Carlsen’s special brew

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.