[Event "Classic"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.20"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2779"] [PlyCount "39"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "1:10:33"] [BlackClock "1:38:23"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 c5 6. Be3 Qb6 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. O-O ( 8. Na4 Qa5+ 9. c3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Ne7 12. O-O Nc6 13. b4 Qc7 14. Rc1 Be7 {Giri,A (2777)-Navara,D (2745) Shamkir 2018}) 8... Qxb2 9. Qe1 cxd4 10. Bxd4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Bb4 12. Ndb5 Ba5 13. Rb1 Qxc2 14. Rb3 Ne7 15. Nd6+ Kf8 16. Nxb7 Bb6 17. Nd6 Ba5 18. Nb7 $146 ({Another way of reaching the draw is} 18. Ra3 Bb4 19. Rb3 Ba5 20. Ra3 {as in both Sjugirov-Sjimanov, Katowice 2014 and Salgado vs Anton, Las Palmas 2017.}) 18... Bb6 19. Nd6 Ba5 20. Nb7 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.20"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B34"] [WhiteElo "2737"] [BlackElo "2828"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "1:22:58"] [BlackClock "1:13:41"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 9. a4 Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Nd7 12. Bd2 (12. b4 a6 13. Na3 a5 14. bxa5 Rxa5 15. Nc4 Ra8 16. Be3 f5 17. a5 f4 18. Bb6 Qe8 19. Ra3 Qg6 {was game 10 of the match Caruana,F (2832)-Carlsen,M (2835) London 2018}) 12... f5 13. a5 a6 14. Na3 e4 15. Nc4 Ne5 16. Nb6 Rb8 17. f4 exf3 18. Bxf3 Bf6 $146 (18... g5 $2 {didn't go well for Black in the world title match:} 19. c4 f4 20. Bc3 Bf5 21. c5 Nxf3+ 22. Qxf3 {and White was close to winning in game eight of Caruana, F (2832)-Carlsen,M (2835) London 2018}) 19. c3 g5 20. Be2 f4 21. Nxc8 ({ The previous move was planning} 21. c4 {but here Svidler got "spooked" by} f3 22. gxf3 Bh3 23. Rf2) 21... Qxc8 22. Kh1 b5 (22... Qc7 23. c4 Rbe8 24. b4 { is what White wants.}) 23. axb6 Rxb6 24. Qc2 Bg7 25. b3 Qb7 26. b4 Qxd5 27. Qa2 Qxa2 28. Rxa2 d5 29. Rxa6 Rxa6 30. Bxa6 Nc4 31. Rd1 Nxd2 32. Rxd2 Bxc3 33. Rxd5 Bxb4 34. Rxg5+ Kh8 35. Kg1 f3 36. gxf3 Rxf3 37. Bc4 Rf8 38. Kg2 Bc3 39. Bd3 Rg8 40. Rxg8+ Kxg8 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.20"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A56"] [WhiteElo "2509"] [BlackElo "2845"] [PlyCount "162"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:12:27"] [BlackClock "0:38:15"] 1. d4 ({This famous game has something to do with the important decision that Black took on move thirteen:} 1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 4. d4 Nf6 5. e4 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Re1 c6 9. d5 c5 10. a3 Ne8 11. Bg5 f6 12. Bd2 f5 13. Ng5 Nc7 14. exf5 gxf5 15. f4 e4 16. Be3 h6 17. Nh3 Bxc3 $1 18. bxc3 Nf6 19. a4 Kh8 20. Nf2 Rg8 {and the game was soon drawn, Bronstein, D-Petrosian,T Amsterdam/Leeuwarden 1956}) 1... Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 g6 {A surprise. Carlsen rarely plays the Benoni.} 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 Bg7 6. Nf3 ({In fact the world champion has only a couple of games in the Megabase in the Benoni, both of them in blitz. Here is one:} 6. Nge2 O-O 7. Ng3 a6 8. a4 h5 9. Be2 e5 10. Bg5 Qe8 11. Qd2 Nbd7 {Ding,L (2774)-Carlsen,M (2837) Saint Louis 2017}) 6... O-O 7. Be2 e5 {A few years back I withnessed Aronian taking similar approach against another rising star- K. Troff from USA. The more experienced player is closing the center and hopes to outmaneuver the less experienced one.} 8. O-O Ne8 9. Ne1 f5 10. exf5 gxf5 11. f4 {Botvinnik's recipe against this particular setup.} Nd7 ({The immediate:} 11... e4 {is also possible, but not precise, as besides the normal development with} 12. Nc2 ({White can also avoid the doubling of the pawns with:} 12. Qc2 $1) 12... Na6 13. Be3 Nac7 14. Rf2 a6 15. a4 Bd7 16. g4 Bxc3 17. bxc3 fxg4 18. Bxg4 Nf6 19. Bxd7 Qxd7 {Cruz,F (2344)-Rojas Keim,L (2330) Sant Aria de Besos 2017}) 12. Nd3 e4 {Now he can do this as after:} 13. Nf2 {Black has the strong idea:} Bxc3 $1 {Petrosian's recipe against his predecessor's setup. The trade does not only spoil White's pawn structure. It knocks down a key piece in White's plan of undermining the e4 pawn with g2-g4. An important detail is that the first player can not use the weakening of the long diagonal (the pawn on c5 is playing certain role in that!)