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As I suspected in the previous month, the May update just had to be about the recently finished World Title Match between Vishy Anand and Veselin Topalov. It was a kind of "deja vu" as I already did a similar update after the match between Kramnik and Topalov! Anand defended the same worse Slav ending with black and also tried to put pressure on with the Catalan as white... but actually not only these openings.
Both players came well prepared and displayed new and very interesting ideas. The match was extremely tense and exciting with any result possible. However, Anand's more flexible approach to the openings, and to chess in general, eventually played its role and he deservedly retained the title of World Champion.

Download PGN of May '10 1 d4 d5 games


Main Slav Variation [D17]

Topalov - Anand: After a disaster in the Grunfeld in the 1st game Anand came up with a clever improvement in Kramnik's Slav ending, 14...Rg8:

and held it without serious problems.

Topalov - Anand: This time Anand introduced a small improvement on his play in game 3 but failed to solve the problems. However, a serious inaccuracy by Topalov let him avoid the worst.

Topalov - Anand: Again, Anand deviates first but this time he was really suffering, due to his inaccurate reaction to his opponent's seemingly rather harmless choice. Topalov probably missed some more promising ways and Anand was steadily defending a rather unpleasant ending with opposite-coloured bishops, but then he suddenly committed a fatal mistake in a defendable position.



The Catalan [E01-09]

Anand - Topalov: With the white pieces Anand also employed Kramnik's choice, which was not quite comfortable for Topalov - the Catalan. However, in this game he failed to give Black real problems, who was fine in the ending with an extra pawn. However, Vishy was steadily improving his position and then cleverly exploited some impulsive decisions from his opponent.

Anand - Topalov: This game is a real masterpiece. A strong novelty - not only the move, 10.Na3, but a whole new approach for this particular variation, which first appeared in the famous Kramnik - Topalov match:

A well-prepared attack in a complex middlegame and a beautiful and very precise execution - everything was in the style of the true World Champion!

Anand - Topalov: After the painful defeat in game 4 Topalov returned to the more solid line which he'd applied in game 2. Anand came up with a rare option but it only gave him slight pressure. The invasion of White's cavalry looked quite impressive but in fact Black was always okay.

Anand - Topalov: This time Topalov came fully armed with a new and very interesting idea in this complex line. He and his team made a slight correction to Ivanchuk's recent discovery, 11...Bd7!?, and developed it rather deeply:

Veselin played the first 20 not so obvious moves almost without thinking. Black's positional piece sacrifice gave him sufficient counter chances and a draw was always the most likely result. This game is probably the highest quality of the whole match - both players were almost perfect in a very complex and exciting battle! By the way, for Anand it was more difficult as his game started much earlier than his opponent's!



Lasker Defence [D56]

Topalov - Anand: For the last game Vishy chose a very solid Lasker Defence and his simple and rather primitive-looking play gave him his best position with black in the whole match! On the other hand, Veselin was really suffering - his position dictated accurate play but his match strategy and his mood could not accept that. As a result, White compromised his position with some ambitious but positionally risky decisions and then, while already under pressure, he committed suicide. Anand finished the game in style and retained the title of World Champion!




See you next month, Ruslan

 

If you have any questions, then please post a message at the 1 d4 d5 Forum, or subscribers can email me at ruslan@chesspublishing.com.