Chess has been the go to metaphor for discussing anything that stakes claim to be more cerebral than is given credit for. For instance, football. Barcelona's slow tempo, possession based approach to football, with its ordered formations and seamless transitions and neat triangles, often attracts comparisons with chess. With football on vacation and chess in the limelight, I thought it interesting to reverse the metaphor. Maybe Carlsen's Caro-Kann defence with its ordered pawn structure was nothing but Stoke's five man defence? Or Anand's e pawn in Game 4 not too different from a lone striker, an isolated no. 9, acting as the sole vanguard of a floundering attack? I know, I know. Even I roll my eyes as I type this but given I am sick and I am at home and have nothing better to do this might be better than watching the nth re-run of Frasier.
1. c4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 c64. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Bb4+6. Nc3 c5 7. a3 Ba5 8. Nf3 Nf69. Be3 Nc6 10. Qd3
Until this point the moves came in a flurry. Both players seemed well-prepared for this opening and just rattled off the moves without much deliberation, until Qd3 happened. Qd3 was Carlsen's W-M, the moment he made the switch from an orthodox 2-3-5 of yore to Chapman's W-M. Anand had to pause and take note of this move - something he clearly had never seen before or prepared for, a novelty, a strange unknown move that rendered all his preparation from this move on useless.
10. Qd3 cxd411. Nxd4 Ng4 *
The battle for the centre focussed predominantly on the queen pawn. Like most occasions when two great technical teams meet, the early battles were to happen in the midfield. Carlsen has responded to Anand's pressure on the d pawn by defending it with three of his pieces while at the same time developing them. Qd3 put Anand on the backfoot and left him a little bewildered. It threatens Rd1 and doubles pressure on the d file. Anand has responded to it by taking the d pawn out of the equation. 10... cxd4 11. Nxd4 gives Carlsen the lion's share of the centre - his now 3-5-1 winning the battle in the centre, even though it might be only a temporary victory. Ng4 threatens the Bishop on e3, which has been held in place to support the knight on d4.
12. O-O-O
And queenside castling! Totally out of the blue! With so many of his queenside pawns in such an advanced position queenside castling looks to leave the king rather unprotected, but on the other hand it immediately brings in Rd1 and is far more aggressive than any of the other options. Carlsen has responded to Anand's crowding of midfield by having his wingbacks bomb forward, albeit at the cost of leaving a lot of space behind them.
12. O-O-O Nxe3 13. fxe3 Bc714. Nxc6 bxc6
Anand has responded to O-O-O by going for a exchange of pieces. Carlsen has opted to capture Anand's knight using his f pawn which leaves it isolated. This give him more currency in the centre but weakens his pawn structure. Carlsen has gone for Nxc6, creating an isolated pawn for Anand too.
15. Qxd8+ Bxd8
Ooh, queens exchanged. The best attacking players on the field subbed by both teams to bring on an attacking midfielder as the game approaches the break. This could very well be the point the game boils over to the middle game phase when the less direct players become more critical. Ball possession, movement and link-ups in midfield gain in importance with the absence of a focal point of attack to ping balls to. Much like the Barca formation when they played without a striker, no? No? Ok.
16. Be2 Ke717. Bf3 Bd7 18. Ne4 Bb619. c5 f5
Carlsen brings out his white bishop to attack along the left diagonal to step up pressure on the isolated c pawn. Remember Nani on Clichy in that 3-1 at OT? Anand defends it with Bd7 but his bishop is more a "periya pawn" (as my coach used to put it) than a bishop, with extremely limited open squares. Anand responds in kind with Bb6 attacking the e pawn, leaving Carlsen to push his c pawn forward. An attack on the queenside prompts Anand to push his f pawn forward attacking Ne4. Classic counterattack! No loss of tempo in this end to end action.
20. cxb6 fxe421. b7 Rab8 22. Bxe4 Rxb7
Carlsen accepts the exchange. That is an important bishop out of play for Anand, but so is the knight for Carlsen. Carlsen's pawn reaches the seventh rank - a non-threatening forward run by a wingback of limited talent only to be snuffed out by an adept centreback with Rxb7. At this stage I quite like Carlsen's open bishop and relatively more solid pawn structure to Anand's double isolated pawns.
