[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Some comments on yesterday's games (mostly Anand-Vallejo)

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Some comments on yesterday's games (mostly Anand-Vallejo)
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1212246879.shtml


   This won't be the sort of full coverage I'd have preferred to give,
   complete with replayable games (which will return soon), but I think
   the following should be of interest. The following comments will
   mostly address the Anand-Vallejo Pons match, with which we begin:
   Game 1: Why did Vallejo play 12.Bxe6? Black's bishop isn't going
   anywhere, so White has at least one "free" move to make in the
   meantime. Two other moves come immediately to mind: 12.Rd1 and 12.Nc3.
   The first is especially obvious but unexpectedly interesting, because
   Black has the counter-shot 12...Bxf2+, with the point that 13.Qxf2
   hangs the rook on d1, while 13.Kxf2 Qc5+ lets Black pick up the Bf5.
   This not being checkers, however, White could continue with 13.Kh1 or
   13.Kf1, when Black's queen on d6 and bishop on f2 are both hanging
   while the pressure on e6 remains. The position looks like a fun mess,
   worthy of further analysis.
   As for the second move, 12.Nc3, that would seem to be the safer route.
   If Black castles short, then13.Rd1 followed by 14.Bxe6 looks like a
   better version of the game for White. If, however, Black castles long,
   then after 13.Rd1 Bxf2+ may again be possible (14.Kxf2 Qc5+; 14.Qxf2
   Qxd1+ 15.Nxd1 Rxd1+ and Black regains the queen). All very
   interesting!
   Finally, about game 1, it's quite surprising, at the end of the game,
   that after both sides promoted neither could achieve a decisive attack
   on the enemy king, despite the kings' very exposed positions.
   Game 2: As in game 4 of the Carlsen-Leko match, White (Anand) essayed
   the Exchange Variation of the Caro-Kann with 4.Nf3 and 5.Ne5! Is this
   the start of a trend in big-time chess, or just something fun for a
   rapid game? Whatever the story, both Carlsen and Anand won their
   games.
   Game 5: This game saw the Dragon/Accelerated Dragon discussed in some
   detail on this blog long ago. I'm not sure it's especially relevant to
   my earlier analysis, but Dragon fans should check it out.
   Game 6: In case anyone was scratching their head about the final
   position, it's true that Anand was 100% winning when they agreed to
   the draw. It's not universally followed, but there is a relatively
   common practice to accept/offer a draw when it clinches match victory.
   Finally, a comment about two of Karpov's games from day 1 of the
   Pivdenny tournament. If you take a look at his game from round 1,
   against Ponomariov, and his round 4 game, against Drozdovskij, you'll
   notice a remarkable coincidence. In both games, a pure rook ending
   occurred where Black had f- and e-pawns against White's g-pawn. Not
   only that, but identical pawn structures arose as well, with Black's
   pawns on f5 and e4 against White's pawn on g3. (For all I know,
   completely identical positions might have occurred at some moment, but
   I didn't check.) How often does that sort of thing happen?
   Interestingly, Karpov had the pawn-up side the first time and the
   pawn-down side the second. While I think he'd have held the draw
   against Drozdovskij even without the prior experience, he might have
   been chuckling to himself and thanking Ponomariov for his
   "instruction" in the earlier game.