Convincing
When someone is able to rip Anatoly Karpov's castled king apart, it
is worthy of special notice. And when this is engineered by a
destructive sacrifice, followed by a dedicated king hunt, there is no
question that we are talking about a "must-see" game.
This is what transpired in one of the two meetings between
Viswanathan Anand and Karpov at Las Palmas in December. Karpov essayed
a dubious opening thinking that Anand would be on unfamiliar terrain.
But Anand established a space advantage, converted this to positional
pressure against Karpov's pawn weaknesses, and then deftly switched to
a direct attack against the king. Lately, Anand's solid play and good
judgment as to when to take risks have made it clear that his recovery
from the 1995 World Championship match is complete.
Anand,V (2735) - Karpov,An (2775) [D21]
It, Las Palmas ESP (07), 1996
1.Nf3
When a player deviates from his usual repertoire, it is always
interesting to see the opponent's reaction. Anand has been a 1 e4
player all his life. Here, Karpov must have been thinking of playing a
defense to the queenside openings which Anand does not himself play as
Black.
d5 2.d4 e6 3.c4 dxc4
Karpov appears to have found such a defense! This is an unusual
transposition to some permutation of the Queen's Gambit Accepted, which
the creative player Victor Kupreichik has experimented with.
4.e4
Black's move order encourages this occupation of the center. In the
regular Queen's Gambit Accepted 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4, 3 e4 is usually met
by the counter-attacking 3 ... e5, 3 ... Nf6 or 3 ... Nc6. Instead of
the text, a tepid alternative is 4.Qa4+ Nd7 5.Bg5 Be7 6.Bxe7 Nxe7
7.Qxc4, as in Michalcisin - Kupreichik, Lvov 1986. Taimanov, in ECO,
then gives 7...c5 8.dxc5 Qc7 as equal.
4...b5
This is the move which commits Black to somewhat extraordinary
measures. With 4...c5, Black transposes back to more familiar lines.
White's choices then would be 5.Bxc4, 5.Nc3 or 5.d5.
5.a4 c6 6.axb5
This straightforward move seems stronger to me than 6.Bg5 Bb4+
7.Nc3 Ne7 8.Be2 Bb7 9.0-0 f6 10.Bd2 Bxc3 11.Bxc3 (Lputian-Kupreichik,
Yerevan 1984), where White's positional compensation for the pawn is
not enough to constitute an advantage.
6...cxb5 7.b3 Bb7
Things got wild in Yermolinsky - Kupreichik, Sverdlovsk, 1987 after
7...Nf6 (not good here is 7 ... Bb4+ 8 Bd2 Bxd2+ 9 Nbxd2, and White's
center is well defended, as 9 ... c3? fails to 10 Bxb5+) 8.bxc4 Nxe4
{ANALYSIS DIAGRAM} 9.c5! (now 9 cxb5 Bb4+ would be nice for Black)
Bxc5! (on the meek 9 ... Bd7? 10 Ne5 menacing Qd1-f3 causes major
problems). Play continued 10.Bxb5+ Bd7 11.Bxd7+ Qxd7 12.dxc5 Qxd1+
13.Kxd1 Nxf2+ 14.Ke2 Nxh1 15.Be3 Nc6 16.Nbd2 Ke7 17.Rxh1 f6 with an
unclear endgame.
8.bxc4 Bxe4 9.cxb5 Nf6 10.Be2 Be7
Karpov does not see anything to be gained by 10 ... Bb4+ 11 Bd2
Bxd2+ 12 Nbxd2 with a quicker queenside mobilization for White.
11.0-0 0-0
If 11 ... Nbd7, to keep the White knight off of e5, Black will
never get in the liquidating ... a7-a6, and will suffer a permanent
queenside disadvantage.
12.Nc3 Bb7 13.Ne5
DIAGRAM
White's greater control of space confers a discernible advantage.
a6 14.Bf3 Nd5 15.Nxd5 exd5
Karpov allows the shutting-in of his light-squared bishop. 15 ...
