World championship match 2024

In his hometown Wageningen challenger Jan Groenendijk has won the world title match against defending champion Yurii Anikeev. After 11 draws, Groenendijk managed to win the 12th and last game with normal time controls. Since the rules prescribed that at least two victories were needed for the title, a tie-break was played consisting of rapid and blitz games. In the fifth game of the tie-break Groenendijk decided the match with a small combination.

a
Groenendijk - Anikeev

Given the phenomenal results of Groenendijk in the last year, in which he won nearly every tournament that he played, the world title is fully deserved. But he had to work really hard for it. In the sixth game Anikeev outplayed his opponent, but he failed to convert the endgame to a win. One round later Groenendijk was still affected, and made two big calculation errors. He was very lucky that in both cases the mistakes were not fatal. After that Groenendijk regained control over the match. It seemed like Anikeev sometimes was too eager to obtain simple and structured play, at the cost of a small disadvantage. Near the end of the match he was no longer able to defend such positions correctly.
Anikeev - Groenendijk 1-1, game 2

To illustrate this, let's take a look at some examples. In this position in the second game, Anikeev played the solid move 14.33-28. While the spectators were hoping for the aggressive ≡ 14.35-30 20-25, it makes perfect sense for Anikeev to avoid this position. The black pieces are ideally placed, and it is a game type in which Groenendijk feels very comfortable.
Groenendijk - Anikeev 1-1, game 11

In this position in game 11, Groenendijk played the unconventional 8.33-29!? and Anikeev reacted with the very defensive move 17-21. I believe that in this phase of the match, the more aggressive ≡ 20-25 should have been played.
Groenendijk - Anikeev 1-1, game 3

In this position of game 3, Groenendijk played the very aggressive 30.28-22! 11-16 31.32-27. Now 19-24? is very dangerous for black after 32.33-29! 24x33 33.38x18 and black can't play 8-12? 34.45-40 12x23 35.22-17! W+ But Anikeev found the correct defense ≡ 20-24 32.33-29 24x33 33.38x18 8-12 34.42-38 12x23 35.45-40 9-14 36.40-35 16-21 37.27x16 23-29 38.34x23 19x17 and the game ended in a draw.
Anikeev - Groenendijk 1-1, game 6
21.49-44! 2-7

Even though the black position looks very solid, Groenendijk is under pressure here. It is not immediately clear how black can avoid ending up in a passive position. For example, after ≡ 20-24 22.34-29! 23x34 23.40x20 15x24 24.44-40 2-7 25.48-43! 18-23 26.43-39 12-18 27.39-34 14-20 28.25x14 9x20 29.30-25 4-9 30.25x14 9x20 black is left with a very ugly left wing.

≡ 22.34-29! 23x34 23.40x29 17-21 24.44-40 20-24 25.29x20 15x24 26.31-27 18-22 27.27x18 12x23 28.36-31 13-18 29.25-20!

This is the start of a long term attack against the black left wing. Due to the poorly developed black right wing, this is clearly better for white.

14x34 30.40x20 9-13 31.31-27 19-24 32.20x29 23x34 33.48-43 3-9 34.43-39 34x43 35.38x49 18-22 36.27x18 13x22 37.49-43 21-26 38.45-40 7-12 39.40-34 12-18 40.34-29 16-21 41.43-38 21-27 42.32x21 26x17 43.37-32 17-21 44.29-23 18x29 45.33x24
diagram 1
11-16?

After this move black will be just too late for making a draw. But in this position it was very hard to foresee this. The correct defense was ≡ 9-14. If white plays the same exchange as in the game with 46.32-28 22x33 47.38x29, then 11-17 48.29-23 17-22 49.35-30 21-27 50.30-25 27-32 is enough for a draw.

≡ 46.32-28 22x33 47.38x29 6-11 48.29-23 9-13 49.23-19 13-18 50.24-20 11-17 51.20-15 17-22 52.19-14 22-28 53.15-10 4x15 54.14-9 18-22 55.9-4 28-33
diagram 2
56.4x31!

At first sight it looks like black is in time for making a king, but Anikeev prevents this using an ingenious trick.

33-39 57.31-26! 39-43

The necessary ≡ 21-27? fails due to 58.26-17! 39-43 59.42-38! 43x32 60.17-21! B+.

≡ 58.26x17!

Now black can't make a king, and has to sacrifice another piece.

16-21 59.17x26 43-49 60.26-3 49-43 61.3-25 43-21 62.25-39?

With this move Anikeev spoils the victory. After ≡ 62.42-37 21-3 63.25-48 15-20 64.48-30! he would have won the game.

