SANDS: Challenger faces long odds trying to reclaim chess crown

The world chess championship — it’s hard enough to win it, let alone win it back.

Indian GM Viswanathan Anand faces some long historical odds when he sits down at the board Friday in Sochi, Russia for the first game of his scheduled 12-game title match with Norwegian world titleholder Magnus Carlsen of Norway.

Anand, 44, who held the crown for six years before losing to the 23-year-old Carlsen in 2013, is trying to become only the third player in the modern era to lose the world championship and win a rematch, a feat such great players as Steinitz and Karpov never managed to pull off. Once dethroned, even the game’s greatest stars tend to stay dethroned.

In his prematch preparations, Anand may very well have spent a little time studying the two great exceptions to the rule: Russian-born Alexander Akekhine and Soviet great Mikhail Botvinnik.

An out-of-form Alekhine lost his title in 1935 to Dutchman Max Euwe, in what is considered one of the biggest upsets ever. Euwe was a superb player and genuine sportsman, but he proved no match for a recharged, refocused and revenge-obsessed Alekhine is his first title defense two years later.

The champion actually won the first game of the 1937 rematch, and held a 3-2 lead after five games, but the Russian went on to score 4 points in the next five games to essentially clinch the match. The Dutch champion put up a good fight after that, but a strong closing kick by Alekhine gave him the match win by a convincing 15-9 score.

One thing about world championships matches: There are few brilliancies. The stakes are too high and the opponents too strong.

Euwe even put up some strong resistance after losing the opening battle in the match’s 25th and final game. Black breaks on top in this Nimzo-Indian after 10. b4?! d4! 11. bxc5 (Na4, Alekhine later noted, would have been met by 11…dxe3! 12. Qxd8 [Nxc5 exf2+ 13. Ke2 Bg4+] exf2+ 13. Ke2 Bg4+ 14. Kd2 Rxd8+ 15. Kc2 Bd4, winning material) dxc3 12. Qc2 (desperately needing a win, White avoids a queen trade) Qa5 13. Rb1 (Ne2 Nd5 14. e4 Nb4!) Bd7 14. Rb3 Ba4 15. Qxc3 Qd8!, and Black wins the exchange as any rook move allows 16…Qd1 mate.

With nothing to lose, the Dutch star jettisons pawns and manages to work up some real threats, exploiting Black’s back-rank weakness: 26. h4 Re8 (Nxf2?! 27. Be3 Rxf1+ 28. Kxf1 Nd3 29. Nh6+! Kh8 30. Bxc5 Nxf4 31. Bxf8 gxh6 32. Bxh6 Ng6 and White has equalized) 27. Re1 Qc3 28. Rd1 (see diagram), threatening 29. Qxe4!. But Alekhine, showing his improved form, negotiates the tactical shoals skillfully to reach a won ending.

Thus: 28…Nd2! 29. Rxd2 (Bxd2 Rxd1+, while 29. Qxd2 loses to 29…Qxd2 30. Rxd2 Rxc1+ 31. Kh2 g6 32. Ne3 Re4 33. g3 Ra1 34. Rd3 Kg7, with a winning endgame) Rxc1+ 30. Kh2 Qc7 31. Rd6 Rc5 32. g3! (even here White makes it tricky; the careless 32…Rxf5? allows 33. Re6!! Rxe6 [Qd7 34. Rxe8+ Qxe8 35. Qxf5; or 33…fxe6 34. Qxc7 Rxf2+ 35. Kh3] 34. Qxc7, creating some chances with the queen for two rooks) Rf8! 33. g4 (Nxg7 Kxg7 34. Qf6+ Kg8 35. Rd4 h5! kills all mating threats) f6 34. Kh3 h5, and now it is Black who is on the attack.

The title belt returns to Alekhine with a final flourish: 37. h5 Rxf5! 38. Kxf5 Qxh5+ 39. Kf4 Qh4+ 40. Kf3 (Kf5 g6+! 41. Ke6 [Kxg6 Qh7 mate] Qe4+ 42. Kd7 Qb7+ 43. Ke6 Qf7 mate) Qh3+ 41. Ke4 Re8+ 42. Kd5 Qb3+ 43. Kd4 Qxa3, and White conceded the lost ending.

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Botvinnik not only won a world title rematch, he managed to do it twice — against fellow Russian Vasily Smyslov in 1958 and three years later against Latvia’s Mikhail Tal. (Botvinnik enjoyed a unique advantage: The organizing rules of the day granted the champion an automatic rematch.)

Botvinnik and Smyslov engaged in three hard-fought matches in the space of four years starting in 1954, when Botvinnik retained the crown after a tied 12-12 match, followed by a 12½-9½ Smyslov victory in 1957 and a 12½-10½ Botvinnik triumph just a year later.

The last match was another hard one to win, and came just after Smyslov had cut the match lead to two points after a disastrous 0-3 start. The minor-piece jousting is intricate in this Reti Opening, but Botvinnik later faulted Black’s determination to oust the White bishop on e5 as the start of his downfall: 22. Nxc1 Ne8?! (the better plan was 22…Qc8, followed by Nd7-b8-a6, loading up on the problematic White b-pawn) 23. Nd4! Kf8 (f6?! 24. Bh3! exposes the weakness in Black’s set-up) 24. Bh3 Bg8 (still determined to get in …f6) 25. Nbd3 f6 26. Ba1!, and White will soon claim the critical c5-square with an enduring positional edge.

