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Magnus Carlsen vs Viswanathan Anand
Corus (2008)  ·  Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen. Classical Variation (B84)  ·  0-1
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Jan-30-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  anandrulez: ALl this engine analysis is fine , but you need to play all this on board and I reckon its not so easy thing to do . Even top GM's dont find the best move all the time ...you can put it on hours of play etc...but its generally difficult . In kaprov kasparov game also blak retracts bd7 - showing that it is a n error move if g4 ...so frankly anand played rather lousy in this game but had the resources to defend carlsen in this aggressive line...
Jan-30-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: <ALl this engine analysis is fine , but you need to play all this on board and I reckon its not so easy thing to do.> Of course it isn't, especially in a position with such enormous tactical complications. And in any case, if the analysis I've posted above is correct it doesn't reflect in any way "badly" on either player's game, since it means that 25...Qa5 by Anand wasn't clearly losing even with best play by White, and 28.Ng3 which Carlsen supposedly "missed" wasn't clearly winning.

<In kaprov kasparov game also blak retracts bd7 - showing that it is a n error move if g4> In the KK game Bd7 was played in a slightly different position where g4 in response would have been much less powerful for White (I've explained why in a previous post).

Feb-01-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Ulhumbrus: <Eyal: ...Marin gives the line 28...Bg7 29.Nxh5! gxh5 30.Nf6+! Kf8 31.Nxh5 - "when such threats as Nxg7, g6 and Rhf3 are not easy to deal with at the same time" ... However, engine analysis indicates that Black has the nice defensive resource <31...Qd2!>:> Marin's comment suggests that if 31..Qd2 works, it has to work not only against 32 Nxg7 but against 32 g6 and against 32 Rh3-f3 as well.
Feb-01-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: <Ulhumbrus: Marin's comment suggests that if 31..Qd2 works, it has to work not only against 32 Nxg7 but against 32 g6 and against 32 Rh3-f3 as well.> Which is exactly why I considered all those moves...
Feb-01-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  euripides: <eyal, anadrulez> I now think one of the main differences is that Kasparov played Bc8 after Karpov had played Nb3, so that he could then play b6 without fearing Nxc6 and e5. In other words Kasparov Bd7 has a prophylactic purpose whih becomes obsolete when White has played Nb3 (and Bd7 partly provokes Nb3 by threatening Nxd4 and Bc6). That manoeuvre is probably OK for Black.

Here Carlsen has not played Nb3 so 15...Bd7-c8 would be simply a waste of two moves, leaving b6 as problematic as before.

Which still leaves open the question raised by <eyal> and <ulh> whether 15...Nxd4 16.Bxd4 Bc6 is any good for Black.

