Anish Giri

Anish Giri is an elite chess player from the Netherlands, and one of the best of the game. He is one of the top 10 best players in the world, and he is a fun and happy character as well.

That is probably the reason why people love him so much, as he is always so caring and with these good vibes. This is not the case for every chess player, but he makes sure to give this good view to the people who root for him.

Anish Giri has had some interesting participations too in different events, and he likes to make streams. As GM Hikaru Nakamura, is very possible that you may find him streaming right now.

He also has collaborated with other masters in different levels, as he has appeared in some of Hikaru’s streams.

Another thing you will like to know is that he worked in the production of Queen’s gambit Netflix series. Of course, he was there to provide the support and to give the chess knowledge people need to produce it.

That is the reason why if you analyze the games of the series, you will see that they are actually deep, and not just made for TV.

Today, we will see what we can learn from the GM Anish Giri and his impressive comprehension of chess.

The playstyle of Anish Giri

Anish Giri is an aggressive player in his own way, although he is not so aggressive as others, we could say he is pretty balanced in his style. He gathers positional advantages but loves to destroy their opponents with beautiful combinations.

You will see that this player loves to play positionally, but the purpose of all that is to get a decent position to attack the king. The thing is he plays very solidly and quietly, but he likes crazy tactics as well, as you will see in the following games.

Anish Giri’s best games

How many players in the world can say that they calculated better than Magnus Carlsen? Well, suppose Anish Giri is one of the few in the world, you will see a game between the two of them.

Magnus CarlsenGM 2814
Anish GiriGM 2686
Wijk Aan Zee Tournament3
January 17, 2011 – Wijk Aan Zee, NED
12345678abcdefgh
1.d4Nf62.c4g63.g3Bg74.Bg2Looks like it will be a quiet Catalan system, but they turn them into something else really quickly4…d55.cxd5Nxd56.Nf3Nb67.Nc3Nc68.e3This is still all theory, pretty normal to play this at the top level8…O-O9.O-ORe810.Re1a511.Qd2e5Anish strikes in the center quick, and this is where the fireworks start to pop in the position, you know Carlsen is a stubborn tactician12.d5Nb413.e4c614.a3Magnus was counting on this move to sustain his center, he expected Anish to retreat the knight and accept a position with inferior space14…cxd5However, now Anish Giri challenges Carlsen’s move, inviting him to prove his calculation correct15.axb4axb416.Rxa8bxc3This is the intermediate move that is key to keep the material equality17.bxc3Nxa818.exd5Nb6Now, we came back to material equality, but the thing is now white has no e4 pawn to keep defending d5, now d5 more than being an asset is a weakness19.Rd1e4Just one passive move and Anish Giri was able to turn the tides in his favor20.Ng5e3Lovely, there is no such deep understanding behind this move, it simply wins a piece with a simple tactic21.Qb2Carlsen tries to keep fighting attacking the b6 knight, after all, that’s how he is, but in this case, the world champion didn’t see this move doesn’t work21…Qxg522.Bxe3Thinking that he could pick up the b6 knight next22…Qg4The rook on d1 is under attack, and there is no good way to defend it, if f3 trying to reject the queen, Nc4, and if Qb4 Qd7 and now is the e3 bishop that will fall0–1

Now, you will see an amazing game between Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri, one of my personal favorites from him.

Hikaru NakamuraGM 2758
Anish GiriGM 2714
Reggio Emilia ITA9
January 5, 2012 – Reggio Emilia
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1.e4e52.Nf3Nf63.Nxe5d64.Nf3Nxe45.Nc3Nxc36.dxc3This is an interesting line in the Petrov that gives white attacking chances in exchange for the doubled pawn, but Anish won’t allow it6…Be77.Be3Nd78.Qd2O-O9.O-O-Oc610.h4Hikaru tries to play active form the beginning, Anish will simply keep developing the pieces10…Re811.Bd3d512.Ng5Nf813.h5Bf6Anish builds up a good defense, h5 is harmless due to g6 and Anish’s king will be more than safe in his fortress14.Nf3Bg415.Rde1Bxf316.gxf3Ne6Now that there won’t be any pressure on h7 for the moments, Anish starts getting the pieces more out17.f4h618.a3Qa519.Qd1This move was inaccurate, the idea is to swing the queen over to g4, but the problem is that it ignores black’s threats, and they are meaningful19…Nc520.Bf5Na4Now you have to pay attention to black’s threats, nasty tricks with the sacrifice on c3 are coming21.Qd3Nc522.Qd1Qb523.Qe2Qa424.Qd1Ne425.Bxe4Eliminating the knight is necessary, and black’s pieces are getting white to get passive25…Rxe426.Rhg1Rae827.Rg3Kh828.Reg1Qc429.Kb1c5d4 is a real threat, Hikaru plays good and exchanges the queens, any other move would be a disaster30.Qd3b631.Qxc4Rxc432.Rd1d4This move anyways, and is still destructive in this positions33.cxd4cxd434.b3dxe3This is the unexpected and brilliant move by Anish Giri, and you will see why it works35.bxc4exf236.Rf3Re1Beautiful, now the following move is forced, the rook on e1 is untouchable37.Kc1Bd4This move does many things at once, defends the pawn, and leaves white completely tied, Kd2 loses to Be3+38.c3Be3+A stunning way to execute white, taking the bishop is impossible39.Kc2f540.a4a5Zugzwang, there is no good move for white, nothing can move, and white could resign here41.c5Bxc50–1

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