The former World Champion allowed an early Queen exchange but managed to stir up enough complications against Anton's super-solid 1.c4 2.g3 opening that he definitely had chances, but Kovalyov played accurately and Anand offered a draw on move 31.
screencap: Kovalyov and Anand shake hands at the end of game 2.2.
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[Event "2017 World Cup"]
[Site "Tibilisi"]
[Date "2017.09.07"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Kovalyov, Anton"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A25"]
[WhiteElo "2649"]
[BlackElo "2794"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "62"]
1. c4 e5 2. g3 Bc5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bg2 {Anand has never had this position a
White or Black!?} a6 5. e3 d6 6. Nge2 {[#]} h5 $5 {Of course. It's a must-win
game for Black, and this guarantees an unbalanced game.} (6... Ba7 {is the
usual move, delaying the development of the Ng8 while preemptively getting out
of the way of d2-d4. Here are two of Anton's games that Anand had almost certainly reviewed as part of his preparation:} 7. b3 (7. d4 exd4 8. Nxd4 (8. exd4 Nge7 {scores better
for Black, but can't be objectively worse for White.}) 8... Nxd4 9. exd4 Ne7
10. O-O O-O 11. b3 Nf5 12. Ne2 c6 13. Bb2 d5 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. Nf4 Be6 $14 {
White can get the B pair, but that might not be so useful with the static
center; ½-½ (48) Kovalyov,A (2647)-Naroditsky,D (2646) PRO Chess League,
chess.com, 2017.}) 7... h5 8. h3 h4 $1 9. g4 f5 10. gxf5 Bxf5 11. Nd5 Nf6 12.
Nec3 Nxd5 (12... Bd3 13. Bf1 Bf5) 13. Bxd5 Qd7 14. Qf3 O-O-O {and although
Black later lost, he should be happy with his position, which has a lead in
development in return for the blocked Ba7. I doubt this game was Vishy's
reason for going for ...h5, since Anton would obviously have learned from his
dubious opening play here and be better prepared next time. 1-0 (36) Kovalyov,
A (2612)-Oms Pallisse,J (2489) Sabadell 2011}) 7. d4 Ba7 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Bxc6+
bxc6 10. Qxd8+ Kxd8 {[#] Black has allowed White to trade the Qs and inflict
three isolated pawns on Black's queenside, but Black should be happy with the
result of the opening: he's not better, but has a lot more play than in the
standard 1.c4 2.g3 lines.} 11. h3 {10 minutes on this. White needs to get some
contol over the kingside light squares. f2-f3 does the same, but weakens the
blockade against the Ba7.} Nf6 12. b3 Be6 13. Ba3 Kc8 14. Na4 Ne4 15. Nec3 Ng5
16. h4 Nf3+ 17. Kf1 Kb7 (17... Nd2+ $1 18. Ke2 Rd8 19. f3 e4 $1 {and White has
to start playing accurately to contain Black's threats.}) 18. Kg2 (18. Nc5+ $2
Bxc5 $15 {and Black has traded his blocked Ba7 for one of the two white pieces
which can fight for light square control.}) 18... Bg4 19. Ne4 Rhd8 {10 minutes
on this. Black has interesting alternatives. I suspect he avoided putting the
Ra8 on the d-file because there are lines where he can answer Nxa6 with Ba7
moves with tempo.} (19... f5 $5 20. Nec5+ (20. Ng5 $2 Nxg5 21. hxg5 e4 $15 {
with total light square domination.}) 20... Bxc5 (20... Kc8 $5 21. Nxa6 Bxe3
{unclear.}) 21. Nxc5+ Kb6 22. Rhd1 Rad8 23. Rd7 $1 $14) 20. Be7 Re8 21. Bb4
{controlling d2.} c5 $5 {[#]} 22. Bc3 $1 {5:45 on this sensible retreat. White
can take on c5, but it gives Black more activity:} (22. Bxc5 f5 23. Nec3 Rad8
24. Rhd1 Nd2 $5 (24... g5 $5)) 22... f6 {11 minutes on this.} (22... Kc6 $5 {
saves the c5 pawn, but White can play for advantage with an exchange sac:} 23.
Ng5 $1 (23. Nd2 $6 e4 $1) 23... Nxg5 24. hxg5 e4 25. Bxg7 $1 Bf3+ 26. Kh3 Bxh1
27. Rxh1 {At worst, White can go Bc3 and Nb2 with a fortress: Black has no
pawn breaks, no entry points for his Rs, an his B can be kept out of the game.}
) 23. Naxc5+ (23. Rhd1 Rad8 24. Rd5 c6 25. Rxd8 $1 (25. Rd6 $1) (25. Nd6+ $2
Kb8 $1) 25... Rxd8 26. Ba5 {Black's R not only has no entry points, but has to
abandon the d-file due to the Nc5 forks.}) 23... Bxc5 24. Nxc5+ Ka7 25. b4 g5
$1 {[#]} 26. hxg5 {The computer hates this move -- preferring a2-a4 with
queenside play -- but it seems Anton had calculated the following
complications to equality.} Nxg5 27. f4 $1 exf4 {10 minutes on this.} (27...
Bf3+ 28. Kf2 Bxh1 29. fxg5 Bc6 30. gxf6 $18 {and after e4 White's R comes to
support the f-pawn or attack the h-pawn.}) 28. gxf4 Rxe3 29. Bd4 $1 Re2+ {Only move.} 30.
Kf1 {Only move.} {[#]} Nh7 (30... Nf7 31. Re1 $1 Rxa2 32. Nb3+ (32. Re7 $11) 32... Kb8
33. Re8+ Kb7 34. Nc5+ Ka7 35. Nb3+ $11) 31. Re1 (31. Rh3 {is a fancier try
suggested by Sokolov, but imprudent when all White needs is a draw} Rae8 (31...
Bxh3+ 32. Kxe2 $16) 32. Ra3 {and White can play for the win.}) 31... Rxe1+ {
Anand offered a draw, which was accepted. "No! It cannot be! Why agree to a
draw? It is objectively a draw, but why not play some more moves?" - Sokolov. .
Anand is eliminated from the World Championship cycle with this loss.} 1/2-1/2
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