Anand’s 50th anniversary: Five chess gems
Vishwanathan Anand is celebrating his 50th anniversary. The entire chess world congratulates the legendary grandmaster but first and foremost his homeland India extols the greatest chess player in the history of the country. At the end of November 2019 our colleagues from ChessBase India handpicked nine positions from Anand’s best games and asked Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, Hikaru Nakamura, Vidit Gujrathi and Erwin l’Ami about them. Then they talked with Anand about these very games and recorded a video in which Vishy shared his memories and stories behind each of them. FIDE.com presents five best fragments, five real chess gems by Vishy Anand. Aronian – Anand (Wijk aan Zee, 2013) 16…Nde5!! 17. Bxg4 Bxd4+ 18. Kh1 Nxg4 19. Nxf8 f5 20. Ng6 Qf6 21. h3 Qxg6 22. Qe2 Qh5 23. Qd3 Be3 0-1 “As everyone knows, it became a current version of Rotlevi – Rubinstein. There are other games that I am equally proud of but that is the strong case to say that it was the most beautiful game I have played in my life.” (Vishwanathan Anand) Ivanchuk – Anand (Linares, 1992) 20…Bc4!! 21. b3 Bxf1 22. Rxf1 Rh3! 23. Re2 Kd7 24. g5 Ke6 25. gxf6 Bxf6 26. Bd2 Be7! 27. Be1 f6 28. Bg3 d5 29. exd5+ Kxd5 30. Rf5 Kc6 31. Ref2 Rh6 32. Kb2 Kd7 33. Re2 Bd6 34. Rf3 Rc8 35. Be1 Ke6! 36. Rd3 Rh7 37. Rg3 Bc5 38. Ka2 Rd7 39. Rc3 Rcc7 40. h4 Rd1 41. Bf2 Bd6 42. Rg3 e4 43. Rxe4+ Be5 44. Rxe5+ fxe5 45. Kb2 Rd2 0-1 Anand smoothly executed a very long plan based on a brilliant positional concept. After unforgettable moves 20…Bc4!! and 22…Rh3!! he managed to clear the way for the central paws and triumphally advanced his infantry. Karjakin – Anand (Wijk aan Zee, 2006) 24… Nc7!! 25. Qxc7 Rc8! 26. Qxe7 Nc4! 27. g6 hxg6 28. fxg6 Nxa3+ 29. bxa3 Rxa3 30. gxf7+ Kh7 31. f8=N+ Rxf8 32. Qxf8 Ra1+ 33. Kb2 Ra2+ 34. Kc3 Qa5+ 35. Kd3 Qb5+ 36. Kd4 Ra4+ 37. Kc3 Qc4+ 0-1 Even a relatively powerful computer does not find Anand’s combination immediately. In the actual game, Vishy spotted it straight away but spent some time hesitating, fearing the opponent’s home preparation. Finally, Vishy trusted his intuition and calculations and got to the white king. Anand – Lautier (Biel, 1997) 20. h6!! gxh6 21. Bg6!! Ne7 22. Qxd4 Rxd4 23. Rd3! Rd8 24. Rxd8+ Kxd8 25. Bd3 1-0 Probably the most popular and spectacular combination by Anand, his trademark, that crescendoes in the beautiful line featuring a queen sacrifice 21…Qxd1 22.Rxe6+ Kf8 23.Bxh6+ Kg8 24.Bxf7# Anand – Caruana (Sinquefield Cup, 2017) 26. Qd4!! Qg5 27. Rc5! Rxd4 28. f8=Q+ Kg6 29. Qf7+ 1-0 Sometimes a player sees a brilliant combination in advance (Anand in this case) and hopes that the unsuspecting opponent will go for a particular sequence. Fabiano Caruana was not particularly happy about the arising position but hardly did he know that the game would last only four moves. Anand brilliantly employed the ideas of distraction and pin to dismantle Black’s defense.
King Salman World Rapid & Blitz Championships: Official site is launched
The official site of the King Salman Rapid & Blitz Championship, containing all the necessary information (regulations, schedule, registration and fees, visas, hotel, transfer, etc.) is launched today. Online registration for the King Salman World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2019 is open at https://wrbc2019registration.fide.com/ The King Salman Rapid and Blitz Championships 2019 will be held from December 25 (the day of arrival) to December 31 (the day of departure) 2019 in the VIP zone of the Grand Sports Arena at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex. This is the largest sports and entertainment complex in Russia located in one of the most picturesque areas of Moscow, at a bend in Moskva River, in front of the Sparrow Hills (“Vorobyovy Gory”) and the Neskuchny Garden. Currently, there are more than 250 players registered in the event. The list of participants includes the World Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Hikaru Nakamura, Leinier Dominguez (both USA), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Vladislav Artemiev, Dmitry Andreikin (both Russia), Boris Gelfand (Israel), Yu Yangyi, Wang Hao (both China), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), Alireza Firouzja (Iran), Alexandra Kosteniuk, Kateryna Lagno, Olga Girya, Alina Kashlinskaya (all – Russia), Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia), Humpy Koneru, Harika Dronavalli (both India), Anna and Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine), Pia Cramling (Sweden), Tan Zhongyi (China), Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria), Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iran) and many others. World Rapid & Blitz Championships schedule: December 25 — Opening CeremonyDecember 26-28 — Rapid competitionDecember 29-30 — Blitz competition The total prize fund for the King Salman World Rapid & Blitz Championships amounts to USD 1,000,000.
Confederation Cup for Disabled People kicks off in Ankara
FIDE Confederation Cup for the Disabled People has officially started on December 09 with the opening ceremony in the capital of Turkey. The event organized for the first time this year by FIDE with the support of Russian State Atomic Energy Cooperation (ROSATOM) will continue until December 14. Five teams, each consisting of six players with visual, auditory or physical disabilities from four different continents, namely America, Asia, Africa, and Europe, will compete against each other in a friendly atmosphere. To emphasize the Russian-Turkish friendship one of the teams is called Russia-Turkey and as the name implies comprise three Russian and three Turkish players. The opening ceremony was attended by FIDE Vice Presidents Gulkiz Tulay and Akaki Iashvili, tournament director and FIDE Events Commission Chairman Ozgur Solakoglu and Councilor of FIDE Commission for Disabled Kema Goryaeva. In her opening speech, TCF President and FIDE Vice President Gulkiz Tulay expressed her gratitude to FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and his team as well as to ROSATOM, not only for the organization of this important event in Ankara but also for the FIDE Mersin Chess Festival which took place on Dec 7 with the participation of the legendary champion Anatoly Karpov who gave a simultaneous exhibition to children and analyzed two games of his. After noting that some of the Turkish appointed arbiters are actually disabled Mrs. Tulay praised the unifying, fraternal nature of this event and wished success to all players. FIDE Vice President Akaki Iashvili also gave a welcoming speech. Mr. Iashvili praised the host TCF for its organizational skills that made it possible to bring together players from 24 different countries in a short notice and emphasized the high level of competition organization in Turkey. The Vice President also noted that chess for players with disabilities is becoming one of the priorities for FIDE and thanked ROSATOM for their very important support which made the event possible. Mr. Iashvili also stressed that FIDE will continue to support TCF as one of its most reliable partners. After the opening ceremony, the first round has started with two matches: Europe vs. Russia-Turkey and Asia vs. Africa while the American team had a day off.