Gelfand Anand tiebreak game 4 WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2012

Hello everyone and welcome to the live coverage of Anand - Gelfand 2012 with me GM Arkadij Naiditsch. Finally the day of the match is here and we are all excited who will be the king of chess. The game starts at 13:00 CET, stay tuned! Many would see Anand as a big favorite, but in my opinion he is a very slight favorite, so we can expect a great fighting match. Very interesting to see with which move Anand will start the introduction game, 1.e4 or 1.d4. I bet on 1.d4, same as he did in the past matches against Kramnik and Topalov "never change the winning move" -chess players are usually superstitious. We can also be sure, Boris is very well prepared! Note: The Anand Gelfand CEWN is here 1. d4 And we start! Just as we predicted, Anand does not change his starting move. 1... Nf6 and Gelfand replies with Nf6, no Slav. Probably the Nimzovich is going to be the choice of Boris 2. c4 g6 Gelfand took quite a long time on this move, a storm of flashes from the photographers and he is starting in calm manner. With ...g6 probably we will see a Grunfeld! Gelfand has not played 2...g6 since 2001! This is definitely the first big surprise of the match! And Anand sinks in deep thought. Now Anand has to guess, if Black wants to play Gruenfeld or King's Indian. So 3.Nc3 or 3.Nf3... 3. Nc3 We remember the last game of Anand in King's Indian against Nakamura. After a great play and reaching a winning position, Anand blundered very badly and even lost the game. But now after now after 3...d5 we are in the very main Gruenfeld, in case of 3...Bg7 we have King's Indian 3... d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Bb5+ Nc6 9. d5 We can see Vishy was also greatly prepared even if Gruenfeld probably was surprising for him, by choosing the 8.Bb5 line (a rare line) Nc6 9.d5!? we are practically already in a "fresh" position. In 2011 Gelfand's second Maxim Rodstein has chosen 8...Nd7, but it is clear that 8...Nc6 was prepared by Boris Gelfand. A similar opening was predicted by GM Danielsen in this video So it is a bit surprising that he started to think now at 9.d5 which is clearly one of the main moves to be analyzed. Black has now 2 basic option: to play 9...a6 or to go for a very forced 9...Qa5. But 9...Bxc3 seems to be not a great move because of 10.Bd2 and of course at 10...Bxa1 11.Qxa1 O-O 12.dxc6 Black is simply lost. Here is one interesting line: 9...Qa5 10.Rb1! a very important move, 10...Bxc3 11.Bd2! a6! only move, of course after 11...Bxd2 12.Qxd2 Qxd2 13.Kxd2 a6 14.Bxc6 bxc6 15.dxc6 White is having almost a winning endgame Probably we will see the 9...a6, not easy to see what White have prepared on it...but it is clear that White did! 9... Qa5 And we are in the interesting line mentioned above! After some thinking, Boris is choosing the 9...Qa5, clearly not the main line, it would be very interesting to see, what actually Anand prepared after 9...a6. So now 10.Rb1 is almost forced 10. Rb1 After the forced move Boris is holding his head, probably trying to remember his lines... 10... a6 ... and he plays 10...a6!? a little surprise, 10...Bxc3 was looking the main move. Can White make use out of it and play 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.O-O!? Maybe it could be countered by 12...Qxa2!? looking like a risky move, but maybe Black is fine now in case of 11.Ba4 Bxc3 12.Bd2, in case of 12.Ke2 b5 13.dxc6 Be6! is very strong, and at 14.Bb3 c4 15.Bc2 Rd8! followed by Qxa2. 11.Bxc6 is forced now 11. Bxc6+ bxc6 12. O-O no probably 12...Qxa2 is not working because of 13.Rb2! Qc4 14.d6!! a very beautiful move, in case of 14.dxc6 O-O Black is totally fine. So probably 12...O-O would be the safer choice So, what to do now for Black?! 12...O-O looks normal but after 13.dxc6 Bg4 14.Bg5!? it is not so easy to equalize completely for Black... 12...Qxa2 is very risky as we already know 12...Bg4 13.dxc6 and probably Black has no better move than 13...O-O But I am sure both players are still in home preparation, very interesting game ahead. While we wait for the next move let me announce that Chess Evolution Book (May 2012) will also have a special section on Anand - Gelfand with the 2700+ analysis details.

