While World Champion Viswanathan Anand burnt time trying to find a clear win Carlsen defended with computer-like precision and pounced on a moment of chess blindness. It was a shattering turnaround, with GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov writing in his notes for chess24: “As cold showers go, this one is liquid hydrogen”.

Anand had taken advantage of the rest day to gather his forces for one final do-or-die effort. He chose 1.d4 rather than trying to topple the Berlin Wall and followed the pre-match recommendation of our Spanish editor IM David Martinez by playing 4.f3 against the Nimzo-Indian. Carlsen surprisingly chose the sharpest response and Peter Svidler, commentating with Sergey Shipov forChessTV, felt Anand couldn’t have imagined getting such a good position, adding:

The way Carlsen has set out to play this game speaks of his confidence that nothing can go wrong in this match. There were lots of other options…

Rustam Kasimdzhanov describes a game that very nearly did go wrong for the Norwegian Champion elect:

1. d4 ♘f6 2. c4 e6 3. ♘c3 ♗b4 4. f3 Vishy finally summoned up enough energy to go for a fight! One can't help but wonder if he shouldn't have done it some games earlier...4... d5 5. a3 ♗xc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 exd5⁉   But this is kinda unusual! After 7...Nxd5 we'd get the very main line of 4. f3, which Vishy has already played several times with White; Black has a variety of solid setups there. The choice of 7...exd5 makes me wonder if Magnus felt like being solid at all. Now we get a structure made famous by a Botvinnik-Capablanca game. Sharp stuff...8. e3 c4⁉   And this is sharper still! Black gains superiority on the queenside and stops Bd3, but White will have a free hand on the kingside and in the centre! Normal play would have been8... 0-0 9. ♗d3 b6 10. ♘e2 ♗a6 11. 0-0 and these positions are considered (or used to be considered  ) somewhat easier for White to play.

9. ♘e2 ♘c6 10. g4!   An excellent move, and in fact the only plan; the knight belongs on g3 but going there too early only blocks White's play.10... 0-0 11. ♗g2 ♘a5 12. 0-0 ♘b3 13. ♖a2 b5 13... h6 is indicated by comps, but looks very dangerous to the human eye - you don't create targets like that! I was surprised to find out that this transposes to the game 14. ♘g3 ♗d7 15. ♕e1 ♖e816. e4 dxe4 17. fxe4 ♘xg4 18. ♗f4∞   1-0 (32) Kasparov,G (2820)-Polgar,J (2670) Tilburg 1997, which White won after a tense struggle.14. ♘g3 a5 15. g5 ♘e8 16. e4 ♘xc1 A sign that things may not be ideal for Black. The knight moved b8-c6-a5-b3 only to take the bishop, which still hadn't moved. On the other hand, Be3 was a threat, keeping the two bishops and a great position...17. ♕xc1 ♖a6 18. e5 An interesting move, played quite quickly. At this point in the game Vishy was playing faster and more confidently than Magnus. Another option was18. f4 dxe4 19. ♘xe4 ♘d6 (19... ♗f5 20. ♘c5 ) 20. ♘c5 ♖b6 21. ♖e2 b4 , but in fact it's not clear why White deviated from his plan of delivering checkmate 18... ♘c7⁈   A truly unbelievable move, in my opinion - Magnus leaves the kingside unprotected and just proceeds with his plans to play b5-b4. While I didn't find a forced win after 18...Nc7 I still feel that 18...g6 would be safer and probably also simply better.18... g6 19. f4 ♘g7 and I don't really see White developing his attack here. 20. h4 (20. ♖af2 ♖b621. f5?   ♘xf5 22. ♘xf5 ♗xf5 23. ♖xf5 gxf5 ; 20. ♖b2 ♖b6 21. ♕d2 ♗e6 ) 20... ♗g419. f4 b4  

