28 Apr 2010

WCC 2010 game 4

Another Catalan, with a slight deviation from the previous one on move 5...Bb4+ rather than 5...a6.

Topalov has been allowed to build up a strong queenside pawn postion.



After 10.Na3 Bd7
A little disconcerting to have that LSB on the Knight's favourite spot.
Also, this might give White a chance to move his Knight t0 =e5= without fear of reprisal. Maybe Anand will want to castle first. Although I doubt that.

11.Ne5 Nd5



And after 12.e4 Nb4 they both castle.



13.0-0 0-0 Black more or less has to follow suit now that White is poised to play -d5-: the centre is becoming a dangerous place.
14.Rfd1 Be8 ??
Why allow his Rook to become trapped? Shooting himself in the foot. It seems that now both black Rooks are compromised. Now was the time to play f6, before White gets the chance to push his d-pawn.



After 15.d5.
Anand doesn't let the grass grow and pushed into enemy territory, forking the pawns with the convenient back-up of his Knight.

It is now too late for f6 and Black resorts to pushing the Knight away.
15..Qd6

16.Nf3 was my choice, but that would have blocked the a8 - g2 diagonal again and White obviously still has his eye on that Rook.

16.Ng3
Can't see the outcome of this as good for White: it seems to unravel the tension in the center like pulling a 'Cat's Cradle'.
Still, we have to move on. Anand knows best.
I think time may become an issue in this game.



after 16...Qc5

Maybe now it is time for Black to get his Rook out of storage via -a7- and -d7-.
Very cumbersome though. Anyways, the black Queen is poised for action, both long- and short-range, whilst being out of reach of the marauding white Knights.

17.Ne3 N8a6
opening a different excape route for that Rook. Still, Knight on the rim and all that.
Maybe White has to start thinking about liberating his Knight on =a3=.

White's queenside pawns are all over the shop now and he needs all his wits about him to pull it together.

18.dxc6 bxa4 19.Naxc4 Bxc6
20.Rac1

a little worrying for the black Queen, who may need to escape to =g5=



20...h6

21.Nd6 Qa7
22.Ng4



for heaven's sakes: which Rook did he play? Rad8 or Rfd8??


This is the crucial move of the game and all the live sites seems to differ.

Confusing input, but I believe it was the 22...Rad8

23.Nxh6+ gxh6
24.Qxh6


This is beginning to look as if someone let the air out of the balloon.
You can hear it shrivel.


and then after 24...f6
It all blew up again??

Sorry folks, but I am out of here.
Can't take the excitement.
Until they get the broadcasts sorted, I won't know if Topalov blundered or what.
It this is the true movelist, then I can't see Anand lose this.

I need air and exercise.

Anand pulled it off!
Subtle Catalan with many nuances.




My impression of the game as it unfolded, are in the previous post.








4 comment:

Mr_Toad said...

Perhaps the 'air and exercise' that you mention was just an excuse to go and chat with the 'Lady of the Lake' shown at the bottom of the page?

:)

Well, you'll know the result of the match by now. After25.e5 Bxg2 26.exf6 Rxd6 27.Rxd6 Be4 28.Rxe6 Nd3 29.Rc2 Qh7 30.f7+ Qxf7 31.Rxe4 Qf5 32.Re7 1-0

It seems that Topalov needed to try 22...f6 - but didn't. There are some wonderful variations at the end of the game eg if Topalov tried 27... Bd5 we have 28.Qg6+ Kh8 29.Rc4! The idea being that if 29.Bxc4 then 30.Rd4 Qxc4 31.Qg7++

The above analysis is by GM Miguel Illescas in a video on the ICC site. It's a really nice game I think.

The only other thing I would say is that, from my point of view as an average player, it is surprising that White allows this opening whereby he is a pawn down with a weak looking Q-side structure! As you say, "Topalov has been allowed to build up a strong queenside pawn position". But I think we'll see it again - Topalov needs to find a way to deal with it very quickly!

(I'll probably be posting about this on my blog "Celebrate Chess")

jo said...

Ah, hundreds trundling by each day.... and finally somebody says hi.
Thank you, kind Sir Toad.

The Lady of the Lake: c'est moi :-)

I'll look more closely and then stop by later. Trying to catch with today's game, which I largely missed.

Mr_Toad said...

Ooops! La 'Lady of the Lake' est vous! Apologies - I should have figured it out for myself. Anyway, I agree with your caption - playing chess outside is a great concept.

My brother and I once took a chess set with us on a walking holiday in Yorkshire. As well as playing in the local pubs (obviously!) we even had a game in a field half way up one of the (very windy) Yorkshire moors.

Not sure why, just for the hell of it, I guess :)

Mr_Toad said...

Here follows a "comment" which, because it's off-topic for this post - can be deleted!

You say you have "hundreds trundling by each day" who do not comment. Oh, if only my "Celebrate Chess" blog could attract that many visitors too! How do you get so many?! If you can visit (maybe a comment too?!), I'd be ever so grateful!

I notice that you are concerned about copyright. Do you know about the CopyScape people? As you can see from my blog at CC, I use their logo to frighten plagiarists away! They are at http://www.copyscape.com/ if you are interested. I use the free service only, which basically only allows you to use their site to check if your articles appear elsewhere on the web ie no action taken (just warns people and looks 'official' is all).

Just a small point - I think there must be a widget between the phrases "Carlsen's Closed Ruy" and "Others in the same line", but it doesn't seem to be working. All I can see are six lines of chess games all between moves 6 and 13.