[Event "SuperGM"]
[Site "Linares ESP"]
[Date "2002.02.24"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Hathaway, Mark"]
[BlackElo "2629"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2757"]

1. e4 e5 { Unlike a Sicilian or French Defense here Black firmly places a pawn in front of Pe4, and says "no further". White has tried some extreme measures, such as a King's Gambit, to get rid of Pe5, but the more common approach these days is to apply pressure to Black's position all over the board. } 2. Nf3 Nc6 ( 2... Nf6 { (Petrov's Defense) has also been fairly popular amongst the top GMs ever since Karpov and Kramnik achieved moderate successes with it. } ) 3. Bb5 { Spanish Game or Ruy Lopez (named after a Spanish priest who was at one time one of the world's best players -- White threatens to undermine Pe5 by capturing Nc6. 3. Bc4 (Giuoco Piano or Italian Game) has also been played a lot. } 3... Nf6 { This is the Berlin Defense. It's not been considered sufficient to achieve more than equality, but Kramnik used it very successfully against Kasparov in the Braingames World Championship match. Whether it's the appropriate "weapon" against Anand is questionable. } ( 3... a6 { has been the most common move for many years. } ) 4. O-O { White offers Pe4 as a way of forcing open the e-file when White has castled and Black hasn't. } 4... Nxe4 5. d4 { trying to get rid of Pe5 while Ne4 blocks it's path. But, Black can let White capture and leave a pawn on e5. So, Black can keep the e-file closed. White still tries to get at Ke8. } ( 5. Bxc6 bxc6 6. Qe2 Nc5 7. Qxe5+ Ne6 { keeps the e-file closed and Black has the two bishops in exchange for the doubled c-file pawns. } ) 5... Nd6 { Forcing a resolution of the pressure this way is considered safest. } ( 5... Be7 6. d5 { is more complicated } ) 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 ( 7. Nxe5 { opens the e-file, but doesn't achieve much more than that. It would certainly be a sound move worth playing to face Black with a different puzzle. } ) 7... Nf5 8. Qxd8+ { This is the main advantage of 7. dxe5. It isn't so easy to clobber Ke8 with queens off the board, but White has an easier time developing and has a five to four king-side pawn majority. Black, on the other hand, has the two bishops. } 8... Kxd8 9. Nc3 ( 9. Ng5 { forces ...Kd8-e8, keeping the king in the middle of the Black empire or ...Bc8-e6 where White can capture it to regain one of the bishops. More useful, and what most players aim for, is to have a Pf5 to prevent ...Be6 before threatening Pf7. This isn't so easy to achieve. } ) ( { A variant on the theme of 9. Ng5 is } 9. Rd1+ Ke8 ( 9... Bd7 $2 10. Ng5 ( 10. e6 fxe6 11. Ne5 Bd6 12. Nf7+ Ke7 13. Nxh8 Rxh8 { isn't as bad for Black because it speeds Black's development } ) 10... Nh6 11. e6 fxe6 12. Nxe6+ Kc8 13. Nxf8 Rxf8 ) ) 9... Ne7 { I suppose he is clearing the way for ...Bc8-f5, but those squares on the king-side in front are risky to occupy. White's pawns might race forward. } ( 9... h6 { prevents Nf3-g5 and/or prepares ...Bc8-e6 } ) 10. Re1 h6 11. h3 Ng6 12. Bd2 { This is a modest move which leaves the bishop capable of moving to c3 to back up Pe5 or simply guarding square f4. One noticable key thing about the move is it doesn't weaken his queen-side the way the b2-b3, Bc1-b2 plan does. } 12... Bd7 13. Ne4 { With Ph3 White restrains Black's light-square bishop. With Bd2 & Ne4 he restrains Black's dark-square bishop. This is sensible, but far from an indication of how he might win the game. I suppose he's just playing a slightly better position and will squeeze Black while he develops more pieces. } 13... Kc8 { Black is far from completing his development, but if White doesn't execute a concrete attack he'll have time. That was the idea Kramnik utilized (as Black) to slow Kasparov. } 14. Ng3 c5 15. Nh5 { This looks promising: he holds Bf8 in place. } 15... b5 16. Nh2 Kb7 17. f4 Nh4 18. Re2 { prepares Bd2-e1 to kick Nh4 and to defend Pc2 while keeping square f3 firmly in hand } ( { The more forceful way to execute the plan is to kick Nh4 around to gain time. } 18. g3 Nf5 19. g4 Nd4 20. Rac1 Bc6 21. Kf2 Rd8 ) 18... Bc6 { now Re2 and Nh5 are aligned perfectly for a Bf3 to fork! All Black needs is for 19. g3 Nf3+ 20. Nxf3 Bxf3. Also, the d-file is cleared, so Ra8 can come into play. } 19. c3 ( 19. Be1 Nf5 20. c3 ) 19... g6 20. Nf6 Be7 21. Be1 Nf5 { Black would rather keep lines closed, at least until all his pieces are equal to White's. Then he might seek to open lines for his bishops. } ( 21... Bxf6 $6 22. exf6 Nf5 { makes Pc5 weaker and opens the e-file for Re2. Only the question of whether Pf6 might be weak is worth considering. It serves well to support a White piece landing on e7. Probably g2-g4-g5 to support Pf6 is all that's needed. Certainly Nh2-g4-e5 would make the trade on f6 favor White. } ) 22. Ne4 Ng7 { Black is aware of the importance of White achieving f4-f5 to mobilize Pe5. It looks a little awkward, but White's maneuvers behind the pawns (Pe5 & Pf4) look a little awkward too. } 23. Ng4 Rad8 24. Ngf2 ( 24. Bf2 Ne6 25. g3 h5 26. Ngf6 h4 ) 24... h5 25. Bd2 ( 25. g3 ) 25... h4 { by preventing g2-g3 he keeps Pe5 & Pf4 slightly weak and always in need of piece support } 26. Be3 Ne6 27. Nf6 a5 28. N2e4 b4 29. Ng5 { It has taken White a lot of maneuvering moves to threaten Pf7, and it is completely ineffective. } 29... Rd3 { This is a strong indication Black has his king-side well organized for defense. If 30. Nxf7 Rf8 Black will regain the pawn by capturing at f6. This game is another indication of how difficult it can be to get at Black's thorny position. } 1/2-1/2