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Vishy Anand – Veselin Topalov
World Championship – game 4

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 We have a Catalan just as in game 2.

5…Bb4+ Here Topalov deviated from game 2 where he did not have a good game. This is a much more rare line. But this should be familiar with everyone who followed the Kramnik – Topalov match.

6. Bd2 a5 7. Qc2 Bxd2 8. Qxd2 c6 9. a4 An interesting option would have been 9. Ne5

9…b5 It looks like Topalov is going all out in this game, even as Black. 9…b5 opens up the h1-a8 diagonal and his Rook is vulnerable. I like this continuation 10. axb5 cxb5 11. Qg5 +=

10. Na3 The 2 most logical moves for Black here is 10…Bd7 and 10…Ba6. What Topalov needs to decide is where he also wants his Knight on b8, on a6 or d7. It seems to me that Topalov doesn’t want a repeat of game 2 where his position was cramp with limited counter play. Instead of 10.Na3, in other games White went for trading Pawns on b5 with 10.axb5 cxb5 and then forking Black’s b5 and g7 Pawns with 11.Qg5. Anand rather remains a Pawn down and keeps Black’s position more passive.

10…Bd7 11. Ne5 Now I have to believe that one of Topalov’s first option has to be 11…Nd5 to block the power of Anand’s g2 Bishop as White is threatening axb5. Black’s position is risky but this is Topalov’s style. He wants dynamic unbalanced games. He is more comfortable with chaotic positions.

11…Nd5 For the first time in the match, Topalov seems to be caught off guard by Anand’s opening. He is down by about 10 minutes on the clock already.

12. e4 Anand played this move almost immediately. It seems that Anand is quite prepared. Black now has 4 main options: 12…Nb4, 12…Nf6, 12…Nb6, or 12…Ne7. I personally prefer 12…Nb4 and I think it may suit Topalov’s style as well.

12…Nb4 13. 0-0 Once again, Topalov took time to play 12…Nb4 and Anand responded with 13. 0-0 almost immediately. This is a part of chess mind game. Topalov has to wonder if Anand is bluffing by playing fast or if he just walked into a home prep. Kasparov once told me that it was frustrating for him to play against computers because this kind of mind game would not work against computers at all. And I could imagine that Topalov is wondering in his mind right now if Anand and his team had predicted the 5…Bb4 line and had something prepared? He could be also saying to himself I just chose a rare line to surprise my opponent so how did my opponent know that I would play this. These are just some of the many things which could cross a player’s mind during a game, especially an important game in the World Championship.

13..0-0 14. Rfd1 This is typical of the Catalan. White has a strong center and advantage in development. Anand should be happy with his position as his opening preparation yielded another good position.

14…Be8 Now 15. d5 must be played. Anand needs to take advantage of his strong center to break open black’s position. Black cannot afford to take the pawn. I would move my Queen out of the way with 15…Qb6.

Another dilemma in preparing for a World Championship match is the players and their teams have to go through thousands of games, especially ones of the opponent. Then they have to pick and choose what or what not to emphasize on. After they narrow the games and opening choices down, they have to work on serious improvement in all of them. This is a long and difficult process and sometimes luck is involved. This is also why picking competent and trusted seconds is so important. A match can be won or lost because of this process alone.

When I played in my world championship match against Xie Jun in 1996, I decided to open with 1. e4, something I basically did not play in my adult years in chess. This was a very risky decision for a world championship match but as the saying goes: “No guts, no glory”. But after choosing something I was not very familiar with, I had to work on a complete new set of opening repertoire as my opponent could have responded with so many different opening choices. This is a lot of hard work and dedication by a team of people.

The reason why I bring these points up is it is easy for fans at home to say how come he did or did not choose this or that opening or line. It is very easy to be the Monday morning quarterback to second guess people’s decisions after you know the outcome. It is also easy to criticize when fans at home are armed with Fritz, Rybka or other software. It is a different story when you have to play the match and your career is on the line.

