Game from the London Chess Classic Open 2025
“The Ghost of Velimirovic”
Anand-Ivic 0-1. You play black, prize $250
Anand lost with white against Ivic. Velimir, 23 years old, 2623 rating. Anand – 2743.
The world is turning upside down. But there is a certain pattern here. The strength of older masters is declining, and this is an irreversible process. Their time is coming to an end, and new players are coming in.
Let's look at this game. I'll put it this way. 11.g4 was a fantasy of the world champion, but one that is now beyond his capabilities. We won this game with white, in the style of Anand in his best years. If Anand had played it this way, I would believe that he has a chance to regain the title of world champion. One of the 100 most beautiful games by Goldchess, i.e. our own.
It will be a task in our Special New Year tournament, the Special Christmas Top Tournament, with a prize of $250 and an entry fee of $10. Three games of extraordinary beauty. One of them. There is no such game in the entire chess literature, and probably there won't be one for another 500 years...
We invite everyone, especially grandmasters from the top 100 chess players in the world. And this is not just an invitation, it is a challenge. Come and show us what you can do.
If one of them wins this game, it will be our ticket to the world championship title. If there are a large number of participants, the organizer may significantly increase the prize. We will announce this one hour before the tournament.