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Leko improves on a previous Radjabov game.

• 18. Qd3 Qd7 19. O-O g6 20. Bb5 Qb7 21. Bxc6 Nisipeanu - Radjabov, Gothenburg 2005, 1/2 (21)
• 18. O-O g6 19. Qf3 f5 20. Rd1 Qd7 21. h3 Bh4 22. Rd2 f4 23. Ng4 Qf7 24. Nh2 Bd8 25. Qd1 h5 26. Nf3 Rg8 27. Nxf4 exf4 28. Rxd6 Bxc4 29. Rxc4 Ne7 30. Ng5 Qf8 31. Qd4+ Qg7 32. Nf7+ Kh7 33. Nxd8 Qxd4 34. Rcxd4 Re8 35. Rd7 Kg8 36. Rxe7 Rxe7 37. Nc6 Reb7 38. Nxb8 Rxb8 39. b4 a4 40. b5 a3 41. Ra4 Rxb5 42. Rxa3 Rb1+ 43. Kh2 Rb2 44. f3 h4 45. Ra7 Rc2 46. Rc7 Kf8 47. c4 Rc1 48. Rh7 g5 49. Rc7 Ke8 50. Rc5 Ke7 51. Rxg5 Radulski - Nataf, Vrnjacka Banja 2005, 1-0 (51)

Shredder 7: 18… Bxe3 19. Nxe3 Bxc4 20. Nxc4 f5 21. O-O fxe4 22. Qd5 Qc7 23. Ra3 Rf6 24. Qxe4 Ne7 25. Rxa5 Rf4 26. Kh1 Rxe4 [eval 0.42/15]

Inferior is 19. Nxf4 exf4 20. Nd5 Ne5 21. Nxf4 Bd7 =+

The knight returns satisfied. Black has some serious weaknesses around his king.

21. Nxf4?! exf4 22. Nd5 Ne5 23. Nxf4 Bxc4 24. bxc4 Re8 =

Black can’t defend all the weaknesses around his king, so he opts for the next best thing, counterattack and counterplay down the f-file.

Now that Black has been tied down on the kingside, White switches to the weak a-pawn and forces his way through the queenside.

Black generates some desparate counterplay down the weak a8-h1 diagonal. White has to blockade.

33. Nxd5?! Rbf8 34. Rf1 Rf3 =+

Both white rooks are en-prise. The position has reached critical proportions.

35. Nxf6? doesn’t solve anything 35… Bxd5 (35… Qxa1+? looks interesting, but 36. Rd1 Qa3 37. Qc4 Kxf6 38. Qc7 +-) 36. Nxd5 Qxa1+ 37. Kg2 Qa8 -+ (37… Rxb3 is clearly inferior 38. Qc2 Rf3 39. Qc7+ (Better is 39. Kxf3 Qh1+ 40. Kg4 Qxd5 =) 39… Rf7 40. Qxd6 +/-)

The white pieces flood through the vapourous Black defence. The Blacklight-squared bishop is staked out and ready to perish.

A blunder in a bad position, and running short of time.

36… Qxc4 Offers more resistance 37. bxc4 Kf7 +-

37… Kf8 38. Rxb7! Eliminates the defender b7 38… Rxb7 39. Qc8+ Re8 40. Qxb7 Qe4+ 41. f3 Qc2+ 42. Kh3 Rd8 +-

Removing the light-square protection. Now White’s major pieces and knight force the inevitable decision.

39… Qb4 40. Qe6 Kf8 41. Qf6+ Rf7 42. Rd8+ Rxd8 43. Qxd8+ Kg7 44. h6+ Kg6 45. Qg8+ Kf5 46. Qxf7+ Ke4 47. Qd7 +-

40. Qd5! keeps an even firmer grip 40… Re7 41. h6+ Kh8 +-

Building up pressure against the mating h7-square.

42. Qxe5+?! is not possible 42… Qxe5 43. Nxe5 Rbe8 =

With the a1-h8 diagonal open, the queen decisively returns to the d5-square.

