Democratic Underground - Anand - Leko, Round 5

Vishy Anand
Photo: Wikipedia

Vishy Anand - Peter Leko
Tal Memorial Tournament, Round 5
Moscow, 10 November 2009

Semi-Slav Queen's Gambit: Grand Anti-Meran Gambit

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4

If 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 then:

If 7.e3 then:

If 7...g6 then:

If 8.Bd3 Bg7 then:

9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Qd8 11.c5 0-0 12.Nd6 b6 13.0-0 bxc5 14.dxc5 Nd7 15.Qc2 Rb8 16.b3! (White gets the initiative in return for the exchange) 16...Bxa1 17.Rxa1 Qf6 18.Rd1 Bb7 leaves Black terribly cramped (Ragger-Gustafsson, Bundesliga 0910, Solingen, 2009).
If 9.0-0 0-0 10.cxd5 exd5 11.b4 then:

11...Bg4 12.Be2 Nd7 13.b5 Qd6 14.Rc1 Rfc8 15.bxc6 bxc6 16.h3 Be6 is equal (Ruck-Dreev, Euro Ch, Dresden, 2007).
11...Be6 12.Na4 Nd7 13.Rc1 Rfc8 14.Nc5 Qe7 15.Nd2 b6 16.Nxe6 Qxe6 is equal (Wang Yue-Leko, IT, Nanjing, 2009).

If 8.Qc2 Nd7 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 Bg7 11.0-0 0-0 12.b4 Qd6 13.Rab1 then:

13...Nb6 14.Rfc1 Be6 15.Nd2 Rac8 16.Ne2 Rfe8 17.Nf4 Nd7 18.Qa4 a6 is equal (Khenkin-Potkin, Aeroflot Op, Moscow, 2004).
13...a5 14.bxa5 Rxa5 15.a4 c5 16.Rb5 Rxb5 17.Nxb5 Qe7 18.Nc3 Qd6 19.Nb5 Qe7 20.Nc3 Qd6 draw (Brodsky-Timofeev, Russian ChT, Sochi, 2005).

If 7...Nd7 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 g6 10.0-0 Bg7 then:

If 11.b4 0-0 then:

If 12.Rc1 13.Qb3 then:

13...b6 14.b5 Bb7 15.bxc6 Bxc6 16.Rfd1 Rfd8 17.Qb1 Bb7 18.Bd3 Rac8 19.Be4 Nf6 20.Bxb7 Qxb7 21.Ne2 Ne4 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.Nd2 Nd6 24.Rc1 draw (Ivanchuk-Karjakin, IT, Foros, 2006).
13...Rd8 14.Rfd1 Nb6 15.Be2 Bd7 16.Ne4 Be8 17.Nc5 Nc8 18.Ne5 Nd6 19.a4 Rac8 20.g3 Nf5 21.Bf3 gives White the advantage in space (Aseev-Korotylev, Petroff Mem Op, St. Petersburg, 2000).

If 12.a4 then:

12...Qe7 Qe7 13.Qb3 then:

13...b6 14.a5 Rb8 15.Rfb1 Bb7 16.axb6 axb6 17.Ra7 c5 18.Rxb7 Rxb7 19.bxc5 Rc7 20.Nb5 Rc6 21.Na7 Rc7 22.Nb5 draw (Onischuk-Gelfand, Russian ChT, Sochi, 2008).
12...e5 13.a5 exd4 14.exd4 Rd8 15.Re1 Nf8 16.Qb3 Be6 17.Rad1 Bxc4 18.Qxc4 Ne6 19.Ne5 Qf5 20.Nxf7 Kxf7 21.Re3 Bxd4 22.Rf3 Qxf3 23.gxf3 Bxc3 24.Rxd8 Rxd8 25.f4 Rd4 White resigns in the face of further material loss (Stefansson-Carlsen, Euro ChT, Crete, 2007).

If 11.e4 e5 12.d5 Nb6 13.Bb3 Bg4 then:

If 14.h3 Bxf3 15.Qxf3 Qxf3 16.gxf3 Ke7 17.dxc6 bxc6 18.Rac1 then:

18...Rhd8 19.Rc2 h5 20.Nd1 Rd6 21.Ne3 a5 22.a3 a4 23.Ba2 Bh6 24.Rfc1 Rc8 25.Kf1 draw (Meier-Quattrocchi, Corres, 1998).
18...Rab8 19.Rc2 h5 20.Rd1 Rhd8 is equal (Vigorito-Ippolito, US Ch, San Diego, 2006).