} 14. bxc3 Ndf6 15. Be3 Ng7 $146 {Prepares h7-h5 in a good moment.} (15... Qe7 16. h3 Ng7 17. g3 Bd7 18. Kh1 h5 19. Rg1 Kf7 20. Qd2 Rh8 {with unclear play, Edwards,R (2013) -Turner, D (1832) High Wycombe 2011}) 16. Qe1 $1 {In return Keymer is ready to occupy the dark squares.} Bd7 17. Nd1 {Intending Be3-f2-h4 and Nd1-e3.} Ba4 $1 {Just in time. Otherwise this knight will become a monster on e3.} 18. h3 ({ Similar is:} 18. Bf2 Bxd1 19. Qxd1 Qe8) 18... Bxd1 {This bishop was limited by its own pawn on f5.} 19. Qxd1 Qe8 {Carlsen traded both his bishops which gave him the desired center stability. However, if the game gets opened the bishops will do whatever they want.} 20. Kf2 {Next the game goes around the much desired g2-g4 push for White.} ({The immediate} 20. g4 {looks early after say:} fxg4 21. hxg4 h5 22. g5 Qg6 23. Kf2 Nd7) 20... Qg6 21. Rg1 ({Here:} 21. g4 $5 { looks more interesting. After:} fxg4 22. hxg4 h5 23. Rg1 Nxg4+ 24. Bxg4 hxg4 25. Rxg4 {Black should start defending along the seventh rank with:} Qf6 (25... Qf5 26. Qe2) 26. Qb3 Rae8 27. Rag1 Rf7) 21... Kh8 22. a4 {I am not that sure this was needed. The pawn can become a target later.} ({Not} 22. g4 Qh6 23. g5 $2 Qh4+ 24. Kg2 Nfh5 {and Black takes over the initiative.}) 22... Rg8 23. Qf1 Nfh5 $1 {Tactically preventing the advance.} ({In case of} 23... Qh6 {White will regroup with:} 24. Ke1) 24. g3 ({As if:} 24. g4 fxg4 25. hxg4 Nxf4 $1 { is strong. For example:} 26. Bxf4 Raf8 27. Ke3 Qf6 28. Rc1 Nh5 $3 {This works due to:} 29. gxh5 $2 Rxg1 30. Qxg1 Qxf4#) 24... Raf8 25. Qg2 Qf6 {Hitting the weakness.} 26. Rac1 ({Or} 26. Bd2 Re8 27. Rac1 Qh6) 26... Qd8 {The queen is heading to a5 and the a4 pawn might soon get indeed in trouble.} 27. Qh2 Nf6 28. g4 $1 {Keymer found a good moment for the advance. His pieces are well prepared to seize the kingside.} Nd7 ({Not} 28... fxg4 $2 29. hxg4 {which opens files for the white pieces.}) 29. g5 ({Perhaps White should have waited with this:} 29. Ke1 Qa5 30. Bd1) 29... Qa5 30. g6 {With this one though White should have definitely waited.} ({Better was:} 30. h4 {when Black cannot easily close the kingside with:} h5 31. gxh6 Ne8 32. Rg5) 30... h6 ({ Definitely not:} 30... hxg6 31. Rxg6 {when White's attack is too strong.}) 31. Rb1 Rb8 32. Qg3 {Qg3-h4 is a deadly threat.} Qd8 33. Ke1 ({The king could have also gone in the other direction:} 33. Kg2 Nf8 34. Kh2 {when Black can force a draw with:} Ne8 35. Bh5 Ng7 36. Be2 {if he wishes so.}) 33... Ne8 34. Kd2 (34. h4 $5) 34... Nf8 35. Bf2 $5 {A sign for the courage.} ({This sacrifice was not forced. White could have played:} 35. Bh5 Ng7 36. Be2 Ne8) 35... Qe7 36. Ke3 ( 36. Bh5 {would not save the pawn after:} Nf6 37. g7+ Rxg7 38. Qxg7+ Qxg7 39. Rxg7 Kxg7 40. Rg1+ Kh7 41. Be2) 36... Qf6 (36... Rxg6 {was impler and stronger. }) 37. Kd2 Nxg6 (37... Rxg6 38. Qe3 Rg7 {is similar to the game.}) 38. h4 Ne7 39. Qh3 $1 Rxg1 40. Rxg1 Qf7 41. h5 {In return for the pawn Keymer got some diagonals for his bishops.} Nf6 42. Bh4 b6 43. Rb1 Qf8 44. Rg1 Qf7 45. Rb1 Qg7 46. Rg1 Qf8 (46... Qxg1 $2 47. Bxf6+ Kh7 48. Bxe7) 47. Kc2 Nfg8 48. Kd2 Qf7 49. Kc2 Rf8 {Carlsen starts a new regroupment in order to free his pieces.} 50. Kd2 Qe8 51. Ra1 Rf7 52. a5 {Getting rid of the weakness. The activity of the white pieces compensate for Black's extra pawn. However with so many pieces and pawns on the board it remains very difficult for both sides.} bxa5 (52... b5 $5 {might have been even stronger, for example:} 53. cxb5 Nxd5 54. Bc4 e3+ 55. Kc1 Qe4) 53. Rxa5 Nc8 54. Ra1 Qf8 55. Rb1 Nb6 56. Rg1 Rg7 $6 {Better was to keep the rooks on.} ({After:} 56... a5 57. Kc2 a4 58. Kb2 a3+ $1 {The pawn will be far more dangerous than in the game. If:} 59. Ka2 (59. Kxa3 $2 Qb8 {will be quick mate thanks to the major pieces.}) 59... Rb7 {the rook plays important role into the attack.}) 57. Rxg7 Kxg7 58. Qg3+ Kh8 59. Qg6 $1 {The queen paralizes the enemy pieces.} a5 60. Bf1 a4 {The last try.} 61. Kc2 a3 62. Kb3 Na4 63. Bh3 (63. Kxa3 {was OK, too. Then the game should end in a draw after say:} Nxc3 64. Bh3 Nd1 65. Bxf5 Qa8+ 66. Kb3 Qb8+ 67. Kc2 Ne3+ 68. Kc1 Qa7 69. Bxe4 Qa3+ 70. Kb1 Qb3+ 71. Ka1 ({But not} 71. Kc1 $4 Qd1+ 72. Kb2 Nxc4+ 73. Kc3 Qd4+ 74. Kb3 (74. Kc2 Qb2+ 75. Kd3 Qb3+ 76. Ke2 Qe3+ 77. Kf1 Nd2+ 78. Kg2 Nxe4) 74... Nd2+) 71... Qa3+ {and perpetual.