44. Qc2 Rf3 45. Qb2+ Rc3 46. Nf6 Rc7 47. Rxc7 Qe7 48. Rxe7 Rxb3 49. Rxh7#

44… Rbe8 does not improve anything 45. Qxg5 Rxf2+ 46. Kh3 Rh2+ 47. Kxh2 Qd2+ 48. Rxd2 Re7 49. Rd8+ Re8 50. Rxe8#

Radjabov chokes on this knight

45. Nf6 Rxf6 46. Rd8+ Qf8 47. Rxf8+ Rxf8 48. Qd4+ Re5 49. Qxe5+ Rf6 50. Qxf6+ Kg8 51. Qg7#

last book move

13… Qxa5?? 14. Bb6 wins the queen

Another demonstration of Anand’s home preparation. He deviates from a game played earlier in the B section of this tournament.14. g4 Be7 15. g5 Nh5 16. Nd5 Qa4 17. Nc3 Qd7 18. Nd5 Qa4 19. Qe1 c3 20. Qxc3 Rc8 21. Qd2 Qxa2 22. Qb4 Bxd5 23. exd5 O-O 24. Nc6 Bd8 25. c3 Nf4 26. Bxf4 exf4 27. Rhe1 Bxg5 28. Qxd6 Qa1+ 29. Kc2 Qa4+ 30. Kb1 Bh4 31. Rd4 Qb5 32. Na7 Qc5 33. Nxc8 Qxd6 34. Nxd6 Bxe1 35. Nb7 Bf2 36. Rxf4 Rb8 37. Na5 Kf8 38. Nc6 Bc5 39. Nxb8 Cheparinov - Lahno, Corus B, Wijk aan Zee 2006, 1-0 (39)

15… O-O

Demolishes the pawn shield

19… Kxe7? 20. Qa7+ +-

Anand has sacrificed an exchange to smash Black’s pawn structure and dislocate his kingside development. He has a slight edge here and looks to have sufficient compensation for the exchange.

Trying to create more weaknesses on the kingside.

Starting an ambitious manoeuvre Nc3-e2-g1-h3-g5 to ratchet up the pressure on the Black kingside, or even Ng3 to bolster an h-pawn advance.

Gelfand feels forced to weaken his kingside in an effort to stabilise his position and get his pieces developed.

Blacks flurry of activity has allowed him to complete his development. White seems to have gone backwards in terms of activity, but Anand has the position firmly under control. The h6-pawn is a thorn in Black’s position.

A retreat that’s only temporary

Anand activates his king - its needed to cover the f3-pawn which releases his rook to become active again.

The knight has no further prospects on the kingside, so it seeks adventure elsewhere. In particular, along with the White king it covers all the entry points down the d-file.

Protecting the b2-pawn so that the bishop can move freely again.

Preventing 39. Be7, as well as threatening to win the h6-pawn.

At last, the weak e5 pawn is ready to fall. Black is in a semi zugzwang state.

Job done.

This opens up a nice out-post for the White knight.

Rerouting the bishop to a more useful diagonal.

Black gets a little counterplay by pressing against White’s f3-pawn.

Threatening to nullify the pressure on the f3-pawn with the knight manoeuvre Nd5-e5-f5.

Exploiting the pin down the f-file to demolish White’s pawn structure. The threat is Ng3+

White is still the exchange down, but his two extra pawns, still linked, plus his centralised minor pieces, give him a significant edge.

A crafty move, covering the queenside pawns.

Holding the position together.

The rook on e2 is marvellously placed.

65… Kd7 does not help much 66. e6+ Kc6 67. Nd5 Rxg4 68. e7 Rxe4+ 69. Kxe4 +-

Enough is enough for Gelfand. He resigns. An awesome technical performance from Anand.66. e6 Kd6 67. Nd5 +-

14. Ncb4 was successful in Anand - van Wely in the same round.

Topalov’s improvement. Black has tried out a number of choices at this point:

