World Championship: ANAND!

Switching to a QGD, Anand undoubtedly went for the solid draw.  As one of the best speed players in history, he had to like his chances in the faster time controls.  Perhaps Topalov felt the same way.  He took unnecessary chances and Anand made him pay.  We're left with an admirable World Champion who's showed remarkable longevity and is the right Champion to pass the mantle to Carlsen. 

World Championship: Anand Conserves Energy With Last White (Anand 5 1/2 : Topalov 5 1/2)

Round 11 saw an English Four Knights.  The game was well played and ended in a draw following some risk taking in the endgame by Anand.  Topalov must now play to win with his last White (or enter into the WC tiebreak system with greatly reduced time controls, where Anand almost surely has an advantage).  I'm going out on a limb and predicting 1.e4, with Topalov having prepared deeply for the Petroff.  Will Anand play into it? 

World Championship: Back to Gruenfeld in Round 10 (Anand 5 : Topalov 5)

Anand goes back to the Gruenfeld and the game enters into rare variations after 10...b6 and 11.Qd2.  Topalov undoubtedly sought to take the game onto less trodden ground.  11.Qd2 maintains tension in the position, as pressure increases onTopalov to win one more game.  Anand releases the tension in the game with the novelty 13...cxd4, and the game drifts to a draw.

  

World Championship: Missed Opportunities in Round 9 (Anand 4 1/2 : Toaplov 4 1/2)

Let's hope that Anand doesn't rue this day.  The World Champion misses his way more than once.  The moves meriting review are 18.Nh3 (TN) and 63.Kg3??  It's worth attempting to calculate the win. 

World Championship: Topalov Back in the Match After Round 8 (Anand 4 : Topalov 4)

Don't blame the Slav, which does just fine again.  The novelty is 18.a5 (prepared?) and Anand plays slightly inaccurately almost immediately.  18...Bb4, Rybka's choice, is likely right as it better frees Black's position and temporarily ties the Rook to the a-file.  If 19.Ra4, then the Bishop can be played to e7, but now with the Rook misplaced.  In short, the Slav is holding up beautifully.  Will Anand abandon it in game 10? 

World Championship: Bogo Exchange Sac in Round 7 (Anand 4 : Topalov 3)

My database shows 9...b5 as a novelty, but apparenly Ivanchuk has played it previously. In any event, Anand bites on the exchange and Topalov has more than enough compensation. The game ends in a draw, but the line deserves a deeper look.

World Championship: Topalov Tames the Open Catalan in Round 6 (Anand 3 1/2 : Topalov 2 1/2)

So the novelty in this game is 10.Bg5, although I note that the move has actually been played at least once before by Raetsky. I took a look in Wojo's Weapons, Hilton's and Ippolito's new book, and unsurprisingly they don't cover the move (at least not that I found). That book focuses very much on the Catalan. They give 9.O-O O-O, and then refer to 10.b4!? as one of the "great mysteries" of the line. Please note this isn't criticism; it's hardly the aim of the book to go to the depth one would expect of Super GMs battling for the WC. In the end, it doesn't appear that 10.Bg5 is particularly ground breaking.

World Championship: Slav Holds Again in Round 5 (Anand 3 : Topalov 2)

Compare White's 16th below to that of White's 16th in Round 3.

Looking forward to Round 8 (Anand has White in both Rounds 6 and 7), who, if either player, will abandon the Slav debate? If Anand won't, Topalov should. He hasn't generated the types of positions in which he's best.

World Championship: Anand Drops Hammer in Round 4 (Anand 2 1/2 : Topalov 1 1/2)

A game that should thorougly alarm the Topalov camp. Like what you see in the Catalan? Looking to make a shift in your repertoire? See Wojo's Weapons: Winning With White Volume 1 by Hilton and Ippolito.

World Championship: The Match Settles Down in Round 3 (Anand 1 1/2 : Topalov 1 1/2)

The players land in a less than volatile variation of the Slav proper. The novelty is Anand's 14...Rg8, but the move is known in this line (just not so early in the position). Topalov's invocation of the Sofia Rule does inject a bit of drama into all the games.

World Championship: Anand Bounces Back in Round 2 (Anand 1 : Topalov 1)

So, Anand bounced back in game 2, and the way he did so should be worrisome to Topalov. Anand avoided Topalov's home preparation and then outplayed him from what was probably a sligtly inferior position. The move to pay attention to is 15.Qa3. At bottom, it's just two games and too early for a lot of generalization.

On another note, do you find Topalov's unilateral decision to invoke the Sofia Rule in this match annoying? I confess that I do. The Sofia Rule requires draw offers to go through the arbiter, with granting based only upon repetition, perpetual, or theoretically drawn positions. I like the fighting spirit, but there are other ways to accomplish the end rather than by imposing a condition without agreement. The gesture strikes me as clumsy. It will be interesting to see how his decision plays out. I doubt that Anand will be intimidated. In fact, it might be more intimidating to have one's draw offers declined at the board.

World Championship: Anand Hits Canvas in Round 1 (Anand 0 : Topalov 1)

Anand lost badly in round 1 on the black side of a Gruenfeld, and I anxiously await his next response to 1.d4.  In the overview I undertook in December, I noted (airily I'll concede) that Anand had to go back to the drawing board against 1.d4.  He had previously been tossed around in the Queens Indian by Topalov.  I question the Gruenfeld at this level and particularly against Topalov.  As a CC player, my experience with the Gruenfeld is that in all its forms, it's an amazing amount of work, and the lines for Black often walk a razor's edge. "Work" in this context means computer analysis.  I'm of the mind that Topalov currently has no peer in the use of computers, and the Gruenfeld is accordingly a questionable choice.  As many have said, Anand appears to have lost game 1 at home.  Having said all that, many will suggest that had Anand played 23...Bd7 rather than 23...Kf7??, Black would have been fine.  Fair enough, but it's easy to fall off a razor's edge.