 | The Lion can even hold its own if an amateur player uses it against a world champion! In the following simul game, Viswanathan Anand was outplayed in the treacherous Lion's Yawn by a German club player. Comments to the moves are taken from the website www.thelion.nl
 f6c3This is The Lion's Yawn, that is if the queens are exchanged. The Yawn is an excellent weapon against stronger players. It often gives Black an equal game and the endgame which soon results is not easy to win for White.  xd8+ xd8f3The least popular move. Mostly 6.Lc4 or 6.Lg5 is played, leading to the main lines that are described from page 177 in the second English edition. The text often leads to move repetition.  d6g5Preparing 0-0-0. The move 7. c4 often transposes to the main line. A logical move in order to keep a piece from d5 or b5. Also playable is 7... e6. d2Novelty! Trust a World Champion to make something like that up behind the board. The knight wants to go to c4, and the move also prepares f2-f4. 8.Lc4 is again met by the usual 8... e6. Normally this move is played at a later stage (after bd7), but it is certainly playable here, even though Black's pawn structure appears to be spoiled. xf6+c4c7Also playable are 10... b4 and 10...c5. e7e3b6c4e6b3a6A good alternative is 14...  g8, with pressure on the g-pawn. he1c5More accurate is for White to take on e6 himself, but then Black obtains the pawn formation he was aiming for. xb3+a5e2hd8xd8xd8a4Also interesting is 20…Lb4 in order to restrict the knight. c5b6xe6xa5b6And this is in fact a blunder which lands the World Champion into trouble. Better is 26. c2, though also here Black remains better and more active. However, that wouldn't immediately lose a pawn. d3f1xf3d2e3c2xd2xd2f4Provoking another weakening. Still, 30... h3 seems to be stronger, followed by the king's march to g5. f1e3f2+d3After the exchange of rooks White is finished: 34. e2 xe2+ 35.xe2 f5! b2e1xb3c2a3b2c1xh3 | |
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Viswanathan Anand
Wolfgang Fleckenstein