12... Qxa2 However, with the long thinking and this move Gelfand is clearly showing that he is out of book! Now 13.Rb2 Qc4 14.d6! Qe6 15.Rd2 ! is looking very strong for White... Black can be already in some trouble... Probably Black will need to play 13.Rb2 Qa5 but also here after 14.d6! things are looking pretty dangerous! 13. Rb2 don't ask Anand twice, of course 13.Rb2! Gelfand is in big troubles I think, and it could be even worse for him in case Anand is still in his preparation... Again I have to say, that it would be very interesting to see, what did White in his pocket against the 9...a6!? i promise you a deep analysis of this one in the newsletter and also CE may. Now back to the real game! Now Boris really needs to be very careful, probably he did not the move d6! in the line and it is a big shock for him. Otherwise I guess we would never see the 12...Qxa2 It is a horrible psychological situation for Boris Gelfand now...Black wanted to surprise with the opening choice of Gruendfeld, and got into a preparation themselves, to this also comes that probably Gelfand forgot the lines and also blundered the next White's move d6! I see big chance for Anand to take the lead in the match! Note: Next round of Sigeman with Caruana, Leko, Giri starts here now. 13... Qa5 so we see the 13...Qa5, probably the only move, the idea is to play 14.d6 Ra7! it is looking really dangerous, but it might hold. Now at 15.Bg5 exd6 16.Qxd6 Rd7! 17.Qxc6 Qc7 and it seems Black is holding White could also try another trick, 15.Bf4 O-O and 16.Ne5! is looking very interesting. It seems to me that White is trying to remember the analyses... but in any case, all critical lines are probably starting with 14.d6!.. the first longer thought for Anand! So probably as well he is out of book - things are getting more interesting. Photos of R1 are uploaded here 14. d6 The correct move for a fight! 14...Ra7 seems to be the only one now for Black, 14...Qd8 is bad because of 15.Bf4! and Black still cannot castle. 14... Ra7 now is a very interesting moment, will White play the 15.Bg5 or 15.Bf4, maybe White got even something better?! I think it is a very critical position for the result of today's game 15. Bg5 and we see the 15.Bg5, probably not the most ambitious move... 15.Bf4 would have put a couple of difficult decisions in front of Boris Gelfand. Now simple 15...exd6 16.Qxd6 Rd7! a very important move 17.Qxc6 Qc7 seems to equalize for Black. The bishop pair will give Black always a good play even if White manages to win somehow the pawn c5 15... exd6 We know that Rodstein and Eljanov are specialists on the Grunfeld and that there is a chance for him to be in Gelfand's team, but I will tell you that most probably another good friend of Boris Gelfand is helping him - Levon Aronian (more on this in WCC newsletter 1). Now if Carlsen is secretly helping Anand, can we actually be viewing a match of the theory of the N1 and N2 in the world? 16. Qxd6 Anands find nothing better than playing 16.Qxd6 and after Rd7 probably White has nothing better as well as 17.Qxc6 Qc7 and game should most probably be heading to a draw. Could it actually be that Gelfand knew everything until here? It was his home preparation? To do moves like 12...Qxa2 and 14...Ra7 is very difficult at the board 16... Rd7 17. Qxc6 Qc7 18. Qxc7 and we are in an endgame, probably we will face soon a draw offer by White... 18... Rxc7 it is clear that White got no objective chances to hope for anything more than a draw... Black's bishop pair will always leave Gelfand with a good play 19. Bf4 Rb7 19...Rb7 another precise move by Black. I guess it is really time for White to offer a draw - not to get into slightly worse endgame, which would be very unpleasant directly in the first game of the match... 20. Rc2 20.Rc2 a little bit strange, probably 20.Ra2 would have been a better move, now after 20...O-O 21.Bd6 Re8 it seems like maybe Black can go on for a while... usually it is nice to keep the king in the center, but here 20...Ke7?! would be countered by 21.Bg5 f6 22.Be3! 20... O-O Gelfand waiting for Anand's move (photo here). Suddenly it is not that easy for White to make a clear draw... but as we all known, probably V. Anand is the best "escaper" in the world. Nobody has saved as many positions as he did. So I guess, not much to worry here for the Anand fans 21. Bd6 Re8 now at 22.e5 Black could try c4, in case Black wants a draw of course 22...Bg4 is good enough. For the Gelfand fans: until now Gelfand is playing just a perfect game! 22. Nd2 Anand is going for 22.Nd2, but with this now it is clear, that Black is doing quite better. Maybe a simple move like 22...Bd7 is now enough to establish the advantage. At 23.Bc5 is coming Rc8! 22... f5 strange move... of course Black can try something like 22...f5!? but it is a hard move to make and probably leads to nothing after 23.Bxc5 Rc7 ! 24.Bb4 fxe4 25.Re1 Bf5 26.Ra2 Re6 27.Ra3 followed by Nf1. I am surprised to see 22...f5, I think after less spectacular 22...Bd7 23.Rfc1 a5 24.Bxc5 a4 Black has some winning chances. 23. f3 difficult to call Anand's play "great" today, to a more easy draw would have led 23.Bxc5 now again Black got a chance for 23...Bd7. Another interesting move is 23...Re6! and at 24.Bxc5 to play Rc6 followed by Rxc3, the World Champion will have to work today a bit to achieve a draw. But objectively speaking probably position is an easy draw after 23...Re6 24.Bc5 Rc6 25.Be3 Rxc3 26.Rxc3 Bxc3 27.Rc1! Rc7 28.exf5 Bxf5 29.Kf2, even if Black can continue the fight for a while due to the a-pawn..

