..
[Event "2017 World Cup"]
[Site "Tibilisi"]
[Date "2017.09.06"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Kovalyov, Anton"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2794"]
[BlackElo "2649"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "86"]
{"I think I got a bit lucky today. I think he overpushed in a more-or-less
equal position. He made a sacrifice that, if it would have worked it would be
the Game of the Year. But, it didn't work, hopefully for me." - Anton
Kovalyov, in postgame interview with Anastasia Karlovich.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 {"Today, my
opponent surprised me. I played one game a long time ago, instead of ...h5 I
played ...Nbd7, and I won, but it was many years ago and I remember checking
that position and it is probably a bit better for White. So, during the game I
didn't know what to play, so I just played ...h5 without much thinking" -
Anton Kovalyov.} h5 $5 {This is a standard move against f2-f3, but here it is
rare. Here, White's best is to continue with f4!:} ({This is the game Anton
refered to in his post-game interview:} 8... Nbd7 9. g4 Rc8 10. g5 $6 Rxc3 {Only move.}
11. bxc3 (11. gxf6 Rxe3+ $1 12. fxe3 Nxf6 $15) 11... Nxe4 12. Qd3 d5 $15 13.
Bg2 Qc7 14. c4 Bb4+ 15. Kf1 d4 16. Qxe4 dxe3 17. fxe3 O-O 18. Kg1 Rb8 19. Rd1
a5 20. Bf1 Be7 21. h4 f5 $1 22. Qf3 a4 23. Nc1 Bc5 24. Kg2 Qb6 (24... Nb6 $1
$19) (24... Rf8 $1) 25. e4 $1 Rf8 26. Bd3 $2 f4 ({The computer finds a
preposterous winning attack for Black:} 26... fxe4 $1 27. Qxe4 Rf2+ 28. Kg3 Be3
) 27. Ne2 h5 $3 {trying to force in ...Bg4.} 28. Rb1 (28. gxh6 Nf6 $1 $19) (28.
Qxh5 $2 f3+ $19) 28... Qa5 29. Qxh5 f3+ $19 {0-1 (39) Fier,A (2588)-Kovalyov,A
(2601) Sabadell 2010}) 9. Be2 (9. f4 $1 exf4 (9... Qc7 10. f5 Bc4 11. Bxc4 Qxc4
12. Nd2 $14 {1/2-1/2 (49) Kryvoruchko,Y (2640)-Nyzhnyk,I (2530)
Cappelle-la-Grande 2011}) 10. Bxf4 Nc6 11. Qe2 (11. Qf3 $5) 11... h4 12. O-O-O
Nh5 13. Qd2 Nxf4 14. Qxf4 g6 15. Kb1 Ne5 16. Be2 Bg7 17. Nd5 Rc8 18. Rhf1 O-O
19. Nf6+ Bxf6 20. Qxf6 Qxf6 21. Rxf6 Kg7 $11 {1/2-1/2 (31) Ni,H (2637)
-Miroshnichenko,E (2624) Dubai 2012}) 9... Nbd7 10. O-O Rc8 11. Qd2 $146 (11.
a4 Nb6 ({How does a Sicilian player not do this:} 11... Rxc3 $5) 12. Nd2 d5 13.
Bxb6 Qxb6 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Nxd5 Bxd5 16. Bxh5 Qxb2 17. Nf3 Rd8 18. Rb1 Qc3 19.
Nxe5 Qxe5 20. Re1 Be4 21. Qg4 $16 Be7 22. Rxe4 Qxh5 23. Rbe1 Qxg4 24. Rxe7+ Kf8
25. hxg4 $16 {1/2-1/2 (106) Yu,Y (2675)-Chu,W (2257) China 2013}) 11... b5 12.
Rfd1 Nb6 13. Bxb6 $5 {Surprising, but good: White is going to try to exploit
Black's advanced queenside pawns and needs to thin out Black's queenside
defenders.} Qxb6 14. a4 b4 15. Nd5 Nxd5 16. exd5 Bd7 (16... Bf5 17. a5 Qb7 18.
Qe3 $1 Bxc2 $2 19. Rdc1 {And White's development lead becomes overwhelming;
for example:} Bxb3 20. Rxc8+ Qxc8 21. Qxb3 Be7 (21... Qb7 22. Ra4 $18) 22. Qa4+
Qd7 23. Bxa6 $18) 17. a5 Qb7 18. Qe3 Be7 19. Qb6 $1 Qxb6 20. axb6 Rb8 {Only move.} (20...
O-O 21. Bxa6 Rb8 22. b7 $18 {and White supports the b7-pawn with Na5 and/or
opening the c-file.}) 21. Rxa6 Bd8 22. b7 {Very committal, and not necessary.}
(22. Na5 $5 {trades the b for the d pawn with an extra pawn and a clear
advantage:} Bxb6 (22... Rxb6 23. Ra8 O-O 24. Nc4 $16) 23. Nc4 Bc5 (23... Bd4 $1
) 24. Nxd6+ Bxd6 25. Rxd6 Ke7 26. Ra6 $16) 22... Ke7 $1 {[#]} (22... Rxb7 $6
23. Rda1 $1 (23. Rxd6 Ke7 24. Ra6 Bb6 $16) 23... Bc7 (23... Ke7 24. Ra8) 24.
Ra8+ Rb8 25. Rxb8+ Bxb8 26. Ra6 Ke7 27. Rb6 $16) 23. Nc5 $6 {"When he
sacrificed I wasn't sure, to be honest. I thought I have to find some only
moves, but I felt that I shouldn't be lost in that position." - Anton Kovalyov
} dxc5 24. d6+ Kf6 25. Bf3 Kf5 $1 {When I played ...Kf5 I thought I had very
good winning chances. - Kovalyov} 26. Bd5 e4 $1 27. Re1 (27. Rda1 {is too slow:
} Ke5 (27... Bf6 28. Ra8 Be5 $19) 28. Ra8 Bb6 $19) 27... Bf6 (27... Re8 {
was the computer suggestion,} 28. Bxf7 Rxb7 29. Bxe8 Bxe8) 28. Bxe4+ Kg5 29.
Ra5 Bxb2 $1 30. Rxc5+ Kf6 31. Re3 g6 $1 32. Rf3+ Ke6 $1 33. Rd3 Rhd8 34. Ra5 f5
35. Bf3 Bc3 36. h4 Kf6 {Both players had 11 minutes here to reach the time
control.} 37. g3 {[#]} f4 $1 38. Be4 (38. gxf4 Bf5 $19) 38... Bf5 $17 {I think
Anand is considering resigning. - Sokolov} 39. Bxf5 gxf5 40. Rb5 Ke6 {Players
reach the time conrol and gain an extra 30 min.} (40... fxg3 41. fxg3 Rd7 42.
Rdd5 Ke6 $1 43. Rxf5 Rbxb7 44. Rxb7 Rxb7 45. Rxh5 Kxd6 {Black's R attacks the
c-pawn and White's pawns are controlled by the B.}) 41. Kf1 Rd7 42. gxf4 Rbxb7
43. Re3+ Kf6 {From the postgame interview: I am doing my Masters in Texas. I
am studying now, so my studies are suffering a bit. I am not a really
ambitious player; I think I played only two or three tournaments this year. I
try to play decent chess, it doesn't always work, but sometimes I have good
results. It is very nice to play against such strong opponents, but I'm
really stressed, so I'm not really enjoying myself here, but I will try to
survive as long as I can. - Anton Kovalyov} 0-1
..
