Chess (#1039)

There are rumours floating around about Chennai as the possible venue for the Chess World title match and the Chief Minister has announced that Chennai is indeed making a bid. It's been presented in some Indian papers as a done deal.

However, a title match in Chennai is unlikely for good reasons. First, the prize money on offer is on the low side. Magnus Carlsen-Viswanathan Anand may be saleable for bigger sums elsewhere. Second, Carlsen has never played in a seriously hot climate and he's unlikely to want to risk a challenge in Anand's hometown. Both challenger and titleholder have vetos on venues and Carlsen may just refuse to play in Chennai. That is precisely what happened with Boris Gelfand.

It may not be a bad thing for Anand if it is a neutral venue. To put it bluntly, he has to cope with constant, insensitive calls on his time in India. So, home location would not really be an advantage, except in the negative sense that Carlsen may find it even more difficult to cope.

The Russian team championships have just ended. It was won by the St Petersburg Chess Fed, which was represented by a team with an average rating of 2706, including Peter Svidler (2747), Nikita Vitiugov (2712), Dominguez Perez (2723), Sergei Movsesian (2695), Zahar Efimenko (2697), Vadim Zvjaginsev (2658), Ildar Khairullin (2660) and Maxim Matlakov (2653). Second-placed Malakhit Chess Club had a rating average of 2738 and was the top seed. As usual, it was superbly organised and a high-profile event with over 80 GMs scattered across the teams.

One of the more interesting things about the last round of the Candidates was how real-time "meta-information" affected key decisions. In Carlsen-Peter Svidler and Vassily Ivanchuk- Vladimir Kramnik, all four players were aware Kramnik had to outscore Carlsen. They could all see developments on the other board. Both games saw crazy time scrambles. Kramnik gambled on complications when he (rightly) thought Carlsen had winning chances. But Carlsen missed a tactical trick and lost and Kramnik missed a splendid shot at either drawing or winning.

The diagram (Ivanchuk Vs Kramnik, Candidates 2013), White to play came up with 35.Rxa6?! Ivanchuk rejected 35.Bxe6 Rxe6 36.Rxa6 Rxa6 37.Rxa6 Qxh4 38.Ra8+ Kh7 39.Ra1 Qd8 40.c4 with a small, clear edge. 35...Rc8?

If Kramnik had found 35...Rxa6 36.Rxa6 Nf4+! he would have been the challenger. After 37.Bxf4 exf4 38.Bxf7+ Kh8! 39.Bxe8? Qd2+ 40.Kh1 Qe1+ 41.Kg2 Bd4. Black wins and he also wins after 37. Kg3 Qd1! Other lines like 37.Bxf4 exf4 38.Bxf7+ Kh8! 39.Qd3!? Qxh4! 40.Bxe8 Qg3+ 41.Kf1 Qh3+ end in perpetual.

Play continued 36.Rh1 Rc7 37.Bxe6 Rxe6 38.b5! Rb7 39.b6 c5 40.Rb1 Bf8 41.Qd5! Qb8 42.Rba1! Rd6 43.Ra8 Rxd5 44.Rxb8 Rxb8 45.exd5 Bd6 Beware the fork 45...Rxb6 46.Ra8 Kg7 47.Rxf8! Kxf8 48.Bxc5+ 46.Ra6 Rb7 47.Kf1 (1-0).

Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player