Anand was lucky to survive the novelty by Grischuk. With only one round to go, Anand is out of contention for the top prize.
GM Grischuk (2733) – GM Anand (2791) [B97]
Linares 2009 (13), 06.03.2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.f5 Nc6 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.e5 dxe5 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Ne4 Qxa2 16.Rd1 Be7 17.Be2 0–0 18.0–0 Ra7 19.Rf3 Rd7 20.Bd3 f5 21.Qh6 Kh8 22.Ng5 Bc5+ 23.Kh1 Qa5 24.Rh3 Qc7 25.Nxe6 Qd6 26.Nxf8 Qxf8 27.Rf1 Rf7 28.Qh5 Qe7 29.Rhf3 f4 30.Be4 Rg7 31.Rb3 Ba7 32.Rd3 Bg4 33.Qh6 Be2 Game drawn ½–½
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Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Anand was so lucky. He was dead lost.
“Anand is out of contention for the top prize.”
Actually not completely …. if he wins against Carlsen tomorrow AND both Ivanchuk and Grischuk lose their games, all thee of them will be tied for 1st.
Of course this would be the most unexpected climax, but Ivanchuk and Grischuk (and/or is not enough) could press too hard with black and/or blunder in their usual time troubles !?
I hate to say it but I think age is catching up with Anand. So brilliant most of his career. Fastest caclulator in the world and I mean razor sharp lines. Now he frequently is behind on the clock. No excuses. He had plenty of rest. He said he was motivated and wanted to win. Started out beautifully. Should have beaten Aronian but the nerves gave out and he fell victim to a pretty simple combo. From then on very little from the new world champion. Alas nothing last forever.
Anon@5:00pm,
You are joking about Anand’s age catching up, right? He won the World championship less than a month ago!
According to Kaidanov on ICC Chess.FM, 23… Qa5! is the brilliant save.
23… Qd5 also looked good to him in many lines, but then people on ICC found a brilliant move for White. I don’t have the board online, so cannot type.
Given that Grishchuk had the game completely analyzed, and Anand had to find moves on the board, I’d hardly say this is loss of form, or “lucky” to escape.