}) 63... Qg7 64. Qxg7+ Kxg7 65. Bxf5 { This should also be a draw. But there were two problems. The positions has changed dramatically, and Keymer was getting low on time.} (65. Kxa3 Nxc3 66. Bxf5 {would lead to the same.}) 65... Nf6 66. Kxa3 Nxc3 67. Bf2 $2 {Finally, the young player cracks under the pressure.} ({The game would have ended in a draw after:} 67. Kb3 $1 Ne2 68. Bxf6+ Kxf6 69. Bxe4 Nxf4 70. Bf3 Kg5 71. Ka4 $1 {As the forcing line:} Nxh5 $2 72. Bxh5 Kxh5 73. Kb5 Kg4 74. Kc6 h5 75. Kxd6 h4 76. Kxc5 h3 77. d6 h2 78. d7 h1=Q 79. d8=Q {works only for White.}) 67... Ne2 68. Ka4 ({More resilient seemed:} 68. Kb2 Nxf4 69. Kc3 N4xh5 70. Kd2) 68... Nxh5 69. Ka5 Nf6 (69... Nhg3 $5 70. Bc8 Nf1 71. Bh3 Nd2) 70. Kb6 Kf7 71. Kc7 Ke7 72. Be3 Nd4 {The knights have done miracles in this game!} ({Also good was: } 72... Ne8+ 73. Kc6 Ng3 74. Bg4 Ng7) 73. Bg6 h5 74. Bf2 Nf3 75. Bf5 Nd2 76. Bh4 e3 77. Bd3 Nf3 78. Bxf6+ Kxf6 79. Kxd6 h4 80. Kc7 Nd4 ({Of course not:} 80... h3 $2 81. d6 h2 82. d7 h1=Q 83. d8=Q+ {when it is White who wins.}) 81. Kc8 ({If} 81. d6 Ne6+ 82. Kc8 h3 83. f5 Nf8) 81... e2 (81... e2 {White resigned due to the line:} 82. Bxe2 Nxe2 83. d6 Nxf4 84. d7 Ne6 {when the knight is just in time.}) 0-1 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.21"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2698"] [BlackElo "2845"] [PlyCount "146"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:01:37"] [BlackClock "0:40:42"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. c3 O-O 7. d4 Ba7 8. dxe5 Nxe4 9. Bc2 (9. Qd5 Nc5 10. Bc2 Ne7 11. Qd1 d5 12. exd6 Qxd6 13. Qxd6 cxd6 14. Rd1 Bg4 15. Rxd6 Bf5 {Karjakin,S (2782)-Carlsen,M (2843) Stavanger 2018}) 9... d5 10. exd6 Nxd6 11. Bg5 f6 12. Bf4 g5 $146 (12... Kh8 13. Bxd6 cxd6 14. Qd5 Ne5 15. Nbd2 Bd7 16. Qxd6 Bb5 17. Qxd8 Raxd8 {Horn,C-Gabinara,A San Marino 1950 }) 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Qxd6 cxd6 15. Nbd2 g4 16. Nh4 d5 17. Nf5 d4 18. Nc4 Bxf5 19. Bxf5 h5 20. Rad1 Rfd8 21. a4 Ne7 22. Be6+ Kg7 23. Rfe1 f5 24. Na5 Rab8 25. Kf1 Kf6 26. Bb3 Ng6 27. Re6+ Kg5 28. g3 dxc3 29. bxc3 Rxd1+ 30. Bxd1 Rd8 31. f4+ {Carlsen had "completely missed" this.} gxf3 {"At this point I was just lucky I was not seriously worse." (Carlsen)} 32. Bxf3 ({Carlsen was referring to} 32. h4+ {which isn't possible because of} Nxh4 33. gxh4+ Kf4 $1 {followed by 34...Rg8.}) 32... h4 {"If he takes on b7 with something I should be very happy to force a draw somehow." (Carlsen)} 33. Nc4 hxg3 34. hxg3 Bb8 35. Kg2 ( 35. Kf2) 35... b5 36. axb5 axb5 37. Ne3 $6 {Vallejo starts to make mistakes in timetrouble.} (37. Na3 f4 38. Be4 Ne5 39. gxf4+ Kxf4 40. Bc2) 37... Rd2+ 38. Kh3 Rd3 39. Be2 Rxc3 40. Bxb5 f4 41. Be8 Nf8 ({Carlsen thought this would give more practical chances ("and be a lot more fun") than RB vs R after} 41... fxe3 42. Bxg6 e2 43. Kg2 Bxg3 44. Rxe2 Kxg6) 42. Rb6 Be5 43. Nf1 fxg3 44. Rc6 Ra3 45. Rb6 Ra2 46. Rb4 Ne6 47. Rg4+ Kf6 48. Bc6 ({White should have gone for the endgame} 48. Rxg3 Bxg3 49. Kxg3 {which is a theoretical draw.}) 48... g2 49. Bxg2 Nf4+ 50. Rxf4+ Bxf4 {Here the tablebase says White loses in 54 moves.} 51. Bf3 Bb8 52. Ng3 Kg5 53. Ne2 Bc7 54. Kg2 Kh4 55. Kf2 Bb6+ 56. Ke1 Be3 57. Kd1 Kg5 ({Until here Carlsen had played it perfectly but he "saw some ghosts" in the line} 57... Rd2+ $1 58. Ke1 Rd8 {which was a mate in 48.}) 58. Be4 { With perfect play, White would probably have drawn now because it's a mate in 55 wich means the 50-move rule would come into effect in time for Vallejo.} Kf6 59. Bf3 Ke5 60. Bg2 Kd6 61. Be4 Kc5 62. Bf5 Rd2+ 63. Ke1 Rd8 64. Be4 Kc4 65. Kf1 (65. Ng3 {was more tenacious (mate in 58).}) 65... Rf8+ 66. Ke1 ({And here } 66. Kg2 {should have been tried (mate in 40) with the point.} Rf2+ 67. Kh1 Rxe2 68. Bd3+ $1) 66... Bf2+ {Here Carlsen knew he was winning quickly. And indeed, the tablebase jumps to mate in just 25 moves.} 67. Kd2 Rd8+ 68. Kc2 Be3 69. Bf3 Rd2+ 70. Kb1 Kb3 71. Nc1+ Ka3 72. Ne2 ({After} 72. Nd3 {it takes Black 13(!) more moves to checkmate White, but which human would play this?}) 72... Rb2+ 73. Ka1 Rb8 0-1 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.21"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C68"] [WhiteElo "2710"] [BlackElo "2737"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:00:34"] [BlackClock "0:04:09"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Qf6 {An interesting way to fight the Exchange variation, a-la Scotch treatment.