Anand's Immortal

Viswanathan Anand had turned forty three by the time he sat down with Black against Levon Aronian in round four of the 2013 Tata Steel tournament, and the game he produced was strong enough that some outlets later ranked it among the finest attacking games ever played, alongside Kasparov's Immortal and Morphy's Opera Game, a claim worth treating as one magazine's opinion rather than settled fact.

The position arose from a Semi Slav Meran, and after 12.Ng5 c5!? Anand allowed his kingside to be raided in exchange for the initiative. The point came with 15...Bc5!, 16...Nde5! and 17...Bxd4+, a run of sacrifices that tore open lines around Aronian's king even as material briefly flowed the other way, with White's knight ending up marooned on f8. The finishing touch, 19...f5!, cut White's queen and knight off from the defence and forced resignation only four moves later.

Anand said afterwards the game reminded him of Rotlewi against Rubinstein, the 1907 classic it is often compared to. Aronian, one of the most dangerous attacking players of his own generation, was on the wrong end of the assault for once, and the game remains a centrepiece of Anand's late career reputation as a player who could still out calculate anyone in the world.