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World Chess Championship Won GM Viswanathan Anand of India won the World Championship,

September 2007 in Mecico City, a point 🍉 ahead of his nearest rivals, GMs Vladimir

Kramnik of Russia and Boris Gelfand of Israel. Anand's final score was 'plus 🍉 four' (or

'+4'), meaning that he won four more games than he lost. Since he did not lose a single

🍉 game, we can also write his score as +4-0=10, meaning four wins, no losses, and ten

draws. His closest rivals 🍉 finished at 'plus two', both +3-1=10. The diagram shows the

last position from the last game (Rd.14: Anand - Leko). 🍉 White has just played

20.Bg5-e3. The material left on the board is balanced, the Pawn structure is balanced,

and neither 🍉 side has a significant weakness. The game was drawn at this point, making

Anand the new World Champion. In this 🍉 tutorial, we'll look at some of the crucial games

and positions from Mexico City that Anand encountered on his way 🍉 to winning the

championship. We are indebted to the Chessbase site (see the box 'Elsewhere on the

Web'), especially the 🍉 analyses by GM Mihail Marin and the videos by Vijay Kumar of the

post game press conferences. The Openings: Anand 🍉 Playing White (+3-0=4) The strategy of

top tier chess players often uses a simple formula: Win with White; draw with 🍉 Black.

This means that all players follow the same opening strategy. They play opening systems

that maximize their chances of 🍉 winning with White and of drawing with Black. Mexico

City was no different. The eight participants played each other twice, 🍉 and the four

games per round over 14 rounds produced 56 games. White won 18, Black won 2, and 36

🍉 were drawn (+18-2=36). Anand opened all seven of his games as White with 1.e4. One

opponent responded 1...c5, and the 🍉 other six replied 1...e5. Against those six, Anand

played 2.Nf3. Two opponents replied 2...Nf6 (the Petrov [Petroff] Defense), while the

🍉 other four replied 2...Nc6. All four games followed the main line of the Ruy Lopez

(3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O 🍉 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O), and three of those four games

arrived at the position shown in the diagram, known 🍉 as the Marshall Attack (8.c3 d5).

Both the Petrov and the Marshall give Black excellent drawing chances. Black's winning

chances 🍉 aren't very high, but neither is the risk of losing. The Petrov was played

seven times in Mexico City (+0-0=7). 🍉 The Marshall was played four times (+1-0=3), and

would have been played more often if Black hadn't sidestepped it with 🍉 the Anti-Marshall

moves 8.h3 (+0-0=3) and 8.a4 (+2-0=0). The Openings: Anand Playing Black (+1-0=6) As

Black, Anand faced 1.e4 twice, 🍉 answering 1...e5 in both games. In the other five games,

all of which opened 1.d4, he answered 1...d5 2.c4 c6 🍉 twice, and 1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 three

times. The 1.d4 openings provide more opportunity for transpositions between different

systems than do 🍉 the 1.e4 openings. Four of Anand's 1.d4 games converged to the same

position (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 🍉 c6). Three of these games continued 5.Bg5 h6

6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5, reaching the position shown in the 🍉 diagram. Known as the

Anti-Meran Gambit, it was played in five games overall (+0-1=4). Top tier players spend

much of 🍉 their preparation studying the games of their rivals, in particular their

opening repertoires. They assume that their rivals are doing 🍉 the same. Together with

small teams of trusted assistants, everyone armed with the latest chess software and

data, they probe 🍉 their opponents' openings looking for moves that might surprise. They

also verify their own openings by looking for improvements to 🍉 avoid surprises by well

prepared opponents. It is almost impossible for an observer to explain why a particular

player chose 🍉 a particular opening against a particular opponent in a particular game.

Much depends on the preparation of the two adversaries, 🍉 on their history of playing

together, and on other games in the same event which have seen the most fashionable

🍉 openings. The choice of opening is largely psychological and only the players can

explain their choices satisfactorily. Rd.2: Winning with 🍉 Black

Aronian - Anand; after

22.e4-d5(xP) In the first round, the eight players started cautiously. All four games

were drawn in 🍉 less than 30 moves. In the second round, Anand played Black against GM

Levon Aronian of Armenia, a dangerous opponent 🍉 who was fully capable of winning the

event. The game started with an Anti-Meran Gambit, and followed a known variation 🍉 until

Anand uncorked a novelty on his 17th move. A few moves later Aronian made a temporary

sacrifice of a 🍉 minor piece, arriving at the diagrammed position. Now if the Bishop

retreats with 22...Bb7, White regains the sacrificed piece with 🍉 23.c6, obtaining an

excellent game with pressure against the Black Paxn on g4.. Anand played the surprising

22...Be5!, when White 🍉 was forced to continue 23.f4. After 23...Bg7 24.dxc6 Nxc5, the

White Bishops were passively placed. Anand (video): 'I think he 🍉 missed this plan of

...Be5 and ...Bg7, or he underestimated it. In the whole game I'm playing against his

Bishop 🍉 on e2; my Pawns on h5 and g4, and b5 and c4 control this Bishop. This turned out

to be 🍉 the deciding factor in the game.' Aronian resigned on his 42nd move. This second

round win with Black over a 🍉 dangerous rival was an excellent start for the Indian GM.

