How fortunes can change. Viswanathan Anand played out a fantastic endgame on Thursday to beat his vanquisher from Round 4 and erstwhile tournament leader, Sergey Karjakin, with white pieces in Round 11 of the FIDE Championship Candidates tournament in Moscow. His victory brought him roaring back to first place with three games left to play.
Unfortunately, Anand lost the advantage in the very next round after an uncharacteristic game with black against the beleaguered American Hikaru Nakamura. The Indian sits in third place now, half a point behind Karjakin and American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana, whom Anand had briefly replaced from the top earlier.
The Karjakin match was critical to Anand’s chances after his deflating loss to joint leader Caruana in Round 10. This made the next game against Karjakin a must-win for the former World Champion, but Anand responded to the pressure in classic fashion, converting a minor advantage with his better rooks against a formidable opponent. But the Indian lost this hard-fought edge in an upset to Nakamura – known to be an attacking virtuoso – who had never displayed his best game until then.
Topsy-turvy form
The pressure was immense on Anand after his loss in Round 10 to Caruana. Karjakin had beaten him once in the tournament besides being undefeated after ten rounds of the Championship. However, with the white pieces, Anand displayed his famed strength of obtaining an advantage, thanks to his exhaustive experience and preparation. After he doubled his rooks on the E file in the middle-game, commentators proclaimed that they would be “extremely surprised if the game wasn’t a draw”. That statement was probably made keeping in mind Karjakin’s record of defence and the pressure on Anand to convert without overreaching and conceding a compromised endgame. Instead, Anand rose to the occasion and played an extremely nuanced endgame against Karjakin.
In the next game though, Nakamura – who has been Anand’s nemesis of late – caught him off guard in the English opening (same as Caruana) as early as the 11th move. After Anand’s decision to exchange knights, the advantage seemed decisive for white, and Nakamura went on to convert in just 24 moves.
Anand has now produced three different results in three games – a testament to not only the trend in the last rounds, but also a reflection of both the American catching the Indian off guard in preparation, which is rather unusual for Anand. There was also a hint of overreaching on the part of Anand against Nakamura, who has otherwise had a forgettable tournament, but the Indian ace was already defending a worse position straight out of the opening.
Difficult ask
With just two games left to play – and only one with white – Anand finds himself facing a huge challenge. With Karjakin having won his match and Caruana’s draw, Anand has to win both his remaining matches to have a shot at meeting Magnus Carlsen in November for a Championship rematch. He plays the impregnable Anish Giri in the next game, who is yet to lose in the tournament. Although Anand has the choice of opening (and can therefore dictate the nature of the match more than his game with black against Peter Svidler), beating Giri’s exhaustive preparation and conservative play will be a big task. Winning the next game with black against Svidler, if anything, will be harder.
Karjakin, meanwhile, made up for his loss to Anand by bouncing back with white against Veselin Topalov, who has had a forgettable tournament. Caruana drew his match against Levon Aronian, retaining his joint lead in the tournament at seven points out of 12. Anand may need results from the leaders’ remaining games to go his way if he is to make the top without having to win all his remaining matches, but with the leaders looking to draw with only two games left to play, it will prove to be a tricky proposition.
Although the odds facing the Indian seems grim, Anand still has the tools to bounce back. He enjoys the advantage with white against Giri, and one can expect an attacking, dynamic game from the GM who has nothing left to lose in his remaining games. The freedom could work in Anand’s favour, because as he has shown in his storied career,t he usually brings out his best under extreme conditions. But with only the winner qualifying for a contest with Carlsen, the sort of result which Anand now needs will not just depend on grit – it will also require a dash of inspiration.