World Championship 2013 - Critical Move #4
Game 6 is full of critical moves! It's hard to decide which is the most critical. Similar to game 5, Carlsen got a tiny advantage into the endgame and kept putting pressure, taking advantage of Anand slightly inaccuarate moves. As shown from these positions, Anand had chances to draw until the very end.
In the first position, Anand suddenly decided to give a pawn by playing 38. Qg3, instead of simply defending it by 38. Qf4.
In this second critical position, Anand played 57. Rg8+ followed by 58. Rc8 to take the c-pawn, instead he could have played 57. Rc8 directly saving a tempo or forcing Carlsen to defend the pawn and repeat moves.
In the thrid and final position, Anand still had hope, have he played 60. b4 directly instead of wasting time with 60. Ra4. His only hope was to push the pawns as further as possible, beforing giving the rook for the f-pawn.
In addition to these moves, there are other decisions as well that affected the result, such as:
- Exposing the doubled e-pawn weakness early on instead of closing the center with 30. d5.
- Giving the second pawn with 44. h5.
- Then, trapping his own king on the h-file with 50. Kh3 instead of Kg3.
Here's the full game