14.Rc1 0-0 15.h3 Bxf3 16.Qxf3 Qxf3 17.gxf3 Rfd8 18.Rfd1 Bf6 is equal (Carlsen-Karjakin, Amber Rapid, Nice, 2009).

If 7.Qb3 Nd7 8.e4 dxe4 9.Nxe4 Qf4 10.Bd3 then:

10...e5 11.0-0 Be7 12.Rfe1 exd4 13.Nxd4 0-0 14.Bc2 Nc5 15.Qc3 Nxe4 16.Rxe4 Qf6 17.c5 gives White the advantage in space (I. Ivanesovic-Ragger, Euro Ch, Budva, 2009).
If 10...Be7 11.0-0 0-0 12.Rfe1 Rd8 13.Rad1 Qc7 14.Bb1 Nf8 then:

15.c5 b5 16.Ng3 Bd7 17.Qe3 gives White the advantage inspace (Smysolv-Petrosian, Moscow, 1971).
15.a3 Bd7 16.c5 Be8 17.Ne5 b5 18.Qc3 f6 19.Nd3 Rd7 is equal (van den Berg-Najdorf, IT, Amsterdam, 1950).

If 7.g3 Nd7 8.Bg2 dxc4 9.0-0 Be7 then:

If 10.e3 0-0 then:

If 11.Nd2 Nb6 12.f4 Qf5 13.Be4 Qa5 14.Qe2 c5 15.d5 exd5 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Bxd5 Bg4 18.Qxg4 Qxd2 (deFirmian, in MCO-15, quotes this game this far and calls it equal; JR says that Black is better) 19.Qf3 Rad8 20.Bxc4 then:

20...Bf6 21.Rf2 Qb4 is equal (Zontakh-Borovikov, Op, Kazimierz Dolny, 2001).
20...Qxb2 21.Rab1 Qc3 22.Qe4 b6 gives Black the more active game.

If 11.Qe2 e5 12.Qxc4 Nb6 13.Qb3 Be6 14.dxe5 Qxf3 15.Bxf3 Bxb3 16.axb3 Nd7 17.Rfd1 Nxe5 18.Be2 Rad8 19.Rxd8 Bxd8 20.Rd1 is equal (K. Georgiev-Erdos, Euro Ch, Budva, 2009).

10.a4 0-0 11.a5 e5 12.d5 Bb4 13.Nd2 Nc5 14.Nde4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 Qd8 16.Qa4 cxd5 17.Qxb4 dxe4 18.Bxe4 Bg4 is equal (Shulman-Savchenko, GMT, Minsk, 1996).

6...dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5

8...Bb4 has been tried here, for example, 9.Qc2 b5 10.0-0-0 Qa5 11.h4 g4 12.Ne5 Bb7 13.h5 Nbd7 14.Be2 Nb6 15.Bh4 Be7 16.a3 Nfd7 17.Bxe7 Kxe7 18.Nxg4 c5 19.Qd2 b4 is equal (Matveeva-Chiburdanidze, ITW, Belgrade, 1996).

9.Be2

If 9.Ne5 h5 10.h4 g4 11.Be2 Bb7 12.0-0 Nbd7 13.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bg7 then:

15.b3 0-0 16.bxc4 Nh7 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Rad1 gives White the advantage in space (Grischuk-Aronian, IT, Linares, 2009).
If 15.Rad1 0-0 16.Bg3 Nd7 17.f3 then:

17...c5 18.dxc5 Qe7 19.Kh1 a6 20.a4 Bc6 21.Nd5 exd5 22.exd5 Be5 23.f4 Bg7 24.dxc6 Nxc5 25.Rd5 Ne4 gives Black more activity (Aronian-Anand, World Ch Trmt, Mexico City, 2007).
If 17...Qb6 18.Kh1 c5 19.d5 Ne5 20.fxg4 hxg4 21.Qc1 then:

21...Nd3 22.Bxd3 cxd3 23.Rxd3 b4 24.Ne2 exd5 25.exd5 Rae8 26.Rd2 Bh6 27.Bf4 is equal (van Wely-Kobalia, Areoflot Op, Moscow, 2005).
21...exd5 22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.Rxd5 Rae8 24.Rf5 f6 25.Qd1 Nf7 26.e5 Nh6 27.Rh5 Qe6 28.Rd6 is equal (Avrukh-Novikov, Ol, Calvia, 2004).