} 6. d4 exd4 7. Bg5 Qd6 8. Nxd4 Be7 ({At the recent World Team Championship Naiditsch played the following exciting game:} 8... Bd7 9. Nc3 Ne7 10. Be3 c5 11. Nde2 Qxd1 12. Rfxd1 Ng6 13. Rd5 Bc6 14. Rh5 O-O-O 15. Bxc5 Bxc5 16. Rxc5 Rd2 17. Rc1 Bxe4 18. Nxe4 Rxe2 19. Nd6+ Kb8 20. Nf5 Nf4 {and it eventually ended in a draw, Naiditsch,A (2710) -Adhiban,B (2683) Astana 2019}) 9. Bxe7 Nxe7 10. Nc3 Bd7 11. Nde2 O-O-O 12. Qc1 ({The endgame after:} 12. Qxd6 cxd6 13. Rad1 Kc7 {is equal.} ) 12... Ng6 13. Qe3 (13. f4 {is a move that White normally wants to play, but he is not fully coordinated for that:} Bg4 14. Ng3 h5 {provides Black excellent counterplay.}) 13... Kb8 14. Rad1 (14. f4 Bc8 15. Rad1 Qe7 { tranposes.}) 14... Qe7 15. f4 Bc8 $146 {A logical novelty. The bishop is heading to the long diagonal.} ({A correspondence game saw the preliminary maneuver:} 15... Bg4 16. Rxd8+ Rxd8 17. Nc1 {and only then} Bc8 {in order to fianchettoe the bishop. After} 18. Nd3 a5 19. Rd1 b6 20. g3 Nf8 21. Ne5 Rxd1+ 22. Nxd1 Bb7 {Black did OK in Balshaw,A (2275)-Ellis,L (2322) ICCF email 2011}) 16. Nc1 ({In hindsight, a move like:} 16. a3 $5 {seems like an improvement. The pawn moves away from a possibly vulnerable square and White often wants to block the enemy queenside majority with b2-b4. Then if Black plays like in the game:} Rxd1 (16... c5 {is premature to} 17. Nd5) (16... b6 {is not perfect either as White can ruin Black's plans with:} 17. Nd4 Bb7 18. b4 $1 {This is where we see one of the points behind the a2-a3 advance.}) 17. Rxd1 Rd8 ({ Instead} 17... Re8 18. b4 {will prevent the queensdie fianchetto for good.}) 18. Rxd8 Qxd8 19. Qd3 {would lead to a more favorable situation for the first player than the one in the game. White is happy to trade as many pieces as he can, ideally all of them, starting with the major ones.}) 16... Rxd1 (16... b6 {at once was also possible.}) 17. Rxd1 b6 18. Nd3 a5 $1 {An accurate move. b2-b4 blockade will not be a problem now.} (18... c5 {is once again met with} 19. Nd5) ({Whereas} 18... Bb7 19. b4 $1 {is good for White.}) 19. Re1 Ba6 20. Nf2 ({Naiditsch avoids the swap of the light pieces after:} 20. a3 Bxd3 21. cxd3 c5 {since the opponent's position would be too solid.}) 20... Re8 21. a3 f6 22. Ne2 $6 {But this maneuver is dubious. The knight on g3 can demonstrate only temporary activity, whereas once that it is chased back it will become vulnarable on g3.} ({Play like:} 22. g3 {To defend the f4 pawn followed by doubling along the d-file was more to the point. Say:} c5 (22... Bb7 23. Rd1 c5 24. Qd3 {is similar.}) 23. Rd1 Bb7 24. Qd3 Bc6 25. Nd5 {with approximate equality.}) 22... Bb7 23. Ng3 c5 {Now the white center is unpleasantly pressurized.} 24. Nf5 Qf7 25. Rd1 ({After} 25. b3 {Svidler would have most likely continued with} Nf8 {as in the game.} ({Although he could have swapped the knights too with:} 25... Ne7 26. Nxe7 (26. Ng3 Nc6 27. Nf5 g6) 26... Rxe7 { when Black is fine.})) 25... Nf8 {Svidler plays for the maximum. He will first chase the active white knight back and then will look for the optimal setup of his forces against the enemy e4 pawn.} (25... Ne7 {was still possible with good play for Black after:} 26. Nxe7 ({The pin:} 26. Rd7 $2 {is suicidal:} Nxf5 ) 26... Qxe7) 26. c3 {In order to control the d4 square.} a4 $1 {Fixing some weaknesses on the queenside.} ({The text move is even better than:} 26... g6 27. Ng3 f5 28. e5 {which also leads to some edge for Black after both:} Ne6 ({ Or} 28... g5 $5)) 27. h3 Ne6 28. Ng3 {The knight move on its own. It is time for Svidler to find the optimal set-up for his pieces and aim them against the e4 pawn. He solves this task brilliantly.} Bc6 $1 29. Rd2 Nd8 $3 {Rerouting the knight to the best possible square. It all starts to make sense now. All the black pieces will be perfectly placed whereas White cannot keep his ones on their spots. The knights are not stable enough.} ({Better than:} 29... g5 $5 30. fxg5 fxg5 31. Nd3) 30. Qd3 (30. Nf5 Nb7 {changes nothing.}) 30... Nb7 31. Kh2 Nd6 32. Rd1 {Moves the rook away from the possible skewer after Bc6-b5.} h5 $1 {The point. White's position deteriorates.} (32... Qe7 33. Re1 {is less precise.}) 33. Re1 ({The pawn is unstoppable:} 33. h4 g5 $1 34. fxg5 fxg5 35. hxg5 {drops a piece} Qxf2) 33... h4 34. Nf1 Qb3 {With iron logic Svidler outplayed his opponent and Naiditsch can no longer defend his weaknesses.