And a draw was agreed! Thank you for following with me GM Arkadij Naiditsch, do not forget to check out the latest packages in the Chessdom shop and see you tomorrow for more live commentary! 23... fxe4 24. Nxe4 video analysis of WCC game 1 by GM Danielsen here 24... Bf5 -

Colors: Optimal move Suboptimal move Weak move Unanalyzed move Hello everyone, I am GM Arkadij Naiditsch, author of Chess Evolution, and will be commenting for you the 3rd game of the World Chess Championship. After the first 2 games are over, we can already make some predictions for the 3rd one. It is clear, both players are very well prepared. Both players want to be very careful and not risk too much - at least in the beginning of the match. Probably we will see more games in the Gruenfeld and for sure on Slav. ( For the Slav fans: the Sakaev book Slav I is coming). Also it will be very interesting to see today, if Anand will continue playing 1.d4 or switch to 1.e4. My prediction is 1.d4, usually Anand doesn't like to make big changes in his preparation. As a little information, the whole WCC match will be included in the new CE May book, with deep opening analyses which gives a good and clear view of the amazing high level of preparation of the two players. 1. d4 Right as expected, Anand does not change the strategy! 1... Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 and again Gelfand wanted to stick to Gruenfeld and Anand is trying today the 3.f3 instead of the 3.Nf3 see game one 3... d5 the 3.f3 leads to a very long and quite unclear lines after 3...d5-which is clearly the main move here. Also Black had a choixe just to play 3...Bg7 4.e4 d6 and we could have been back in the King's Indian with f3. Usually Anand was playing only Nf3 on the King's Indian. But Gelfand is going for the main 3...d5. I guess we can expect a big preparation from White and as well from Black... 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 We are still in the main line and this is pure theory until here. Using the opportunity to congratulate the fans of the Indian GM Negi with his qualification for the World Cup 7. Be3 O-O not so long ago, Caruana tried here a very interesting move 8...Qd6 8. Qd2 e5 Gelfand is playing fast 8...e5, probably a little surprise for White, the main move is clearly 8...Nc6. Now 9.d5 is almost obligatory c6 10.h4!? usually is played with a very sharp position. White will try to create some play on the kingside and Black in the center 9. d5 c6 10. h4 I think a great opening choice of Black - of course in case the opening is objectively playable. All positions that appear now are very tricky and we can expect a sharp game. Now Black got a very large range of moves, including 10...cxd5 and f5, or 10...f5, or 10...h5 10... cxd5 11. exd5 N8d7 12. h5 Nf6 13. hxg6 both players seems to know what they are doing and moves are flying on the board in blitz mode! This position was played only 1 time by a GM, this is Laznicka-Areschenko from 2007 where White managed to win the game 13... fxg6 14. O-O-O and here comes the official novelty by White, 14.O-O-O! in the game Laznicka played 14.d6 14... Bd7 But seems like Gelfand is not very impressed with it, and knows exactly what to do, 14...Bd7 a very logical move. Black's idea is easy, to play Rc8 then maybe e4!? or Nc4 and go for the White's king. On the other hand White needs to play now very dynamically as well. Maybe now 15.d6 could be a choice, or maybe 15.Nh3!? is an interesting idea, Rc8 16.Kb1 followed by next Ng5-e6. In such a position to play without good analyses is very difficult. Another moment that makes it not easy at all for White is: the computer is giving a clear plus and I think this could be very wrong... My good friend GM Yannick Gozzoli who is following with us on Chessdom, found a game Nielsen-Tazbir from 2009 is his database, who played now 15.Kb1. That would mean that Anand knows this position for sure! Nielsen is one of his "main workers" for the last 5-6 years 15. Kb1 15.Kb1 been played, hard to find a better move 15... Rc8 And what a blazing reply by Gelfand! The position is extremely complicated with very many tactical ideas on both sides...it is very hard to guess which move Anand is going to play now, he has at least 3 logical choices: 16.d6( protecting the d5 pawn against Blacks Rxc3), 16.Nh3-with the idea Ng5-e6 and 16.g4-against the Blacks Bf5.

Peter Heine Nielsen played here the 16.d6 and the opponent reacted with 16...Nc4 after which 17.Bxc4 Rxc4 18.Nge2 and White managed to consolidate all the pieces which means to have a more pleasant position. But it seems that after 16.d6 Be6! should be the main move. Black wants to play Nfd5. So maybe 16.d6 be6 17.Bg5!? could be possibility 16. Ka1 after quite a long thinking, White is goes for 16.Ka1. It is a normal prophylactic move. The king is standing clearly more safe on a1 then on b1. Also White is asking Black "what do you want to do" without opening his plans which would happen after 16.d6-Be6. So Black to play now, I think this is the first critical position of today's game. Black has to choose from : 16...Nh5, 16...e4!? 16...Nc4 , 16...Re8 with the idea e4. All the moves are logical. 16... e4 And again no delay! Played immediately! Amazing WCC match battle on the psychological and tactical field at the same time! Boris seems to know what he is doing. A great preparation work by the Gelfand team. 16...e4!? a very forced move! I think by now White should be out of book, or at least only remembering "old analyses" which could be wrong. Now at 17.fxe4 is coming Rxc3!! 18.Qxc3 Nxe4! And Black is close to winning. So clearly this move is not to be played. 17.Nxe4? is looking impossible as well because of 17...Nxe4 18.fxe4 Rxf1! 