This is a Round 11 game from the 2016 Candidates Chess Tournament between Viswanathan Anand and Sergey Karjakin. What is at stake in this tournament besides a big purse? Well, the winner of this lengthy 14 round event will earn a ticket to challenge the current World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in November at the 2016 World Chess Championship match which will be held in New York, United States. It’s another Ruy Lopez with the topical d3 system. Anand acquires an early opening position against Karjakin like that from his round 1 encounter with Veselin Topalov. Anand’s 7th move against Karjakin aims to prevent any pin of his king knight right away. Karjakin takes this opportunity to strike early in the center with d5, and we soon have, by transposition, an exchange french pawn structure. Would it be Anand or Karjakin who stands the better side in a resulting opposite colored bishop endgame? How would you assess the endgame, and which color would you prefer to play, and for what reason(s)?
PGN:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. h3 Ne7 8. d4 Bb6 9. Bd3 d5 10. Nxe5 Nxe4 11. Nd2 Nd6 12. Nb3 c6 13. Nc5 Ng6 14. Qh5 Bxc5 15. dxc5 Ne4 16. Bxe4 dxe4 17. Rd1 Qe7 18. Nxg6 hxg6 19. Qg5 Qxg5 20. Bxg5 f6 21. Be3 g5 22. Rd6 Re8 23. Rad1 Be6 24. b3 Kf7 25. R1d4 Bf5 26. a4 Re7 27. g4 Bh7 28. b4 Bg8 29. b5 Rc8 30. Rd7 Re8 31. b6 a6 32. Rc7 Kf8 33. c4 Be6 34. Rxe4 Kf7 35. f4 Rxc7 36. bxc7 Rc8 37. f5 Bd7 38. h4 g6 39. Rd4 Rxc7 40. hxg5 fxg5 41. Bxg5 Be8 42. f6 Kf8 43. Bf4 Rh7 44. Kg2 Bd7 45. Bg5 Be6 46. Rd8+ Kf7 47. Rb8 Bxc4 48. Rxb7+ Kg8 49. Rb8+ Kf7 50. Kg3 Ke6 51. Re8+ Kf7 52. Rc8 Bd5 53. Kf4 Ke6 54. Re8+ Kd7 55. Ra8 Ke6 56. Re8+ Kd7 57. Re3 a5 58. Kg3 Rf7 59. Kf4 Rh7 60. Re1 Kc8 61. Kg3 Rf7 62. Re8+ Kd7 63. Ra8 Kc7 64. Kf4 Rd7 65. Bh4 Kb7 66. Re8 Bf7 67. Re4 Bd5 68. Re3 Bf7 69. Kg5 Ka6 70. Re7
★ FACEBOOK http://facebook.com/ChessNetwork
★ TWITTER http://twitter.com/ChessNetwork
★ GOOGLE+ https://google.com/+ChessNetwork
★ LIVESTREAM http://twitch.tv/ChessNetwork
Internet Chess Club (ICC)
http://bit.ly/179O93N