} 35. e5 (35. Re2 Bb5) 35... fxe5 36. fxe5 Qxb2 37. Re2 Qb5 38. Qc2 Nc4 39. e6 Nxa3 0-1 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.21"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "2828"] [BlackElo "2775"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:37:08"] [BlackClock "0:51:57"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qd2 (5. Bb5 Nf6 6. Bg5 Nd7 7. Qd2 a6 8. Be2 h6 9. Be3 e6 10. a4 b6 11. Nf3 Bb7 12. O-O Be7 {Zvjaginsev,V (2642) -Fedoseev,V (2719) St Petersburg 2018}) 5... Nf6 6. b3 e6 7. Bb2 d5 8. exd5 exd5 9. O-O-O Be6 10. a3 $146 (10. Nf3 Qa5 11. Nd4 Bb4 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Qe3 Kf7 14. Kb1 d4 15. Rxd4 Nxd4 16. Qxd4 Rhd8 17. Qe3 Bxc3 18. Bxc3 Rd1+ 19. Kb2 Qb6 {Guseinov,G (2664)-Sarana,A (2618) St Petersburg 2018}) 10... Bc5 11. Nf3 O-O 12. Bd3 Rc8 13. Rhe1 Re8 14. h3 Qa5 15. Nb5 Qxd2+ 16. Rxd2 a6 17. Nbd4 Ne4 18. Rde2 {MVL had missed this. White has some pressure.} Bd7 19. Kd1 $1 { Stopping Nxf2.} f6 20. Nxc6 Bxc6 21. Nd4 Bd7 22. f3 Ng3 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 (23... Bxe8 24. b4 Bd6 25. Nf5 (25. Nb3) 25... Nxf5 26. Bxf5 {MVL}) 24. c4 {This seemed strong, but perhaps White should have gone for 'slow play'.} dxc4 25. Bxc4+ Kf8 26. b4 Bd6 27. Ne6+ Bxe6 28. Rxe6 Rd8 29. Kc2 Nh5 30. Re4 b5 31. Bd3 Nf4 32. Bf1 Re8 33. Kb3 Rxe4 34. fxe4 Ne6 35. a4 Nc7 36. Bd4 Ke7 37. Be2 Kd7 38. Be3 Be5 39. h4 g6 40. h5 gxh5 41. Bxh5 Ne6 42. Bg4 Kd6 43. a5 Nd4+ 44. Ka2 Kc7 45. Bf2 Nc2 46. Kb3 Nd4+ 47. Ka2 Nc2 48. Kb3 Nd4+ 49. Ka2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Site "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Date "2019.04.20"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A56"] [WhiteElo "2516"] [BlackElo "2845"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "162"] [EventDate "2019.04.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 {Carlsen chooses the most combative approach against his young opponent.} 3. d5 g6 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 Bg7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Be2 e5 8. O-O Ne8 9. Ne1 f5 10. exf5 (10. Nd3 f4 {leads to interesting positions where Black can argue that he has a superior version of the King's Indian because his pawn is already on c5. On the other hand White can open up things pretty quickly with b4.}) 10... gxf5 11. f4 Nd7 12. Nd3 e4 13. Nf2 Bxc3 $5 {A very committal decision by Magnus. But he wanted to imbalance the play and hence took this decision. Usually such an exchange is bad, because White's remaining dark squared bishop on the board becomes very strong. But here the pawns on d6 and c5 limit the scope of the bishop and the pawns on c3 and c4 cannot correct themselves, so the only way for the bishop to get into the game is via e1-h4 or f2-h4.} 14. bxc3 Ndf6 15. Be3 Ng7 {The first new move of the game.} 16. Qe1 Bd7 17. Nd1 (17. a4 a5 {is a common way to play, fixing the a4 weakness.}) 17... Ba4 18. h3 Bxd1 {Now why was this required? Carsen didn't want that White could move his bishop from e3 to f2 and place his knight on e3.} (18... Kh8 19. Bf2 Qd7 20. Ne3 $14 {White has a stable edge here.}) 19. Qxd1 Qe8 20. Kf2 Qg6 21. Rg1 (21. g4 {was possible but it doesn't change the character of the game drastically.}) 21... Kh8 22. a4 Rg8 23. Qf1 Nfh5 24. g3 (24. g4 fxg4 25. hxg4 Nxf4 26. Bxf4 Raf8 27. Ke3 Qf6 28. Kd2 Qxf4+ 29. Qxf4 Rxf4 30. Ke3 $11 {The position is around even.}) 24... Raf8 25. Qg2 Qf6 26. Rac1 Qd8 27. Qh2 Nf6 28. g4 {Vincent gets the pawn rolling on the kingside.} Nd7 29. g5 Qa5 30. g6 $6 {The pawn should not have been pushed. It is now very weak here.} (30. h4 Qxa4 31. h5 {is a powerful attack.} Qa5 32. h6 Ne8 33. Ra1 Qd8 34. Rxa7 $18) 30... h6 31. Rb1 Rb8 32. Qg3 Qd8 33. Ke1 Ne8 34. Kd2 Nf8 35. Bf2 Qe7 36. Ke3 Qf6 37. Kd2 Nxg6 {The g6 pawn which was pushed in a hurry, became weak and fell.} 38. h4 Ne7 39. Qh3 Rxg1 40. Rxg1 Qf7 41. h5 Nf6 42. Bh4 b6 43. Rb1 Qf8 44. Rg1 Qf7 45. Rb1 Qg7 46. Rg1 Qf8 47. Kc2 Nfg8 48. Kd2 Qf7 49. Kc2 Rf8 50. Kd2 Qe8 51. Ra1 Rf7 52. a5 bxa5 53. Rxa5 Nc8 54. Ra1 Qf8 55. Rb1 Nb6 56. Rg1 Rg7 $6 $11 (56... a5 {followed by a4 gives Black a clear advantage.}) 57. Rxg7 Kxg7 58. Qg3+ Kh8 59. Qg6 a5 60. Bf1 a4 61. Kc2 a3 62. Kb3 Na4 63. Bh3 Qg7 64. Qxg7+ Kxg7 65. Bxf5 Nf6 66. Kxa3 Nxc3 67. Bf2 $2 {The critical mistake of the game.