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The event came to the last and decisive round. Two of the tournament protagonists - Topalov with 9 decided games and Anand, leading the field on +3 with 1 loss only - meet to determine the name of the final winner. It could be either of them or the rising star Magnus Carlsen. Having in mind the importance of such game, a fight till the last pawn is to be expected. That is always welcomed by the audience as spectacular games happen. Soon starts the show and we'll follow live the battle for the title of this highly respected super GM event.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 ( A bit of surprise. 6.Be3 is Anand's preferred choice. Having in mind that a draw is sufficient for him to share first as worst scenario, he is obviously going for a safer approach.)
6... e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Bg5 Following yesterday's game Radjabov-Shirov.
8... Be6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.O-O-O Qb6 ( Deviates from 11... Nd4 which proves unsuccessful.)
12.Qxd6 Be7 13.Nd5 A new move played relatively fast by Anand.
13... Bxd5 14.Qxd5 O-O 15.Qd2 ( Black is well developed and has sufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn. The problem is that Topalov needs a win to catch up the leaders but 15.Qd2 Rfd8 16.Qe3 Qxe3+ 17.fxe3 leaves very little hope for such outcome.) (15.Qd2 Qxf2 16.Bc4 Qb6 is riskier but leaves more chances.)
15... Qxf2 16.Bc4 Qh4 ( True to his fighting spirit Veselin looks for complications. The White position is very solid though: 16... Qh4 17.Qe2 b5 18.Bd5 Rac8 19.a3)
17.Qe2 Bishops of opposite colors raise the value of initiative. The one who first finds a way to manifest activity will benefit from the fact so we are to witness a fierce fight.
17... Rac8 Topalov has to keep an eye on Vishy's most dangerous piece - his Bishop. Anyway it's much easier to play such position as White.
18.a3 (18.Kb1 b5 19.Bd5 Nb4 20.c3 Nxd5 21.Rxd5 may seem favorable for the Indian, but Black has his chances too, so Bc4 must stay alive. )
18... Bf6 ( The Nf6 might use the 'e7' square now, as 'd4' in some lines. The drawback is that 18... Bf6 allows 19.Rd7)
19.Kb1 Anand is persistent with his strategy to play safe moves.
19... Nd4 20.Nxd4 exd4 21.g3 Now Vishy may enjoy long-lasting small plus thanks to his better Bishop which will be mounted on 'd5'.
21... Qg5 22.Rhf1 X-raying at 'f7'.
22... Qe3 (22... Qe3 23.Qd3 followed by Rde1 would leave Topalov struggling to equalize.)
23.Rf3 Forces the Queen trade. One may get the impression that Anand is not looking for a way to win this game but would be very happy to draw it. Draw agreed. Black is in no position to look far any winning chances. Anand had clear goal and pursued it resolutely, bypassing continuation that might allow him to fight for more. He secured himself at least shared first place in case Carlsen manages to defeat Radjabov, else he would be clear champion. The only loss is for the spectators, but such boring games happen when the sportive result is to important. We may only give credit to Anand for the certainty he made his way through such hard rivals to grab the final win.
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