≡ 15-20 63.39-44 21-8 64.42-37 20-25 65.44-39 8-12 66.39-33 25-30 67.35x24 12-29
Groenendijk - Anikeev 1-1, game 7

41.39-33??

A day after his narrow escape, Groenendijk fell back into an old habit: he used almost all of his time, so that towards the end of the game he had to play constantly with 1 minute on the clock or less. Due to this he makes a terrible miscalculation.

23-29!

Now the planned 42.16-11? fails because after 29x27 43.11x31 white has to take two pieces instead of one. So white loses a piece, and it's a miracle that the position is still a draw.

≡ 42.32-28! 29x20 43.30-25! 20-24 44.28-23 7-12 45.48-42?

This is another severe miscalculation. Even though Groenendijk had spotted the draw after ≡ 45.23-19! 14x23 46.47-41! 36x47 47.25-20 47x29 48.48-42 29x47 49.20x9, he decided to play another move.

≡ 36-41! 46.47x36 13-18

Groenendijk had missed this sacrifice, and again it is sheer luck that white can still make a draw.

47.23-19! 24x13 48.42-38 15-20 49.36-31 20-24 50.31-27 18-23 51.38-32 14-19 52.33-28 13-18 53.27-21 17x26 54.16-11 26-31 55.11-6 23-29 56.28-22 18x38 57.6-1 12-17 58.1x40 38-42 59.40-35 42-48 60.35-44 17-21 61.44-28 48-34 62.28x10 24-30 63.25-20 34-18 64.10-4

Groenendijk - Anikeev 1-1, game 9

In the ninth round, Groenendijk played a very strong game. In this superior position he missed a golden opportunity. After 43.44-39! black has to be very careful. Then 11-16? loses after 44.34-29! and black can't play 19-24? 45.29x20 15x24 due to the little combination 46.28-23 18x29 47.27-21 16x27 48.39-33 29x38 49.43x3. So black needs to play ≡ 5-10, to prevent 44.34-29? with the combination 18-22 45.27x18 8-13 46.18x9 10-14 47.9x20 15x44 48.49x40 35x44. Then white plays ≡ 44.39-33! and black can only defend the position with 8-13 45.34-29 10-14 46.43-39 11-16. However, this position looks quite dangerous for black, so it is not obvious that Anikeev would have found this defense.
Groenendijk - Anikeev 1-1, game 11
3-8!

In the 11th round Groenendijk again put Anikeev under pressure, but he managed to make a draw.

43.28-23 17-21 44.38-32 21-27 45.32x21 26x17 46.37-32 17-21 47.41-36 13-18 48.32-28 21-26 49.24-19 18-22 50.28x17 12x21 51.23-18 20-24 52.19x30 21-27 53.29-24 27-32 54.24-19 32-38 55.30-24 38-42

Groenendijk hoped to surprise his opponent with ≡ 38-43? 56.18-13! and black cannot play 8-12? due to 57.34-30 25x34 58.24-20 15x24 59.19x48 W+

≡ 56.18-13 15-20 57.13x2 20x40 58.35x44 42-47 59.2-11 25-30 60.44-39 30-35 61.39-34 26-31 62.36x27 47-41 63.19-13 41-23
Anikeev - Groenendijk 0-2, game 12
37.27-22(?)

In the last game with normal time controls, Anikeev played too passively. Here white already has an unpleasant position due to the inactive piece on 45. But after this exchange, the white position becomes really hard to defend. With a series of precise and powerful moves, Groenendijk achieves an impressive victory.

18x27 38.38-32 27x29 39.34x25 17-22! 40.39-33(?)

As grandmaster Ron Heusdens points out on Toernooibase, it was much better for white to solely play on the right side of the board with moves like ≡ 40.40-34 13-19 41.45-40 19-23 42.40-35. Then white can counter the attack 23-28 with the simple idea 43.34-30 22-27 44.25-20 15x24 45.30x19 with an immediate draw.

≡ 13-19! 41.41-37

A problem for white is that the pieces on 40 and 45 cannot easily be activated now. After ≡ 41.40-34 black can launch a strong attack using 19-23! 42.33-29 23-28. Note that the defense on the previous move no longer works, because the piece on 29 is in the way.

≡ 6-11 42.48-42 11-17 43.42-38 17-21 44.40-34?

According to the computer white could still make a draw using ≡ 44.33-29 22-27 45.40-35 21-26 46.37-32 27-31 47.32-28. But for human players this is very difficult to find.

≡ 19-24 45.25-20 24-30 46.34x25 15x24 47.45-40 9-14 48.37-32 22-27 49.32-28 27-31 50.28-23 31-37 51.23-18 37-41 52.18-12 41-47 53.40-34 21-27 54.34-29 27-32

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