Maharajah

Viswanathan Anand, the world champion from Chennai (formerly known as Madras), defends his world title in a $5 million match in his home town in November against Magnus Carlsen. The venue will be the five-star Hyatt Hotel. This week, in my occasional series previewing the championship, I give a fine win by Anand against an ingenious but erratic opponent. A feature of Anand’s play has been an extraordinary facility to counterattack decisively with the black pieces.
 
Ivanchuk-Anand: Linares 1998; Sicilian Defence
 
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Bg5 e6 7 Qd2 Be7 8 0-0-0 0-0 9 f3 Nxd4 10 Qxd4 (see diagram 1) 10 … a6 In the game Adams-Rachels, Manila 1990, Black here tried a complicated manoeuvre to force White’s queen’s bishop to withdraw from the g5-square. However, after the moves 10 … Qa5 11 Bd2 Qc7 12 g4 a6 13 g5 Nd7 14 h4 b5 15 Qf2 Bb7 16 Kb1 White went on to win.