19.Rxf1 Nc4 the Queen on d2 is under attack same time pawn b2, the game is over. So the pawn on e4 is not to be touched! A logical choice for White could be now 17.Bd4, but after 17...Nc4 18.Bc4 Rxc4 with the idea of Rxd4 next position is looking pretty dangerous... maybe it is not too late now for 17.d6 but after 17...Be6 18.Nh3 Nfd5! we are in a very crazy position, 19.Bxb6 Bxc3! and it is hard to say who is doing better here. One thing is clear, at the moment Anand has to take very difficult decision, it is not easy at all to understand that Your opponent is very well prepared in such a tactical position (Note: Sigeman and Co has just started here 17. Bd4 Anand is choosing probably the safest move, 17.Bd4 ! and probably the strongest in the position. Very interest to see what is Black going to play now, the 17...Nc4 or maybe something like 17...Qe7 keeping the position very complicated. Also maybe something like 17...Re8!? could be a tricky move. In case of 18.fxe4 probably 18...Rxc3!? could lead to a crazy game, and in case White does nothing, Black would want to play e3. So yes, I think 17...Re8 should be considered 17... Na4 17...Na4!? quickly played by Black, so all is known and he is still in book? At first sight the move is looking very interesting, now at 18.Nge2 Black wants to play Qa5! Maybe 19.Nxe4 is still possible?! hard to say...very complicated everything. 18. Nge2 Probably 18...Qa5 will be soon the answer of Black. We are in a position, where every move counts, in case White manages to consolidate the pieces - White is going to be better, so Black should do everything possible to stop White from normal development. And now it is already half way done, the White bishop on f1 is out of game, same as the rook on h1... Seems like Gelfand was surprised by something that Anand did, but hard to say by what...18.Nge2 seems to be like a very logical move... 18... Qa5 and of course we see 18...Qa5! Let us think a bit about 19.Nxe4, so 19...Qxd2 20.Nxf6 (20.Nxd2 Nxd5 ) 20...Rxf6 21.Rxd2 Rf5 22.Bxg7 Kxg7, White is a pawn up but Black wants to win the pawn back by playing Nb6, also Black has a bit better pawn structure, I think the position should be close to equal. Does anyone see something better than 19.Nxe4 ? It seems to lead to almost a forced draw... Can white maybe fight a way to fight for more?! 19.fxe4 is not working cause of 19...Nxc3 20.Bxc3 ( 20.Nxc3 Nxe4!) 20...Qa4 and the pawn on e4 is going to fall. 19. Nxe4 Anand finds nothing better than to play 19.Nxe4, now it seems we are reaching almost by force a draw endgame.. 19... Qxd2 20. Nxf6+ seems like now both moves leads to about equal position, but 20...Rxf6 is the most exact one. After 20...Bxf6 21.Rxd2 Bxd4 22.Rxd4 Rc2 23.b3! and it seems like White is maybe doing a bit better, even if Black sill of course got good chances for a draw, for ex: 23...Nb6 24.Kb1 Rfc8. (All about the match and news in Spanish in Chessdom en castellano) 20... Rxf6 so Gelfand chooses the correct move 20...Rxf6. Actually not an easy decision to make, but Boris seems to be in a very good shape, or maybe even he knew everything until here. 21. Rxd2 can White hold the extra d5 pawn? Seems to be very hard to manage, 22.Bxg7 is almost the only move 22...Kxg7 now Black wants to play Rc5 21... Rf5 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23.Rh4 is not helping White now, 23...Nb6! and now ar 24.Nc3 is coming Nxd5 and at 24.Rhd4 Nc4! so White just can keep the extra pawn on d5 23. d6 White is trying the last trick, can Black find now 23...Nb6 ( with the idea Nc4) 24.Nc3 Rd5! and game is a draw 23... Rfc5 wow, what a surprise, Gelfand is not playing 23...Nb6 and instead is doing a very strange 23...Rfc5. Probably position is still very close to a draw, but why not 23...Nb6, this is really a huge surprise 24. Rd1 it might be that Anand will get some chances today...I think that even here 24...Nb6 should be still good enough for a draw, at 25.Nc3 Nd5! and in case White is not going to play Nc3, Black is going for Nc4-Ne3 24... a5 seems like Gelfand is suddenly totally out of the game. What a strange move a5?! Of course the position remains very close to a draw , but why to play 24...a5?! maybe Black is trying to have a4 in case White is going for b3 Nb6 ?! or

maybe Black wants to play next b5-b4, this would make more sense I think. But it is Whites move now, and White can try the 25.Rh4 followed by Re4 25. Rh4 don't ask Anand twice in case he has a chance, of course 25.Rh4! a very logical and strong move. White is finally bringing the passive rook from h1 into the game. Black needs to be super careful now 25... Rc2 so Gelfand is provoking the move b3 to play later on a4 26. b3 at the moment computer is giving a big advantage for White, in fact I think in case White has anything, it is very little bit better, Black pieces are very nicely placed and it is still not easy for White to develop Ne2-Bf1 to better places. As well Black has the a4 idea. 26... Nb2 wow, the game is getting very sharp! Gelfand is playing 26...Nb2!? instead of the calm 26...Nb6. Can White catch the Black knight by playing Rdd4!? Very difficult to say, maybe Black can try to play 27.Rdd4 b5 with the idea a4 or maybe 27...a4 28.bxa4 ( black wanted to play a3) and maybe 28..b5!? now 27. Rb1 White is going for a more solid 27.Rb1 which allows Black to put the knight on d3 27... Nd3 now probably 28.Nd4 Rd2 29.Bxd3 Rxd3 this are the moves we are going to see and maybe 30.Re1.It is clear that White is doing better but also Black remains with very good chances for a draw. The active rooks, plus the weak pawn on d6 gives Black some counter play 28. Nd4 Rd2 29. Bxd3 Another surprising fact of the game, Anand is in time trouble! We rarely see this happening! 