[Event "GMA, Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2003.??.??"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Polgar,Ju"]
[Black "Anand,V"]
[Result "1/2"]
[Annotator "Hathaway"]
[BlackElo "2750"]
[ECO "B19"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[WhiteElo "2700"]

1. e4 { At this point in the event Anand was leading and Polgar was hot on his heels. She has the White pieces and can take a serious shot at beating Anand and winning the tournament! } 1... c6 { Despite Anand's classical handling of most positions he has adopted a hedgehog attitude when playing Black against 1. e4. He's played the Caro-Kann Defense quite a lot recently. He's one of the best defenders among the top GMs. } 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 ( 3. e5 { is well known to Anand (see his victory over Karpov from round five) . } ) ( 3. Nd2 { is an interesting alternative, aimed at facing a Gurgenidze (3...g6)  without any awkwardness. } ) ( 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 { Panov-Botvinnik Attack - probably the most aggressive variation one can play against the Caro-Kann, but it isn't a regular part of Polgar's repertoire } ( 4. Bd3 { Fischer's favorite is also good, but isn't seen much these days. } ) ) 3... dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 { This has been a popular move for decades and is more common than Karpov's favorite 4...Nd7 or 4...Nf6. } 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 { In this position, as in the Advance Variation, White finds it most profitable to provoke a weakening in Black's position by threatening Bg6. It also allows White, if she chooses, to virtually force a bishop trade by Ng1-f3 and Bf1-d3. Black's bishop is very good and Black's light-square pawns make White's bishop mediocre, so a trade is considered best. } ( 6. N1e2 h6 ( 6... Nf6 7. Nf4 { before threatening Bg6 with h2-h4-h5 would be a way to force  a greater weakness, but Black can usually avoid the worst } ) 7. Nf4 Bh7 { and then White can't play Bf1-d3 without spending an extra tempo to defend Pd4. So, Bf1-c4 might be more likely (taking aim at Pf7) } ) ( { Another move-order which has been used is } 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. h4 ) 6... h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 { Some players like this move some do without. } 8... Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 { With Ph5 having weakened the king-side White will usually aim for O-O-O to keep his king safe and "connect" the rooks. } 10... Ngf6 ( { Another way for Black to develop is } 10... e6 11. Bf4 Bb4+ 12. c3 Be7 13. O-O-O Ngf6 ) 11. Bf4 e6 ( 11... Nd5 12. Bd2 { and Black's gain isn't without eventual cost. White will have better use of e4 and should later gain a tempo with c2-c4. } ) ( 11... Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Qc7 { was thought to be best as it prepares ...O-O-O, but now it's not the most popular variation. For some reason (unknown to me) most Caro-Kann players have switched to ...O-O and more active queen-side play. I think GM Yasser Seirawan may have popularized the idea with a plan which includes ...b7-b5 and ...a7-a5. 