} (67. Kb3 Ne2 68. Bxf6+ Kxf6 69. Bxe4 Nxf4 70. Bf3 {would lead to a draw because although the h5 pawn is weak, white king can infiltrate via the queenside.} Kg5 71. Ka4 Nd3 (71... Nxh5 $2 72. Bxh5 Kxh5 73. Kb5 Kg5 (73... Kg6 74. Kc6 h5 75. Kxd6 h4 76. Kxc5 h3 77. d6 h2 78. d7 h1=Q 79. d8=Q $18) 74. Kc6 h5 75. Kxd6 h4 76. Ke5 $18) 72. Kb5 Ne5 73. Be2 Kf5 74. Bf1 $11) 67... Ne2 68. Ka4 Nxh5 69. Ka5 (69. Bxe4 Nc3+ $19) 69... Nf6 70. Kb6 Kf7 71. Kc7 Ke7 72. Be3 Nd4 73. Bg6 h5 74. Bf2 Nf3 75. Bf5 Nd2 76. Bh4 e3 77. Bd3 Nf3 78. Bxf6+ Kxf6 79. Kxd6 h4 80. Kc7 Nd4 81. Kc8 e2 0-1 [Event "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Site "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Date "2019.04.21"] [Round "2"] [White "Anand, V.."] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2516"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.04.18"] 1. e4 {Best by test 1.e4!} c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bd3 $5 {If you look at the database, you will find that this move in terms of popularity is on tenth place. But Anand seems to have prepared this well.} e5 7. Nde2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Ng3 (9. f4 {is another way to go.}) 9... Be6 10. Nd5 Bxd5 (10... Nxd5 11. exd5 Bc8 12. f4 $14) 11. exd5 g6 (11... Nxd5 12. Bxh7+ Kxh7 13. Qxd5 Nc6 14. Nf5 $14) 12. c4 Nbd7 13. Bh6 Re8 14. Rc1 Bf8 15. Bg5 { Anand keeps the bishops on.} h6 16. Bd2 a5 17. b3 h5 18. Re1 Bg7 19. h3 { The last couple of moves by Anand are just improving his position before doing anything concrete. Many times it is also a strategy against these youngsters because they might make an impatient decision.} Qe7 20. Be3 Qf8 21. Qd2 h4 22. Ne2 Nh5 23. Nc3 f5 24. Bg5 {Anand hasn't done much in this position apart from placing his pieces on best square. But you can see how Vincent has gone for active play and created some weaknesses which Vishy makes use of in a perfect manner.} Nf4 {Vishy was very critical of this move, because it allowed him to take on f4 and then plonk his rook on e6. However, Black didn't really have too many good options.} (24... Bf6 {maybe is a better choice.}) 25. Bxf4 $1 ( 25. Bxh4 Bh6 $1 $17) 25... exf4 26. Re6 $1 Ne5 (26... Rxe6 27. dxe6 Nc5 28. Be2 Nxe6 29. Bf3 {White has excellent compensation, but Black is still fighting.}) 27. Be2 Rxe6 28. dxe6 Re8 29. Qd5 Qe7 30. Nb5 $1 {The b7 and d6 both the pawns are weak and Vishy is able to finish off the game quite easily.} Qxe6 31. Qxb7 Re7 32. Qb8+ Kh7 33. Qxd6 Qxd6 34. Nxd6 Bf8 35. Nb5 Nc6 (35... Rd7 {With the idea of Rd2 was better but White is still pushing.} 36. c5 Rd2 37. Bf1 Nc6 38. Nc7 $16 {with Ne6 coming up.}) 36. Kf1 Re5 37. a3 Bc5 38. Bf3 Nd4 39. Nxd4 Bxd4 40. Rb1 {b4 cannot be stopped now.} Re6 41. b4 Rb6 42. Rd1 Bb2 43. c5 (43. c5 Rb8 44. bxa5 {and one of the pawns will reach the last rank!}) 1-0 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.22"] [Round "3.5"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C11"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2693"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:14:48"] [BlackClock "0:15:29"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qb6 9. Qd2 Qxb2 10. Rb1 Qa3 11. Bb5 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 a6 13. Bxd7+ (13. Rb3 Qe7 14. Ba4 b5 (14... Qd8 15. Bb6 Qh4+ 16. g3 Qg4 17. Nd1 (17. O-O Be7 18. f5 O-O 19. Rf4 Bg5 20. Rxg4 Bxd2 21. Bxd7 Bxd7 22. f6 g6 {Topalov,V (2749)-Grischuk,A (2761) Paris FRA 2017}) 17... Be7 18. Nf2 Qg6 19. Rc3 O-O {Grischuk,A (2763) -Morozevich,A (2770) Astana 2012}) 15. Bxb5 axb5 16. Nxb5 Qd8 17. Qc3 Qa5 18. Nc7+ Kd8 19. Nxa8 Qxa8 20. O-O Qa4 {Topalov,V (2775)-Nakamura,H (2774) Monte Carlo 2011}) 13... Bxd7 14. Rb3 Qe7 15. Rxb7 Rc8 (15... Qd8 16. O-O (16. f5 Qc8 17. Rb3 Qc4 18. fxe6 fxe6 19. Rf1 Be7 20. Qd3 Rc8 21. Kd2 Rf8 {Karjakin,S (2786)-Nakamura,H (2767) Zug 2013}) 16... Rb8 17. Rxb8 Qxb8 18. f5 Qc8 19. f6 gxf6 20. Qf4 (20. Rxf6 h5 21. Rf3 Qc4 22. h3 Be7 {Grischuk,A (2792)-Agdestein, S (2628) Stavanger 2014}) 20... Qc4 21. exf6 Rg8 22. Nxd5 exd5 23. Re1+ Kd8 24. Qb8+ Bc8 25. Qa7 Be6 26. Bb6+ Kc8 27. Qa8+ Kd7 28. Qb7+ Kd6 29. Ba7 Rxg2+ 30. Kxg2 Qg4+ 31. Kh1 Qf3+ 32. Kg1 Qg4+ 33. Kh1 Qf3+ {1/2 Caruana,F (2795)-Robson, R (2663) Saint Louis 2016}) (15... Qh4+ 16. Bf2 (16. Qf2 Be7 17. g3 (17. Qxh4 Bxh4+ 18. Kd2 Bd8 19. Rhb1 Bc6 20. Rb8 Rxb8 21. Rxb8 O-O 22. Rc8 Bb7 23. Rb8 Bc6 24. Rc8 