29... Rxd3 30. Re1 So I guess Gelfand has no easy choic es left for now, probably 30...Kf6!? is the best way to continue the game now. Maybe 30...Rd8 is possible as well, but it is not looking good... Maybe Black can try the 30...Rd2 but it is not that clear with should follow at 31.Kb1; maybe 31...Bf5 32.Nxf5 gxf5 is giving Black some chances to make a draw, but the position would be on the limit of being lost 30... Rd2 31. Kb1 so Gelfand is trying the 30...Rd2 31.kb1 quickly played back by Anand. Now Gelfand has to make a brave choice, to play 31...Bf5. It seems there is no other defense against Bf5 31... Bf5+ Boris makes the right choice 32. Nxf5+ gxf5 Black's hope is to play Rcc2 and give the perpetual check. On the other hand White can play now 33.Re7 Kg6 34.d7 Rcc2 and maybe try to find now something tricky. 33. Re7+ Kg6 34. Rc7 The idea of 34.Rc7 is to repeat moves and to win some time by that, now White got nothing better than to go back 35.Re7 35...Rc8 and have a deep thought 34... Re8 35. Rh1 a bit surprising, 35.Rh1?! seems like White found no way of trying to continue the game for a win, now after 35...Ree2 the game seems to be a draw 35... Ree2 36. d7 Rb2+ 37. Kc1 draw, nothing to do. Well, today we saw quite an interesting game. A huge preparation for Black, then few inaccurate moves and White had some chances, but couldn't make use out of them. Thank you for following with me GM Arkadij Naiditsch, check out the CEWN chess magazine (pdf and pgn) and see you tomorrow for more live commentary! 37... Rxa2 - If you enjoy live GM commentary, make sure to get the CEWN chess magazine here, it comes in 6 languages in pdf and pgn directly to your email every week! If you want your own game to be commented by a top GM check this out. Hello everyone and welcome to round 5 of the World Chess Championship with me GM Arkadij Naiditsch! Is today the day when Anand will find something against Gelfand's Gruendfeld ?! We will see in about 1 min from now! :) 1. e4 c5 What a surprise! Anand is playing 1.e4 and Gelfand 1...c5! 2. Nf3 I guess almost everyone expected Boris to play his favorite Russian (Petroff) opening. 2... Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 So Gelfand is choosing Sveshnikov, a very forced opening... here home analyses are definitely playing a major role 8. Na3 as we remember, Leko was working like crazy on this opening, players like Carlsen, Anand himself had to fight for many years to achieve any playable position 8... b5 9. Nd5 Anand is choosing the main like with 9.Nd5. Another main line is 9.Bxf6 9... Be7 10. Bxf6 we are in the main line and I am sure Anand is very surprised by the Blacks opening choice this is why maybe Anand is choosing this super solid line with 9.Nd5 and 11.c4 10... Bxf6 11. c4 the evaluation of this line is : very little better for White. A big fan of this line for White is Ian Nepomniachtchi who managed to win a few nice games 11... b4 12. Nc2 O-O We are still in one of the main lines of the opening, now White has a few choices, to play 13.h4!? is one of them, trying to develop the bishop over g3, Bh3 and then Kf1-g2. Another choice is the simple Be2

13. g3 Anand is playing the 13.g3, maybe he is leaving still both options to him on the next move, to play Bg2 or h4 and Bh3. A clear minus of the move 13.g3 is that Black can play now Bg5! 14.h4 Bh6 and the Black bishop is standing very nicely on h6 13... a5 not so long ago here was played a very instructive game: Jakovenko-Tregubov where Black managed to equalize quite easily by playing this plan: Bg5 then a5 and Ne7! Gelfand decides to start with 13...a5, why?! I think because he wants White to play now 14.h4 and be back in the variation with 13.h4 first, Why?! because I guess he knows it very well! :) 14. Bg2 Anand is going for the Bg2 plan... I guess now Gelfand has to play 14...Bg5, it is quite important for Black to have the bishop on h6. Another plan for Black could be the 14...g6-Bg7 but personally I don't like it 14... Bg5 and yes, we see the Bg5 move, back to the main. Should White try now the immediate 15. O-O or first to include 15.h4 Bh6 ? I guess it doesn't matter much and would lead to the same position. Maybe Anand has prepared here some novelty for us? Hmm hard to believe so, he was totally surprised by the Black's opening choice, so probably only next game we could expect something new. 15. O-O Be6 we contnie to follow the main line, and maybe Gelfand's 15...Be6 is a little surprise. Let us take a look what are the main ideas of White and Black: White is usually trying to make a pressure on the d pawn by playing Qd3, Rfd1. Black is trying to develop by playing Qb8-Rd8 maybe Qa7-Qc5 then to play a4 forcing White playing b3 and trying to get some play on the a file. White is usually trying not to play Ne3 to early not too let Bxe3 happen to early... And as we are in the live comments there is no time to list all, so more later in the daily WCC newsletter 16. Qd3 Maybe White is trying not to play h4 to early, to have the f4 move in the pocket, but it is hard to imagine that f4 could work, Black always is ready to play exf4 16... Bxd5 Wow! We see 16...Bd5!? this move is a big surprise! Usually such a move cannot be good for Black and logical play would be 16...Qb8, but considering the speed of Gelfand playing it, it is clearly still a preparation. What does Black want to play at 17.cxd5 ? At 17...Nd4 18.Nxd4 exd4 19.f4 and Rc1 seems to be clearly better for White. 17...Ne7 seems to be the best option but also here I think after 18.Bh3 White's position is looking better... I think Anand is as surprised as me to see 16...Bxd5 17. cxd5 Nb8 usually we have the same position with h4-Bh6 included and then at White's cxd5 Black is going for Nb8 and Na6-c5. But without h4 Bh6 maybe White has some extra ideas with the f4 move !? 18. a3 16...Bxd5 was a novelty at GM level, Anand is certainly surprised and Gelfand is playing fast, proving this was home preparation. Novelties in Gruendfeld, novelties in the Sicilian! Great work by the team of Gelfand. 18... Na6 And Na6 played without thinking!! Computers don't like it at first sight. After the exchanges we are in a position which is looking like an easy draw, but I don't think that it is "such an easy" draw as it seems. The opposite color positions can degenerate very quickly and very dangerous. 