Games: chess

The Fide world chess championship

Michael Adams's fine run in the World Chess Championship came to an end when he lost a rapid-play decider in the semi-final against Viswanathan Anand. Here is a blow-by-blow account of their match.

Game 1: Adams sacrificed a pawn in the opening, gaining attacking chances and pressure that lasted until the endgame. Anand needed to defend with great accuracy to save himself. The game was eventually drawn only when White's last pawn was about to disappear from the board, leaving only the two kings:

White: Adams Black: Anand

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 Bb5+ Bd7 4 Bxd7+ Qxd7 5 0-0 Nc6 6 c3 Nf6 7 d4 Nxe4 8 d5 Ne5 9 Re1 Nxf3+ 10 Qxf3 Nf6 11 c4 e5 12 dxe6 fxe6 13 Bg5 Be7 14 Nc3 h6 15 Bh4 0-0 16 Qh3 Kf7 17 f4 Rad8 18 Rad1 Rg8 19 Qf3 Rge8 20 Rd3 Kf8 21 g4 Kg8 22 g5 Nh7 23 Qh5 Rf8 24 gxh6 Rxf4 25 Bxe7 Qxe7 26 Nd5 Qh4 27 Qxh4 Rxh4 28 Rxe6 Rxh6 29 Re7 Rg6+ 30 Rg3 Rxg3+ 31 hxg3 Rb8 32 Rd7 Nf6 33 Nxf6+ gxf6 34 a4 Rf8 35 Rxb7 Rf7 36 Rb8+ Rf8 37 Rb7 Rf7 38 Rb8+ Rf8 39 Rb5 Kf7 40 a5 Ke6 41 a6 Ke5 42 Rb7 Kd4 43 b3 Kc3 44 Kf2 Rh8 45 Ke3 Re8 46 Kf4 Re1 47 Kf5 Ra1 48 Kxf6 Rxa6 49 Kf5 Ra1 50 Ke6 a5 51 Kxd6 a4 52 bxa4 Rxa4 53 Rb5 Rxc4 54 Rxc5 Rxc5+ 55 Kxc5 Kd3 draw

Game 2: This time it was Adams who had to defend accurately to save himself. Anand pushed hard with the white pieces, but never quite built up enough advantage to win the game. Adams managed to blockade a dangerous looking passed pawn, while also leaving himself enough flexibility to prevent an attack on his king. Drawn in 48 moves.

Game 3: The first real missed opportunity of the match. Anand played well to develop a powerful position with Black. In the diagram position, however, he gave in to the temptation to play 29...Qd2? when 30.Nf5! exf5 31.Qxc4+ solved White's problems. Instead, 29... Bd4! would have left Adams struggling. The game was eventually drawn in 35 moves.

Game 4: The last of the slow time-limit games produced the fourth draw in a row, but Adams had to demonstrate high defensive skills to save himself after his Marshall Gambit had left him a pawn behind for very little compensation. Just as his position was looking at its worst, however, he found a nice way to create some counterplay. Eventually, Anand could do no better than steer the game into a level endgame. Drawn in 46 moves.

The quick-play deciders: games five and six (25 minutes for all moves, plus 10 seconds per move completed) were both drawn, the first quietly, the second a wild affair. Games seven and eight (15 minutes, plus 10 seconds a move) were also drawn. So the stage was set for the sudden death play- off. Four minutes to White; five to Black, plus 10 seconds a move.

Game 9:

White: Anand Black: Adams

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e6 6 Nf3 Be7 7 cxd5 Nxd5 8 Bc4 Nxc3 9 bxc3 0-0 10 0-0 Nd7 11 Bd3 Qc7 12 Qe2 Re8 13 c4 g6 14 c5 Nf6 15 Ne5 Bd7 16 Bf4 Qc8 17 Rab1 Nd5 18 Bg3 Rf8 19 Rfc1 Bf6 20 Nc4 Bxd4 21 Nd6 Qd8 22 Nxb7 Qf6 23 c6 Bc8 24 Rb3 e5 25 Be4 Be6 26 Rf3 Qg5 27 Qe1 Qe7 28 Qa5 Bb6 29 Qa3 Qxa3 30 Rxa3 f6 31 Nc5 Bxc5 32 Rxc5 Nc7 33 f3 a6 34 h4 Rad8 35 Rc1 Rd2 36 Be1 Rxa2 37 Rxa2 Bxa2 38 Ba5 Rf7 39 Rd1 Nb5 40 Rc1 Nc7 41 Rd1 Nb5 42 Rd8+ Kg7 43 Ra8 Bc4 44 Rb8 f5 45 Bc2 Bd5 46 Rb6 Nd6 47 c7 Nc8 48 Rb8 Rf8 49 Ba4 Be6 50 Bc3 Kf6 51 f4 Kf7 52 Bxe5 Ne7 53 Rd8 Nc8 54 Kf2 Ke7 55 Bc6 a5 56 Bb7 Kf7 57 Bc6 Ke7 58 Bc3 Kf7 59 Bxa5 Rg8 60 Bb4 Na7 61 Ba4 Nc8 62 Bc5 h6 63 Bb5 g5 64 fxg5 hxg5 65 h5 resigns.

That well-played victory earned Viswanathan Anand a place in the final against Anatoly Karpov and a minimum of $768,000 (pounds 480,000) prize money. The winner of the world championship will earn $1.37m (pounds 850,000). As the losing semi-finalist, Michael Adams takes home $375,000 (pounds 220,000), which means that the last game was worth pounds 4,000 a move. Great fun for the spectators, but is this really any way to decide a world chess championship?