Bxd5 would have been very dangerous because of the withdrawal of
support from the pawn on a6, and the new pin on the a-file. Thus,
White could simply develop with 16 Bf4, with ideas of Ne5-c6.
16.Rb1!
Anand commences an excellent series of moves, switching targets.
The immediate point is the terrible weakness of the pawn on d5 in the
event of 16 ... axb5 17 Rxb5.
Qb6
This move gives the bishop on b7 a protected status, shoring up its
role as defender of d5. Black does not have many other useful
possibilities. Relieving the pressure with 16 ... f6 would lead to
further trouble after 17 Nd3 and the knight can cause trouble from c5
or f4.
17.Be2 axb5 18.Rxb5 Qc7
On 18 ... Qa7, the great distance of the queen from the kingside
is very dangerous. White can focus in with 19 Bd3! and if 19 ... Nc6
20 Qh5 g6 21 Nxg6 fxg6 22 Bxg6 hxg6 (two Black bishops block the
queen from covering h7 along the second rank) 23 Qxg6+ Kh8 24 Rb3.
19.Bf4
Anand wants to engage as many Black pieces as possible. This is
stronger than 19 Bd3 Ra1! and Black attains some counter-pressure.
Bd6 20.Bd3!! Ba6
DIAGRAM
This is forced. If 20 ... Nc6 21 Bxh7+ Kxh7 22 Qb1+ is very
strong.
21.Bxh7+!!
It is a very rare chance to play such a move against Karpov, and
Anand is not going to let this one slip away! If he had settled for
the win of a pawn with 21 Rxd5 Bxd3 22 Qxd3, then Black can create
issues with the move 22 ... Nc6! (much better than 22 ... f6 23 Rxd6
Qxd6 24 Ng6); then 23 Rc1? can be met by 23 ... Nb4!.
Kxh7 22.Qh5+ Kg8 23.Rb3 Bxe5
The critical alternative here is 23 ... f6. Then, for example, 24
Ng6? Bxf4 does not work, and 24 Rc1 can be met by 24 ... Bc4. Anand's
idea was 24 Rh3!! fxe5 25 dxe5! {ANALYSIS DIAGRAM} Then we have the
following possibilities: 25 ... Bxf1? 26 e6! forces mate; 25 ... Rxf4
26 e6 Kf8 27 Qh8+ Ke7 28 Qxg7+ wins - 28 ... Kxe6 29 Re1+ Re4 30 Rh6+
Kf5 31 Qf6+, or 28 ... Ke8 29 Rh8+ picks up the queen; 25 ... Bc8 26
exd6 Qc4 27 Qh7+ gives White a winning attack; and 25 ... Qe7 26 exd6
Qe6 27 Qh7+ is also very strong. After 27 ... Kf7, White can play 28
Rg3 Qf6 29 Qh5+. Therefore, Karpov decided to eliminate the e5 knight
immediately, as no benefit accrues from trying to capture it with the
pawn instead of the bishop.
24.Rh3 f6
Not 24 ... f5 25 Bxe5 and Black will not be able to hold the g7
square. For example, 25 ... Qe7 26 Qh7+ Kf7 27 Bxg7 is crushing.
25.dxe5 Qe7
To stop WHite from weaving a mating net with 26 e6.
26.Qh7+ Kf7 27.Rg3
DIAGRAM
Ke8
He has to run; 27 ... Rg8? 28 Qg6+ Kf8 (or 28 ... Ke6 29 exf6 Qxf6
30 Re1+) 29 exf6 Qxf6 30 Bd6+.
28.Rxg7 Qe6 29.exf6 Nc6 30.Ra1
Finally, Anand moves the attacked rook from f1!
Kd8 31.h4 Bb7 32.Rc1 Ba6 33.Ra1 Bb7 34.Rd1 Ba6 35.Qb1
No more fooling around. The queen will visit from b6.
Rxf6 36.Bg5
The threats include 37 Qg6, 37 Qb6+, 37 Re1, etc.
1-0