by Aviv Friedman

Ivanchuk - Anand:

Ivanchuk - Anand:   A Catalan by transposition with Chuky choosing a very quiet line of it. Vishy deviated first with his 14…Ba6 instead of 14…Rb8. Although Vassili took some time trying to come up with something, he couldn't. 16.rd6 is a natural choice, 16.Ng5 is another (although after 16…Qxg5 17. Bxc6 Rad8 more trades are coming with a draw in the horizon. Note that Qg5 defends the b5 pawn a second time.) After the game Chuky mentioned the line: 20.Rxa6!? Nb3 21.Qe1 Nxa1 22.Qxa1 b4 as unclear. Since the game continuation was leading to a draw, this might be worth another look in another game. 20.f4 indeed forced black to sacrifice his queen, but he wasn't really down material and certainly his pieces were very well positioned to give him some play. The big question is why in the final position not try some more to play on? After 23…Rfd8 24.g4 Ne7 25.axb5 Bxb5 26.Bf3! (Suggested to me by IM Moreno) white combines the threats of Rxa7 and Rd1, trading one of the rooks and white without risk pushes for more. Ivanchuk had only 15 minutes to make 17 moves and that might have been a factor in his decision. Here, Anand accepted White's draw offer instantly. Not a very exciting game - I think it is important for Chuky firstly not to lose when playing Anand and Kasparov, and so against these two he can be too cautious at times, even as white.

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