19. axb4 Nxb4 20. Nxb4 For Black is clear to exchange both rooks, also Queens if possible, to bring the bishop over d8 to b6 and then to c5. White should try to make use of the weak square c6 and put for example a rook there by playing Rc1Rc6, then maybe play Qc4 and make some pressure on the pawn b4. All this gives White a small plus 20... axb4 , 21. h4 Bh6 , 22. Bh3 Black can try to play now 22...Qb6, then g6, Rfd8, and in case needed to have Bf8 move. The position is of course very close to a draw, the only problem could be the move 22...Qb6 23.Bd7! with Bc6 next and winning the a file. A bit strange that Gelfand is thinking for so long... I think 22...Qb6 is a very obvious decision. Maybe Boris really doesn't want to let the White bishop to d7, but is it that dangerous?!. I think in case of 22...Qc7 23.Qb5! followed by Qc6-this can really become quite dangerous for Black! 22... Qb6 As expected we see the 22...Qb6! Seems like the best try for White now is to play 23.Qc4 but this can be met by 23...Qc5! 24.Qxc5 dxc5 and now we can see, how useful the bishop in standing on h3-protecting the field c1! Probably White is not doing better because Black just wants to play c4-c3 and everything is fine 23. Bd7 yes, White is trying probably the "only chance" 23.Bd7

23... b3 and immediate answer by Black 23...b3!? a very interesting and forced move. Black wants to play at 24.Bc6 Ra2! As I already mentioned before, a move like 23...Qc5 would be I think perfectly fine for Black even if the position is a bit worse it is hard to find for White a real "plan" 24. Bc6 Ra2 25. Rxa2 bxa2 the game is getting a bit more interesting, can White win the a pawn? 26. Qa3 Oh no what is this? 26.Qa3 was basically a draw offer! Now 26...Rb8 and position is a draw! 26.b3 was the only chance, even if it is looking a bit risky, it is not easy to find a clear way of protecting the pawn for Black. 26.b3! Rb8 27.Ba4, probably 26.b3 f5! could be a try for Black 27.exf5 and e4! And probably White got nothing as well. I have a feeling that Gelfand knew everything until the last move... 26... Rb8 And what else, a draw was agreed. Amazingly solid by Gelfand, Anand cannot find a way to score. Behind this draws is amazing work, this we have to understand, but of course until now out of 5 games we saw just 1 game that was exiting, this is a bit pity... Tomorrow Gelfand is White again and we hope to see finally Boris as prepared with White as he is with Black, that would mean a big fight! 27. Qxa2 - Hello everyone, I am GM Arkadij Naiditsch, welcome to the live coverage of game 10 of the World Chess Championship! With equal score, both players go for yet another battle where Anand will have the white pieces. After surviving yesterday's game, we can expect Anand to show some fighting spirit. 3 games to go, 2 White games for the World Champion. Both players seem to be very tired, so a major mistake can happen every move! Probably we will see 1.d4 and and it is going to be very interesting to see what is going to be Gelfand's opening choice. I think maybe the Nimzo Indian of Anand!? The game starts in just a few minutes, today is one of the last days for the New books discounted package at the Chessdom shop 1. e4 c5 Anand is starting with a surprising 1.e4! and Gelfand sticks to 1...c5! 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 and here we have the change on the 3rd move instead of the 3.d4 Anand is playing 3...Bb5, The main reply today is 3...Nf6, but of course 3...e6 is a well known move 4. Bxc6 of course this is the main move here. Radjabov made this line quite popular for Black, showing quite successful results 4... bxc6 4...bxc6 is the normal continuation here, on which White has a few different reactions, 5.O-O, 5.d3, or 5.b3 are the main ones. What is nice for us, the position is not very forced, so probably we will see a positional game! 5. b3 and Anand is doing my favorite move, 5.b3!? I played this myself quite often with White. One of the major ideas of the 5.b3 is, to play quickly Ba3 followed by the d4 move 5... e5 but Gelfand seems to know exactly what he is doing, and answering with the 5...e5!? - it is again amazing, what kind of very deep preparation Gelfand and his team were able to make. Practically in every game Gefland is surprising Anand with something! The 5...e5 !? is already almost a novelty! And clearly the first game on the high level! The critical move in the position is 6.Nxe5. I think in case White does not play 6.Nxe5, Black should be doing perfectly fine, the next moves could be d6,Nf6,Be7, and castle short. 6. Nxe5 so we see the 6.Nxe5 and of course Gelfand will reply with 6...Qe7. 6... Qe7 It is hard to imagine that Anand doesn't know this move - and even I think, Anand MUST know this move because after 5...e5 it is very logical. Now the position has changed and it seems to be quite forced after 7.Bb2 d6 8.Nc4 d5!? ( in case of 8...Qxe4 9.Ne3 White is doing probably a little better ) 9.Ne5 f6!? and it is very hard to evaluate the position 7. Bb2 d6 8. Nc4 so we are coming closer to the "critical position". So probably 8...d5 is a must and 9.Ne5 as well. From here it is getting very exiting. 8... d5 seems like 9...f6 should be main as well. Moves like 9...d4 are leading to a clearly worse position even in case of simple 10.Nc4 Qxe4 11.Qe2 and White is doing better in the endgame. The knight on c4 and Black's pawn structure in the middle guarantees White some advantage 9. Ne3 Anand is playing the silent 9.Ne3 and I think after 9...Qxe4 Black should be doing fine, at least it is looking like that 10.O-O Nf6 11.Re1 Be6 and I don't think White is in time to create something dangerous

