1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 During his 1995 World Championship match with Kasparov, Anand became a real fan of the Najdorf Variation. 6.Bc4 A hyper-aggressive anti-Najdorf system favored by Fischer in his early days and still well worth studying for ambitious players. 6...e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.0-0 b4 Rarely seen these days. Most common is 8 . Be7 9 f4 O-O and then White usually continues with 9 e5 or 9 Be3. Sharper but quite problematical for Black is 8 . Bb7 9 Re1 Nbd7 (not 9 . Be7 here as 10 Bxe6 is crushing).

Regarding his opening choice, Anand commented to Dutch reporters that he had "lost with this same variation when Topalov surprised me three years ago here in Wijk-aan-Zee. I had to do some repairs and studied 8 . b4. When I couldn't find a refutation, I was very happy. I could forget about the main variations and play this instead. 9.Na4 Bd7! A famous Fischer - Tal game went 9 . Nxe4 10 f4! Black came under a heavy attack but went on to win after the maneuver. a8-a7-e7 shielded his king. The text is an important move because Black develops his pieces while relieving the pressure against e6. 10.f4 Nc6

11.f5 I am not convinced by this move. Steadier is 11 Be3 with the idea 11 . Be7 (weak is 11 . Nxe4 12 f5) 12 f5 e5 13 Nxc6 Bxc6 14 Nb6 with a positional advantage, while if 11 . Rb8 12 Qf3 keeps the initiative. 11...e5 12.Nf3 h6! With the center closed, Anand stresses control of d5, not allowing 12 . Be7 13 Bg5. 13.Qe1 Utilizing his lead in development to stop Black from castling. The alternative was to start queenside play with 13 a3 or 13 c3. 13...Be7 14.Qg3 Kf8 Black will not connect his rooks for a while, but otherwise his position is quite compact.

15.Qe1 Regarding this move, Anand commented, "Reinderman's 15 Qe1 looked strange but was in fact an excellent move, because the queen was no longer doing anything useful on g3." 15...Rb8 16.Bd2 Qe8 The veiled pressure on the knight on a4 keeps White occupied. The Black queen later turns out to be very strongly placed on e8. 17.a3 a5 18.Kh1 Kg8 19.Rg1

Again showing significant hostility towards the Black king, Reinderman poses the threat of a spike on the g-file with g2-g4. Such a concept can only work if White also has the center under control. Anand felt this was the critical position and had these comments: "I couldn't find a good plan for Black. 19 . Kh7 would have been bad in view of 20 g4 Nd4 21 Nxd4 (not 21 g5 Nxf3 22 g6+ fxg6 23 fxg6+ Qxg6) exd4 22 g5 hxg5 (22 . Bxa4 23 g6+ wins) 23 Rxg5 and Black is left without a defense. After 23 . Kg8, for instance, 24 Rxg7+ wins immediately [24 . Kxg7 25 Qg3+ Kf8 26 Rg1], while 23 . Bc6 24 Qh4+ Kg8 25 Rxg7+ is equally devastating. But when I looked a little closer, I found 19 Rg1 had its drawbacks too, as it left f2 seriously weakened. I also realized it was all right to leave the rook on h8 and push the h-pawn later, as happened in the game. 19 h3 would have been a better try, all things considered." 19...bxa3 20.Rxa3 Nd4! Borrowing a page from the previous variation, Anand accepts doubled isolated pawns, as he is developing tremendous counterplay against the e4 square. 21.Nxd4 exd4 22.Ra1 With Black's knight gone from c6, the move 22 . d5 has become a threat, forcing this unfortunate retreat. 22...Bc6 23.Bxa5 Not played out of any sense of greed, but to free the a4 knight. 23...Nxe4 24.Rf1 h5! The advance of Black's h-pawn in the 6 Bc4 Najdorf is well-known from a game Robert Byrne - Fischer. One thing about the Najdorf is the feeling that history is always lurking. There is very little that White can do about the h-pawn push, and it is hard to figure out where he should make his stand against it. 25.Nb6 h4 26.Bd5 Bg5! Setting up the idea of . Ne4-g3+ with . Bg5-e3 to follow. Now 27 Bxe4 Bxe4 28 h3 Qc6 leaves White hopelessly disorganized. 27.Rf3 h3 28.Bxc6 If White had captured on h3, . Rb8xb6 would assume control of the long light-squared diagonal. 28...Qxc6 29.Qe2 Bf4 Hitting h2. 30 Rxf4 would be knocked out by 30 . Ng3+ 31 hxg3 hxg2+ 32 Kg1 Rh1+. 30.Kg1 Be3+ 31.Kh1 Re8 A tremendous concentration of force on the e-file. Now if 32 Nc4 Bf2 menaces 33. Ng3+. 32.Qc4 Nf2+ 33.Rxf2 Qxc4 34.Nxc4 Bxf2 Winning a clean Exchange, as White still has to deal with kingside threats, but now Reinderman succumbs to time pressure mistakes. 35.Nxd6 Re2 36.b4 Bg3 37.gxh3 Bxd6