Answers.Body: <p>How about 28 Kf2? Answer either 28 ... Qc2+ or 28 ... Qd1 with 29. Ne2. </p>
  
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Answers.Text: Interesting idea! I ran this through some engine analysis and it looks like black can force a draw, though: 28. Kf2 Qb2+ 29. Ne2 Qdb6 30. Rh4 Qxe2+ 31. Kxe2 Qb2+ with perpetual check.
Answers.UserDisplayName: TKR
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Answers.Text: You may be right. The question is whether White can escape the checks.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Gerry
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Gerry
Answers.Body: <p>I ran this position through an analysis engine, which assesses it as a win for black after 
  28. Bf1 Qd1 29. Rh4 Qh5 30. Rxh5? gxh5 31. Nxh5 Qa5 32. Ng7 Qxc3 33. Nxe8 Qxd4+ 34. Kg2 35. Qg6.</p>
  
  <p>But it gives Black only a slight edge after 30. Nxh5 (instead of Rxh5) gxh5 31. Rxh5 Bf5 32. Bh3 Bg6 33. e6 Nxf6 34. gxf6 Qxf6. </p>
  
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Answers.Body: <p>Yes, Anand had a mate if not for the blunder. Here is the line. I don't know why everyone missed it.</p>
  
  <p>28.Bf1 Qd4 29.Rh4 Qh5 30.Rxh4 gxH5 31.Nxh5 Here any move by black would be met with 32.Ng7!
  Now, if 32....Nxg7 33.Qxg7 mate. Any move by black now would be met with 33.Nxe7  or simply moving the night away to any other square followed by Qg7 mate. Have I missed anything?</p>
  
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Answers.Text: Do you mean 28 ...Qd1 and 30. Rxh5?
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Answers.Text: Black can still get in some checks with the queen: 31 ...Qa5 32. Ng7 Qc3 33. Nxe8 Qd4+. Then if Black can keep checking and at the same time get his queen on the b2-a7 diagonal, he can play Qg6, covering against the mate, and is up material.
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Murali Penmetsa
Answers.Body: <p>The game was ambiguous until move 28, there is no clear way to win but as you mentioned white has the attacking form.</p>
  
  <p>Let see the game from move <code>18.e5</code></p>
  
  <pre><code>2bqnrk1/5ppp/r7/pp1p2P1/2pPP3/P1P2PN1/R5BP/2Q2RK1 w - - 1 18
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>White is attacking on king's side as Kasparov mentioned he could play <code>18.Rb2</code> to avoid black to make a passed pawn and keep pressure in both king and queen sides. But white decided to complicate the game.</p>
  
  <p>Another move which leads many people criticize Anand was move <code>20.axb4</code></p>
  
  <pre><code>2bq1rk1/2n2ppp/r7/p2pP1P1/1ppP1P2/P1P3N1/R5BP/2Q2RK1 w - - 0 20
  
  1.f5 b3 2.Raf2
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Some GMs and also engines prefer to push the pawn to <code>f5</code> and continue attacking just in king's side. White's <code>20.axb4</code> made a passed pawn for black on square <code>b3</code> (two moves to promote) and black got counter play.</p>
  
  <p>Before move 28 white had attacking chances and a draw at least. But white made a blunder <code>28.Nf1??</code>, if <code>28.Bf1</code> was played, then the game can continue in this way:</p>
  
  <pre><code>2bqnrk1/5p1p/5PpQ/3pP1P1/2pP1R2/2P3N1/6BP/1q4K1 w - - 1 28
  
  1. Bf1 Qd1 2. Rh4 Qh5 3. Nxh5 gxh5 4. Rxh5 Bf5
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The game is almost a draw with some minor advantages for black. It's ambiguous.</p>
  
  <p>But white played <code>28.Nf1??</code> and black put his queen on <code>e1</code> to capture the white's rook on <code>h4</code> -- a big material advantage for black.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-11-22T16:19:25.120Z
Answers.Text: "Assume the game was equal until move 28 ..." But doesn't assuming that ignore exactly what the OP's question is about? We all know that `28.Nf1??` was a blunder, but the OP's question is whether Anand had at some earlier point a win that he missed. For instance, I know some strong GMs criticized `20.axb4` while the game was in progress, and suggested (rightly or wrongly) that alternatives such as `20.f5 b3 21.Raf2` might have offered better chances.
Answers.UserDisplayName: ETD
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Answers.LastEditDate: 2013-11-23T07:26:46.297Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: masoud
Body: <p>For much of today's Anand-Carlsen game, white seemed to have a powerful mating attack. But from the analyses I've seen, there was never a point where it was clear that black would not be able to defend against best play. Was there any point in the game at which, with best play on white's part, all lines lead to a win?</p>
  
  <pre><code>[FEN ""]
  [Event "WCh 2013"]
  [Site "Chennai IND"]
  [Date "2013.11.21"]
  [Round "9"]
  [White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
  [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
  [Result "0-1"]
  [ECO "E25"]
  [WhiteElo "2775"]
  [BlackElo "2870"]
  [PlyCount "56"]
  [EventDate "2013.11.09"]
  
  1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 exd5 8.
  e3 c4 9. Ne2 Nc6 10. g4 O-O 11. Bg2 Na5 12. O-O Nb3 13. Ra2 b5 14. Ng3 a5 15.
  g5 Ne8 16. e4 Nxc1 17. Qxc1 Ra6 18. e5 Nc7 19. f4 b4 20. axb4 axb4 21. Rxa6
  Nxa6 22. f5 b3 23. Qf4 Nc7 24. f6 g6 25. Qh4 Ne8 26. Qh6 b2 27. Rf4 b1=Q+ 28.
  Nf1 Qe1 0-1
  </code></pre>
  
Tags: <analysis><world-championship><anand><carlsen>
Title: Did Anand have a forced win at any point in Game 9 of the 2013 Anand-Carlsen world champhionship match?
ThreadText: # Did Anand have a forced win at any point in Game 9 of the 2013 Anand-Carlsen world champhionship match?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2013-11-22)
  
  For much of today's Anand-Carlsen game, white seemed to have a powerful mating attack. But from the analyses I've seen, there was never a point where it was clear that black would not be able to defend against best play. Was there any point in the game at which, with best play on white's part, all lines lead to a win?
  
  ```
  [FEN ""]
  [Event "WCh 2013"]
  [Site "Chennai IND"]
  [Date "2013.11.21"]
  [Round "9"]
  [White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
  [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
  [Result "0-1"]
  [ECO "E25"]
  [WhiteElo "2775"]
  [BlackElo "2870"]
  [PlyCount "56"]
  [EventDate "2013.11.09"]
  
  1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 exd5 8.
  e3 c4 9. Ne2 Nc6 10. g4 O-O 11. Bg2 Na5 12. O-O Nb3 13. Ra2 b5 14. Ng3 a5 15.
  g5 Ne8 16. e4 Nxc1 17. Qxc1 Ra6 18. e5 Nc7 19. f4 b4 20. axb4 axb4 21. Rxa6
  Nxa6 22. f5 b3 23. Qf4 Nc7 24. f6 g6 25. Qh4 Ne8 26. Qh6 b2 27. Rf4 b1=Q+ 28.
  Nf1 Qe1 0-1
  
  ```
  
  **Tags:** analysis, world-championship, anand, carlsen
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 4 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2013-11-22. Score: 6 | Accepted answer
  
  The game was ambiguous until move 28, there is no clear way to win but as you mentioned white has the attacking form.
  
  Let see the game from move `18.e5`
  
  ```
  2bqnrk1/5ppp/r7/pp1p2P1/2pPP3/P1P2PN1/R5BP/2Q2RK1 w - - 1 18
  
  ```
  
  White is attacking on king's side as Kasparov mentioned he could play `18.Rb2` to avoid black to make a passed pawn and keep pressure in both king and queen sides. But white decided to complicate the game.
  
  Another move which leads many people criticize Anand was move `20.axb4`
  
  ```
  2bq1rk1/2n2ppp/r7/p2pP1P1/1ppP1P2/P1P3N1/R5BP/2Q2RK1 w - - 0 20
  
  1.f5 b3 2.Raf2
  
  ```
  
  Some GMs and also engines prefer to push the pawn to `f5` and continue attacking just in king's side. White's `20.axb4` made a passed pawn for black on square `b3` (two moves to promote) and black got counter play.
  
  Before move 28 white had attacking chances and a draw at least. But white made a blunder `28.Nf1??`, if `28.Bf1` was played, then the game can continue in this way:
  
  ```
  2bqnrk1/5p1p/5PpQ/3pP1P1/2pP1R2/2P3N1/6BP/1q4K1 w - - 1 28
  
  1. Bf1 Qd1 2. Rh4 Qh5 3. Nxh5 gxh5 4. Rxh5 Bf5
  
  ```
  
  The game is almost a draw with some minor advantages for black. It's ambiguous.
  
  But white played `28.Nf1??` and black put his queen on `e1` to capture the white's rook on `h4` -- a big material advantage for black.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_5**: "Assume the game was equal until move 28 ..." But doesn't assuming that ignore exactly what the OP's question is about? We all know that `28.Nf1??` was a blunder, but the OP's question is whether Anand had at some earlier point a win that he missed. For instance, I know some strong GMs criticized `20.axb4` while the game was in progress, and suggested (rightly or wrongly) that alternatives such as `20.f5 b3 21.Raf2` might have offered better chances.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2013-11-26. Score: 4
  
  How about 28 Kf2? Answer either 28 ... Qc2+ or 28 ... Qd1 with 29. Ne2.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Interesting idea! I ran this through some engine analysis and it looks like black can force a draw, though: 28. Kf2 Qb2+ 29. Ne2 Qdb6 30. Rh4 Qxe2+ 31. Kxe2 Qb2+ with perpetual check.  
  > **username_1**: You may be right. The question is whether White can escape the checks.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2014-04-05. Score: 1
  
  I ran this position through an analysis engine, which assesses it as a win for black after
  28. Bf1 Qd1 29. Rh4 Qh5 30. Rxh5? gxh5 31. Nxh5 Qa5 32. Ng7 Qxc3 33. Nxe8 Qxd4+ 34. Kg2 35. Qg6.
  
  But it gives Black only a slight edge after 30. Nxh5 (instead of Rxh5) gxh5 31. Rxh5 Bf5 32. Bh3 Bg6 33. e6 Nxf6 34. gxf6 Qxf6.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2014-04-01. Score: 0
  
  Yes, Anand had a mate if not for the blunder. Here is the line. I don't know why everyone missed it.
  
  28.Bf1 Qd4 29.Rh4 Qh5 30.Rxh4 gxH5 31.Nxh5 Here any move by black would be met with 32.Ng7!
  Now, if 32....Nxg7 33.Qxg7 mate. Any move by black now would be met with 33.Nxe7 or simply moving the night away to any other square followed by Qg7 mate. Have I missed anything?
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Do you mean 28 ...Qd1 and 30. Rxh5?  
  > **username_0**: Black can still get in some checks with the queen: 31 ...Qa5 32. Ng7 Qc3 33. Nxe8 Qd4+. Then if Black can keep checking and at the same time get his queen on the b2-a7 diagonal, he can play Qg6, covering against the mate, and is up material.  
  
  ---
  
  