15.d5 Qd6 Another risky move. White has several options: 16. dxc6 Qxe5 17. axb5 Qc5 += White sacrifices heavy material but has more than enough compensation with the connected passed pawns and Black’s inability to develop his pieces; or the safer 16. Nf3 Qc5 +=

16. Ng4 A good move by Anand. He has the flexibility to get the Knight to e3. Now I imagine that Topalov has to get his b8 Knight to a6 to give room for his a8 Rook to get active.

16…Qc5 An interesting move but practical one. Topalov chose to further delay in getting his Queenside pieces developed. The reason for this is because Topalov does not want the threat of e5 which would cramp his position further. Now e3 square is very nice for Anand’s Knight.

17. Ne3 One blogger asked why Anand took so much time for this move? Easy! He was buying me time to finish typing my commentary, check and moderate the comments, add a diagram, etc. 🙂

All kidding aside, this is the critical moment of the game. Anytime when you sacrifice a pawn for initiative, you better be very careful. Anand doesn’t want to let Topalov get back into the game by maneuvering his pieces to optimal positions. Then he would have to defend a pawn down endgame which is not pleasant. Therefore, he has to continue to find ways to put pressure on Topalov.

17…N8a6 Topalov finally gets his Knight out. Game 4 photos can be found here:
http://photo.chessdom.com/thumbnails.php?album=246

18. dxc6 Topalov has a number of options here: 18…Bxc6, 18…Nc7, and 18…bxa4. The first one seems to be the safest 18….Bxc6 19. axb5 Bxb5 20. Naxc4 Bxc4 21. Rac1 += White gets his pawn back with a slightly better endgame.

18…bxa4 Of course Topalov does not choose anything safe.

19. Naxc4 Bxc6 I like Anand’s position after 20. Rac1.

20. Rac1 += h6 An unexpected but useful move. Black now has the option of getting his a Rook to d8 in the future without worrying about back rank checkmate problem.

21. Nd6 Qa7 A logical move but Black also has the option of playing 21…Qb6 or 21…Qh5 to stop Ng4.

22. Ng4 Rad8 Anand has a tactical shot here. 23. Nxh6+ gxh6 24. Qxh6 f6 25. e5 Bxg2 26. exf6 Rxd6 27. Rxd6 and White should be winning. If 25… Qg7 instead of 25…f6 then 26. Qxg7+ Kxg7 27. Bxc6 fxe5 26. exf6 Rxd6 27. Rxd6 with a better endgame.

23. Nxh6! gxh6 24. Qxh6 I can’t seem to find a better move than 24…f6 here but that is not so great either.

24…f6 Anand has to be careful here. He is down a piece. If he cannot find the optimal continuation, he would then be in trouble. I think 25. e5 is the strongest option here but it is not an easy move to find. But if he finds it, he has excellent chances to win this game.

25. e5! Anand found the knockout punch. The best choice from a bad position seems to be 25…Qg7.

25…Bxg2 This is a desperate attempt by Topalov to complicate things but it is not the best defense. This allows 26.exf6 with winning advantage for Anand.

26. exf6! The position is pretty much hopeless for Topalov. I can’t find any defense for Black. The best would be Rxd6 but it is winning for White as well.

26…Rxd6 27. Rxd6 This game clearly demonstrate Anand’s ability to calculate. To find 23. Nxh6, followed by the critical e5 move is not easy, especially when the pressure is on during the World Championship.

27…Be4 Even though Anand has a win in his hands, he still needs to be accurate not to allow his opponent back in the game. 28. Qg5+ followed by Rxe6 may seal the deal.

28. Rxe6 An excellent move as well.

28….Nd3 29. Rc2 It’s almost over. Black is running out of any possible cheap shot.

29…Qh7 30. f7+ Qxf7 31. Rxe4 Qf5 Now 32. Re7 will lead to mate shortly.

32. Re7 Now I expect resignation shortly. Topalov does resign here.

1-0 Now Anand takes his first lead in this World Championship. The score is 2.5 – 1.5 after 4 games. A brilliant game by Anand!

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Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Susan Polgar April 28, 2010 Daily News, General News, Major Tournaments 100 Comments
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