Anand Crushes Mamedyarov, Sails Back Into Lead

Anand Crushes Mamedyarov, Sails Back Into Lead
By Arvind Aaron

Former world champion Viswanathan Anand recorded a crushing 31-move win with the black pieces against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan in the third round of the FIDE World Chess Championship Candidates Tournament at Khanty-Mansiysk in Russia on March 15, 2014.

Anand, the oldest competitor leads the 8-player double all-play-all with 2.5 points from three games. Kramnik and Svidler are on two points. Eleven rounds remain to be played. The event runs until March 31. The winner of this event will challenge world champion Magnus Carlsen.

As black, Anand played the Slav defence. Comfortable, in the middlegame, Anand had the equally off form Mamedyarov in trouble after move 20. Anand pressed ahead on move 27 with a pawn offer and was poised to win a piece. White resigned when the Indian was about to go for a knight fork winning material on move 31.

All the other games were draw. Topalov and Aronian fought a perpetual check draw. It is still early days in this long event and the only good signal is that Anand appears back in form. Two wins in three games should boost his confidence more than anything else. After the match defeat to Carlsen, Anand had said, “this defeat needs time to heal.” Perhaps that time is over.

This is an event one cant affort to relax. All seven opponents can throw surprises and make a comeback. The town is known for chess. Many events like the Olympiad had been organised in Khanty-Mansiysk. Yet, few spectators gathered to watch these games.

The results (round 3): S Mamedyarov (Aze) 0.5 lost to V Anand (Ind) 2.5, V Topalov (Bul) 1.5 drew with L Aronian (Arm) 1.5, D Andreikin (Rus) 1 drew with S Karjakin (Rus) 1, P Svidler (Rus) 2 drew with V Kramnik (Rus) 2.

The moves:

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze) – Viswanathan Anand (Ind)
Round 3, Slav D11
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qc2 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg4 6. Nbd2 Nbd7 7. g3 e6 8. Bg2 Be7 9. Ne5 Bh5 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. O-O O-O 12. Nb3 a5 13. a4 Bb4 14. e4 e5 15. Be3 exd4 16. Bxd4 Kh8 17. e5 Re8 18. f4 f6 19. exf6 Nxf6 20. Bf3 Bxf3 21. Rxf3 Re4 22. Re3 Rxe3 23. Bxe3 Qe8 24. Bb6 Qh5 25. Bd4 Re8 26. Rf1 Ng4 27. Qc2 c5 28. Nxc5 Rc8 29. Rd1 Bxc5 30. Bxc5 h6 31. Kh1 0-1