Best Chess Games: Anand's Sacrificial Miniature - Anand vs. Gelfand, 1996
It's rare to see a Closed Sicilian at the highest levels of chess. In fact, Anand himself famously defeated Magnus Carlsen once when he attempted the Closed Sicilian.
In this game, it proves to be the perfect surprise weapon as Anand's idea of 10.e5!? creates excellent attacking chances against Boris Gelfand. Anand quickly offers a piece for two pawns to continue his attack, and although Gelfand had defensive opportunities, he soon cracked under the pressure.
Instructive takeaways from this game include the power of attacking weak color complexes (the central dark squares), and the importance of using all of your pieces in the attack with Rae1!
I've annotated this game below in further depth below, and I can't recommend highly enough, Anand's own notes to this game in his collection of best games.
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