How Analysing My Own Games led me to Anand's novelty

This blog is part of a concerted effort by me to analyse my own game, without the use of a computer.

This is the hardest part of chess study for me, as it's difficult to aim for self reflection.

I managed to fit this blitz game in whilst sitting on a supermarket bench waiting for my wife to finish her shopping.

I'm generally quite happy with my play in this game, admittedly I hadn't faced the g4 line of the Advanced Caro Kann very much, and is a variation I will seek some model games.

White makes it easy for Black to unravel his cramped position and enter an endgame where he is structural worse. White unnecessarily weakens his Queenside, and plays without a plan.

I was quite happy to find ... Bb5, though I didn't realise I had inadvertendly stalemated the White King in the middle of the board.

In the aftermath of researching for model games, I found that Anand has played a novelty on move 6 (!!) that addressed the cramped nature Black encounters. It was a revelation.

Model Games: Pavel Ponkratov (2605) vs. Gata Kamsky (2741)

Novelty: Alexey Shirov (2709) vs. Viswanathan Anand (2817)

If there is one good thing this blitz game did, it was to lead me to the following encounter

"Yes, on move six, Anand unleashed a simple novelty that completely changed the nature of the position as well as the way both White's and Black's perspectives will be evaluated."

http://en.chessbase.com/post/len-2011-anand-unleashes-game-changing-novelty

Annotations above taken from the Chessbase report

Simply a stunning game. The feeling I had in my own game of being cramped as Black (had White avoided exchanges) are addressed by Anand's 6. ... c5 novelty

Marvel at the zugzwang like state of the final position. The power of ... d4 for Black, scatttering White's pieces

I really take away from this game the dynamic coordination of Black's pieces, particularly his Bishop pair