Chess - The Scotsman 09/06/12

I THINK I know something about how Boris Gelfand is feeling now that his attempt to dethrone Vishy Anand is over in their World Championship match.

That’s because I have also experienced how it feels to work really hard towards a desired goal and not quite achieve it. One of the most painful things can be the feeling that one did so much and yet still did not do everything that might have helped.

Of course, “might have” is not definitely “would have”! One could argue that Anand simply is stronger than Gelfand, and that the final result in Anand’s favour was “normal”. However, Gelfand very nearly caused an upset, and although he did make some highly courageous opening choices with Black, I cannot help feeling that he should have tried some different punches with White. Who am I to judge him, though?

One could speculate endlessly over numerous “what ifs” without ever being sure about what difference they would have made. Nevertheless, if you want to unsettle a really strong player, then somehow somewhere you’ve got to land a really big punch … and perhaps risk that he’ll do the same to you. No-doubt Gelfand had many reasons for all his choices, but was he right to not deviate even once from 1 d4 with White in the match?

Questions have been raised without us being able to give definite answers, but there’s certainly plenty of food for thought, and good value in that. As for 1 d4, I so love I Sokolov’s KO below from the recent Limburg Open but, of course, he wasn’t playing against Anand…

White: I Sokolov; Black: T Wiley. Opening: Queen’s Gambit Accepted

1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 e3 e5 4 Bxc4 exd4 5 exd4 Nf6 6 Nf3 Bd6 7 0-0 7 Qe2+!? Worked well in a very nice game by Spanish super-GM Francisco Vallejo Pons that I published a few weeks ago. 7...0-0 8 Bg5 h6 9 Bh4 Nc6 10 Qd3 Nb4 11 Qb3 Nc6 Threatening ...Na5. 12 Qd3 Nb4 13 Qd2 c6 14 Nc3 Bg4 15 Kh1 Bxf3 16 gxf3 Be7? Unfortunately for Black, this plausible-looking defensive move actually loses by force! The point is that the position is very open, and sharp tactical play was called for. Specifically, 16...Qd7! is correct, because 17 Bxf6? Qh3! 18 Be5 Bxe5 19 dxe5 Qxf3+ 20 Kg1 Qg4+ would be good for Black. 17 Rg1 Rooks on open files can be deadly, and this one is a killer. 17...Kh8 18 a3 Nbd5 19 Rxg7!! Kxg7 20 Rg1+ Ng4 Or 20...Kh7 21 Bd3+. 21 Rxg4+ Kh7 22 Nxd5! Black possibly didn’t realise until now that 22...cxd5 loses to 23 Bf6!!, intending 23...Bxf6 24 Bd3+ or 23...Rg8 24 Bd3+ Rg6 25 Qxh6+! Kxh6 26 Rh4 mate. 22...Bxh4 23 Qf4! Bg5 23...cxd5 24 Qf5+ Kh8 25 Bd3 is also “curtains” for Black. 24 Qf5+ Kg7 25 Nf4 Qe7 26 h4 Black resigned.