Notable Games
Viswanathan Anand
15 celebrated games · 1429 in the full archive
◈The games that made the legend
Ivanchuk – Anand · 1992 · 0–1
Game 1 of Anand's 1992 Linares match win over Ivanchuk (5–3) — a Richter-Rauzer Sicilian that turns into a long endgame, his active king (…Ke6, …Kd5) and rooks grinding down one of his fiercest rivals.
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Anand – Kasparov · 1995 · 1–0
Game 9 of the 1995 PCA World Championship match in New York — after eight straight draws Anand draws first blood, a Scheveningen Sicilian squeeze (b4–b5, c4–c5) that queens a passed pawn against Kasparov.
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Anand – Gelfand · 1996 · 1–0
Wijk aan Zee 1996 — a 25-move Closed Sicilian miniature: Anand sacrifices on g5 (17.Bxg5) and then a knight on e6 (21.Nxe6) to tear open the king of the man who would become his 2012 title challenger.
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Anand – Karpov · 1996 · 1–0
Las Palmas 1996 — against former World Champion Karpov's Queen's Gambit Accepted, Anand rips open the king with the Greek-gift 21.Bxh7+ and a rook lift, then hunts it down the board.
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Anand – Lautier · 1997 · 1–0
Biel 1997 — a 25-move Scandinavian in which Anand meets …Bf5 with a g4–h4–h5 pawn-storm and the rook lift Rh3–e3, trapping Black's light-squared bishop and winning a piece.
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Ivanchuk – Anand · 1998 · 0–1
Linares 1998 — a 27-move Richter-Rauzer brilliancy: Anand's Black counterattack detonates with the rook sacrifice 22…Rxc2! and drives Ivanchuk's king into a mating net.
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Anand – Bologan · 2003 · 1–0
Dortmund 2003 — a Caro-Kann in which Anand immolates his pieces on the enemy king: 22.Rxe6! and 23.Be7+! drag Bologan's king into the open for a decisive attack.
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Karjakin – Anand · 2006 · 0–1
Corus (Wijk aan Zee) 2006 — a Najdorf English Attack hailed at the time as an Anand immortal: his queenside pawn-storm sacrifice (…b3, 19…Bb3) and a relentless queen-and-rook king hunt overwhelm the teenage Karjakin, even after 31.f8=N+.
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Anand – Ponomariov · 2006 · 1–0
MTel Masters, Sofia 2006 — against former FIDE World Champion Ponomariov, Anand trades queens early and wins a long Caro-Kann endgame by pure technique, his connected queenside passed pawns deciding.
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Anand – Carlsen · 2007 · 1–0
Morelia/Linares 2007 — Anand outplays the sixteen-year-old Magnus Carlsen in a Closed Ruy Lopez, breaking through with Ne6 and f4–f5 and queening a passed e-pawn against the future World Champion.
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Kramnik – Anand · 2008 · 0–1
Game 3 of the 2008 World Championship match in Bonn — Anand's prepared Meran (14…Bb7, 17…Rg4) sacrifices two pawns for a ferocious attack with Black, the first of three wins in his title defence over Kramnik.
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Topalov – Anand · 2010 · 0–1
Game 12, the final classical game of the 2010 World Championship match — needing only a draw to force tiebreaks, Topalov pressed for a win with White and overreached; Anand's Lasker-Defence counter (32…Qxe4+) won the game and retained the crown 6½–5½.
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Aronian – Anand · 2013 · 0–1
Tata Steel 2013 — "Anand's Immortal." With Black in a Semi-Slav he unleashes 16…Nde5!, then sacrifices with 17…Bxd4+ and the quiet 19…f5, leaving Aronian helpless; resignation came on move 23. Chess.com later ranked it among the greatest games ever played.
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Anand – So · 2015 · 1–0
Gashimov Memorial 2015 — at forty-five Anand is still attacking: against Wesley So's Ruy Lopez he offers a knight for a kingside pawn-storm (14.f4, 16.g6!) and converts the sharp queen endgame.
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Anand – Caruana · 2018 · 1–0
Tata Steel 2018 — a sharp Petrov that Anand wins with an unrelenting kingside initiative, outplaying Fabiano Caruana months before Caruana would challenge Carlsen for the world title.
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