Spanish defense d3 line with Be7 : 2 key games

we are analyzing a key variation with d6,Be7 in the spanish defense where White chooses d3.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 d6 7.c3 O-O 8. Nbd2 b5 9. Bc2 Re8 

same position reachable via Anti-Berlin d3 as follows

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 d6 5.O-O Be7 6. c3 O-O 7. Nbd2 a6 8. Ba4 b5 9. Bc2 Re8 

TABIYA 1A Spanish d3 variation d6,Be7

Black is aiming at developing Bc8-b7 as well as Bf8-g6-Bg7

White is preparing Re1,Nf1-g3 or Re1,d3-d4 and a3-a4

Lets continue with 2 logical moves for each side

10.Re1 Bf8 11.h3 Bb7

TABIYA 1B Spanish d3 variation d6,Be7 after 11..Bf8

Here there are two different plans. one consists in playing d3-d4 and soon d4-d5 and a2-a4 and c2-c4. Black will play g6,Bg7 as well as Nc6-b8-d7 followed by c7-c6

The second plan consists in postponing d3-d4 and going for Nd2-f1-g3

Game 1 : Firouzja-Carlsen 2020 after 11..Bf8

Game 2: Anand-Carlsen 2015 transposing 11Nf1 g6 12 h3 Bb7

Anand-Kramnik Amber Tactics 2009 - Round 8

White to play and win

Anand-Kramnik , Amber Blindfold (8)

Anand won the blindfold game and drew the rapid , to win the mini-match 1.5-0.5

Anand World Champion ??

Anand is playing today game 10, which he needs only a draw to win the 2008 WorldChampionship against Kramnik.
Anand's wins in round 3, 5 and 6 , without suffering any loss confirmed he is soon to be the uncontested classical world chess champion (succeeding Kasparov and Kramnik). So far his performance in the match is close to perfect play.

It is remarkable to observe how he managed to win twice with the Black pieces, (games 3 and 5), with the same variation where he left his king in the center and attacked along the g-column and the a8-h1 diagonal. Kramnik's idea in playing the variation was probably to survive the middle-game and "win the endgame" with his a- and b- pawns. But he probably underestimated the initiative Black enjoys in this variation. 10 d5 instead of 10 e5 was worth a look.
Game 6 was a different story: 9 h3 and 10 g4 was an aggressive play by Anand, which was further neutralized by Kramnik who managed to swap the queens. However, 19 ..c5?! was a premature and eager sacrifice in my opinion, 19..Rfe8 was called for. Black never got enough play for the pawn in that game. It was too early to counter-attack with Black.

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ALL ANAND-KRAMNIK WCC GAMES SO FAR CAN BE PLAYED HERE:

http://games.top10chess.com/anandwch08.htm

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Move by Move: Anand-Morozevich Mainz 2008

Here is the tactical phase in Anand-Morozevich, Mainz 2008 where the world champion Anand outpowered his opponent:

Position 1: White just played 21 Ng4

Here, Black could have played 21..h6 22Bd2 Rad8 with chances for both sides.
Instead, Morozevich went for the more forcing 21..Nf4.

21..Nf4?

22 Bf4 ef4

Position 2 after 22..ef4. White to play

Here, it is possible that Morozevich was initially expecting 23 Nf5 or 23 Nh5.Instead, Anand found a neat combination starting with 23 Nh6+!.

23Nh6+!

Position after 23Nh6+ :Black to play

Black cannot take the knight: 23..gh6 24 Qg4+ Kh8 25 Qf5. In this variation, 24..Bg7 is met by 25Nf5. Morozevich played the only move 23..Kh8.

23..Kh8

24 Nf7+ Kg8

Position 3: White to play

Here White missed an immediate finish. 25Bh7+! Kf7 26 Ng5+ Kg8 27Qb3+ Kh8 28 Qf7! and mate follows. Instead Anand played 25 Ne4.
25 Ne4

Position 4 after 25Ne4. Can Black take the knight on f7?

Here, 25..Kf7 26 Bb3+! Ke7 27 Nd6+ wins for White. on 26..Re6, 27 Ng5+ wins. The game continued as follows:
25..Ne5
26 Nfd6! Rd8 ?! ( trying to pin the knight)
27 Qh5!

The last tactical move by Anand.

Position 5 after 27Qh5!

Does Black win a piece by 27..Bd6 in Position 5 ?
The answer is no. 27..Bd6 28 Nd6 Qd6 29 Bh7+ Kf8 30 Re5 and White regains the knight on e5 with a winning attack.

Morozevich played 27..Be4 28 Ne4 h6 and after 29 Qf5, White converted his advantage and won the game in 47 moves. This game played in rapid time controls shows Anand's strength in calculating complex variations.

Top Grandmasters 2008 games

This blog is about taking a closer look at the middle-game in chess. Top level chess provides lots of material to re-play, analyze and be inspired by.

From the top 10 chess players in the world, I have decided to select 4 Grandmasters with a collection of their 2008 games ( wins or losses, no draws) as of June 19, 2008. Around a hundred games are featured.

Here are the links with replayable games on a chessboard:

Anand:
http://games.top10chess.com/anandgames.htm

Aronian:
http://games.top10chess.com/aroniangames.htm

Carlsen:
http://games.top10chess.com/carlsengames.htm

Morozevich:
http://games.top10chess.com/morozevichgames.htm




Please drop a comment if you would like another player to be featured in the list, or if you have a comment on the presented collections. For example, if a particular game or position stands out, it could be analyzed in a separate post.

Quiz Special Anand (Part II)

Play like Anand (Part II)

Anand became World Champion in 2007 at the world championship tournament in Mexico. We are presenting in this post another 5 tactical positions with replayable solutions. This is a selection of some of Anand's best games and combinations. Try to emulate him in the following five positions :

6.White to play and win (Anand-Muir 1993)

Puzzle 6 : Solution here

7.White to play and win (Anand-Ivancuk 1996)

Puzzle 7 : Solution here

8. Black to play and win (Ivancuk-Anand 1998)

Puzzle 8 : Solution here

9.Black to play and win ( Topalov-Anand 2006)

Puzzle 9 : Solution here

10. White to play and win (Anand-Topalov 2007)

Puzzle 10 : Solution here


Solutions uner each diagram. Calculate well !

Please note that you can find more brilliancies from Vishy Anand on http://www.chesscafe.com/text/informant61.pdf