• 17… g6
  • 18. O-O f5 19. Qa4 Bd7 20. Bb5 Rxb5 21. Qxb5 Nb4 22. Qxa5 Nxa2 23. Qxa2 fxe4 24. b4 Be6 25. c4 Qc8 26. Qb3 Kg7 27. Rb1 Rf7 28. Rd1 h5 29. Qc2 Qa8 30. h3 Bh4 31. Rf1 Qf8 32. b5 Bc8 33. Nc3 Bb7 34. Ned5 Qc8 35. Qe2 Bxd5 36. Nxd5 Qc5 37. b6 Qd4 38. Qc2 Kh7 39. Kh2 Rxf2 40. Rxf2 Bxf2 41. Qc1 e3 42. b7 Qa7 43. Qb1 e2 44. Ne7 Bg3+ Anand - Kasparov, Linares 2005, 1/2 (44)
  • 18. h4 Bxh4 19. g3 Bf6 (19… Bg5 20. b3 (20. f4 exf4 21. gxf4 Bh4+ 22. Kf1 f5 23. b4 fxe4 24. Rah2 g5 25. b5 Ne5 26. Qd4 Rb7 27. Rxh4 gxh4 28. Ke2 Re8 29. fxe5 Rxe5 30. Nf4 Qg5 31. Qxd6 Bg4+ 32. Ke1 Qxf4 33. Qd8+ Kg7 34. Qg8+ Kh6 35. Rxh4+ Kramnik - van Wely, Amber Rapid 2005, 1-0 (35)) 20… Bxe3 21. Nxe3 f5 22. Rd2 f4 23. gxf4 exf4 24. Rxd6 Qc7 Amonatov - van Wely, Aeroflot Open, 1/2 (24)) 20. b3 Bg7 21. f4 exf4 22. gxf4 Re8 23. Qf3 Kg8 24. Rah2 h5 25. Rxh5 gxh5 26. Qxh5 Re6 27. Qh7+ Kf8 28. Rg1 Rg6 29. Rxg6 fxg6 30. f5 Qg5 31. Nf4 Ne7 32. Nxg6+ Ke8 33. Nd5 Qg1+ 34. Kd2 Qg5+ 35. Ke1 Bf6 36. Ngxe7 Bxe7 37. Qh8+ Kd7 38. f6 Qg3+ 39. Ke2 Qg2+ 40. Ke3 Qg3+ 41. Ke2 Qg4+ 42. Kf2 Bd8 43. Bf1 Kc6 44. Qxd8 Qh4+ 45. Kg1 Qg3+ Ponomariov - Kramnik, Corus Wijk aan Zee 2005, 1/2 (45)
• 17… Be6 18. Qa4 Qc8 19. O-O g6 20. b3 f5 Almasi - Radjabov, 15th ETC, Gothenburg 2005, 1/2 (20)
• 17… Ne7 18. O-O Nxd5 19. Nxd5 f5 Kosteniuk - Dvoirys, 58th ch-RUS Semi-Final 2005, 1/2 (19)

The knight likes it on d5

White is slowly remobilising his pieces to play against the weak d6-pawn, as well as give himself options on the kingside.

27. b4 axb4 28. cxb4 Rc8 29. Ra7 +=

Preparing to open th b1-h7 diagonal by a timely g2-g4.

Certainly an aggressive plan - attacking the slightly isolated Black king, but Topalov has more than sufficient resources to counter it. A plan more into the demands of the position is to expand on the queenside with his stronger pawns.Shredder 7: 30. Ra2 Bc6 31. Qg4 Rf5 32. Ne3 Nf3+ 33. Kh1 Rf4 34. Qg6 Rf6 35. Qc2 Qa8 [eval 0.49/13]

Making his mind up to sacrifice a pawn for the sake of the attack.

Both Topalov’s rooks are attacked - on the surface White’s position looks promising, but Topalov has everything under control.

The c3-rook is safe because the attacking knight on d5 is pinned to the mating square g2.

A logical reply

Both Black rooks are still en prise!

Now comes a typical Topalov flurry of attacks: 35. Qb5 is better 35… Rf8 36. Qxb7 -+

36. Nxc3 doesn’t change anything anymore Qh4 37. Kh2 Ne3 -+

37… Rxg2?! 38. Nxg2 Qg3 39. Kg1 -+

39… Rxb3?! is much weaker 40. Rxd6 Rb8 41. Be4 -/+

The king can protect himself from White’s mate threats.

Still covering the white rooks entry to the back rank - this time the c8-square, but also setting up his own finish.

a brilliant end

48. b4 a4 49. b5 -+

49. Rxh4 is one last hope g5 50. Rhg4 -+

50. Rxa5 does not win a prize 50… Qf3+ 51. Kh2 e2 52. Ra7+ Kf8 -+

50… g6 51. Kg4 Qf1 -+

Not a new idea, but nevertheless very difficult to combat over the board.

White’s compensation for the pawn lies in the mobility of his passed b-pawn. Advancing this quickly will result in the Black rook being tied down to the potential queening square, and White will then have a little time to generate a manoeuvre to eject the rook from the …b8 square.