23. Rhf1 Rb5 24. Rf4 g525. Rf3 h5 *
Carlen bring his kingside rook into play, gaining play on the f file. Anand's g5 opens with attack forcing Carlsen to retreat to f3. Anand's h5 bring pawns on level and is a good structure in general but this could allow Carlsen's bishop to get into Bg6, preventing Be8. Interestingly, all of Carlsen's critical pawns are on the dark square which render Anand's light coloured bishop ineffectual in attack. Talk of a left footed right winger.
26. Rdf1 Be827. Bc2 Rc5 28. Rf6 h429. e4 a5 *
Carlsen's double rooks on the file step up domination of the f file and threatens Rf6. Anand's Rc5 pins the bishop, keeping the winger pushed back in a defensive position. Anand's own bishop is a dud at this stage, so this pin brings some parity to piece play. As I expected, Carlsen made Rf6 preventing Bg6. Anand has pushed his kingside pawns hoping for an exchange and reducing pawns on the board. Looks drawish with no specific advantage. Anand's pin is debilitating. Kd2 should be expected.
30. Kd2 Rb531. b3 Bh5 32. Kc3 Rc5+33. Kb2 Rd8 *
As expected (pats himself on his back), Carlsen plays Kd2 releasing the pin. Anand plays Rb5 attacking the b pawn. This is good - Anand's rook getting much more play and a lot more active. To use a football cliche, he seems to be getting a lot more joy down this flank. Carlsen's b3 also lets Anand release his bishop to h5 - finally! The winger has managed to shake off his marker as Carlsen's defense turns lopsided to focus on the queenside freeing up space for Anand on the kingside. A check from Anand forces Carlsen to seek protection behind his pawns and Anand's Rd8 threatens Rd2. Anand very well dictating the pace of the game, pulling the strings in the midfield as it were. But Carlsen has had all the answers to Anand's posers until now.
34. R1f2 Rd435. Rh6 Bd1 36. Bb1 Rb537. Kc3 c5 38. Rb2 e539. Rg6 a4 40. Rxg5 Rxb3+41. Rxb3 Bxb3 *
Exciting, exciting, exciting developments! As expected Carlsen's rook attack Anand's pawns from behind. Anand offers biships in exchange with Bd1 but Carlsen doesn't want to nullify his wingers yet. That would cancel out any other attacking variations and reduce the game to a rook-pawn formation battle. Carlsen refuses the offer with Bb1 but that makes his bishop very defensive. Such a reversal of fortunes! Only a short while ago it was Anand's bishop that was a dud.
Carlsen's forward king attracts Anand's pawns to move forward strengthening his Rd4. Carlsen's Rg6 attracts an unexpected (at least by me) a4 on the queenside. Attack is the best form of defence, eh? Things are developing on this side of the field and Anand pressing his advantage. Suddenly all his pieces are active and advanced while the white pieces are held back very defensively. It is back to the wall, ten men behind the ball stuff here. They go for the rook exchange.
2. Rxe5+ Kd6 43. Rh5 Rd144. e5+ Kd5 45. Bh7 Rc1+46. Kb2 Rg1 47. Bg8+ Kc648. Rh6+ Kd7 49. Bxb3 axb350. Kxb3 Rxg2 51. Rxh4 Ke6
So, ladies and gentlemen, the endgame is here. A flurry of blows has ended up with the situation reversed, yet again, with the tempo now with white. Bg8+ forced the way open for a bishop exchange and gave Carlsen the opportunity to earn another pawn. Carslen has a two pawn advantage - Anand has had a player sent off but with the game in the last minutes and Anand able to defend his position with his stronger players still on the pitch it might not be sufficient for Carlsen to force a victory. His 'a' pawn might be critical.