Feb-09-08  Atking: <Eyal> I have a great respect in your work. Always keeping open the true. But here you have to check 32.g6. Looks to me better than an exchange which release the pressure even there is some trick here too. 32.g6 than a) BxRh3? 33.Rxf7+ Kg8 34.RxBg7+ Kh8 (34...Kf8 offers an elegant mate with 35.Qf6+!!) 35.Rh7+ Kg7 36.QxBh3 Qe1+ 37.Bf1 Qxe4+ 38.Qg2! White is winning. b) Bh6!? 33.Rg3 seems good for White 33...f5!? doesn't help much 34.exf Bd5 35.f6 the passed pawns are too strong c) Qh6(!) which seems in harmony with the previous moves 33.NxBg7 seems to me enought to give White an advantage. Obviously 33...QxNg7? is not good as 34.gxf Re7 (34...Bxf7 35.Rg3 no square for the black Queen) 35.Qh8+ QxQh8 36.RxQh8+ Kg7 37.RxRb8 (f8=Q is possible). Else 33...QxQh4 34.NxBe6+ RxNe6 35.Rxf7+ Kg8 36.RxQh4 Nf8 37.Rg4 with a kind of ending B>N that Fischer used to win. I'm not sure of myself the position is very complicated. Someone could check it by a program but actually it looks good for White to me.
Feb-09-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: <Atking> Thanks for your response - I actually <did> consider 32.g6 as White's best try at the end of my post. Only after [28.Ng3 Bg7 29.Nxh5 gxh5 30.Nf6+ Kf8 31.Nxh5 Qd2 32.g6] Qh6 33.Nxg7 Qxh4 34.Nxe6+ Rxe6 35.Rxf7+ I think <35...Ke8> is better for Black than Kg8 in your line. If 36.Rxh4 Rxg6 37.Rhh7 Nf6 38.Rxb7 Rxb7 39.Rxb7 Ng4 then the activity of Black's pieces should be enough for a draw. Probably best for White is 37.Rf1 with winning chances (for what it's worth, my engine evaluates it in the +0.50-0.60 zone going into 20-ply) - but apparently far from the clear win that Marin claims it to be.
Feb-14-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Ulhumbrus: <Eyal: <Atking> Thanks for your response - I actually <did> consider 32.g6 as White's best try at the end of my post. Only after [28.Ng3 Bg7 29.Nxh5 gxh5 30.Nf6+ Kf8 31.Nxh5 Qd2 32.g6] Qh6 33.Nxg7 Qxh4 34.Nxe6+ Rxe6 35.Rxf7+ I think <35...Ke8> is better for Black than Kg8 in your line. If 36.Rxh4 Rxg6 37.Rhh7 Nf6 38.Rxb7 Rxb7 39.Rxb7 Ng4 then the activity of Black's pieces should be enough for a draw. Probably best for White is 37.Rf1 with winning chances > 38 Rxb7 takes a pawn, but it also makes a concession which may be of greater value than that of a pawn: it exchanges an active R on the seventh rank, the Rook on f7, for the inactive Rook on b8. An alternative to 38 Rxb7 is 38 Re7+ Kd8 39 Rh7-f7 threatening 40 Re6 as well as getting ready to bring the bishop into play.
Feb-14-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: <Ulhumbrus: <Eyal: [28.Ng3 Bg7 29.Nxh5 gxh5 30.Nf6+ Kf8 31.Nxh5 Qd2 32.g6] Qh6 33.Nxg7 Qxh4 34.Nxe6+ Rxe6 35.Rxf7+ I think <35...Ke8> is better for Black than Kg8 in your line. If 36.Rxh4 Rxg6 37.Rhh7 Nf6 38.Rxb7 Rxb7 39.Rxb7 Ng4 then the activity of Black's pieces should be enough for a draw. Probably best for White is 37.Rf1 with winning chances> An alternative to 38 Rxb7 is 38 Re7+ Kd8 39 Rh7-f7 threatening 40 Re6 as well as getting ready to bring the bishop into play.> It fails to 39...Rc8! with the threat of Rc1+, and White has nothing better than 40.Rf8+ Kxe7 41.Rxc8 Kd6 - if anyone has the advantage here it's Black.
Feb-14-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Ulhumbrus: <Eyal: <Ulhumbrus: <Eyal: [28.Ng3 Bg7 29.Nxh5 gxh5 30.Nf6+ Kf8 31.Nxh5 Qd2 32.g6] Qh6 33.Nxg7 Qxh4 34.Nxe6+ Rxe6 35.Rxf7+ I think <35...Ke8> is better for Black than Kg8 in your line. If 36.Rxh4 Rxg6 37.Rhh7 Nf6 38.Rxb7 Rxb7 39.Rxb7 Ng4 then the activity of Black's pieces should be enough for a draw. Probably best for White is 37.Rf1 with winning chances> An alternative to 38 Rxb7 is 38 Re7+ Kd8 39 Rh7-f7 threatening 40 Re6 as well as getting ready to bring the bishop into play.> It fails to 39...Rc8! with the threat of Rc1+, and White has nothing better than 40.Rf8+ Kxe7 41.Rxc8 Kd6 - if anyone has the advantage here it's Black.> In that case one possible alternative to waiting for 39...Rc8 is for white to play 39 Rh8 + Kxe7 40 Rxb8 attacking the b7 pawn, and another alternative is 37 Rf7-f5 keeping the e5 pawn under attack as well as threatening 38 Rh8+
Feb-14-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: I still think that 37.Rf1 in this line is a better try for White than 37.Rf5 Ke7 or 37.Rhh7 Nf6 38.Re7+ Kd8 39.Rh8 + Kxe7 40.Rxb8 b5, but in any case the basic point remains - White might be said to have some edge (or winning chances), but not a forced/clear win.
Mar-16-08  positionalgenius: One of my favorite games so far this year- a beauty.
Jun-07-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  notyetagm: <Splittet: Magnus was winning against Anand in Corus. The computers found the winning combination, but the winning combination was too difficult for a human to see and very computer like. If Magnus had found it though, we would have been witness to a masterpiece game. Dare I say one of the best of all times?>

Definitely. The game would have been included in the next edition of Nunn et alia's "World's Greatest Chess Games".

Carlsen vs Anand, 2008

White to play: 28 ?


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Here Carlsen (White) played 28 Bg2-f3?!.

Position after 28 Bg2-f3?!


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From the March 2008 issue of the fabulous British Chess Magazine, pages 125-126, annotations by Ian Rogers:

<28 Bf3?!

