Anand - Ivanchuck, London 1994
Black to play
Today, following on from WHN? VIII, we return once again to the PCA Speed Chess Grand Prix from the mid 90s.
It's Anand against Ivanchuck in the final of the London leg. Both the main games (25 minutes each) ended in draws so a pair of five minute blitz games were played to break the deadlock. Ivanchuck won the first and only had to avoid losing the second to emerge victorious. With nothing to lose Vishy pressed hard on the kingside but Chucky refused to dig in and launched a huge counter-attack sacrificing first a rook then a bishop to reach the position and the head of today's blog.
Black has 1:12 left on the clock, White a second less.
So ... what happened next?
PS:
What Happened Next? Index
Presumably not ...Qxh1+ check and mate. But since Chuky only needed to draw, did he just offer one?
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember this one, and a quick check on BigBase confirms what happened.
ReplyDeleteChuky didn't play Qxh1#, as your granny or Justin's cat would have done. Nor did he play Qg2+ followed by Qxh1#. Nor did he offer a draw. He played the losing move Qf4+, eventually losing on time in a winning position after Vishy blundered away first the win and then the draw.
Any resemblance to chess was purely coincidental.
[Event "PCA/Intel-GP"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "1994.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B17"]
[WhiteElo "2720"]
[BlackElo "2695"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "1994.08.??"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1994.11.01"]
1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Bc4 Ngf6 6. Ng5 e6 7. Qe2 Nb6 8.
Bb3 h6 9. N5f3 c5 10. Bf4 Nbd5 11. Be5 Qa5+ 12. Nd2 b5 13. dxc5 Bxc5 14. Ngf3
O-O 15. O-O-O Bb7 16. g4 Nd7 17. g5 Nxe5 18. Nxe5 Nc3 19. Qg4 Nxa2+ 20. Bxa2 h5
21. Qxh5 Qxa2 22. Nb3 Bxf2 23. Rd3 Rac8 24. Rh3 Rxc2+ 25. Kxc2 Rc8+ 26. Kd1
Qb1+ 27. Ke2 Qe4+ 28. Kxf2 Rc2+ 29. Kf1 Qf4+ 30. Nf3 Kf8 31. g6 Qc4+ 32. Kg1
Qxb3 33. Qe5 Rc1+ 34. Kf2 Qc2+ 35. Ke3 Qb3+ 36. Ke2 Qc4+ 37. Kf2 Qc2+ 38. Ke3
Qb3+ 39. Kf4 Rc4+ 40. Nd4 Qxh3 41. Qb8+ Rc8 42. Qd6+ Kg8 1-0
In positions like this, Black's first priority is to avoid being mated. OK, 1...Qxh1 avoids that in one fashion. But Ivanchuk is a player familiar with the most complex ideas, and he sees mate on h8 and f7. So how to avoid that, and still keep the draw? Easy! Go for the perpetual! Like this: 1...Qg2+; 2. Ke8 Qf2+!! (defending f7) 3. Kd8 and now....ohhh...f***
ReplyDeleteRichard has it ...
ReplyDeleteBTW:
ReplyDeleteWhile Richard has got the essence of WHN there's still a thing or two to mention ... and mention them I shall on Friday
... since Chuky only needed to draw, did he just offer one
ReplyDeleteT.C. I'm rather disappointed that since both sides are facing mate in one you didn't consider the possibility of Anand offering the draw.
The natural and polite thing to do of course ---- were it not for the fact Anand needed to win!
ReplyDeleteTom while you're here any chance of a brief report on the Athenaeum Blitz?
ReplyDeletePG
Mm! A report is a bit beyond me I'm afraid. I was third seed but finished with 5.5/8 ---- there wasn't enough time for the last two rounds of the scheduled ten. However nobody minded and there was an outright winner Philip (?) Tozer (?) whose brother is an IM, but who himself is a 160ish and who has recently returned to chess after a long break. He conceded only one draw, to second seed Chris Briscoe ---- whom I then beat. I played Tozer in the last round a whole point behind, but went down very quickly in the early middlegame unfortunately. Tozer seemed genuinely dumbfounded by his success. I can't remember who first seed was but I think he lost a few early on and never recovered, although I may be wrong about that.
ReplyDeleteFour S&B players competed: myself, Robin Haldane, James McDonnell and fellow-blogger Morgan Daniels who won a share of a grading prize that he'll almost certainly never remember to cash in. (We left before prize-giving to get to the pub.)
Other details: there were no disputes that I was aware of, surprising given the time-limit, and the event was good-natured and well-run ---- although if they repeat the event I imagine they will try to find a way to speed up the pairings.
Oh, and Pete Burns was sat across the road for the duration.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom. Seems like a report to me!
ReplyDeletePG
Bear in mind there may well be some blanks ---- I had three pints beforehand (plus another three after) and I don't remember the last time I drunk that much!
ReplyDeleteProbably the last time you drank with me, I'd have thought.
ReplyDeleteI'm telling Sarah
ReplyDeleteDespite returning from the States the evening after with all the consequent jet-lag, it was rather clear to her unfortunately :)
ReplyDeleteFor different info and some nice pictures, click here.
ReplyDelete