52. a4 Kxe5 53. a5 Kd654. Rh7 Kd5 55. a6 c4+56. Kc3 Ra2
And Carlsen pushes his pawn advantage and has started rolling his 'a' pawn forward. Anand has to spend what little that is left of his defensive resources in rushing to protect the 'a' flank. This could leave his other wing exposed leaving much room for Carlsen's h pawn to start rolling. His extra attacker could prove decisive.
57. a7 Kc558. h4 Kd5 1-0
'a' pawn is threatening close. As Anand's energy is spent protecting that wing, Carlsen's attackers on h exploit their man advantage. Acres of space, eons of time, a perfect cross for the attackers to head it into an almost empty net.
1-0 Carlsen.
*Attributed to Lukas Podolski. Probably apocryphal.
1. c4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 c64. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Bb4+6. Nc3 c5 7. a3 Ba5 8. Nf3 Nf69. Be3 Nc6 10. Qd3
Until this point the moves came in a flurry. Both players seemed well-prepared for this opening and just rattled off the moves without much deliberation, until Qd3 happened. Qd3 was Carlsen's W-M, the moment he made the switch from an orthodox 2-3-5 of yore to Chapman's W-M. Anand had to pause and take note of this move - something he clearly had never seen before or prepared for, a novelty, a strange unknown move that rendered all his preparation from this move on useless.
10. Qd3 cxd411. Nxd4 Ng4 *
12. O-O-O
And queenside castling! Totally out of the blue! With so many of his queenside pawns in such an advanced position queenside castling looks to leave the king rather unprotected, but on the other hand it immediately brings in Rd1 and is far more aggressive than any of the other options. Carlsen has responded to Anand's crowding of midfield by having his wingbacks bomb forward, albeit at the cost of leaving a lot of space behind them.
12. O-O-O Nxe3 13. fxe3 Bc714. Nxc6 bxc6
Anand has responded to O-O-O by going for a exchange of pieces. Carlsen has opted to capture Anand's knight using his f pawn which leaves it isolated. This give him more currency in the centre but weakens his pawn structure. Carlsen has gone for Nxc6, creating an isolated pawn for Anand too.
15. Qxd8+ Bxd8
Ooh, queens exchanged. The best attacking players on the field subbed by both teams to bring on an attacking midfielder as the game approaches the break. This could very well be the point the game boils over to the middle game phase when the less direct players become more critical. Ball possession, movement and link-ups in midfield gain in importance with the absence of a focal point of attack to ping balls to. Much like the Barca formation when they played without a striker, no? No? Ok.
16. Be2 Ke717. Bf3 Bd7 18. Ne4 Bb619. c5 f5
Carlsen brings out his white bishop to attack along the left diagonal to step up pressure on the isolated c pawn. Remember Nani on Clichy in that 3-1 at OT? Anand defends it with Bd7 but his bishop is more a "periya pawn" (as my coach used to put it) than a bishop, with extremely limited open squares. Anand responds in kind with Bb6 attacking the e pawn, leaving Carlsen to push his c pawn forward. An attack on the queenside prompts Anand to push his f pawn forward attacking Ne4. Classic counterattack! No loss of tempo in this end to end action.
20. cxb6 fxe421. b7 Rab8 22. Bxe4 Rxb7
Carlsen accepts the exchange. That is an important bishop out of play for Anand, but so is the knight for Carlsen. Carlsen's pawn reaches the seventh rank - a non-threatening forward run by a wingback of limited talent only to be snuffed out by an adept centreback with Rxb7. At this stage I quite like Carlsen's open bishop and relatively more solid pawn structure to Anand's double isolated pawns.
23. Rhf1 Rb5 24. Rf4 g525. Rf3 h5 *
Carlen bring his kingside rook into play, gaining play on the f file. Anand's g5 opens with attack forcing Carlsen to retreat to f3. Anand's h5 bring pawns on level and is a good structure in general but this could allow Carlsen's bishop to get into Bg6, preventing Be8. Interestingly, all of Carlsen's critical pawns are on the dark square which render Anand's light coloured bishop ineffectual in attack. Talk of a left footed right winger.
