DAVID R. SANDS: A chess wrap-up of action from A(nand) to Z(hao)

With some of the world’s top male and female players in action this week, we have the chess world covered this week from A (Anand-Aronian) to Z (Zhao-Zhukova).

At the 5th Zurich Chess Challenge now wrapping up in the Swiss city, former world champion Viswanathan Anand rebounded strongly from some recent indifferent results to tie for first with U.S. GM Hikaru Nakamura at 3½-1½ in what might be called the “accelerated classical” portion of the event. (The games were played at the unusually brisk clip of Game/40 with a 10-second move bonus.)

The Indian star got off to a great start with a 19-move sacrificial win over Armenia’s Levon Aronian. According to chessgames.com, the last time Aronian lost so quickly in a classical game happened way back in 1999.

As we wrote here a few weeks back, the once super-solid Ruy Lopez Berlin Defense is starting to show a few cracks for Black. Here, in an unusual sideline (4. Nc3 Bd6), Black’s sense of danger appears to abandon him after 9. Be3 Bxe3 10. fxe3 (the f-file opens up with the Black rook on the e-file — already the sirens should be wailing) d6 11. Nh4 Be6 (Na5? 12. Bxf7+! Kxf7 13. Qh5+ Kf8 14. Rxf6+ is devastating) 12. Nf5 Bxc4?!, removing a key defender of the f5-square.

Anand doesn’t need an invitation to attack: 13. dxc4 Kh7? (Re6 was mandatory) 14. Qf3 Nb8 (hoping for time to redeploy to d7; 14…Ng8 15. c5! dxc5 16. Rad1 is also very strong for White) 15. Nxh6!, blowing up the king’s defense. Black has no defense: 15…Kxh6 (gxh6 16. Qxf6 Qxf6 17. Rxf6+ Kg7 18. Raf1 wins in the long run) 16. Qh3+ Kg6 (Nh5 17. g4) 17. Rf3 Nf5 18. Rf5! Nf6 19. Qh4, and 19…Nh7 20. Qh5 will be mate. Aronian resigned.

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While Saudi Arabia’s top Islamic cleric recently made headlines with an edict banning chess, with the game is thriving in the kingdom’s great rival Iran. In the strongest event ever played in the country, Tehran is hosting the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix for 12 of the world’s top female players not named Hou Yifan.

Hou’s compatriot, Chinese GM Zhao Xue, showed fine tactical awareness in her win over Ukrainian star GM Natalia Zhukova, in a battle of the world’s two highest rated women whose last name begins with a Z. In an English Caro-Kann Bogoljubov (3…Bb4) set-up, once again it is an open g-file which spells trouble for the second player.

The battle is nicely balanced until a Black error opens the door for a strong White shot after 32. Bc2 b6? (Nf6, shoring up the critical d5-pawn, was better here) 33. Bb3! Kh7 34. Rxd5, pocketing a pawn and giving White’s light-square bishop a clear path to the kingside. Zhukova’s bid to mount an assault on the White king leaves her open to a nasty counterpunch.

Thus: 36. Qf3 Rc1 (see diagram; the threat is 37…Nd2+, but White strikes first) 37. Rxe4! fxe4 38. Qxe4+ Kh8 39. Qe6, and Zhao’s dominance of the light squares proves decisive. After 39…Rxe1+! (a last trick) 40. Kg2! (Black can fight on after 40. Kxe1?! Bxb4+ 41. Kf1 Qd8 42. Qe4 Be7) Kh7 41. Qf5+ Kh8 (g6 42. Qf7+ Bg7 42. Qg8 mate) 42. Qxf8+ Kh7 43. Bg8+, and Black is mated after both 43…Kh8 44. Bf7+ Kh7 45. Qg8 mate and 43…Kg6 44. Qf7 mate; Zhukova resigned.

Anand-Aronian, 5th Zurich Chess Classic, February 2016

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bd6 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 Re8 7. a3 h6 8. Bc4 Bc5 9. Be3 Bxe3 10. fxe3 d6 11. Nh4 Be6 12. Nf5 Bxc4 13. dxc4 Kh7 14. Qf3 Nb8 15. Nxh6 Kxh6 16. Qh3+ Kg6 17. Rf3 Nh5 18. Rf5 Nf6 19. Qh4 Black resigns.

Zhao-Zhukova, Women’s Grand Prix, Tehran, February 2016

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. b3 Bg4 4. d4 Nf6 5. e3 e6 6. Nbd2 Ne4 7. h3 Bxf3 8. gxf3 Nxd2 9. Bxd2 Bd6 10. Rg1 O-O 11. f4 f5 12. Qc2 a5 13. a3 Nd7 14. Bc3 Qe7 15. Bb2 Nf6 16. Bd3 Rfc8 17. Qe2 Rf8 18. Qf3 Rf7 19. Ke2 Qd8 20. Bc3 Bf8 21. Rgc1 Qb6 22. Rcb1 Ne4 23. Be1 c5 24. cxd5 exd5 25. dxc5 Bxc5 26. b4 axb4 27. axb4 Rxa1 28. Rxa1 Bf8 29. Ra5 Qe6 30. Kf1 Rc7 31. Qd1 h6 32. Bc2 b6 33. Bb3 Kh7 34. Rxd5 Qf6 35. Re5 Qh4 36. Qf3 Rc1 37. Rxe4 fxe4 38. Qxe4+ Kh8 39. Qe6 Rxe1+ 40. Kg2 Kh7 41. Qf5+ Kh8 42. Qxf8+ Kh7 43. Bg8+ Black resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.