Spirited

An unusual tournament has taken place at the Lindores Abbey Whisky Distillery in Scotland, namely a double-round competition between four of the world’s elite, including world champion Magnus Carlsen. The final scores out of six were as follows: Magnus Carlsen 3½, Ding Liren and Sergey Karjakin 3, Viswanathan Anand 2½, and this week I focus on the decisive games from this most imaginative event.
 
Carlsen-Anand: Lindores Abbey Stars 2019 (See diagram 1)
 
Anand, as Black, had doubtless prepared a defence against the dangerous-looking 21 Qb3. In fact, after 21 Qb3 Black can defend with 21 … Rb8 22 Qxf7+ Kh8 23 Nxc5 Nxc5 24 Rxc5 Ne5 with strong counterplay. By inverting the move order of his attack against f7, the reigning world champion gains a significant advantage. 21 Bxf7+ Kxf7 22 Qb3+ Kf8 23 Qxb7 Rxe3 24 Ng3 Nce5 25 Bd2 Rd3 26 Ne4 Black’s king is exposed and his queenside pawns are weak.