26. Rdf1 Be827. Bc2 Rc5 28. Rf6 h429. e4 a5 *
Carlsen's double rooks on the file step up domination of the f file and threatens Rf6. Anand's Rc5 pins the bishop, keeping the winger pushed back in a defensive position. Anand's own bishop is a dud at this stage, so this pin brings some parity to piece play. As I expected, Carlsen made Rf6 preventing Bg6. Anand has pushed his kingside pawns hoping for an exchange and reducing pawns on the board. Looks drawish with no specific advantage. Anand's pin is debilitating. Kd2 should be expected.
30. Kd2 Rb531. b3 Bh5 32. Kc3 Rc5+33. Kb2 Rd8 *
As expected (pats himself on his back), Carlsen plays Kd2 releasing the pin. Anand plays Rb5 attacking the b pawn. This is good - Anand's rook getting much more play and a lot more active. To use a football cliche, he seems to be getting a lot more joy down this flank. Carlsen's b3 also lets Anand release his bishop to h5 - finally! The winger has managed to shake off his marker as Carlsen's defense turns lopsided to focus on the queenside freeing up space for Anand on the kingside. A check from Anand forces Carlsen to seek protection behind his pawns and Anand's Rd8 threatens Rd2. Anand very well dictating the pace of the game, pulling the strings in the midfield as it were. But Carlsen has had all the answers to Anand's posers until now.
34. R1f2 Rd435. Rh6 Bd1 36. Bb1 Rb537. Kc3 c5 38. Rb2 e539. Rg6 a4 40. Rxg5 Rxb3+41. Rxb3 Bxb3 *
Exciting, exciting, exciting developments! As expected Carlsen's rook attack Anand's pawns from behind. Anand offers biships in exchange with Bd1 but Carlsen doesn't want to nullify his wingers yet. That would cancel out any other attacking variations and reduce the game to a rook-pawn formation battle. Carlsen refuses the offer with Bb1 but that makes his bishop very defensive. Such a reversal of fortunes! Only a short while ago it was Anand's bishop that was a dud.
Carlsen's forward king attracts Anand's pawns to move forward strengthening his Rd4. Carlsen's Rg6 attracts an unexpected (at least by me) a4 on the queenside. Attack is the best form of defence, eh? Things are developing on this side of the field and Anand pressing his advantage. Suddenly all his pieces are active and advanced while the white pieces are held back very defensively. It is back to the wall, ten men behind the ball stuff here. They go for the rook exchange.
2. Rxe5+ Kd6 43. Rh5 Rd144. e5+ Kd5 45. Bh7 Rc1+46. Kb2 Rg1 47. Bg8+ Kc648. Rh6+ Kd7 49. Bxb3 axb350. Kxb3 Rxg2 51. Rxh4 Ke6
So, ladies and gentlemen, the endgame is here. A flurry of blows has ended up with the situation reversed, yet again, with the tempo now with white. Bg8+ forced the way open for a bishop exchange and gave Carlsen the opportunity to earn another pawn. Carslen has a two pawn advantage - Anand has had a player sent off but with the game in the last minutes and Anand able to defend his position with his stronger players still on the pitch it might not be sufficient for Carlsen to force a victory. His 'a' pawn might be critical.
52. a4 Kxe5 53. a5 Kd654. Rh7 Kd5 55. a6 c4+56. Kc3 Ra2
And Carlsen pushes his pawn advantage and has started rolling his 'a' pawn forward. Anand has to spend what little that is left of his defensive resources in rushing to protect the 'a' flank. This could leave his other wing exposed leaving much room for Carlsen's h pawn to start rolling. His extra attacker could prove decisive.
57. a7 Kc558. h4 Kd5 1-0
'a' pawn is threatening close. As Anand's energy is spent protecting that wing, Carlsen's attackers on h exploit their man advantage. Acres of space, eons of time, a perfect cross for the attackers to head it into an almost empty net.
1-0 Carlsen.
*Attributed to Lukas Podolski. Probably apocryphal.
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