9...Bb7 10.0-0

If 10.h4 g4 11.Ne5 then:

If 11...h5 12.0-0 Nbd7 13.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bg7 then:

If 15.Rad1 0-0 then:

16.f3 Nh7 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.fxg4 Qxh4 19.gxh5 Ng5 20.Qd2 Nh3+ 21.gxh3 Qg3+ 22.Kh1 Qxh3+ 23.Kg1 Qg3+ 24.Kh1 Qh3+ draw (van Wely-Dreev, Corus A, Wijk aan Zee, 2002).
16.Bg3 Nd7 transposes into Avrukh-Novikov in the notes to White's ninth move.

15.b3 cxb3 16.axb3 0-0 17.Bg3 c5 18.e5 Nd5 19.Nxb5 cxd4 20.Nd6 Rb8 21.Qd2 Nc3 22.Bd3 a5 23.Ra3 Bd5 24.Bc2 Rb6 is equal (Grischuk-Karjakin, Grand Prix, Sochi, 2008).

If 11...Rg8 12.Nxg4 then:

If 12...Nxg4 13.Bxg4 then:

If 13...b4 14.Na4 c5 then:

If 15.d5 exd5 16.exd5 Qxd5 17.Qxd5 Bxd5 18.0-0-0 Rxg4 19.Rxd5 Nd7 20.Re1+ Kd8 21.Red1 Rd4 22.R1xd4 cxd4 23.Rxd4 Rc8 then:

If 24.Bd6 then:

24...Ke8 25.Re4+ Kd8 26.Bxf8 Nxf8 27.a3 bxa3 28.bxa3 Rc6 is equal (Grischuk-Anand, World Ch Trmt, Mexico City, 2007).
24...Bxd6 25.Rxd6 Ke7 26.Rxh6 draw (Riazantsev-Karjakin, Russian CHT, Sochi, 2008).

24.h5 Rc6 25.Kc2 Ra6 26.b3 cxb3+ 27.Kxb3 Ra5 28.Bh4+ Kc7 is equal (Wantola-Giri, IT, Bussum, 2009).

15.Nxc5 Bxc5 16.dxc5 Qxd1+ 17.Bxd1 Bxe4 18.0-0 Nc6 19.Be2 Bd5 is equal (van Wely-Vallejo, World Cup, Khanty Mansiysk, 2005).

13...Nd7 14.0-0 Qb6 15.a4 a5 16.d5 Nf6 17.dxc6 Bxc6 18.axb5 Rxg4 19.Be5 Bxe4 20.Nxe4 Rxe4 21.Bxf6 Rf4 gives Black the initiative (Sarkar-Fridman, Op, Philadelphia, 2004).

If 12...Nbd7 13.0-0 b4 14.Na4 Nxe4 15.Bxc4 then:

If 15...Qa5 16.Rc1 0-0-0 17.Bh2 Bd6 18.Bd3 Bxh2+ 19.Nxh2 Qd5 is equal (Brynell-Dreev, Politiken Cup, Helsingør, 2009).
If 15...h5 16.Ne3 then:

16...Qf6 17.Be2 0-0-0 18.Bh2 Qxh4 gives Black an extra pawn and the advantage in space (Avrukh-Akopian, Euro ChT, Crete, 2007).
16...Qa5 17.Bh2 Ndf6 18.Bb3 Rd8 19.Qc2 Rxd4 gives Black an extra pawn and the advantage in space (Bocharov-Lastin, Russian Ch Qual, Tomsk, 2004).

10...Nbd7 11.Ne5 Bg7

If 11...h5 12.Nxd7 Qxd7 then:

If 13.Be5 Rh6 14.Qc1 Rg6 15.Rd1 Ng4 then:

16.Bxg4 hxg4 17.b3 cxb3 18.axb3 f6 19.Bg3 Kf7 20.Qe3 a6 21.Rd3 Kg8 22.Rad1 Qf7 23.Qe2 draw (Wang Hao-Predojevic, IT, Sarajevo, 2009).
16.Bg3 f5 17.f3 Ne3 18.Qxe3 f4 19.Bxf4 gxf4 20.Qxf4 0-0-0 21.Qh4 gives White an extra pawn (Iljin-Potkin, Euro Ch, Dresden, 2007).

