Chess - The Scotsman 21/06/13

TO quote the late comic genius Rodney Dangerfield, “I don’t get no respect.” That’s what Viswanathan Anand must be thinking of today’s younger generation at the Tal Memorial in Moscow.

First, the 43-year-old world champion lost to the upcoming elite star Fabiano Caruana, then he was crushed by his world title challenger, Magnus Carlsen, and now he’s been humbled by another wannabe, Hikaru Nakamura.

Playing an off-beat variation of the Ruy Lopez with 3...g6 (popularised by the 7th World Champion Vassily Smyslov), Nakamura got the sort of counter-chances he thrives on; and after a complex middlegame, the on-fire US No 1 then proceeded to gave the world champion a knight ending masterclass, with the win again giving him the sole lead in the tournament with an impressive +3 score of 4.5/6.

For Anand, though, the third defeat not only gives him a crisis of confidence ahead of his title match with Carlsen, but also raises the spectre of the possibility of the world champion dramatically dropping out of the world’s top 10 before he defends his title in November. Currently, he’s No. 8 on the unofficial live list.

Standings: 1. Nakamura, 4.5/6; 2. Gelfand, 4; 3-4. Mamedyarov, Carlsen, 3.5; 5-6. Andreikin, Caruana, 3; 7. Karjakin, 2.5; 8-10. Kramnik, Anand, Morozevich, 2.

V Anand - H Nakamura

8th Tal Memorial,(6)

Ruy Lopez

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 g6 4 0–0 Bg7 5 c3 a6 6 Bxc6 dxc6 7 d4 exd4 8 cxd4 Ne7 9 h3 0–0 10 Nc3 h6 11 Qb3 g5 12 Rd1 b6 13 a4 a5 14 Be3 Ng6 15 d5 c5 16 Nb5 g4 17 hxg4 Bxg4 18 Bd2 Qd7 19 Rac1 c6 20 dxc6 Qxc6 21 Bc3 Bxf3 22 gxf3 Rad8 23 Rxd8 Rxd8 24 Rd1 Rd7 25 Rxd7 Qxd7 26 Qd5 Qxd5 27 exd5 Bxc3 28 bxc3 Ne5 29 Nd6 Kf8 30 Kh2 Ke7! 31 Nc8+ Kd7 32 Nxb6+ Kc7 33 f4 Nf3+ 34 Kg2 Nd2 35 Na8+ Kb7 36 d6 Kc6 37 Nc7 Kxd6 38 Nb5+ Kd5 39 Kg3 Kc4 40 Nd6+ Kxc3 41 Nxf7 c4 42 f5 Kd4 43 Nd6 Ke5 44 Nb5 Kxf5 45 f3 h5 0–1