White’s bishop on a1 and Black’s knight on a5 are both effectively locked out of the game, but Botvinnik’s remaining forces are much superior to Black’s. Smyslov tries to change the game’s dynamic, but his breakout proves premature after 30. dxc5 e5?! 31. Qb1 d4 32. Qf5!, when 32…Nxc5? 33. Qc8+ Kf7 34. bxc5 Qxa1 loses to 35. Be6+ Kg6 36. Qe8+ Kh7 (Kg5 37. f4+ exf4 38. h4 mate) 38. Bxg8+ with mate to come.

With 35. Qe4!, the centralized queen is poised to invade Black’s shaky defense, and White never gives up in his grip in the tense final moves: 37. Bg2 (White now owns the long diagonal) Ke7 (Nc3 38. Bxc3 dxc3 39. Qa1 collects the pawn) 38. f4! Ne3 (an intense post-match debate raged over this position, but it appears White has an answer to 38…Nc3 with 39. fxe5 fxe5 40. c6!! [on White’s original idea, 40. Bxc3?, Black holds after 40…dxc3 41. Qa1 c2 42. Qc1 Bc6 43. Bxc6 Qxc6 44. Ne1 Qe4], setting up the winning threat of Qa8-b7 in lines such as 40…Nxe2+ 41. Kf2 Nc3 42. Qb7 Kd6 43. Bxc3 dxc3 44. Nc5 Bxc6 45. Bxc6 Qxc6 46. Ne4+ Kd5 47. Nxc3+ Kd6 48. Nxb5+ Kd5 49. Qf7+ Qe6 [Ke4 50. Qf3 mate] 50. Nc7+) 39. fxe5! fxe5 40. Qe4! Nxg2 (Nc2 41. Nxe5 Nxa1 42. Ng6+ Kd8 43. Qh4+ Kc8 44. Ne7+ Kb8 45. Qe4 and wins) 41. Nxe5 (the sealed move), and Black resigned the next day having had time to ponder 41…Nc3 (Ne3 42. Bxd4 Nd1 43. Ng6+ Kd8 [Kf7 44. Qf5+ Kg8 45. Qf8+ Kh7 46. Ne7 Nac3 47. Qxg7 mate] 44. Be5 Qf7 45. Qa8+ Kd7 46. Nf4 Ke7 47. c6 Nb6 48. Qb7+) 42. Bxc3 dxc3 43. Kxg2, and White will win the ending.

Euwe-Alekhine, Game 25, World Championship Match, The Hague, 1937

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 d5 6. a3 Be7 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Ng3 c5 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. b4 d4 11. bxc5 dxc3 12. Qc2 Qa5 13. Rb1 Bd7 14. Rb3 Ba4 15. Qxc3 Qd8 16. Bc4 Na6 17. Bxa6 bxa6 18. O-O Bxb3 19. Qxb3 Rb8 20. Qc2 Qd5 21. e4 Qb3 22. Qe2 Qb5 23. Qf3 Qxc5 24. Nf5 Rb1 25. Qf4 Nxe4 26. h4 Re8 27. Re1 Qc3 28. Rd1 Nd2 29. Rxd2 Rxc1+ 30. Kh2 Qc7 31. Rd6 Rc5 32. g3 Rf8 33. g4 f6 34. Kh3 h5 35. Qd2 hxg4+ 36. Kxg4 Qf7 37. h5 Rxf5 38. Kxf5 Qxh5+ 39. Kf4 Qh4+ 40. Kf3 Qh3+ 41. Ke4 Re8+ 42. Kd5 Qb3+ 43. Kd4 Qxa3 White resigns.

Botvinnik-Smyslov, Game 12, World Championship Match, Moscow, 1958

1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6 3.Nf3 d5 4.b3 Bf5 5.Bg2 e6 6.Bb2 Nbd7 7.O-O h6 8.d3 Be7 9.Nbd2 O-O 10.a3 a5 11.Qc2 Bh7 12.Bc3 b5 13.cxb5 cxb5 14.b4 Qc7 15.Qb2 Nb6 16.Be5 Qd7 17.Nb3 axb4 18.axb4 Rxa1 19.Rxa1 Na4 20.Qd2 Rc8 21.Rc1 Rxc1+ 22.Nxc1 Ne8 23.Nd4 Kf8 4.Bh3 Bg8 25.Ndb3 f6 26.Ba1 Qa7 27.d4 Nd6 28.Qa2 Nc4 29.Nc5 Bxc5 30.dxc5 e5 31.Qb1 d4 32.Qf5 Qc7 33.Nd3 Bf7 34.Qh7 Bg8 35.Qe4 Bf7 36.Qa8+ Be8 37.Bg2 Ke7 38.f4 Ne3 39.fxe5 fxe5 40.Qe4 Nxg2 41.Nxe5 Black resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.