9... d4 Gelfand is playing 9...d4 and I think after 10.Nc4 White is having a bit better endgame, but maybe Gefland analyzed it to the end and found great resources - we will see it very soon. 10. Nc4 Qxe4+ 11. Qe2 Gelfand started to think a little, maybe that means he expected more 9.Ne5 and not 9.Ne3. This endgame looks better for White but again, maybe Gelfand's team found some resources to make the game equal. 11...Qxe2 12.Kxe2 is probably a must, now Black has a choice of playing 12...Be6 and then castle long, or maybe first 12...Nf6-Nd5. White will probably put the pieces that way: Nba3, d3 then to play Bc1-Bd2 or maybe try the a3-b4 push 11... Qxe2+ 12. Kxe2 Be6 13. d3 Seems like Anand wants to put the knight on Nbd2, but then where will the White King go? Probably White wants to play fast Re1-Kf1 next. In case White manages to stabilize the position, White is going to be clearly better. The Black's pawn structure can be very risky in the future endgame, that's why it is so strange to m, that Gelfand played that quickly the 9...d4. That seems to give him a worse endgame, what could be his preparation?! 13... Nf6 note: most results from the Asian Team championship are ready 14. Nbd2 O-O-O 15. Rhe1 a few moves were made, probably the most expected ones. Black castles long and develops the knight to f6, White plays Nbd2 and Rhe1 with the idea Kf1 in case needed. Main ideas: Black should start their play on the kingside as soon as possible by moving the pawns forward. For example by playing Nd5 and then h5-h4 proving White to play h3, and then to play g5-g4. White will probably try to search for initiative on the queenside by playing a3 and b4 15... Be7 16. Kf1 Rhe8 a bit strange move by Gelfand, 16...Rhe8. Why is Black not afraid of 17.a3 with the idea b4!? 17. Ba3 why Anand is playing 17.Ba3? Maybe he wants to stop Black from playing 17...Nd5 to have 18.Ne4 but also here Black could try the 18...Nb4. And of course 17..Nd5 is by far not a forced move, maybe something like 17...Kc7 could be played, and I think in case of 18.Ne4 Nxe4 19.Rxe4 Bd5 White is not doing better. 17... Nd5 so Gefland is gong for 17...Nd5. A very natural reaction. Why not to put the knight on b4!? I think 18.Ne4 is almost forced ( what else to do ) 18...Nb4 and maybe now something like 19.Re2!? protecting the pawn c2 and preparing the Rae1 move 18. Ne4 Nb4 19. Re2 can Black be thinking now about the 19...Bxc4 20.bxc4 f5! 21.Bxb4 ( it is pity for White, but there is no move 21.Nd2 because the c2 pawn is hanging Nxc2 and of course 21.Ng3 is not really an option, after 21...g6 the White's knight would be dead, so 21..cxb4 22.Nd2 Bd6 Hard to say if White is better here, probably a little I would say...but not much 19... Bxc4 why Black needed to play first 19...Bxc4 and not directly 19...f5, not so easy to see, but White has a very nice trick: 19..f5 20.Ng3 Bxc4 and now 21.Nxf5! not an easy move to see during the live game 20. bxc4 20.bxc4 seems to be the only move, in case of 20.dxc4 f5! 21.Bxb4 cxb4 22.Nd2 Bf6! only Black can be better. I think that 20...f5 is needed, in case of 20...Kd7 White could try to secure the knight on e4 by playing 21.g4! 20... f5 Note: game video by Vijay Kumar from Moscow here 21. Bxb4 cxb4 Both players continue following the ideas that we give right here on Chessdom. 22. Nd2 Bd6 Anand has a lot to think about now, maybe he has a chance now to get a slightly better position. To play now 23.Rae1 but then Black can counter with 23...Rxe2 24.Rxe2 and Kd7! making the rook on d8 free. Black plan would be then a5-a4, so 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24. Nb3 c5! and now I think in case of 25.a3 bxa3 26.Rxa3 Kb7 Black is doing fine 23. Rxe8 Rxe8 24. Nb3 c5 And the game was agreed to a draw. Only two games ahead, each player has one white and we will very soon see if the match will end in decisive win or in a tiebreak! Thank you for following with me GM Naiditsch and do not forget that today is one of the last days for the New books discounted package at the Chessdom shop. See you in next round for more live commentary! 25. a3 - Hello everyone and welcome to the last game of the World Chess Championship 2012 with me GM Csaba Balogh! The score of the match is equal, in case of a decisive game we will know the World Champion today, in case of a draw we will have rapid and blitz tiebreaks. Right after the match the book 365 Greatest Chess Puzzles will be published and I am happy that I can announce this during the final moments of the most important event for 2012, the World Chess Championship! The tension is on the maximum, there is no way back after one mistake. I think the first move is about

50-50 between e4 and d4, I personally expect 1.e4 from the World Champion. A few minutes remain to the start. Enjoy! 1. e4 As I expected, 1.e4 is typical for Anand's tactics in the current match situation. 1... c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Anand repeats 3.Bb5, let's see who will deviate first from game 10 3... e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d3 so, Anand plays 5.d3 instead of 5.b3, which we have seen in game 10. It means, that Anand's team could not find any advantage after the strong 5.b3 e5! move 5... Ne7 6. b3 6. b3 is a real surprise, with only one high-level game in the database, which continued with Ng6 Bb2 f6 and e5 ,in Spassky-Gulko 1990. I am quite sure, such move could not be seriously analyzed by Gelfand's team, so it is a chance for Anand to catch him in the opening and achieve some advantage. 