 White goes after Black's king wherever it sits. } ) 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Kb1 { She might be preparing for ...Nd5 and Bf4-c1, b2-b3 and Bc1-b2 or she might just be defending Pa2 to "complete castling" while waiting a move to see more of Black's plan. } 13... O-O { Now it's clear that White's Ph5 can't support g2-g4-g5 and a natural breakthrough in front of Kg8. Maybe in future games we'll see White hold back on h4-h5. } 14. Ne4 Qa5 ( 14... Nxe4 15. Qxe4 Nf6 16. Qe2 Nd5 17. Bd2 Qb6 18. g4 ) 15. Nxf6+ Nxf6 16. g4 { This is the most straight-forward approach - opening the g-file by offering the pawn as a gambit or by g4-g5 to force the matter. Black has no offense to counter-balance this, so he has to play some defense. } ( 16. Ne5 $5 { preparing g2-g4-g5 while shutting out Qa5 from the king-side play } ) 16... Nxg4 { Fritz7 loves pawns, so he sees this as a clear advantage to Black. It threatens ...Ng4xf2. } ( { More passive defense isn't guaranteed to succeed. } 16... Nh7 17. Rdg1 Ng5 18. Nxg5 Bxg5 19. Bxg5 Qxg5 20. Qe4 Rad8 21. c3 ( 21. f4 Qd5 { forces some trades favorable to Black! } ) ) 17. Rdg1 Qf5 { A person doesn't have to see all the analysis to know it's dangerous to waste time when your opponent is working up an offense against their king. Anand was playing according to the general idea that trading-off the attacking pieces will dissipate the offensive. } ( 17... Nxf2 $19 18. Qf1 Nxh1 19. Bxh6 Kh7 20. Bxg7 Rg8 21. h6 Qf5 22. Rxh1 Bf6 23. Qe2 Bxg7 24. hxg7+ Kxg7 25. Ne5 $11 { Finally Fritz7 sees White has a line which restores material equality. } ) 18. Qd2 { This is a difficult position for both players. Black has thrown his pieces in front of the approaching steamroller and he might be able to hold it back. But, one false move and his position may crumble. } 18... g5 $5 { Courageous and possibly correct. } ( 18... Kh7 19. Nh4 Bxh4 20. Rxh4 Nf6 21. Be5 Rad8 22. Qe2 Ne8 23. Rf4 Qh3 24. Qd1 $14 { Black's queen is pretty well stuck, but White hasn't bagged anything yet. Still, Fritz finally sees White has all the advantages and Black is barely hanging on. } ) 19. hxg6 { else the offensive just stops } 19... fxg6 { threatening ...Qf5xf4 } 20. Bxh6 ( 20. Qe2 h5 21. Ne5 Nxe5 22. Bxe5 Kf7 23. Rh2 $14 { Fritz7 thinks White has some advantage, but it's not large and if Black survives to exchange some pieces then Ph5 might become a big factor. } ) 20... Qxf3 21. Bxf8 Rxf8 { Black has won two minor pieces for a rook, but his king remains a bit weak. White has to play offense or be ground down in a simple ending. } 22. d5 { This appears to be required because White's pieces have no good squares to move onto. With d4-d5 White might gain Qd2-d4-h8. } ( 22. Qe1 Qf5 23. f3 Nf6 24. Rh6 Kf7 { Fritz7 thinks this is equal, but in a simple ending where White has only a queen and pawns the Black rook and two minor pieces might win. } ) 22... cxd5 23. Qd4 { threatening Rg1xg4 or Qd4xg4 } 23... Nf6 24. Rxg6+ { This flushes the Black king out to another position. But, is it more or less exposed at f7? } 24... Kf7 { threatening ...Kf7xg6 or ...Qf3xh1+ } 25. Rhg1 Rc8 { Black might be thinking of ...Qf3-f5 with the threat of ...Qf5xc2+ (mating) or of ...Qf5xg6 to simplify the position. } 26. Rg7+ Kf8 27. Qh4 { threatening Qh4-h8+ mating } ( 27. Qxa7 { might be good, but it certainly distracts White from her plan to threaten the exposed Kf8 and that would give Black time to begin an offensive plan. } ) 27... Ke8 28. Qa4+ ( { She could have kept the game going with } 28. Qh8+ Bf8 ( 28... Kd7 $4 29. Rxe7+ Kxe7 30. Qxc8 ) 29. Rxb7 Qxf2 30. Rc1 a6 { For some reason I can't imagine Fritz7 thinks this is -+, despite the fact Black's two minor pieces are completely tied-up defending Ke8 and that isn't going to change. I suppose Pe6 is a threat to advance, but is it really possible for that to be the decisive factor while Ke8 sits exposed to any threat? } ) 28... Kf8 { Anand probably chose this move to encourage a repetition with Qa4-h4, but he could have played on with 28...Nf6-d7. } 29. Qh4 Ke8 30. Qa4+ Kf8 { And so, Anand won the tournament and Polgar finished second, her best high-level tournament finish ever! She gave a first-rate try in this game and should be proud of her tournament performance. I would expect to see more of the same (or better) in future tournaments. } 1/2