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Matthias Bluebaum vs Viswanathan Anand
GRENKE Chess Classic (2018), Baden-Baden GER, rd 6, Apr-06
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Rosenthal Variation (D21)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Apr-06-18  jffun1958: White will capture another pawn and win.
Apr-06-18  Alexandro: RA2 was a very risky move made by Anand. The game was balanced going to a drawish end.
Apr-06-18  Fanques Fair: Ra2 was not a risky move, it was a desperation move. White is threatening the c5 bishop and if it moves, there comes Bb4+ winning a whole rook. If 24-...Nd7, 25-Rxc5 followed by Bxb4. Black is already lost in this position.
Apr-06-18  cormier: 1) +1.29 (24 ply) 24...Nc4 25.Bxc4 Bxc4 26.Nd4 Bd5 27.Rxc5 Rxc5 28.Bxb4 Kd6 29.e4 Ba2 30.f4 f6 31.Kf2 e5 32.Nf5+ Kc6 33.Bxc5 g6 34.Be7 gxf5 35.exf5 exf4 36.Kf3 Bd5+ 37.Kxf4 Bxg2 38.Bxf6 Kd6 39.Be5+ Ke7 40.b4 Bc6 41.Bd4 Kf7 42.Ke5 Bd7

6 second analysis by Stockfish 9

Apr-06-18  cormier: 1) +0.56 (24 ply) 22...Rxa5 23.Nb5 Bc5 24.Rc1 Nc4 25.Bxc4 Bxc4 26.Nd4 Bd5 27.Rxc5 Rxc5 28.Bxb4 Kd6

6 second analysis by Stockfish 9

Apr-06-18  cormier: 1) +0.08 (37 ply) 19...Nc6 20.Nxc6+ Bxc6 21.Be1 Bb7 22.f3 Rxc1 23.Rxc1 Rc8 24.Rxc8 Bxc8 25.e4 f5 26.Bd3 g5 27.h4 h6 28.g4 fxg4 29.hxg5 hxg5 30.fxg4 Kf6 31.Kf2 Be5 32.Bxb4 Bxb2 33.Bd2 Bb7 34.Kf3 Be5 35.Be3 Kg6 36.Bb6 Bc8 37.Kf2 Bb7

6.0 minute analysis by Stockfish 9

Apr-06-18  JPi: Yes <Cornier> 19...Nc6 was the "normal" move but in a total drawish mind. Anand' s mistake was to select such defence if he intended to win with Black.
Apr-07-18  pdxjjb: Was 19 ... Bd5 a sac or an oversight?
Apr-07-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  OhioChessFan: I think Vishy missed 24. Rc1, losing the b Pawn.

As a couple examples of how bad his position is at that point:

24...Bb5 25. Bxb4+ and the Rook also falls.
24...Bd6 25. Nxd6 Kxc6 26. Bxb4+ and the Rook falls.

These aren't best for Black, but just showing the underlying themes.

Black still had a pulse until the awful 39...Rd5.

Apr-07-18  Ulhumbrus: 4...b5 seems bad but Anand must have prepared it

Is 7 a5 necessary? If Black plays ...a5 and White plays his queen's knight to b3, Black's a5 pawn then becomes a target.

10...Nbd7 seems inconsistent. Having fixed White's a4 pawn as a target this suggests playing the knight o c6. However Black has still to complete his development before his uncastled king gets into trouble. Perhaps the text is meant as a necessary concession.

After 15...Ke7 Black's king has a lead in development in the ending. However his a and b pawns are both targets and his knight is on d7 instead of on c6 from which it can attack White's a5 pawn.

Instead of 19...Bd5, 19...Nc6! attacks the a5 pawn. How else can Black take advantage of the target which White has created earlier by a5? On 19...Nc6 20 Nxc6 Bxc6 the bishop may go to b5 in order to defend the a6 pawn.

After 23 Nb5! Black is in some trouble as the N attacks the bishop which defends the b4 pawn.

Apr-09-18  ChessHigherCat: I thought 5...c6 might have been better but SF says it's bad because of 6. b3. Anyway, it's painful to play through after move 24, poor Anand.
Apr-19-24  VictorVonDoom: <Ulhumbrus> 19. Nc6 looks ok but it looks like it creates a weakness a few moves later- 19. ...Nc6 20. Nxc6+ Rxc6 21. Rxc6 Bxc6 22. Rc1 Bb5 23. Bxb5 axb5 a doubled pawn weakness is created. So I guess its not that good of a move after all is exchanged.

To me, it looks like after Rfd1, the move f4 is coming. To stop that, g5 looks like the best move and I think it should have been played by Anand in this position

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