Bb7 25. Rb8 {1/2 Dominguez Perez,L (2730)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2718) Sochi 2012}) 17... Qh3 18. Kd2 Bd8 19. Rhb1 Bc6 20. Bc5 Bxb7 21. Rxb7 Rc8 22. Kc1 f6 {Karjakin,S (2771)-Agdestein,S (2628) Stavanger 2014}) 16... Qd8 17. Bb6 (17. O-O Qc8 18. Rb3 Qc4 19. Ne2 Be7 20. Rfb1 O-O 21. Rb7 Qc8 {Karjakin,S (2776)-Nakamura,H (2774) Monte Carlo 2011}) 17... Qc8 18. Rc7 Qd8 19. Qd4 Ba3 ( 19... Rc8 20. Rxc8 Qxc8 21. O-O Qc6 (21... a5 22. f5 Bb4 23. Rf3 Qc4 24. Rg3 Bc6 {Almasi,Z (2707)-Meier,G (2659) Lubbock 2010}) 22. Rb1 Be7 23. Qe3 O-O 24. Bd4 Rc8 25. Rb6 Qc4 26. Rb7 Qc6 27. Rb6 Qc4 28. Rb7 Qc6 {1/2 Anand,V (2772) -Nakamura,H (2769) Wijk aan Zee 2013}) 20. Nb1 Be7 21. c4 Rc8 (21... Rb8 22. Nd2 O-O 23. cxd5 exd5 24. O-O Bf5 25. Nb3 Ba3 {Leko,P (2744)-Nakamura,H (2767) Zug 2013}) 22. Rb7 Bb4+ 23. Kf2 Qxb6 24. Rxb6 Bc5 25. Rd1 dxc4 26. Nc3 Bxd4+ 27. Rxd4 Rc7 28. Rxa6 Ke7 29. Rb6 (29. Ke3 Rb8 30. Rd2 f6 31. Ra5 Be8 { Dominguez Perez,L (2752)-Pijpers,A (2465) Novi Sad SRB 2016}) 29... Ra8 30. Ke3 Ra3 31. Kd2 Ra5 32. h4 (32. g3 f6 33. exf6+ gxf6 34. Kc1 h5 35. Kb2 h4 { Kamsky, G (2741)-Shimanov,A (2655) Tromsoe 2013}) 32... h5 33. Rb8 f6 34. exf6+ gxf6 35. g3 e5 {Caruana,F (2779)-Agdestein,S (2603) Rhodes 2013}) 16. Qe3 (16. f5 exf5 17. O-O Qd8 18. Qf2 Rc4 19. Rfb1 Bc8 {Nepomniachtchi,I (2751)-Sutovsky, E (2647) Poikovsky 2018}) (16. O-O Qa3 17. Rb3 (17. Rfb1 Bc5 18. Ne2 Bxd4+ 19. Nxd4 Rc4 20. R7b4 O-O {Jakovenko,D (2745)-Grachev,B (2669) Kazan 2014}) 17... Qa5 18. Qe3 Bc5 19. Ne2 O-O {Karjakin,S (2771)-Morozevich,A (2731) Dubai 2014}) 16... Qd8 17. O-O Rc4 18. Rfb1 (18. Kh1 Be7 (18... Qc8 $5) 19. f5 Bc8 20. Bb6 Bc5 21. Bxc5 Bxb7 22. fxe6 fxe6 23. Bd6 Qa5 24. Qa7 Qxc3 25. Qxb7 Kd8 26. Qe7+ Kc8 27. Rb1 {1-0 (27) Jakovenko,D (2710)-Goryachkina,A (2478) Sochi RUS 2017}) 18... Be7 19. f5 {"This should be critical." (Vallejo)} (19. Rb8 Bc8) 19... Bg5 20. Qf2 exf5 21. e6 fxe6 22. Bxg7 Rg8 23. Be5 d4 $146 (23... Bf6 24. Rxd7 Kxd7 25. Qa7+ Rc7 26. Bxc7 Qxc7 27. Qxa6 Rb8 28. Rxb8 Qxb8 29. Qa4+ Kd6 30. Qa3+ Kd7 31. Qa4+ Kd6 32. Qa3+ {1/2 Shirov,A (2631)-Forcen Esteban,D (2569) Linares 2018 }) 24. Qe2 Be3+ 25. Kf1 (25. Kh1 $2 Bc6 26. Qh5+ Rg6 {and Bxg2 will be checkmate.}) 25... Qh4 (25... Bc6 $2 26. Qh5+ Rg6 27. Rxh7 Bxg2+ 28. Ke2 { wins here.}) 26. Rxd7 Kxd7 27. Rb7+ Ke8 28. Rb8+ Kf7 29. Rb7+ (29. Rxg8 { wouldn't be in the spirit of the position (Leko) and Black is fine after or} Rxc3 (29... Kxg8 30. Bg3 Qe7 ({not} 30... Qxg3 31. hxg3 Rxc3 32. Qxa6 {and e6 hangs}))) 29... Ke8 30. Rb8+ Kf7 31. Rb7+ Ke8 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.22"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Meier, Georg"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C11"] [WhiteElo "2735"] [BlackElo "2628"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:28:22"] [BlackClock "0:05:23"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qb6 9. Qd2 Qxb2 10. Rb1 Qa3 11. Bb5 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Bb4 {"[This] felt of a bit of a betrayal. Georg is a Rubinstein player. I knew more or less nothing starting from here."} 13. Rb3 (13. O-O a6 14. Rb3 Qa5 15. Rfb1 Be7 16. Bxd7+ Bxd7 17. Rxb7 Bc5 18. Rb8+ Ke7 19. R1b5 Bxd4+ 20. Qxd4 Qa3 21. Rxh8 {1/2 (21) Edouard,R (2679)-Meier,G (2632) Helsingor 2014}) 13... Qa5 14. a3 Be7 15. f5 exf5 16. Nxd5 Qxd2+ 17. Kxd2 Bd8 18. Rc3 {Here Meier started thinking. "I suspect it should be a draw."} (18. c4) (18. Rg3 a6 19. Ba4 b5 20. Bb3 Nf8 21. Rxg7 Ne6 22. Nf6+ Kf8 (22... Bxf6 23. exf6 Nxd4 24. Bxf7+ Kd8 25. Bd5 Rb8 26. Re1) 23. Bxe6 Kxg7 24. Bd5) 18... Ba5 $146 (18... a6 19. Bd3 Nf8 20. Bb6 Be6 21. Nc7+ Bxc7 22. Bxc7 g6 23. g4 Bd5 24. Rg1 f4 25. h4 Ne6 {Sahu,S (2340) -Singh,G (2265) Kolkata 1996}) 19. Nc7+ ({Meier told Svidler he was calculating } 19. Re1 a6 20. Ba4 Bxc3+ 21. Kxc3 O-O 22. Nc7 Rb8 23. Ba7 {and it's a mess.}) 19... Bxc7 20. Rxc7 Kd8 21. Rc3 Nf8 22. Bc5 Bd7 23. Bxf8 Bxb5 24. Bxg7 Rg8 25. Bf6+ Kd7 26. Rd1 $5 {Svidler finds a way to play for a win.} (26. g3) 26... f4 $6 (26... Bc6 27. Ke3+ Kc7 28. Rf1) (26... Rgc8) ({It looks like both players thought} 26... Rxg2+ 27. Ke3+ Ke8 {is dangerous for Black but the engine says it's 0.00.}) 27. g3 fxg3 28. Kc1+ Ke8 29. hxg3 Bc6 $2 (29... h5 $5) 30. Rd4 $1 {Just going for the h-pawn, and Black has no defense.