Instant classic

Wow. Today, in round four of the Corus Steel supergrandmaster event in Wijk aan Zee, Vishy Anand just played an amazing game. He beat Levon Aronian with Black in only 23 moves with one of the most bizarre sacrificial attacks I've ever seen.

Unfortunately, Chess Flash seems to be down this morning.  But you can play through this brilliancy (trust me, it's worth the trouble!) and follow the other Round 4 games live at the official website.

Here's Anand's post-game commentary (thanks to Jeremy Kane for reminding me that the interviewer is an ex-Chicagoan, IM Jan van de Mortel!), in which Vishy notes that the attacking idea was cribbed from Rubinstein's immortal win against Rotlevi:


 

Daniel King offers his praise:

The Rubinstein Trap

The Rubinstein Trap is a frequently seen trap in the Queen's Gambit Declined. It occurs in various different settings, and is characterized by White's Nxd5!, a pseudo-sacrifice of the knight that wins at least a pawn, since if Black plays ...cxd5, Bc7 will trap Black's queen. The trap is so named because the great Akiba Rubinstein, arguably the strongest player who never got a shot at the world championship, managed to fall into it twice - against Euwe at Bad Kissingen 1928 and against Alekhine at San Remo 1930. According to Edward Winter, the following game, predating Rubinstein's misadventures with the trap by over 20 years, is the earliest known example: