[Event "Knight Move: V.Anand-V.Ivanchuk, World Blitz Moscow 2007"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/0u3LRQp0/WmWFdLfq"] [Result "*"] [UTCDate "2020.04.23"] [UTCTime "01:32:28"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B42"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Polugaevsky Variation"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/realhercules"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/0u3LRQp0/WmWFdLfq"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Ba7 7. Qe2 Nc6 8. Be3 d6 9. N1d2 Nf6 10. f4 O-O 11. Bxa7 Rxa7 12. g4 b5 13. O-O-O Rc7 14. Rhg1 Qe7 15. Kb1 Nd7 16. g5 Bb7 17. Rg3 Nb4 18. Rh3 g6 19. Qg4 Rfc8 20. Qh4 Nf8 21. a3 Nxd3 22. cxd3 h5 23. gxh6 Qxh4 24. Rxh4 Nh7 25. Nd4 Nf6 26. N2f3 Re8 27. Ng5 e5 28. fxe5 dxe5 { Both players had to play quickly but it was serious business! Anand had outplayed his opponent and now had a forced win. } 29. Ndf3?? { The god of Knights wasn't kind to Anand in this game. He missed 29.h7+ Kg7 (29... Kh8 30.Rfl is easy) 30.Nde6+! (It's always a scary thing when animals attack.) 30... fxe6 3l.Nxe6+ Kh8 (31.. .Rxe6 allows 32.h8=Q+) 32 .Nxc7 .This would have been rather nice, but having overlooked the possibility and granting Black a reprieve, the lone enemy Knight suddenly takes matters into its own hands/hoofs. } 29... Nh5! 30. Rg1? { Missing his last chance to keep a slight pull: 30.d4 exd4 (Much too risky is 30... f6? 31.dxe5 fxg5 32.Nxg5 Kh8 33.Rd6) 31.e5 Bxf3 32.Nxf3 Kh7 33.Rhxd4 Kxh6 34.Rd6 } 30... Kh8 { White threatened Rxh5, creating a nasty discovered check down the g-file } { [%cal Gh4h5] } 31. Nh3 { Anand's once mighty Knights go into full retreat mode. } 31... Bc8 32. Nf2 Nf4 { A nice square, but who would guess that this lone, unassuming Knight would go on a tear and win the game all by itself in just a few more moves? } 33. Nxe5?? { This Knight gets uppity and destroys the f4-Knight's defender } 33... Ne2 { Argh! Suddenly the e5-Knight and the g 1-Rook are both hanging at the same time. } 34. Re1 Nd4 { Black's Knight shows no mercy. Now e5 is still hanging, so White moves it to safety. To be fair, White no longer had a satisfactory reply-the black Knight had already injected its venom into the white position and, as everyone knows, there is no antidote for a horse bite. } 35. Neg4 { 35.Nfg4 Bxg4 36.Nxg6+ fxg6 37.Rxg4 Kh7 was a better shot, but also pretty depressing } 35... Nf3 { Yes, it even happens to World Champions. Both Rooks are forked, and there's nothing that can be done about it! } { [%cal Rf3e1,Rf3h4] } 36. Nf6 Rd8 { Moving his Rook to safety. The black fork against e1 and h4 isn't going away. } 37. Nd5 Rb7 { 0-1. White will now lose a full Rook. If I was Ivanchuk, I would have taken that Knight home, framed it, and placed it on the wall so I could give it a loving look every day for the rest of my life. } *