6...Ng6 7.Bb2 and f6 seems to be the most logical, and the question there is, if Anand prepared the 8.e5 move or some interesting action with 8.h4 ? Gelfand is in deep thought. It must be a good feeling for Anand, since in the previous games of the match Gelfand showed huge preparation and achieved quickly equality with the Black color. As a side note, The World Championship is finishing soon, but there are multiple very strong events following. In June there are Tal Memorial, Kings Tournament, Topalov Vallejo match, Women's world rapid and blitz, Seirawan - Karpov match, and these are just some of the events that we will be following live here for you with the Chess Evolution team. 6... d6 Gelfand played 6...d6, with the idea of reaching the ideal structure with e5. Positionally the critical move is 7.e5 after which the doubled c-pawns become vulnerable, but the question is what happens if Black takes 7...dxe5 8.Nxe5 Qd4 7. e5 Ng6 8. h4 8.h4 played instantly. Impressive preparation. A positional pawn sacrifice. After 8...Nxe5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 White probably wants to put the c5 pawn under pressure with the Bishop and the knight. 8... Nxe5 All will develop as expected in the line given. While watching that, another side note, we already listed the coming events in June, but July will not be less exciting as Dortmund 2012, Biel Chess 2012 are taking place, followed by the Chess Olympiad 2012 (see list of announced teams and send us more if you know). 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. Nd2 It is clear, that White is playing against the c8 bishop. It has no future in this game, cannot be activated, cannot have any target, at least in the next 10-15 moves. The game could continue with 10...Be7 11.Bb2 f6 and 12.Qh5! . A nice check, which forces Black to decide between two unpleasant continuations. To play g6 is further weakening the pawn structure, what White can use later with an h5 push, or to play Kf8 but then O-O is not possible anymore. White is playing on long term positional compensation, based on Black's unhealthy pawn structure and the c8 bishop. 10... c4 Gelfand is giving back the pawn, in order to solve the problem around the c8 bishop. His idea is to push c5 after which the bishop arrives to b7. Very deep idea, but on the other hand after 11.Nxc4 I think White has a small advantage. Important that on 11...Ba6 with the idea of 12.Nxe5? Qd4, White has 12.Qf3! The move 10...c4 most probably puts an end to Anand's preparation as well, so the "human" fight starts. I think, Gelfand's idea could 11.Nxc4 Ba6 12.Qf3 and Qd5! when, White has two possibilities. One is to go for an endgame with pawn up, but finally it is Black who has the better structure and his bishops would start to work after 13.Qxd5 cxd5 14.Nxe5 Bd6. Other option is 13.Qg3, which allows e4 to get rid of the doubled pawns. It leads to amazing complications after O-O. 11. Nxc4 Seems like the game is going to be an excellent lecture on positional pawn sacrifices! Another option for Black is first to exchange the dark squared bishops with 11...Bb4 12.Bd2 Bxd2 13.Qxd2 and only then Ba6, but I think, this is agreeing to suffer in a worse position. 11... Ba6 Gelfand goes for the critical Ba6, and it is going to be Anand's turn to decide the character of the game after 12.Qf3 Qd5 13.Qxd5 or 13.Qg3. 12. Qf3 Qd5 We reached a very interesting moment of the game. Probably both continuations mentioned give White a small edge, but Qxd5 prepares for a very long fight, where probably in case of precise defense by Black he can save the game, while Qg3 is really complicated, which objectively should favor for White. On the other hand one mistake from the White side could change the evaluation, while a mistake from Black could lead to immediate finish of the the game, since the Black king is still stuck into the center. This could be a very difficult decision even in a random game, but now at the steak is the World Champion title!

13. Qxd5 so Anand prefers to not risk and goes for the endgame, where only he can win. A practical decision! 13... cxd5 14. Nxe5 I think, Black should play 14...f6 and maybe e5 in the next move. 14... f6 15. Nf3 e5 Very nice play by Gelfand! Instead of suffering with a pawn up, he preferred to sacrifice 2 pawns and staying a pawn down for activity. I think Black is fine. He is going to attack the c2 pawn, and when it moves to c4 Bb7 and the bishop pair gives Black excellent compensation for draw. I think, 13.Qg3 was objectively better. 16. O-O after 16.O-O Black can finish the development with 16...Kf7 and Be7, then bringing the rooks to c8 and d8 16... Kf7 17. c4 Be7 Black has a very easy play with Rhd8 then a possible plan could be Bb7 and a5-a4. The bishoppair dominates the board. It is very hard to suggest a plan for White, which could improve on his position. Any kind of pawn moves leads to kind of weakaning, of what the bishoppair could make use. 18. Be3 The only plan I could imagine fo White is somthing like Rfd1, Kf1-e2 and in one moment to take on d5 and transfer the knight to c4 through d2 18... Bb7 We must admit, that the move 8.h4 is very useful now, otherwise Black could play g5 taking ground on the kingside. Now Black shows clear intention to play a5-a4. 19. cxd5 Bxd5 20. Rfc1 Black has two pleasant options. He can play 20...Rfc8, since 21.Rxc8 Rxc8 22.Bxa7 does not work because of Ra8 and Bxb3 next move. Or he can just continue the plan with 20...a5 and on 21.Rc7 simple Rfc8 22.Rac1 Rxc7 23.Rxc7 and Ke6 overtaking the initiateve. 20... a5 Gelfand played the move a5! I think, a clever idea could be to play Bc5 with a draw offer. 21. Bc5 if White would have continued pressing, he could only cause problems to himself. It is the right time to settle for draw. Black can simple take on c5 and on f3, then Rhd8 with a completely drawn rook endgame 21... Rhd8 Gelfand prefers to keep his nice d5 bishop. This move does not change the evaluation, but I would have preferred the more forcing line with taking on f3. Now White can take on e7 then Rc7 and try to hold the pawn with Ne1. 22. Bxe7 and Anand offers the draw! A very interesting game! So, the match will be decided in rapid tiebreak on Wednesday! Thanks for watching with me GM Balogh Csaba and the Chess Evolution team, see you for more live commentary soon! Tiebreaks coming in the World Chess Championship! -