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January 9, 1998
NEWS
MATCH REPORTS
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DEAR REDIFF
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Anand pulls off dramatic win
Just when all seemed lost, the ace Indian grandmaster pulled out all the stops to win the sixth and final game of the FIDE world chess championship title bout against defending champion Anatoly Karpov.
With the win, Anand levelled the scores at 3 points all, and forced the bout into the tie-breaker to be played late night, IST, on Friday.
The scores were tied at a win apiece and one draw at the end of game three. Anand, however, appeared to have suffered a major setback when he lost game four, giving Karpov the lead. From there, Karpov -- rated the best defensive player in the world -- needed just two draws to hold on to his title.
Karpov got the first of those draws in game five, when Anand playing black replied to the champion's Queen Gambit with the Meran variation, both players agreeing to a draw atthe end of 55 moves.
This meant that while Karpov needed just a draw in the final game, Anand had to win to stay in the hunt. Throwing caution to the winds, Anand started the game with a move he has rarely, if ever, used in top flight competition. Playing white, Anand moved his queen pawn to the fourth square and when Karpov responded with his night, the Indian raised the stakes by pushing the game into the Trompovsky Attack, the high point of which is the posting of the bishop on the second square of the king-bishop file as early as move two.
Anand was obviously hell bent on ensuring that the game did not slip into Karpov's favourite Caro Kann. Both players castled on opposite sides and Anand attacked in neck or nothing fashion by move 18, pushing the game into a situation that could have gone either way in the middle phase.
Anand's choice of the Trompovsky was rather surprising, given that it is a variation Karpov has himself used againt Korchnoi as early as 1974, then again in the world title clash against Jan Timman at Kuala Lumpur in 1994. Karpov has also used the tactic, with considerable success, against players such as Michael Adams and Topolov in recent years.
Despite his experience, however, the intensity of Anand's attack forced Karpov into a blunder on move 17, when he attempted to try and level off the game with an exchange, only to end up losing a piece for a pawn. Anand quickly forged a combination that saw him go into the end game with passed pawns in the centre. From that point on, the game was as good as over, and Karpov accepted the inevitable on more 42.
Experts indicate that with the win, Anand has wrested back the advantage in the decisive clash -- the more so as the tie-breaker is to be played in the rapid-chess format, with more stringent time controls. It is in speed that Anand excels and, conversely, speed is Karpov's weak spot, as the defending champion tends to get pressed for time even in the conventional format. However, experts are pretty unanimous in indicating that while the tie-breaker will be a test of nerve for both players, the big danger to Anand, who is now favoured to win, is over-eagerness on the attack. When pressing for a win, the consensus goes, Anand tends to take far too many chances at times and this, the feeling runs, could provide the key to the contest as Karpov is a cool player, strong on theory and very quick to pounce on mistakes.
The one other factor that spells danger to Anand is sheer fatigue -- chess may not involve overt physical activity, but is no less demanding for all that. In fact, champions talk of the amount of weight they lose in course of a title bout.
And perhaps no champion has had it as strenous as Vishwanathan Anand -- the Indian ace, who turned 28 on December 11, has played 28 games in as many days, and not one single game of those 28 has been easy, it never is at this level.
Anand, thus, finds himself in the position of an ace long distance runner on the last lap -- drained mentally and physically, sighting the tape at a distance, and knowing that for just a while longer, he will have to push the envelope of human endurance just that little fraction more.
And the fuel for that last kick can come from only one factor -- the fire in the belly. Does Anand have it? Tonight will tell.
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