20. axb4⁈   The first difficult and important decison for Vishy in the game! I remember thinking White shouldn't exchange rooks just yet, and in fact 20. f5 might well have been stronger...20. f5⁉   ♘b5 (20... b3 21. ♖af2 must be really bad for Black. 21... ♔h8 22. ♘h5↑   ) 21. axb4(21. f6 ♘xc3 22. ♖af2 g6 23. ♕

f4 ♕d7 24. ♕h4 h5 25. h3 ♖d8 26. ♘xh5 ♕e8 27. ♘f4 could also be extremely promising for White.) 21... axb4 22. ♖xa6 ♗xa6 23. f6a) 23... ♘xc3 24. fxg7 (24. ♕f4 ) 24... ♔xg7 25. ♕e3 ♔h8 26. e6±

b) 23... g6 24. ♕f4 ♕b6!   White has many possibilities, and although I couldn't find mate this looks insane for Black. (24... ♘xc3 25. ♕h4 h5 26. ♘xh5±   )20... axb4 21. ♖xa6 ♘xa621... ♗xa6 22. cxb4+/=

22. f5 Very logical. The "safer"22. cxb4 ♘xb4 23. f5 ♘c6 24. ♕e3 g6 gives Black good counterplay - the pawn on d4!22... b3 23. ♕f423. f6 g6 would probably just transpose to the game, but (23... gxf6⁈   should be avoided due to 24.♘h5 )23... ♘c7 24. f624. ♕h4 g6a) 25. ♕h6 ♗xf5!   kills the attack completely - 26. ♖xf5 (26. ♘xf5 gxf5 27. ♗h3 ♘e6!   ) 26...♘e6b) 25. f6 transposes.24... g624... gxf6⁉   was mentioned at the press conference, but actually feels reasonably safe for Black. 25.♘h5 (25. gxf6 ♔h8 ; 25. exf6 ♔h8 ) 25... fxg5 26. ♘f6+ ♔h8 27. ♕xg5 ♖g8!

25. ♕h4 ♘e8!   Quite unbelievable, but this might not be lost for Black; hats off to Magnus' intuition - most players in the history of chess would assume the worst here.26. ♕h626. ♘e2⁉   b2 27. ♘f4 ♕a5!   28. ♘xd5 ♗e6 is also far from clear - 29. ♘e7+ ♔h8 30. ♕f2 (30.♕h6 ♖g8 31. d5 ♗f5!   ) 30... ♕xc3 31. d5 ♘c7 32. dxe6 ♘xe6 and it doesn't look like White is playing for a win.26... b2 27. ♖f4 A crucial try and a spectacular move - Black is allowed to queen with check.

27. ♘e2 ♕a5 (27... ♕b6 28. ♘f4 ; 27... ♗f5 28. ♖f4 b1Q+ 29. ♔f2+−   ) 28. ♘f4 ♗e6 29.♘xe6 fxe6 30. ♗h3 ♕a6!   (30... ♕b6 31. ♖b1 is good for White) 31. ♖b1?   ♖f7!   and suddenly Black is doing great!27... b1Q+  

28. ♘f1⁇   28. ♗f1!   ♕d1 29. ♖h4 (29. ♘e2 was mentioned at the press conference, but Black has a wide array of winning moves here...) 29... ♕h5 30. ♘xh5 gxh5 31. ♖xh5 ♗f5   32. g6!   (The idea of 32.♗h3 ♗g6 33. e6 fails to 33... ♘xf6 34. gxf6 ♕xf6 35. e7 ♕xe7 36. ♖e5 ♕a3 and Black is fine.) 32... ♗xg6 33. ♖g5 Here both 33... ♘xf6 (and 33... ♕a5 34. ♖g3 ♕a3 35. h4 ♔h8 36.h5 ♗e4 ) 34. exf6 ♕xf6 look highly unclear, but should probably be about balanced.28... ♕e1! As cold showers go, this one is liquid hydrogen. Vishy

resigned.

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