The thematic move, aiming for a sacrifice on h5, but the win that Anand felt in his bones must be somewhere for White was there for the taking with the amazing 28 Ng3!!, found by the Spanish IM Torrecillas.

The key idea, far from thematic, is to decoy the bishop away from e6 so that the d5 knight survives and the f7 square becomes weak.

...

Carlsen's former trainer Simes Adgestein, watching from Gibraltar, was perhaps sadder than Carlsen over the missed win. "To beat Anand is always good but to beat Anand like that would have been incredible.">

So had Carlsen found 28 Nf5-g3!! and the winning ideas associated with it, he would already have an Immortal Game.

Position after 28 Nf5-g3!!


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Jun-11-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  PinnedPiece: When I played along, guessing moves on this game (I didn't guess very many!) I really really wanted the en passant on move 27 ...pxp.

Could someone summarize why Carlsen felt this was a bad idea????

Jun-11-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  pawn to QB4: OK. Play 28.gxh5 e.p. and Black won't try to recapture your White pawn on h6. He'll leave it there, and it gets in the way of your Q + R invasion down the h file. Play Bf3 and then Bxh5 on the other hand, and the h file is now open for an attack which in practice blows away most normal humans. Play it in a league game and you can count on a win.
Jun-12-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  PinnedPiece: Thanks <pawn to QB4: OK. Play 28.gxh5 e.p. and Black won't try to recapture your White pawn on h6.>

However, after, say
28...Qd2
29 Nf6 NxN
30 QxN

it looks pretty hopeless for black to me.....what can black do after QxN?

Course there's 28..Qd8...

What a position.

Jun-12-08  Udit Narayan: This game reminds me why I love chess. The richness of this tactical slugfest is captivating. One little error by Anand would be all it would take for Carlsen to finish him off with this dangerous attack.
Jun-20-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: <notyetagm: <Splittet: Magnus was winning against Anand in Corus. The computers found the winning combination, but the winning combination was too difficult for a human to see and very computer like. If Magnus had found it though, we would have been witness to a masterpiece game. Dare I say one of the best of all times?>

Definitely. The game would have been included in the next edition of Nunn et alia's "World's Greatest Chess Games".

[...] the win that Anand felt in his bones must be somewhere for White was there for the taking with the amazing 28.Ng3!!, found by the Spanish IM Torrecillas.

[...] So had Carlsen found 28.Nf5-g3!! and the winning ideas associated with it, he would already have an Immortal Game.>

People keep saying that about 28.Ng3, yet I still fail to see a clear win for White after 28...Bg7 29.Nxh5 gxh5 30.Nf6+ Kf8 31.Nxh5 (so far the line given by Marin in chessbase following Torrecillas) <31...Qd2> - as explained in previous analysis I've posted on this page.

Jul-17-08  mindkontrolle: damn good

Jan-14-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  chocobonbon: "If" is a big word.
Jan-14-09  Jim Bartle: ...and a famous poem.
Jan-24-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Kinghunt: <Eyal: People keep saying that about 28.Ng3, yet I still fail to see a clear win for White after 28...Bg7 29.Nxh5 gxh5 30.Nf6+ Kf8 31.Nxh5 (so far the line given by Marin in chessbase following Torrecillas) <31...Qd2> - as explained in previous analysis I've posted on this page.>

32. Rhf3 Rbc8 33. g6 looks promising for white to me. I don't know about clearly winning, but definitely strong.

Jan-24-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: <Kinghunt: [28.Ng3 Bg7 29.Nxh5 gxh5 30.Nf6+ Kf8 31.Nxh5 Qd2] 32.Rhf3 Rbc8 33.g6 looks promising for white to me.>

Maybe you're right - it seems to lead to a position where White retains a pawn advantage in the endgame, in a better position than the one resulting from the 32.g6 line analyzed above - 33...Bh6 (33...Rc2? 34.Rg3 Bh6 35.g7+ Kg8 36.Nf4!) 34.Bh3 (34.gxf7 Re7 35.Nf6 Nxf6 36.Rxf6 Rc1) 34...Qg5 and apparently it boils down to 35.Bxe6 Rxe6 36.Qxg5 Bxg5 37.Rxf7+ Kg8 [White's last moves can be played in some different orders, but I don't see that it makes a difference] 38.Rxd7 Rxg6 39.Rxb7:


click for larger view

Oct-13-10  YCP: Please explain why not 26... Bxd5
27 fxd5, Qxc
Oct-13-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sastre: <YCP: Please explain why not 26... Bxd5 27 fxd5, Qxc> 27.exd5 is not forced. White can play 27.Rh3 h6 28.gxh6 g6 29.exd5 Kh7 30.Ng7 f6 31.Be4 with the idea of 32.Qh5.
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