Carlsen – Anand game 4 LIVE commentary

Welcome to Carlsen – Anand Sochi World Championship game 4 (LIVE commentary by me).

Thanks for joining me. What can we expect from the game today? Well, Magnus has never lost a game in the World Championship until yesterday. He does not like to lose. Knowing him, I expect him to make a strong statement today.

As for Anand, a win in game 3 was a big break through. It should give him a big boost of self confidence. However, he has to control the excitement and make sure that he does not go backward.

I am also doing interactive commentary on www.twitter.com/susanpolgar and www.facebook.com/polgarchess.

Both players arrived at the board. Magnus of course with his orange juice!

1 e4 c5 Big psychological game displayed by Anand. After winning yesterday, he gave a big message with Sicilian that he’s not afraid. If Anand continues to send the message that he’s not afraid to battle, we will witness a very good match.

2 Nf3 e6 3 g3 Shockingly we have a Sicilian, and Magnus immediately went off popular theory. Anand has very strong knowledge in the Najdorf and Paulsen. It is a smart move for Magnus to go off the main paths. He is using a King’s Indian Attack set up against Anand’s Sicilian.

3 …Nc6 4 Bg2 d5 5 exd5 exd5 6 0-0 Nf6 7 d4 After getting a doze of Anand medicine by entering sharp theorical lines, Magnus went back to his typical style by staying away from more popular lines.

7…Be7 8 Be3 Magnus is familiar with this line as he played it before.

8…cxd4 9 Nxd4 Bg4 White’s idea is to play for the kingside while keeping pressure on the isolated d5 pawn. Black can disrupt white with play on the queenside, especially the c file and b2 pawn.

10 Qd3 Qd7 A normal move here is 11 Nc3. Magnus has the type of position he wants, and so does Anand. It would be great for all chess fans if Anand truly solved the “Magnus” issue. Perhaps now we will see great chess.

11 Nd2 A very interesting choice for Magnus. The idea is to put it on f3 to support the d3 knight.

11…0-0 12 N2f3 Black already more than equalized and has a very comfortable position. . We’ll see how Magnus plans to once again squeeze water from stone. Anand can play Bd6 then simply continue to develop his pieces and put his rooks on c and e files.

12…Rfe8 Rooks belong on open files. This game is like a heavyweight boxing bout. They’re just slowly jabbing each other without any big punches yet.

13 Rfe1 Bd6 As I suggested above. Good rule of thumb in chess: If there’s no clear plan, simply improve your position by putting pieces on better squares. Many players make the big mistake of over thinking and then get into time pressure to come up with plans when there’s no clear one. That is why unless there’s something concrete to calculate, just improve your position.

14 c3 h6 This type of dry position is very hard to play. There are no clear “good plans” and players have to made judgement calls.

15 Qf1 The idea of this move is simply to play h3 driving the bishop back. Magnus loves dry positions while Anand prefers something more dynamic. So this is Magnus’ territory. How will Anand handle it?

15…Bh5 Interesting choice by Anand with Bh5. I would not have played that. Now white can just continue with 16 h3.

16 h3 Bg6 Again, when there is no concrete plan, simply improve your position. Therefore, Rad1 makes sense.

17 Rad1 Rad8 It seems that Anand is handling this “dry position” much better today than in game 1 and 2. Now that all pieces are improved, it is time for Magnus to show his true intention. Nothing else can be improved.

18 Nxc6 bxc6 19 c4 Anand has to be extremely happy with his position here in game 4. He neutralized Magnus very well.

19…Be4 Anand is pinning the g2 bishop. This will ensure the exchange of the light color bishop, which minimize the attack on is d pawn.

20 Bd4 Nh7 21 cxd5 Bxd5 Now 22 Rxe8 Rxe8 and 23 Qd3 The dynamic of the game has changed. Now the isolated P is c pawn. White freed up some space.

22 Rxe8 Rxe8 I would say 95% draw, 3.4% white and 1.6% black. How’s that for an evaluation?

23 Qd3 While it is still likely to head to a draw, white has an easier position to play right now. White has better pawns/piece placements. This game shows that Magnus is superior to Anand in a dry position. He out maneuvered Anand to an edge now.

23…Nf8 White has Nh4 to try to disrupt black kingside.

24 Nh4 and now Black has to try to stop the attack on g7 with Be5.

24…Be5 Anand found the best defense, Be5. He’s still worse but I think holdable. But Magnus will torture him for many more moves in next few hours 🙂

25 Bxd5 and Anand has to recapture with Qxd5. Otherwise, he will dig another hold for himself.

25…Qxd5 And if 26 Bxe5 then Qxe5. Magnus has better piece placements/pawn structure. But Anand should hold this.

26 Bxe5 Qxe5 27 b3 and now 26…Qa5 attacking the a2 pawn with threat to trade rooks with Re1+.

27…Ne6 Anand chose to bring out his knight. Nothing wrong with this move.

28 Nf3 Qf6 29 Kg2 += Not very hard for Anand to hold.

29…Rd8 30 Qe2 Rd5 with the idea of Qd8 next. The game is headed to a likely draw.

31 Rxd5 cxd5 Many GMs would be OK to take a draw here. But Magnus won’t. He will squeeze and squeeze for as long as he can. Now it is important for Anand to keep the Queens on the board. It is much harder to hold without Queens.

32 Ne5 Black will equalize with Qf5

32…Qf5 Black is completely safe here.

33 Nd3 Magnus is tricky. He wants to play Qf3 next to trade Queens 🙂 Anand can simply play Nd4 to stop that.

33…Nd4 34 g4 Magnus is willing to have double pawns as he is trying to create chances for himself. In spite of it, black is still more than OK.

34…Qd7 Once again, Anand walks away for Magnus’ provocation to trade queens.

35 Qe5 Ne6 Black is completely fine even though Magnus is still trying.

36 Kg3 Qb5 Time is becoming an issue. Magnus has less than 2 minutes for 5 moves

37 Nf4 Now Magnus has 59 seconds for 3 moves.

37…Nxf4 38 Kxf4 Qb4+ 39 Kf3 d4 40 Qe8+ Kh7 Both players made time control but Anand is down a pawn in a Q and P endgame. Still draw though. Even though Magnus can be up a pawn with Qxf7, black has too much counter play against vulnerable King.

41 Qxf7 Still draw if Anand can find 41…Qd2.

41…Qd2 Anand should not have a hard time holding this. The key for Anand now is to play aggressively. He has to keep the threat of advancing his d pawn. Passive chess will bad. This is why Qd2 is a must. It cuts the King from getting closer to the d pawn. Anand can’t worry about a7 pawn or something else.

42 Qf5+ Kh8 43 h4 Anand can just grab the a2 pawn. White has nothing. But the pressure of a WC is enormous. This is a move Anand could make in 1 sec. But in a WC, he has to check everything 🙂

43…Qxa2 Anand finally took the pawn after spending 15 minutes to think about it.

44 Qe6 and now back to Qd2 to stop g5.

44…Qd2 At some point, Magnus has to realize that there is nothing in this position and draw is inevitable.

45 Qe8+ Kh7 46 Qe4+ Kh8 47 Qe8+ Kh7 1/2