Chess - The Scotsman 07/02/2013

IN 1870, the very first super tournament was held in Baden-Baden. It included many luminaries of the era, such as Adolf Anderssen, who beat Steinitz, Blackburne, Paulsen and Winawer.
By JOHN HENDERSON
Published 7th Feb 2013, 00:00 BST

But it made the news for all the wrong reasons, by coinciding with the outbreak the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, which saw one of its participants, Adolf Stern, being mobilised to the nearby frontline after four rounds.

Over the next century many great tournaments continued to be held in the popular German spa town. And now, after a 40-year hiatus, top-flight chess returns to Baden-Baden with a new and very strong tournament that gets under way today, led by World Champion Vishwanathan Anand of India. The six-player field for the GRENKE Chess Classic, running 7-17 February, is completed by the inclusion of the Italian world No 5 Fabiano Caruana, the UK No 1 Michael Adams, and the German trio of Arkadij Naiditsch, Daniel Fridman and Georg Meier.

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OSG Baden-Baden are the top dogs in the German Bundesliga. Their all-star juggernaut team – led by Anand, Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian – continues to cruise in the fast lane of the Autobahn by winning both their match-ups during last weekend’s Berlin leg of the Bundesliga.

Top board Aronian demonstrates why this so-called “drawing line” against the King’s Indian Defence holds more resources for Black than White in today’s game. His opponent can’t defend with 29 Kb3 due to Rxe3+! 30 fxe3 Nxc4 31 Rd7 Nxe3+ winning easily.

M Prusikin - L Aronian

Bundesliga 2012–13, (8)

King’s Indian Defence

1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 d4 0–0 6 Be2 e5 7 dxe5 dxe5 8 Qxd8 Rxd8 9 Bg5 Na6 10 Nd5 Rd6 11 Nxf6+ Bxf6 12 Bxf6 Rxf6 13 Nxe5 Re6 14 Ng4 Kg7 15 Ne3 Rxe4 16 0–0–0 c6 17 Rd8 Re7 18 h4 Nc7 19 Rhd1 a5 20 b3 Ne6 21 R8d6 Nc5 22 Bf3 Bd7 23 Kb2 f5 24 a3 Be8! 25 g3 Bf7 26 b4 Na4+ 27 Kc2 axb4 28 axb4 Nb6 29 c5 Ra2+ 30 Kb1 Rxf2 0–1