13.Qc1 Rg8 14.Rd1 Bb4 15.Qe3 Qe7 16.h3 h4 17.Be5 a6 18.a4 Nd7 White have a better center and better pawn structure in compensation for the pawn (Wojtaszek-Kasimdzhanov, Bundesliga 0708, Godesberg, 2008).

12.Nxd7 Nxd7 13.Bd6 a6 14.a4

14.Re1 Bf8 15.Bg3 Bg7 16.Bd6 Bf8 17.Bg3 Bg7 18.Bd6 Bf8 draw (Potkin-Motylev, City Op, Moscow, 2008).

14...e5 15.Bg4

If 15.d5 c5 16.b4 then:

If 16...Qb6 17.bxc5 Nxc5 18.Bxc5 Qxc5 19.axb5 axb5 20.Rxa8+ Bxa8 21.Qa1 0-0 22.Qa5 Rb8 23.Rb1 Bf8 then:

24.Rxb5 Rxb5 25.Qxb5 Qxb5 26.Nxb5 Bb7 27.Bxc4 gives White an extra pawn (Gustafsson-Aronian, World Cup Rd 2, Khanty Mansiysk, 2007).
If 24.Nxb5 f5 25.Qa6 Kh8 26.Nc3 Rxb1+ 27.Nxb1 Qb4 28.Qxa8 Qxb1+ 29.Bf1 Qb4 30.exf5 c3 then:

31.Qc8 e4 32.d6 Qxd6 33.Qxc3+ Bg7 gives White an extra pawn (Kramnik-Karajakin, Amber Blind, Nice, 2008).
31.Qc6 e4 32.h4 g4 33.g3 Qc5 is equal (Alekseev-Bareev, World Cup Rd 4, Khanty Mansiysk, 2007).

16...cxb4 17.Bxb4 a5 18.Bd6 b4 19.Nb5 Rc8 gives Black an extra pawn (Gustafsson-Rodshtein, World Cup Rd 1, Khanty Mansiysk, 2007).

15...exd4 16.e5 c5 17.Re1

If 17.Bf3 then:

17...Nxe5!? 18.Bxb7 Qxd6 19.Bxa8 0-0 20.Ne4 is equal (Deep Junior-Deep Fritz, Computer Game, Elista, 2007).
If 17...Ra7 18.Bxb7 Rxb7 19.Ne4 Nxe5 20.axb5 axb5 then:

If 21.f4!? then:

21...gxf4? 22.Qh5! (White's pieces come alive and overwhelm the Black King) 22...Rb6 23.Bxe5 Qd5 24.Rxf4 Rg6 25.Nd6+ Rxd6 26.Rxf7 Bxe5 27.Rb7+ Kf8 28.Ra8+ Black resigns facing mate in two (Iljin-Nepomniachtchi, Euro Ch, Dresden, 2007).
If 21...Nd3! then after 22.Nxc5 Nxc5 23.Bxc5 Qd5 24.Qe1+ Kd8 Black still has two extra pawns.

21.Re1 d3 22.Nxc5 Qxd6 23.Nxb7 Qb6 gives Black good winning chances.

If 17...Bxf3? 18.Qxf3! Nxe5 19.Qd5 dxc3 20.Rfe1! cxb2 21.Rad1! (on paper Black has a huge material advantage, but White is dominate in the center) 21...b1Q 22.Rxb1 Rc8 23.axb5 axb5 24.Rbd1! Qd7 25.Rxe5+ Bxe5 26.Qxe5+ Qe6 27.Qxh8+ Kd7 28.Bxc5+ Kc6 29.Qd4 Re8 30.Bb4 Qe4 Black resigns without waiting for a reply (Kuljasevic-Zhao Jun, IT, University of Texas at Dallas, 2007).

17...Nxe5!? 18.Bxe5 0-0 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Ne2 f5 21.Bh5 f4 22.Nxd4!?

If 22.b4 cxb3 23.Qxb3 Qd5 24.Qh3 Bc8 then:

25.Qd3 Bf5 26.Qd2 Qd7 27.Rac1 Rac8 is equal (Radjabov-Anand, World Rpd Ch Match, Mainz, 2006).
25.Nc3 dxc3 26.Qxc3+ Qd4 27.Qf3 Ra7 leaves Balck two pawns to the good (Kramnik-Aronian, Corus A, Wijk aan Zee, 2008).

