Black to move. How should black proceed?
28 Feb 2013
Anand shocked by Caruana
Viswanathan Anand shocked by Fabiano Caruana
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Posted on Feb 28, 2013 at 07:40pm IST
Zurich: World champion Viswanathan Anand suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of young Fabiano Caruana of Italy in the fourth round of Zurich Chess Challenge here on Thursday. The loss, coming after a spate of three draws from the first three games, cost Anand quite dearly as from his joint lead, the Indian was pushed to the last spot.
The other game of the four-player double round-robin tournament between Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Boris Gelfand of Israel ended in a draw in spite of a tough fight. With just two rounds remaining, Caruana emerged as the sole leader with 2.5 points, a half point ahead of Kramnik and Gelfand while Anand on 1.5 point is currently at the bottom of the tables.
Anand's main chances now depend upon his final white game against Kramnik in the last round. The tide seems to have turned heavily in favour of Caruana, who finished second behind Anand in the just concluded Grenke Chess Classic. Playing white, Anand faced the Moller variation in the Ruy Lopez and yet again Caruana came up with another opening idea and equalised successfully.
The Italian is fast turning into a player to follow when it comes to creating new ideas in a chess opening, every now and then coming out with some exemplary new ideas. The middle game remained complicated but, understandably, Anand was playing for a win and went on pushing for an advantage that was not forthcoming.
As it happened, the world champion sacrificed a rook for a minor piece and apparently had decent compensation but his position worsened as the game progressed. Caruana was in his element in successfully going for an exchange spree resulting in a winning endgame in very quick time. After six draws in the first three rounds, Caruana's victory also turns out to be the first decisive game of the tournament and although it looked both games might be decisive in the fourth round, Gelfand survived by the skin of his teeth.
Kramnik turned out to be the better judge of his position against Gelfand from a Catalan opening. The Russian came up with a piece sacrifice resulting in a tactical melee but soon both players started to make serious mistakes. The drawn result was justified in the end.
Source: http://ibnlive.in.com
Caruana beats Anand
Replay/follow the games live / Information
Caruana played with black against the World Champion Viswanathan Anand and defeated him in 45 moves. The Italian did not shy away from going into the main lines of the Spanish against the Indian, who is known for his exceptional preparation. On move 17, Fabiano took the decision to go forward with his kingside pawns and the game became sharper. Anand eventually decided to exchange a rook for a knight and a pawn. Caruana handled the position masterfully and proved the strength of his rooks on the open files. Anand resigned when it is clear that the black rook will start capturing pawns, getting a winning endgame position.
Boris Gelfand played with white against the rating favorite Vladimir Kramnik. The Russian chose to use the Queen’s Gambit Accepted as his defensive weapon. After some exchanges, both players had isolated pawns and the position was open for tactics. The computer shows that there were missed chances for both sides, although Kramnik was the one that had some more opportunities to get an important advantage. When the complications finished, the position was equalized and the draw was agreed on move 46.
Round 5 pairings:
Boris Gelfand – Viswanathan Anand
Vladimir Kramnik – Fabiano Caruana
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