19… g6 20. Qc6 Bd2! 21. b5 Ba5 Strongpointing the b6 square as a prelude to a blockade. 22. Bb7 f6 23. b4 Bb6 24. Nxb6 Rf7! Regaining the piece. 25. Rd1 Rfxb7 26. Rxd6 Qxd6 27. Qxd6 Rxb6 28. Qd5+ Kf8 29. h4 R8b7 30. g4 Rxb5 31. Qd6+ Kg7 32. g5 fxg5 33. hxg5 h6 34. Qf6+ Kh7 35. gxh6 Rxb4 36. Qxe5 Rf7 37. Kg2 Rb6 38. Qd4 Rbf6 39. e5 Rxf2+ 40. Qxf2 Rxf2+ Barua - Lalic, Ubeda 1998, 1/2 (40)

The exchange of queens has not made Black’s defence any easier.

Offering a pawn for the sake of decoying Black’s dark-squared bishop from getting to the queenside quickly.

Better is 23… Bxh4 24. Re1 Rf8 -/+

A comfortable square for the white knight. Black can’t bring his king nearer to the queenside via d7 because of Bb5+.

27. Nc6+ Kd7 28. Nxb8+ Rxb8 = White’s attack is repulsed because his rook has no easy way of reaching the c-file.

The Black king has no easy way to approach the White b7-pawn, so he has to meekly withdraw.

27… Kd7 28. Bb5+ +-

27… Kd8 The c7-square is guarded by the White knight.

Threatening to cut the bishop’s watch on the c1-square, thus expediting the White rook’s entry down the c-file.

Manoeuvring to the c-file, using the light-squares.

30. Rxe4 Red8 31. Rc4 Rd7 =

Trying to prevent the threatened entry of the White rook on the c-file with Rd8-d7, thus exchanging off the rooks if White infiltrates to the c7-square.

solves nothing. 34… d4 35. Rc2 e3 36. fxe3 Bxe3+ 37. Kf1 e4 38. Bc4+ Ke7 +/-

Black intends e3

36. Rxe4?! is the less attractive alternative Kd6 +/=

The white rook eventually arrives.

a sacrifice that ends the game

Anand has been here before and scored a win against Gelfand almost a decade ago. Kasparov, as Black, beat Ivanchuk in 1995.

11… Na5 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Nd5:

• 13… Bg5 14. Qd3 Rc8 15. Rfd1 Kh8 16. Nc3 Be7 17. Nd5 Bg5 18. Kh1 Bh6 19. Nc3 Nxb3 20. axb3 Qb6 21. Kg1 Rc6 22. Qe2 Qc7 23. Ne1 f5 24. Nd3 fxe4 25. Qxe4 Qf7 26. Qe2 Qg6 27. f3 Bf5 28. Nb4 Rc7 29. Nbd5 Rcf7 30. Ne4 Bg5 31. Ndc3 Be7 32. Rd3 Rc8 33. Rad1 Rc6 34. Nd5 Bf8 35. Rc3 h5 36. Kh1 h4 37. h3 Kg8 38. Rc4 Qh5 39. Ne3 d5 40. Nxd5 Bxh3 41. gxh3 Rxf3 42. Nef6+ Anand - Gelfand, Dos Hermanas 1996, 1-0 (42)
• 13… Nxb3 14. axb3 Bg5 15. Qd3 Bh6 16. Rad1 Rc8 17. Nd2 b5 18. c3 Kh8 19. b4 Ra8 20. Nb3 f5 21. Na5 Rc8 22. Qh3 Rf7 23. Rfe1 Qe8 24. Qh4 Qf8 25. exf5 Bxf5 26. f3 Bc2 27. Ra1 Bf5 28. h3 Qe8 29. Qf2 Qe6 30. Rad1 Qg6 31. Kh1 Rcf8 32. h4 Bc2 33. Rd2 Bxd2 34. Qxd2 Qg3 35. Nb7 Rxb7 Ivanchuk - Kasparov, New York 1995, 0-1 (35)

13. Qd2 Nc5 14. Rad1 Rad8 15. Qe3 Nxb3 16. axb3 f5 17. Nd5 Qd7 18. Ng5 Nd4 19. Nxe6 Qxe6 20. c3 Predojevic - Shirov, Sarajevo BIH 2005, 1/2 (20)

Anand takes away key squares from the Black pieces - g4, d4 and b4.