22...cxd4

Black is two pawns to the good.

23.Re6

If 23.Bf3?! Rb8 24.axb5 axb5 25.Re6 Rf6 26.Rxf6 Bxf3 Black, with his advanced pawns, has good winning chances.

23...Bc8?!

The critical pawn for Black to overprotect is the b-pawn so that when White initiates the exchange at at b5, the pawn is recatured by the Queen or the Bishop, keeping the a-pawn where it is and the a-file closed. The way to go about it is by no means obvious.
Correct is 23...Rf6! then:

If 24.Qe1 Bd5 25.Re7+ Kf8 then:

26.Re8+ Qxe8 27.Bxe8 Rxe8 28.Qb4+ Kf7 29.Qc5 Bc6! gives Black the material advantage with good winning chances.
26.Re5!? Bc6! 27.Re6 Bd7 28.Re5 Rc8 White still two extra pawns and good winning chances.

24.Re8 Qd7 25.Rxa8 Bxa8 26.axb5 Qxb5 maintains excellent two extra pawns for Black, who now has excellent winning prospects.

BLACK: Peter Leko
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WHITE: Vishy Anand
Position after 23...Bb7c8

24.Rg6+!

The King is forced to take refuge in the h-file (if 24...Kf7?? then Rd6+!! wins on the spot).

24...Kh7 25.axb5!

There is nothing with which White can recapture except the a-pawn, opening the queenside for White's heavy pieces.

25...Rf6

If 25...f3 26.Rc6 Bb7 27.Rxc4 then:

27...axb5 28.Rxa8 Bxa8 29.Rxd4 wins for White.
27...fxg2 28.bxa6 Rxa6 29.Rxa6 Bxa6 30.Rxd4 Qf6 31.Rd7+ gives White the advantage of the remote passer.

26.Rxf6 Qxf6 27.Qc2+ Bf5 28.Qxc4!

The material is balanced for the first time since the opening; White has opened the c-file for use by his heavy pieces.

28...Rc8 29.Qd5 axb5

BLACK: Peter Leko
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WHITE: Vishy Anand
Position after 29...ab5:p

30.h3!

White denies the use of g4 to the Black Bishop and sets up an outpost for his own Bishop.
30.Qxb5!? g4 31.b4 d3 32.Rd1 Rd8 33.Qc4 Be6! gives Black the initiative.

30...Kh8 31.Qxb5

White has the remote passer.

31...Rf8 32.Ra6 Qg7 33.Rd6 d3 34.Qb6

If 34.Bf3 Kh7 then:

35.Qc6! Qe5 36.Bg4 d2 37.Bxf5+ Qxf5 38.Rxd2 leaves White a pawn to the good and hold a more aggressive position.
If 35.Qb4 Qe5 36.Rd5 Qe8 37.Bh5 then:

37...Qc8 38.Re5 Kg8 39.Qb3+ Kg7 40.Qd5 wins for White.
37...Qxh5? 38.Qxf8! Be6 39.Rxd3 White wins easily.

34...Qe5?

34...Kh7 35.Bg4 Bg6 36.Be6 Re8 37.Qa5! Kh8 38.Bf5 leaves Black fighting uphill to save the game, but it's not an impossible fight.

BLACK: Peter Leko
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WHITE: Vishy Anand
Position after 34...Qg7e5

35.Bg6!

White will want to make use of some critical light squares, particularly g8 and h7, and it would be easier if the White Bishop were out of the way.

35...d2 36.Bxf5 Qxf5 37.Qd4+ Kh7 38.Qxd2

Black's last best hope is gone.

38...Rf7 39.f3 h5 40.Rd5 Qg6

40...Qf6 41.Qd3+ Kg7 42.Kh2 h4 43.b4 the pawn advances and White wins.

41.Qa5 Rg7 42.h4 Qb1+ 43.Kh2 Qxb2 44.Rxg5 Rxg5 45.Qxg5 1-0

BLACK: Peter Leko
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WHITE: Vishy Anand
Final Position after 45.Qa5g5:R

If 45...Qc1 then after 46.Qxh5+ Kg7 47.Qe5+ Kg8 48.h5 the pawn marches on and the rest is silence.
Grandmaster Leko resigns.

Reply #8: Anand - Leko, Round 5 [View All]