The Indian superstar Viswanathan Anand won the super tournament in Dortmund this past July, scoring a victory in the final round against world champion Vladimir Kramnik. Last year, the world’s chess journalists awarded Anand the chess Oscar, recognizing him as the best player of the year. With his victories in Dortmund and earlier this year in Wijkaan Zee, Anand has an excellent chance to repeat the triumph this year. Here we see Anand’s brand of highly aggressive, highly subtle chess take its toll on the St. Petersburg grandmaster Sergey Rublevsky.

ANAND VS. RUBLEVSKY (WHITE) (BLACK) SICILIAN DEFENSE

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.0-0 Bc5 8.Nb3 Be7 9.Be3 d6 10.a4 b6 Black chooses one of the most solid setups. Anand has prepared a new attempt to break through it. 11.a5! b5 12.Bb6 Qc6 A reasonable alternative was 12…Qb7 not giving the knight on b3 a tempo to jump to the center. 13.f4 Nbd7 14.Nd4 Qb7

(See diagram)

15.e5! The beginning of a remarkable conception. 15… dxe5 16.fxe5 Nxe5 17.Rxf6! gxf6?! Much safer was 17…Nxd3! 18.Rxf7 Kxf7 19.Qxd3 Bd7 20.Ne4 Rhb8 (Black has to protect his king. In case of 20…Rhf8 21.Qf3+ Kg8 22.Nf6+ he could lose his queen.) 21.Nd6+! (After 21.Nf3 Kg8 22.Neg5 g6 black defends successfully.) 21…Bxd6 22.Qxh7 Bf4 (Equally good is 22…Be7 23.Rf1+ Bf6 24.Qh5+ Ke7 25.Qc5+ Kf7 26.Qh5+ with a perpetual, because bad for black here is 26… 26…Kg8? 27.Rxf6! gxf6 28.Qg6+ Kh8 29.Qxf6+ Kg8 30.Qg6+ Kh8 31.Nxe6 and white wins.) 23.Rf1 e5 24.Nf3 Qd5 25.Ng5+ Kf6 26.Ne4+ Kf7 27.Ng5+ and a draw by perpetual. 18.Be4 Qb8 19.Nc6 Nxc6 20.Bxc6+ Kf8 21.Qf3! Inferior here was 21.Be3 h5 22.Qf3 Ra7. 21… Ra7 22.Qe3 Rc7 23.Qf4! Rb7 24.Qh6+ Kg8 25.Bd4!? The simple way 25.Bxb7!? Bxb7 26.Rd1 Qf8 27.Qh3 Bc6 28.Ne2 was also promising. 25… e5 26.Be3 Qd6 27.Bxb7 Bxb7 28.Rd1 Qe6 29.b4! Qg4 Black has to prevent 30.Bc5. Bad was 29…f5? 30.Qxe6 fxe6 31.Rd7 Bxb4 32.Na2! and white wins the piece. 30.Rd2 Qxb4 31.Ne2 f5? Black collapses under the pressure. An adequate defense was not promised by 31…Qg4 32.Ng3 Bc8 33.Nh5 Qg6 34.Rd6!! Qxh6 35.Bxh6 f5 36.Rc6 Be6 37.Nf6+! Bxf6 38.Rxa6 Bd5 39.Rxf6 and white wins. The only defense was 31…Be4! 32.Ng3 (Inferior is 32.Qh4 h5!.) 32…Bg6 33.h3 Qxa5 34.Nh5 Bxh5 35.Qxh5 Kf8 36.Bh6+ Ke8 37.Qf5 Qc7 38.Bg7 Rg8 39.Qxh7 Rxg7 40.Qxg7 and the position is unclear. 32.Ng3 f4 33.Nf5 Qb1+ 34.Kf2 fxe3+ 35.Ke2 1-0