Chess (#1088)

The Candidates started on a good note for Viswanathan Anand. He beat top seed, Levon Aronian, convincingly in a sharp Spanish in the only decisive game of the first round. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov-Veselin Topalov ended in a sharp draw by perpetual check; Dmitry Andreikin-Vladimir Kramnik burnt out into a drawn endgame. Sergey Karjakin-Peter Svidler was drawn by repetition in a middlegame where black may want to play on with good prospects.

Anand has had several mishaps in the Spanish against Levon Aronian who usually plays the Marshall Gambit. This time, a position similar to the Marshall Gambit was reached with black having typical compensation for the pawn. However Anand found a way to return the pawn and head into a superior endgame. He gradually increased pressure and Aronian ended up losing elegantly.

In a long event like this with three former world champions and Aronian in the fray, this early lead mean nothing much. But it is an interesting start to the 14-rounder. Aronian would now be under some pressure to come back from an opening loss.

In the meantime, Alexander Motylev leads the European Championships with an extraordinary 2900-plus performance and a score of 7 points from eight rounds. There's a 13-player tie on 6 and three rounds to go. Quite literally, anyone could win. Alexander Motylev is a free spirit who he's unlikely to play steadily to try and defend his lead.

The Reykjavik Open saw Li Chao charge through with 8.5 points from 10. Robin Van Kampen, Eric Hansen, Helgi Olafsson and Eduardas Rozentalis tied for second with 8 points. Dronavalli Harika had a terrific tournament scoring 7.5 and she'll gain 20 rating points.

The Diagram, WHITE TO PLAY (White: Anand Vs Black: Aronian Candidates 2014) is the last phase of the game. White can target the queenside pawns and he has a dominating bishop pair. He chose the thematic 39.Bd4 Nxa4 ?! Everything loses but this loses very elegantly. The normal 39.--Nd5 40. Rxc6 would just end in a grind.

From here on, it's like a study - white to play and win. White continued 40.Rxc6 Rd8 41.Rc4 Bd7 42.b3 Bb5 43.Rb4 Nb2 44.Bxb5 axb5 Every move has been forced. Black might have been hoping to escape due to 44. Bxb2? Rd2+ and he has one more subtle trick.

White played 45.Ke3! There is a little trap with 45. Ke2? Nc4! with a likely save. This way, white protects the bishop. Black now has a last try with 45.-- Re8+ 46.Kd2 Rd8 47.Kc3! (1-0) Avoiding the mirror variation 47. Kc2? Nc4! Now 47. - Nd1+ 48. Kc2 will trap the Kt or lead to a hopeless 48.--Rxd4 49. Rxd4 Ne3 50 Kd2 Nf5 51. Rd5 and the b-pawn runs.

Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player