Preventing the freeing …d5. The Black central pawn complex is weak. Black will find it difficult to break with …d5 without weakening the …e5 pawn.

d6 becomes the focus of attention

Covers g5, but at the cost of weakening the light squares around the Black king. Shredder 7:

• 24… b6 25. Ng5 Qe7 26. Qg3 Rf4 27. a4 Qf6 28. Re2 Kh8 29. Re3 Rc5 30. Ree1 Qg6 [eval 0.14/16]
• 24… Qf7 25. b4 b6 26. Rc2 Qc7 27. a3 Rf6 28. Ng5 Rg6 29. h4 Rf6 30. Qe2 h6 31. Nf3 [eval 0.27/16]
• 24… Qe7 25. b4 b6 26. Rc2 Qc7 27. a3 Rf6 28. Ng5 Rg6 29. h4 Rf6 30. Qe2 h6 31. Nf3 [eval 0.27/16]
• 24… Rc5 25. Qe2 b6 26. Ng5 Qe7 27. Qh5 h6 28. Nf3 b5 29. cxb5 axb5 30. a4 bxa4 31. bxa4 Rc4 32. Ra2 Rxe4 33. Qg6 Ref4 34. a5 [eval 0.29/16]
• 24… Rf6 25. Qe3 Qa5 26. Qg5 Rc7 27. Qh5 Re7 28. Ng5 h6 29. Nf3 Rf4 30. Qg6 [eval 0.39/16]

Anand plays to lock down the light squares around the Black king. 26. Ne1 a5 27. Nd3 g6 28. Qg4 Rxf2 29. Nxf2 Kg8 30. Qxe6+ Qf7 31. Qxf7+ Kh8 32. Qxb7 +/-

Leko starts to drift into a plan that takes his Black quee too far from the kingside.

Regrouping the knight to d3 pushes Black back in the centre and allows White to start operations on the kingside as well as in the centre.

weakening the defender of the e5-pawn.

Attacking the weak …e6 pawn. Black’s centre is under pressure.

Ditching the e5 pawn in an attempt to get some activity.

Black’s centre collapses. 36. exd5?! exd5 37. Ne5 Rf6 +-

37. exd5 Nxd5 38. Qxe6 Nf6 +-

44… Rg8 +- desperation

Better is 48. Ne7 secures victory Rgf8 +-

Black is completely out of moves.

Its unusual to see the Kan / Maroczy Sicilian at a super GM level. We need to go back to the seventies to see any top level players adopting it as Black.

This move has been tested in a number of normal Grandmaster games, but nothing at a 2600 or higher level. 10… b6 is the older continuation:

• 11. Qe2 Bb7 12. Rfd1 Nbd7 13. f3 (13. Bb1 Qc7 14. f3 Rac8 15. b3 Qb8 16. Qd2 Rfd8 17. Nde2 Bf8 18. Bh6 Be7 19. Nd4 Ba8 20. Re1 Re8 21. Kh1 Rc5 22. Be3 +/= Timman - Huebner, Tilburg 1977, 1-0 (40)) 13… Re8 14. Qf2 Rc8 15. Bf1 Qc7 16. Ndb5 axb5 17. Nxb5 Qb8 18. Nxd6 Bc6 19. b3 Bf8 20. Nxe8 Rxe8 21. Qd2 Browne - Petrosian, Milan 1975, 1/2 (21)
• 11. b4 Bb7 12. f4 e5 13. fxe5 dxe5 14. Nc2 Ng4 15. Qxg4 Qxd3 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. cxd5 f5 18. exf5 gxf5 19. Qg3 Nd7 20. Ne1 Spassky - Najdorf, Buenos Aires 1979, 1/2 (20)
• 11. f3 Bb7 12. Qd2 Nbd7 13. Rfd1 Rc8 14. Bf1 Ne5 15. Na4 d5 16. exd5 exd5 17. c5 b5 18. Nb6 Rc7 19. b3 Re8 20. Bg5 Qe7 21. c6 Qd6 22. Bxb5 Rd8 23. Qa5 axb5 24. Nxb5 +- Malakhov - Iordachescu, Porto San Giorgio 1999, 1-0 (38)
• 11. Qd2 Bb7 12. Bh6 Nbd7 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. Bb1 Qc7 15. b3 Rfe8 Ivanov - Gulko, Moscow 2004/2005, 1/2 (15)

Unblocking the d-file. White’s plan is to gradually lock down all of Black’s natural pawn breaks forcing him into passivity, and then break wherever he pleases - kingside, queenside, in the centre or a combination of these options.

