Magnus Carlsen has added another trophy to his cabinet by taking the honours at the Grenke tournament in Baden Baden, Germany. As at Wijk aan Zee, the world champion had to surmount an early loss with Black, on this occasion against his chief rival for glory, the German grandmaster Arkadij Naiditsch. But Carlsen clawed his way back to a share of the lead and finally emerged triumphant after a closely fought tie-break playoff.
A key moment of Carlsen’s fightback came in this tense position against former champion Anand. Here Anand appears to have a powerful attack, but Carlsen broke the back of his offensive with a stunning counter-coup.
Anand-Carlsen: Grenke Chess Classic, Baden Baden 2015 (see diagram 1)
33 … Qd1+ 34 Qxd1 Kxg6 Black’s king is now completely safe and White has no answer to the advance of the black a-pawn. 35 Qd3+ Kh6 36 h4 gxh3 White resigns
Carlsen concluded matters in his favour by narrowly defeating Naiditsch in the final five game shootout, conducted under rapid play conditions.
Carlsen-Naiditsch: Grenke Chess Classic Play-off, Baden Baden 2015 (see diagram 2)
White is a pawn ahead and there isn’t much wrong with 16 Nd5. Carlsen instead opts for an exchange sacrifice in order to dominate the light squares. 16 Qe2 Bc4 17 Qf3 Bxf1 18 Bxf1 d5 Concerned that he may soon be suffocated if White acquires total control of d5, Black makes a desperate break for freedom. However, this jettisons far too much material. 18 … Rbc8 or 18 … Qc5 were better. 19 exd5 e4 This is also wrong as it allows the white bishop into the game. A more effective follow-up is 19 … Bb4 but after 20 Bd2 Rbd8 21 Rd1 White has an excellent position. 20 Qf5 Rbd8 21 Bf4 Qc5 22 Rd1 Qb4 23 Be5 Bc5 Clearly this is rather desperate but Black no longer has any good moves.
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