Rd.5: Beating the Marshall

Anand - Svidler; after 26.Qd3-d1 Since reigning 🍉 World

Champion Kramnik was the only other player to win in the second round, the two

pre-tournament favorites took the 🍉 lead, a position they maintained by drawing with each

other in round three and against their respective opponents in round 🍉 four. In the fifth

round Anand played against the Marshall Attack for the first time in the event. The

diagrammed 🍉 position is typical of the Marshall. Black is a Pawn down, but Black's

pieces, especially the Rooks, are placed more 🍉 aggressively than White's. A few moves

earlier, Black had weakened his Kingside with 24...g5. The game continued 26...Nf6

27.a4 Ne4 🍉 28.axb5 axb5 29.Ra6. After tying down the Black pieces to the defense of the

Queenside, Anand played Ng2-e3-f5 and broke 🍉 through on the Kingside. Anand (video): 'In

a very complicated position at the end he spotted me a bit of 🍉 time. At the end the

position was unbelievably complicated. Basically I tried to get a position where White

is able 🍉 to hold onto the Pawn at the cost of a significant initiative for Black [. ..]

When he went Nd5-f6-e4, 🍉 it's a pretty good plan, because suddenly I can't swap Rooks

very easily. That means his attack when it comes 🍉 will be very strong. I reacted with a4

and Ra6, probably the only correct reaction.' Kramnik drew his game, and 🍉 Anand was

alone in the lead for the first time. Rd.7: Avoiding the Marshall

Anand - Grischuk;

after 16...Bc8-g4 In the 🍉 sixth round, while Anand and Kramnik both drew, a new front

runner emerged. Gelfand won his second straight game to 🍉 tie Anand at 'plus two'. Faced

with the possibility of playing against the Marshall Attack for the second time, Anand

🍉 varied with 8.a4, an Anti-Marshall move. In the diagrammed position, the Black Knight

is well posted on b4, but White 🍉 has a stronger center. The game continued 17.h3 Bh5

18.g4 Bg6 19.d5!. With the last move, White locked the Bishop 🍉 on g6 out of play. Anand

(video): 'I'm not exactly sure how this plan is in the opening with ...Bg4. 🍉 It's very

forcing because I must play [h3 and] g4, but on the other hand his Bishop gets

sidetracked to 🍉 g6. I felt that I should be better, but the tactics are quite annoying.

A bit later I realized that 🍉 my Bishop on b1 is trapped for a while. So it was a complex

game.' The world no.1 gradually improved 🍉 the position of his own pieces, kept his

opponent's pieces in passive positions, and broke through by sacrificing a Pawn 🍉 on the

Queenside to invade Black's position on the Kingside. Black's d-Pawn fell and the

White's strong, central d- & 🍉 e-Pawns were enough to ensure victory. Rd.8: Drawing with

Black against the Closest Contender

Gelfand - Anand; after 10.Bc1-d2 At the

🍉 tournament's half way point, when all the players had met each other exactly once,

Anand was again alone in the 🍉 lead. At 'plus three' (+3-0=4), he was a half point ahead

of Gelfand ('plus two') and a full point ahead 🍉 of Kramnik ('plus one'). He was to play

Black against Gelfand in the first game of the second half. In 🍉 the diagrammed position,

Anand played 10...Bd6. It was a move that had been played only once before, and that

Gelfand 🍉 had not seen. Anand (video): 'Basically I wanted to surprise Boris with this

idea of ...Bd6. It's a very rare 🍉 move, but I'd done some work on it with some people

some months back. It comes down to the Catalan 🍉 is a story that you play ...e5 or ...c5

or you don't. If you're not in time, you're worse. Here 🍉 I think ...Qb8 and ...e5 were

very important moves.' The surprise worked. Gelfand played 11.Rd1 instead of the more

aggressive 🍉 11.Bg5. The game was agreed drawn on the 20th move. When Kramnik also drew

on the Black side of a 🍉 Petrov Defense, the three leaders retained their respective

positions on the crosstable. Rd.10: Drawing with Black Against the Most Dangerous