Both to take away the c5 square as an outpost for a black knight and as a preparation for b4-b5 or c4-c5 - whichever suits the White position.

Black’s d6-pawn is weak, it needs a bit of protection. This move does that and also introduces the threat of …d5, with the idea of …Bxb4 pinning the rather active White knight.

White’s pressure on the Black queenside is building.

A decent square for the knight, White can’t immediately chase it away.

White prepares c5

23… Bh6

25… Rxc5 26. Nxc5

26. bxc5?! Nd7 (26… Rxb3 is worse 27. Bxe5 Qc8 28. Bxd6 +/-) 27. Qa2 Bh6 =

White’s knight is irresistable, creating mass confusion in the Black ranks.

Kamsky lost on time. He can’t prevent Rc7, and his light-squared bishop is dominated by the White pawn structure and pieces.

Adams has essayed a variety of different lines against Topalov’s Sicilian, from 3.Bb5+ through to lines involving a king side fianchetto. Two tries at the Keres attack. Naturally the English Attack makes an apperance too. Its only recently, in this game, and in the FIDE World Championship that Adams has opted for a main-line Scheveningen set-up as White.

Adams prefers not to repeat the opening position he successfully scared Topalov with during the Fide Championship (13. Nb3). Topalov no doubt had a number of improvements lined up. 13. Nb3 b6 14. e5 dxe5 15. fxe5 Nd7 16. Bxc6 Qxc6 17. Nd4+/= Adams - Topalov, WCh-FIDE, San Luis, 1/2 (45)

15. Nde2 b6 16. Qe1 Nc6 17. Qf2 Nb4 18. Na2 Nxa2 19. Rxa2 Nd7 20. Bd4 Bb7= Dolmatov - Kurnosov, 4th IECC, Istanbul 2003, 1/2 (28)

15… b6 16. e5 dxe5 17. fxe5 Nd7 18. Bf4 Nxe5 19. Qe3 f6 20. Ne4 Bc5 21. Nxc5 bxc5 22. Ne2= Jansa - Stohl, Germany 2003, 1/2 (28). Looks very much like the mess Topalov got himself into against Adams in San Luis.

Regrouping the bishop to e3 where it strengthens the threat of e4-e5. With the two White bishops trained at the Black queenside Black has to be extremely careful in how he activates his pieces there.

Perhaps a bit too ambitious.

locking down Black’s counterplay on the queenside.

Trying to prevent f5. The longer term aim is to get the bishop fianchettoed on the g7-square, putting pressure down the long diagonal and specifically the c3-square. 20… Ba6 21. Ra1 Rec8+/=

A natual reply to the threat of a fianchettoed bishop on g7 - lock down the diagonal. It also clarifies Black’s ambitions in the centre.

21… Bg7 22. Qd3 d5 +/-

Smashing through Black’s pawn barrier, it takes advantage of the disarray of Black’s pieces. The threats from the g3-bishop make this particular sacrifice work, because after …exd5 he can play e6! with tempo.

23… exd5 24. e6 +-

Refusing the exchange of queens so as to keep the attack going. 24. Qe3 in the analysis room after the game Adams remarked that this move is stronger, since it also prevents the later …e5 threats that complicates White’s winning lines.

Taking away the g5 square from the White queen24… exd5 25. Qg5+ +/- Shredder 7:

• 25… Kh8 26. Bxd5 Qg4 27. Qxg4 fxg4 28. Bxf7 Re7 29. e6 Rb7 30. Bh4 Ra7 31. c3 Kg7 32. Rf4 Kh6 33. Rf5 Ne5 34. Rxe5 [eval 3.82/15]
• 25… Bg7 26. Bxd5 Qe2 27. Rde1 Qxc2 28. e6 Kh8 29. exd7 Bxd7 30. Bxb8 Rxb8 31. Re7 h6 32. Qe3 Be6 33. Bxe6 fxe6 34. Qxe6 Qe4 [eval 4.26/14]

Adams takes away the g4-square as a potential outpost for the Black queen. In a number of lines this move gives White a few headaches. Shredder 7:

