
Qa6 17.Bb4 Qb6 18.Ba5 Qd6 19.Rfe1 Bf5 20.Bb4 Qe6 21.Rxc8+ Rxc8
22.Rc1 Nb8 23.Rxc8+ Qxc8 24.Ne5 e6 25.Bd6 Nd7 26.h3 g5 27.Qa5
a6 28.Qa4 Nxe5 {
…1-0, Fressinet Laurent (FRA) 2693 – Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (FRA) 2682 ,
Nancy 4/29/2012 It “Grand Prix FFE” (active) (KO-system)} )

dxc4 {Again, Anand has a more aggressive move which we may see later in this match.}
( 9…Ne4 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11.e3 a5 12.Qe2 a4 13.Bh3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3
e6 15.e4 dxe4 16.Qxe4 Qb6 17.Qc2 Rfd8 18.Rfd1 Nf8 19.c5 Qc7 20.b4
Nd7 21.Rd3 b5 22.cxb6 Nxb6 23.Bg2 a3 24.Rxa3 Rxa3 25.Bxa3 Bxd4
26.Rd1 Qa7 27.Bc1 Nd5 28.a3 Nc3 29.Rxd4 {…0-1, Latorre Matias (PAR) 2286 – Lemos Damian (ARG) 2543 , Asuncion 5/16/2011 Zt}
)

10.bxc4 {Magnus Carlsen controls the center at the expense of an isolated “a” pawn.}
Nb6 {“10. Nb6 is a rather sharp idea, I mean forcing the play right way, he goes
11.c5, I played 11. Nc4, to be honest I expected 11. Qb3, though anyway after 11. Be6 black is doing fine.”-Viswanathan Anand}
11.c5 Nc4 12.Bc1 {“12.Bc1 was a bit of a surprise because after 12. Nd5 I mean 13.Qe1 even 13.
Nb4 getting very unpleasant for white and after 13.Qb3 I can force this draw.”-Viswanathan Anand}
( 12.Qb3 Nxb2 13.Qxb2 b5 14.cxb6 Qxb6 15.Qxb6 axb6 16.Ne5 Ra3
17.Rac1 c5 18.Nc4 Ra6 19.d5 b5 20.Nxb5 Rxa2 21.Nc3 Rc2 22.e4
Rxc3 23.Rxc3 Nxe4 24.Re3 Nd6 25.Ne5 e6 26.Rd1 exd5 27.Bxd5 c4
28.Nxc4 Nxc4 29.Bxc4 Rc8 30.Bb3 Bh6 31.Re7 Rb8 {…1-0, Cosma Elena Luminita (ROM) 2331 – Tolgyi Viorica (ROM) 2060 , Brasov 10/12/2011 Ch Romania (team) (w)}
)

Nd5 13.Qb3 {“…move 13 Qe1 and 13. Nb4 is very strong. From then on I had to pull
emergency brakes, and had to go for draw.”-Magnus Carlsen}

Na5 14.Qa3 Nc4 15.Qb3 Na5 16.Qa3 Nc4 1/2-1/2