Chess - The Scotsman 19/02/2013

THE German spa town of Baden-Baden, on the French border, has held three great super tournaments in the past, in 1870, 1914 and 1925.

After a lengthy hiatus, top-flight chess returned to Baden-Baden with the 1st GRENKE Chess Classic ending in outright victory for World Champion Viswanathan Anand.

It proved to be the late, late Anand show, as an impressive final round win, over Arkadij Naiditsch, not only saw the world champion claiming victory, but in the process ending his long drought – stretching back to Linares 2008 – of capturing a classical tournament title, as he edged out Fabiano Caruana, the long-time tournament leader, by half a point.

The victory comes as a much-welcomed boost for Anand’s confidence, as he gears up for an extremely tough defence of his world title later this year.

Up until Baden-Baden, he had been upholding that dubious tradition of several post-war world champions – Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky and Fischer – not to take outright first place in a classical tournament after winning the crown.

Final standings: 1. Anand, 6.5/10; 2. Caruana, 6; 3-4. Adams, Meier, 5; 5. Naiditsch, 4; 6. Fridman, 3.5.

A Naiditsch - V Anand

1st GRENKE Chess Classic, (10)

Sicilian Defence, Moscow variation

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 Bb5+ Bd7 4 Bxd7+ Qxd7 5 c4 Nf6 6 Nc3 g6 7 d4 cxd4 8 Nxd4 Bg7 9 0–0 Nc6 10 Nde2 Qe6 11 Nd5 Qxe4 12 Nc7+ Kd7 13 Nxa8 Qxc4 14 Nc3 Rxa8 15 Bg5 e6 16 Re1 Nd5 17 Nxd5 Qxd5 18 Qxd5 exd5 19 Rad1 h6 20 Bc1 d4 21 Rd3 Rc8 22 Rb3 b6 23 Kf1 Ne5 24 Ra3 a5 25 b4 Rc2 26 bxa5 bxa5 27 Rxa5 Nd3 28 Ra7+ Kc6 29 Rxf7 Nxe1 30 Kxe1 Rxc1+ 31 Kd2 Rg1 32 Rxg7 Rxg2 33 Ke1 Rxh2 34 Rxg6 Rh1+ 35 Kd2 h5 36 Rh6 h4 37 a4 h3 38 a5 h2 39 a6 Kc7! 40 Rh7+ Kb8 41 Ke2 d3+ 42 Kd2 Ka8 43 Rh5 Ka7 44 Rh6 d5 45 Rh8 Kxa6 46 Rh6+ Kb5 47 Rh8 Kc4 48 Rc8+ Kd4 49 Rh8 Ke4 0–1