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Viswanathan Anand
Anand wins a game of his 1995 match with Kasparov, and beats Karpov in 1999 with a rook on the seventh.
The idea
Anand puts a rook on the seventh rank against Karpov, 1999.
- Both white rooks face Black’s rook on e8.
- A rook goes to e7 and offers a trade.
- After the trade, the rook on e7 attacks the pawn on g7.
In a game: Look for a trade that leaves your rook on the seventh rank, where it hits pawns.
How the lesson begins
Viswanathan Anand was born in Mayiladuthurai, India, in 1969. He won the FIDE World Championship in 2000, beating Alexei Shirov in the final in Tehran, and won the tournament in Mexico City in 2007 to become champion again. He kept the title in matches against Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn in 2008, Veselin Topalov in Sofia in 2010 and Boris Gelfand in Moscow in 2012. In 2013 Magnus Carlsen beat him in Chennai and took the title.
In 1995 Anand played Garry Kasparov for the PCA world championship in New York and lost. The first game here is a win from that match.
Anand has White, and Kasparov defends with the Sicilian. Anand brings his f-pawn up, then pushes his queenside pawns, and later his bishop goes to b6.
- 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. a4 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. f4 The f-pawn goes to f4.
- 10... Qc7 11. Kh1 Re8 12. Bf3 Bd7 13. Nb3 Na5 14. Nxa5 Qxa5 15. Qd3 Rad8 16. Rfd1 Bc6 17. b4 Qc7 18. b5 The b-pawn pushes on to b5.
- 18... Bd7 19. Rab1 axb5 20. Nxb5 Bxb5 21. Qxb5 Ra8 22. c4 e5 23. Bb6 The bishop goes to b6.
- 23... Qc8 24. fxe5 dxe5 25. a5 Bf8 26. h3 Qe6
The rook goes to d5 and Black’s knight takes it. Anand recaptures with the e-pawn. Soon White’s queen reaches d7, and Black’s rook comes to g5.
- 27. Rd5 The rook goes to d5.
- 27... Nxd5 The knight takes it.
- 28. exd5 The e-pawn takes back.
- 28... Qg6 29. c5 e4 30. Be2 Re5 31. Qd7 The queen goes to d7.
- 31... Rg5 Black’s rook goes to g5, next to its queen.
Find the move
Black’s rook on g5 and queen on g6 both aim down the g-file at your pawn on g2, which only the king on h1 guards. Defend it with a rook.
A hint
Your rook on b1 can go along the first rank.
Show the answer
32. Rg1
32.Rg1 gives the pawn a second defender. Kasparov played 32...e3, and after 33.d6 Rg3 the queen took a pawn: 34.Qxb7.