Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Anand’s Trap

Every chess player is prone to make mistakes in some moment along with the game.
Mistakes appear with higher probability a) in beginners’ games b) blitz games and c) in time trouble.

In April-2019 the important tournament “Gashimov Memorial” in memory of Azeri GM Vugar Gashimov took place in Shamkir, Azerbaijan.

GM Viswanathan Anand faced GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in round 3. The game was going well for Mamedyarov and he got an excellent position in the middle game. To convert his advantage he only needed some precision, but he was very low on time.

It is worth mentioning that in Shamkir tournament, players do not have increment. The following position arose after Anand’s 35.Qh4. At that moment, Mamedyarov’s remaining time until 40th move control was 3 minutes, while 13 minutes for Anand.

Mamedyarov spoilt all his advantage because he didn’t see Anand’s trap.

Anand later admitted that: “The position is just lost. It’s just completely busted. I was playing for the only trap; I just got lucky with this one trick.”

While Mamedyarov blamed lack of time but accepted the defeat saying: “As a professional grandmaster I should accept this result as a normal result.”

As the Austrian GM Savielly Tartakower once accurately stated: “The mistakes are there waiting to be made”.