The below game is from round 1 of this year's (still currently ongoing) Tata Steel tournament. I selected it because Anand adopts an aggressive setup as Black in the Caro-Kann Exchange Variation that is deliberately designed to cause interesting dynamic and structural imbalances. Essentially Black wants to exchange bishops on f5 and thereby open the g-file, while castling queenside. I find Black's typical ideas to be more straightforward and understandable, although not necessarily easy to execute. The dark-square weakness and White's space on the queenside serve to counterbalance things and engines give White a small plus out of the opening. However, in the middlegame White runs out of productive ideas, then critically weakens his own dark squares, after which Black finds a threat using his advanced doubled f-pawn that White cannot handle. Anand's finish is quite strong and worthy of remembering.
[Event "81st Tata Steel Masters 2019"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2019.01.12"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Van Foreest, Jorden"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "2612"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[Annotator "ChessAdmin/Komodo 11.2"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 {the Exchange Variation has been making
a comeback at high levels.} Nf6 (4... Nc6 {is the main line, forcing White to
play c3 in response.}) 5. c3 {White plays it anyway, which eventually leads to
a transposition back to the main line, at least for Black.} Qc7 {placing the
queen on c7 this early used to be a quirky sideline. It's now more mainstream,
I'm sure in large part due to its practical success. The main idea is
straightforward, to take over the b8-h2 diagonal and prevent White from
playing Bf4. As the queen wants to go here in most lines anyway, playing it
early and preventing White's bishop from seizing the diagonal makes a lot of
sense.} 6. h3 {this is seldom played. The evident idea is to take away the use
of the g4 square from Black, for either the knight or bishop.} g6 {a new move
in this position according to the database, but not a new idea in the Exchange
Variation. Black looks like he is fianchettoing his bishop, but in fact the
main idea is to play play ...Bf5 and then open the g-file.} 7. Nf3 Bf5 8. Ne5 {
White holds off on the bishop exchange and places his knight on the e5 outpost,
ready to take back on d3. This also potentially opens up f3 for his queen.} Nc6
{although this position isn't in the database, for Black it's a standard setup
in the Exchange Variation. In this game, White is further behind in
development than normal, with only two pieces out to Black's four.} 9. Bf4 {
now White has essentially caught up, as Black will have to move the queen
again either immediately or after an exchange on e5.} Qb6 (9... Nxe5 {it might
seem under general principles that exchanging off White's central knight is a
good proposition. However, leaving the a4-e8 diagonal open results in a small
plus for White. For example, this continuation leaves Black's king in the
center:} 10. Bxf5 Nd3+ 11. Bxd3 Qxf4 12. Bb5+ Nd7 13. Bxd7+ Kxd7 14. O-O $14) (
9... Bxd3 {engines like this move, but it betrays the original idea of the
variation.} 10. Nxd3 Qb6 11. O-O {and White has an easy game, while Black is
solid but without real prospects.}) 10. Bxf5 gxf5 {this is what Anand was
going for with the variation.} 11. Nd3 {this avoids a possible exchange on e5
and protects b2, but is still a backwards move of the same piece in the
opening. Moreover, exchanging on e5 or taking on b2 for Black does not look
dangerous.} (11. Nd2 Nxe5 (11... Qxb2 $6 {going pawn hunting will leave Black
dangerously behind in development.} 12. Rb1 Qxa2 13. O-O Qa6 14. Ra1 Qb5 15.
Qf3 $16 {with Rfb1 a threat.}) 12. dxe5 Nd7 13. O-O Rg8 14. Nb3 $14) 11... e6 {
the standard consolidating move for Black in this structure.} 12. Nd2 {getting
the final minor piece out.} Rg8 {by this point Black has achieved a dynamic
equality. He has some longer-term structural weaknesses (including the h7 pawn
and dark-square holes) but in return he has dynamic piece play and the
half-open g-file.} 13. O-O O-O-O {the only real place to put the Black king,
also developing the queenside rook.} 14. a4 {now that Black has committed with
his king, White grabs some space on the queenside. This is not dangerous for
Black, though, as a4-a5 is not yet possible.} Ne4 {improving this piece
considerably, as the most it was doing on f6 was guarding h5. With Black's
king tucked away on the queenside, though, that is not critical.} 15. Rc1 (15.
Qh5 Rg7 $11) (15. f3 Ng3 16. Rf2 Be7 $11) 15... Bd6 {a case where exchanging
minor pieces is clearly indicated for Black. White's dark-square bishop would
otherwise help dominate the dark squares, while the Black counterpart has
nowhere else as useful to go.} 16. Bxd6 Nxd6 17. b4 {this type of position is
important for Caro-Kann players to understand. White's pawn thrusts on the
queenside look scary, but Anand deals with them effectively.} Kb8 {taking the
king off the c-file and removing it from potential tactics involving the rook
opposite it. Also vacates the c8 square for another piece. This is a good
example of a move that "doesn't do anything" immediate but is valuable in the
long run, with White not having a concrete threat in the meantime.} 18. Qe2 (
18. a5 Qc7 19. Nc5 Ne4 $11) 18... Qc7 {proactively retreating the queen. It
was doing no good on b6 anyway, now it can move along the 7th rank and also is
well-positioned on the b8-h2 diagonal.} 19. Qe3 {White with this move
basically admits he has nothing on the queenside and tries to generate some
action in the center.} Ne7 {improving his weakest piece. On c6 the knight was
shut down by White's pawns.} 20. f3 $6 {perhaps attempting to be prophylactic
and shut Black's knight out of e4. However, now White has a more serious
dark-square weakness, absent his bishop, and it affects the space in front of
his king, with g3 and e3 now becoming more vulnerable.} (20. Kh1 {would step
away from the g-file and keep the balance.}) 20... Ng6 {Black's knight
immediately gets into play. The threat is now f5-f4, as we shall see.} 21. Ne5
$2 {White must have miscalculated the impact of Black's next move.} (21. Kh1 {
as in the previous note is more prudent, but Black still gets an edge.} f4 {
the pawn is tactically protected, due to a "removal of the guard" being
available if White takes with the knight.} 22. Qe1 (22. Nxf4 $2 Nf5 $1 {
chasing away the queen and the Nf4's only protection.}) 22... Nf5 23. Rf2 {
and White's pieces are awkwardly tied up.}) 21... f4 22. Qe1 Nf5 23. Nxg6 {
this just clears the way for Black on the g-file, but White appears to be
losing in all variations.} (23. Rf2 {would be analagous to the above variation,
but now White has a lot more problems. The Ne5 is vulnerable to ...f6, among
other things.} Ngh4 $1 {and White has no good response to Black's threats,
including piling up on the g-file and playing ...Ne3.} 24. Nf1 (24. c4 {
doesn't gain White anything after} Rc8 $19) (24. Ng4 h5 25. Nf6 Rg6 26. Qe5 Ne3
{and White loses material.}) 24... f6 25. Ng4 h5 26. Ngh2 Rg6 $19 {it's
looking grim for White on the g-file and Black also has the ...e5 pawn lever
coming.}) 23... Rxg6 24. Rf2 Rdg8 {simple and effective.} 25. c4 (25. Qe5 {
exchanging queens won't help White.} Qxe5 26. dxe5 Nh4 $19 {and the g-pawn
falls.}) 25... Ne3 {Black correctly ignores the attempt at counterplay on the
c-file.} 26. cxd5 Nxg2 {no need to wait for the capture, as White's queen is
now also en prise.} 27. Qe5 Qxe5 28. dxe5 Ne1+ {with the fork ...Nd3 to follow.
A strong finish to the game by Anand.} 0-1
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