Autoplay:
Autoplay:
Recent games have proved that World Champion is unpleasant opponent for Magnus Carlsen. Somehow, Anand is absorbing all the aggression with ease. Today, we might see theoretical discussion in the Marshall Attack of Ruy Lopez, or Carlsen will choose a different line like he did against Ivanchuk.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 So it will be Sveshnikov Sicilian. Anand won a fine game against Shirov in the 8th round after involving interesting novelty. Will Carlsen attempt to improve Shirov's play or perhaps he will go with different sub-variation?
6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 (10.Nxe7 has also been played alot, but game move is considered to be main line.)
10... Bxf6 11.c3 Bg5 12.Nc2 Ne7!? The idea is to immediately challenge white's domination on the d5 square. Now, 13. Ncb4 or 13. a4 are most common, while trading knights on e7 is considered to be harmless. Carlsen already employed this move, against Gata Kamsky at the 2005 World Cup, but he lost that game. ( Anand-Shirov took a different course after 12... O-O 13.a4 etc)
13.a4 (13.h4 was tested by Ukranian juniors Karjakin and Volokitin.)
13... bxa4 14.Ncb4 (14.Rxa4 O-O 15.Bc4 a5 16.O-O Bd7 17.Ra2 Kh8)
14... O-O Gata Kamsky played 15. Qxa4 against Carlsen in the game that he won. Dutch GM Jan Smeets tried 15. Rxa4 and lost to Carlsen in Corus B 2006.
15.Qxa4 Nxd5 Teimour Radjabov, another expert for Sveshnikov Sicilian, also used this line. (15... a5?! 16.Bb5! Nxd5 17.Nxd5 Be6 18.Bc6 Rb8 19.Ra2 and b4 followed soon for white's advantage in Kamsky-Carlsen, 2005)
16.Nxd5 Bd7 17. Qd1 is preferred by strong grandmasters, but 17. Qa2!? also deserves attention...
17.Qa2!? Exactly! Anand wants to keep the queenside under control. Now probably a6-a5... 17. Qa5 was in Berg-Carlsen, Denmark 2007, but then 17...Qb8!? 18. b4 Bd8...
17... a5 18.Bd3!? GM Andrei Sokolov, once World Championship candidate, introduced this move on 1999 but that game was quickly drawn. Let's see if Anand can improve the variation.
18... Bc6 19.O-O Qb8! The usual maneuver, as Carlsen already played against Berg. Queen will sit nicely on b7, while Rf8 has plenty of squares on the 8th rank and even Bg5-d8-b6 is possible.
20.Bc4!? Anand is suddenly changing his mind! Why not immediate 18. Bc4 as played by Columbian GM Zapata?
20... Kh8 21.b3 Freeing queen from guarding duties and supporting bishop on c4.
21... f5!? After 22. exf5 Rxf5 23. Ne3, white will continue with Bd5, but black should be fine with Qb7. 22. Qe2!? should be also taken into consideration. ( Immediate 21... Qb7 is met with sneaky 22.Qa3! Rfd8 and rook is not supporting f5 anymore.)
22.exf5 Accompanied with a draw offer...Anand is comfortably leading the tournament and he probably isn't satisfied with the opening either, so a draw offer was practical decision. Carlsen is real fighter, but he has no reason to force with black against World Champion, particularly since he lost the last two games they played against eachother. Thank you everyone for following live commentary, Vassily Ivanchuk - Veselin Topalov is still in progress. Tomorrow is rest day, see you on Monday!
1/2-1/2