• 25. Rfe1 Kh7 26. c3 exd5 27. Bxd5 Qg4 28. Bxf7 Re7 29. e6 Rb7 30. exd7 Rbxd7 31. Bd5 Bg7 32. Qd3 Bb7 33. Qxb5 Bxc3 34. Rxe7+ Rxe7 [eval 1.88/13]
• 25. Qf2 exd5 26. Bxd5 Qg4 27. Bc6 Bxb4 28. Rd4 Qg6 29. Bxd7 Bxd7 30. Rxd7 Rbd8 31. Rd4 Be7 32. Rf4 Qc6 33. Rxf5 Bc5 34. Qe2 [eval 1.48/13]
• 25. Nf6+ Nxf6 26. exf6 e5 27. Rfe1 Qxb4 28. Rxe5 Qxd2 29. Rxe8 Qxd1+ 30. Bxd1 Ra8 31. Bh4 [eval 1.26/13]

Black’s queen is forced to retreat, and White can continue his strong attack.

Topalov switches to swindle mode trying to catch Adams out. Both players were a little short of time at this point. 28… Nxe5 29. Rxe5 Rxe5 30. Bxe5 Rb6 +-

Luring the Black king to the f-file where it is at the mercy of the White major pieces. 29. Bxe6 fxe6 30. Rf3 Bg7 +-

29… Kxf7 30. Qf4+

30. Bxe6?! is not possible 30… Bxe6 31. Rf6 Bb3 +-

The endgame sees White with two extra pawns, but its the badly places Black pieces that are the decisive factor.

35… Rbb6 36. Qa8+ Kf7 +-

36. Qd1!? might be the shorter path 36… Rxf6 37. exf6 bxc3 38. Qe1+ Kd8 +-

37. Qd3 Rxf6 38. exf6 bxc3 39. Qxc3 Kf7 40. Qc7+ Kxf6 41. Qxb8 Be6 42. Qf4+ Ke7 43. Qh4+ Kd6 44. Qxh6 Kd5 45. Qg5+ Ke4 +-

38. Qc4!? makes it even easier for White 38… Bd7 39. Qc2 Kf8 +-

Topalov resigns 42. h5 Bb7 43. h6 +-

Both sides need to be fully commited with their plans. Its a game of chicken, the first player to back down will lose.

14. Ng3 a5 15. Kb1 a4 16. Nc1 Qb8 17. f4 exf4 18. Bxf4 b3 19. cxb3 axb3 20. a3=/+ Svidler - Kasimdzhanov, WCh-FIDE, San Luis 2005, 1/2 (34)

16. fxe6 axb3 17. exf7+ Rxf7 18. Kb1 bxc2+ 19. Kxc2=/+ Topalov -Vallejo Pons, Linares 2005, 1-0 (32)

18. cxb3 axb3 19. a3 Rc8+ 20. Kb1 Bc4 21. f6 Nexf6 22. gxf6 Bxf6 23. Bxc4 Rxc4 24. Nxb3 Rxe4-+ Boriss - Gallagher, Bundesliga 2003, 1/2 (39)

This is Karjakin’s attempted improvement, but it leaves the queen a little exposed on the c-file.

23. Qe2 d5 24. Rxd5 Rxd5 25. exd5 Bxa3 26. bxa3 Nd6= Leko - Vallejo Pons, Melody Amber Rapid 2005, 1/2 (67)

24. Rd4

An amazing concept, the idea is to bring the f8-rook and the e5-knight quickly into the attack.

Essentially forced. White cannot allow …Nb5 where Black’s attack is far too strong to defend.

With the sacrifice of two pieces Black has whipped up a mating net around the White king. Black’s position has reached its zenith, and White temporarily has the initiative. Its a question of whether White has a sequence that either mates or perpetuals the Black king.

Creating a potential escape square for his king. In lines after gxf7+ Black king has the handy h7 square, where it is almost out of reach from the White pieces.

A determined attempt to get at the Black king, but after Black’s next its clear that Anand has things well under control.

Anand would have to have seen this possibility all the way back on his 24th move where he initially sacrificed two pieces. Anand discards another rook, which gives him the initiative to finish off his attack.

It isn’t safe for Black to take the White queen yet.

34. Kb1 Now it is safe to accept White’s gift. The Black rook does a sterling job on the seventh rank, locking in the White king as well as interfering with the co-ordination of White’s pieces. Qxf8

Shredder 7 announces mate in 5.