Bloody But Unbowed

Impressions on Game 10, Anand-Topalov world championship match, Sofia

The balance seemed to be slowly tilting towards Veselin Topalov. After a strong start, Anand had found himself on shifting sands. A spate of near-misses - drawing a winning game, losing a drawn one - it looked like Caissa, the Muse of chess was deserting her Champion. Game 10 however reassured the superstitious that capricious fortune had not abandoned Anand. In a critical encounter where Topalov had White, Anand had to recover from the disappointment of the previous game and soldier on. Topalov had smelt the blood in the water and would try to finish the Indian maestro off.

The opening was a surprise, Anand again opting for the Grunfeld which had led to the catastrophe in Game One. The Grunfeld had spent some time in the repair yards with Anand's expert team giving it a once-over. And now it was back. Vishy opted for a clever move-order to side-step any nasty surprises that Topalov might spring on him. Topalov, who was clearly prepared to his gills was taken aback and could not show anything special. The opening phase was terminated by mass exchanges. On the 20th move Anand got in a nice whack at Topalov's centre which quickly dissolved except for a lone pawn which survived the carnage. Already by this time the endgame was nigh. Here just at the verge of reaching the oasis of a completely drawn position, Anand's camel or rather his horse stumbled. It allowed Topalov to get in a shot that Anand had overlooked.

Like two superpowers signing a treaty to reduce nuclear weapons both sides agreed to give up their queens. The endgame was reached with the Bulgarian having two bishops to Anand's knight and bishop. The pawns were level, with four apiece.

But now a sinister legacy of the past came to the surface. The pawn alluded to earlier, the sole survivor of Topalov's centre had come to its own. It was just three steps from the baseline. Such pawns are called passed pawns or "passers" because they have no other pawns in front or on either side of them. Theorist Aron Nimzowitsch in his landmark Mein System had written in 1927, "A passed pawn is a criminal which should be kept under lock and key. Mild measures, such as police surveillance, are not sufficient".

The position was growing uncomfortable for Anand with every move. Topalov's king had drifted to the centre to oversee operations. It was also looking for "penetration squares" - temporary weaknesses created by Anand's shifting forces which would enable the monarch to slip in and wreck Anand's pawns from the rear. Meanwhile, the passed pawn's "gravitational attraction" was increasing like a rogue planet swinging into the solar system. Anand's knight, bishop and king were soon attached to the squares surrounding the pawn, drawn in like passing comets.

There were ominous echoes of Game 8 where a long prolonged defence was terminated by a sudden blunder. However this time Caissa did not eschew her champion. In the hands of a Karpov or a Smyslov, it would have looked very hairy indeed but Topalov's handling of the position had microscopic errors - which Anand immediately latched onto.

Rather than passively awaiting his fate, Vishy threw his queen-side pawns forward. The pawns, spurred by a knight which Anand sent to reinforce them forced Topalov to divert his bishop to hold them off. When this was not sufficient his king too had to enter the fray. While they were occupied in this manner, Anand's king stepped forward and lopped off the insolent pawn which had so daringly entered his kingdom.

Without the menace afforded by his passer, Topalov had no reason to continue. A draw was quickly agreed between the exhausted warriors. Had Topalov found the most optimal moves Anand could have been in serious trouble. When Topalov did not do so, Anand reacted alertly and accurately, securing a well deserved half-point.

Jaideep Unudurti is co-writing the Hyderabad Graphic Novel (http://hgnp.wordpress.com/)