🍉 Opponent

Kramnik - Anand; after 28.Qh5-h6(xP) In round nine, Anand agreed to a draw

against after 21 moves Aronian's Marshall. Gelfand 🍉 and Kramnik both lost their only

games of the tournament, stretching Anand's lead to a full point. Round 10, with 🍉 Black

against World Champion Kramnik, would likely be the Indian's most severe test of the

event. In an Anti-Meran Gambit, 🍉 both players had prepared the opening and the initial

moves were played quickly. Black was forced to sacrifice the exchange, 🍉 but received

good compensation in a centrally posted Knight. In the diagrammed position Black played

28...Nf4. Anand (video): 'When I 🍉 played Nf4 I thought it was quite unpleasant for him,

and that's when I started to feel that I was 🍉 better already. He can never take on g5

because of ...Ne2+ and ...Qh2+. He cannot play g3 either because of 🍉 ...Ne2+, ...Qd5+,

and ...Rd8. On Re1, I just go ...Qd5, and so on. So I started to get ambitious, but 🍉 he

found 29.Kh1, which is the best move. I went 29...Qd5 30.f3 Rd8 31.Qg7 Rd7, and here my

Knight is 🍉 too strong. By playing 32.Qf8 with the threat of Rfc1, I thought I could go

32...Qd6 33.Qg7 Qd5, and then 🍉 it's a draw. Probably this was best. I thought 32...Ne2

was very strong because I'm also restraining Rfc1, but completely 🍉 missed 33.Rfe1.'

Kramnik in turn missed the best move. With a lot of fight left in the position, but

tired 🍉 from the constant tactical complications, the players agreed to a draw on the

41st move. Rd.11: Clinching the Title (Almost)

Anand 🍉 - Morozevich; after 30...Rh4-h5

Anand now led by a point with four rounds to be played. In the next round 🍉 he had White

against Morozevich, a daring player who is always full of creative tactical ideas.

Against Anand's 1.e4, the 🍉 Russian played 1...c5, the only game in Mexico where Anand

faced other than 1...e5. Play from the diagrammed position continued 🍉 31.Qf1 Rh4 32.Qg2

Rh5, bringing the game back to the diagram. If Anand had now continued 33.Qf1, the

players would 🍉 most likely have repeated the same move sequence, leading to a draw by

triple repetition. Instead he played 33.Nxa6. GM 🍉 Marin (analysis): 'An important moment

in modern chess history. Anand's most dangerous trailers, Kramnik and Gelfand, had

finished their games 🍉 hours earlier and a draw would have maintained his comfortable

lead in the tournament. The ambitious decision to play on 🍉 will lead to a slightly

irrational position, without any safety net for White. Therefore, Anand deserves the

highest praise for 🍉 the way he chose to climb up to the highest peak of the chess

pyramide. This is the kind of 🍉 World Champion the public needs. Anand's reward for his

daring play was to pull ahead of his nearest rival by 🍉 a point and a half. With only

three games remaining, this was an almost insurmountable lead. Rd.13: Holding a Bad

🍉 Endgame

Grischuk - Anand; after 40.Kd4-c4 Most people believe that chess is not a game

of chance. By any strict definition 🍉 of the word 'chance', they are probably right.

Chess players know better. No matter how far ahead they calculate variations, 🍉 or how

solid their position seems to be, there is always a chance that they have overlooked

something. Going into 🍉 the penultimate round, Anand's lead was still a full point and

only bad luck could steal the victory from him. 🍉 After Grischuk's 40.Kc4, as shown in

the diagram, Anand played 40...Kc8. White's unexpected 41.Rc2! put him in great danger

of 🍉 losing. Anand (video): 'I blundered in the Rook ending, but the funny thing is I

might not have lost anything 🍉 anytime at all. Even if I had gone correctly [via e7] to

f6, he would have gone to e3, checked 🍉 on f3, and we would have had exactly the same

position as in the game. It's funny that you can 🍉 blunder something and still end up in

the exact same situation. I don't know if it's a draw, but I 🍉 remembered once I drew

with [Kramnik] in Monaco like this. You keep attacking one Pawn on the Queenside and

one 🍉 on the Kingside, back and forth. It's a typical idea in Rook endings. It seemed to

hold this time. I 🍉 didn't see a clear win for him and I didn't see a clear draw for me,

but somehow it was 🍉 enough. It's difficult to play a tournament without one bad day,

and for me today was the day I 🍉 chose to play some lousy moves. At least it was not

enough.' Anand held the position by simplifying into an 🍉 endgame of Rook and a-Pawn vs.

Rook and h-Pawn, sacrificing his Rook for Grischuk's a-Pawn, and shepherding his h-Pawn

to 🍉 the promotion to its eighth rank, where his opponent was forced to sacrifice his own

Rook. The draw was a 🍉 question of a tempo: one tempo more and White would have won.

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