} Rg6 31. Rcd3 Kf8 32. Rh4 h6 33. g4 Bb5 34. Rd2 Re8 35. g5 Rxg5 36. Rxh6 $1 Rg8 37. Rdh2 (37. Rdh2 { and Meier resigned as there's no defense against 38.Rh8 followed by mate in two.}) 1-0 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.22"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A22"] [WhiteElo "2845"] [BlackElo "2774"] [PlyCount "126"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:35:49"] [BlackClock "0:18:20"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e4 Bxc3 (4... O-O 5. Nge2 c6 6. Bg2 a6 7. O-O b5 8. d4 d6 9. a3 Bxc3 10. Nxc3 bxc4 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Na4 Be6 13. Qxd8 Rxd8 14. Be3 Nbd7 {was the first tiebreak game Carlsen,M (2835)-Caruana,F (2832) London ENG 2018}) 5. dxc3 d6 6. f3 a5 7. Nh3 {A typical position for the Reversed Rossolimo arose. Now Anand uncorks a novelty.} a4 $146 ({Instead, last month Tomashevsky held against one of the participants in Grenke with:} 7... Na6 8. Nf2 Nc5 9. Be2 Qe7 10. Qc2 O-O 11. Nd1 Be6 {Svidler,P (2736) -Tomashevsky,E (2705) Germany 2019}) 8. Nf2 Be6 9. Bd3 Nbd7 10. Qe2 {White's major plan is to tranfer his knight via d1-e3 to the d5 outpost. Therefore:} c6 {"This is just so wrong on so many levels..." (Anand)} ({At first he intended} 10... Nc5 {followed by Nf6-d7 "with normal play" (Anand)}) ({Or even first} 10... h5 11. h4 {and then} c6 {(Anand) In this case Black is no longer afraid of:} 12. f4 {as he can use the g4 hole:} Bg4) 11. f4 $1 {"I must be very close to lost." (Anand)} Nb6 ({White will develop a strong initiative after:} 11... exf4 12. gxf4 Nc5 13. Rg1 (13. Bc2 {is not bad neither.})) 12. Be3 c5 {Forced, otherwise White will push his pawn there. At least now Black can hope to hold onto the dark squares.} 13. O-O-O Qe7 14. f5 {Carlsen's play is easy and clear. The advance of the kingside pawns will squeeze the black pieces.} Bd7 15. g4 h6 {It seems good to initiate some trades along the h-file.} ({Otherwise after:} 15... O-O-O 16. g5 Ne8 17. h4 {White will choose when and what to trade.}) 16. h4 O-O-O 17. g5 Ne8 18. Bd2 ({Perhaps even more promising was:} 18. gxh6 $5 gxh6 19. Ng4 h5 20. Nf2 {in order to pick up the weakness on h5 in the future.} ) 18... hxg5 19. hxg5 Nc7 20. Ng4 {Next White is winning the only open file.} Rdg8 21. Rh2 $1 {Just in time as otherwise Black will drop the queen on the back rank and trade the rooks along the h-file.} Qf8 22. Rdh1 Kb8 23. b4 $1 { Strong play by the world champion on both wings. It seems as Black's postion will fall apart any moment now.} axb3 {The best defence.} ({Black should definitely avoid a premature} 23... f6 {when after} 24. Rh7 Rxh7 25. Rxh7 Rh8 26. g6 {the g7 pawn is fixed and will soon suffer.}) 24. axb3 Nc8 25. Kb2 Qd8 26. Rh7 Rxh7 27. Rxh7 Rh8 28. Qh2 ({Carlsen misses a chance to grow his edge with:} 28. g6 $1 fxg6 29. Rxg7 gxf5 30. exf5) 28... Rxh7 29. Qxh7 Qf8 30. Ne3 ( {Here} 30. g6 {will be met with:} fxg6 ({But not} 30... f6 {when after} 31. Nf2 (31. Bh6 Ne8) 31... Ne7 32. Nh1 {the knight will get to h5 with decisive effect.}) 31. Qxg6 Ne8 {gradully building a fortress.}) 30... Ne7 31. Kc2 ({If } 31. f6 gxf6 32. gxf6 Ng6) 31... Qg8 32. Qh4 {Correctly avoiding the trade of the queens.} (32. Qxg8+ Nxg8 33. b4 f6 {brings White a huge step closer to the fortress.}) 32... Qf8 {Anand defended brilliantly. White needs something clever.} 33. Kd1 {Carlsen tries another idea: he wants to swap the positions of his king and queen. His Majesty will defend the kingside whereas Her Majesty will try to mate the black Royalty.} Nc6 34. Qh7 Ne7 35. Ke2 Nc8 36. Kf2 Ne7 37. Be2 Qg8 38. Qh1 g6 $1 ({Otherwise White will execute his idea with: } 38... Qf8 39. Bf3 Qg8 40. Kg3 Qf8 41. b4) 39. Qh6 Ne8 40. f6 Nc6 41. b4 ({If } 41. Nd5 Nc7) 41... Nc7 42. bxc5 dxc5 43. Nd5 Ne6 44. Be3 Ka7 45. Bg4 b6 { Almost all the white pieces are optimally placed, but Black holds the fort.} 46. Nc7 (46. Bxe6 {is not good after} Bxe6 47. Qg7 Qd8) 46... Qc8 47. Nb5+ Kb8 48. Nd6 Qg8 49. Qh1 Qf8 50. Qd1 Ncd8 51. Nb5 Bc6 52. Kg1 $1 {A clever idea, which the world champion once executed against Michael Adams according to Jan Gustafsson. The king steps back and opens the road for the bishop. With seconds on the clock, Anand did not feel the danger and played the most obvious...} Nc7 {...which put him once again on the verge of the defeat.} ({ Correct was:} 52... Bxb5 53. cxb5 Kc7 {with blockade.}) 53. Bf2 Nb7 ({Only here did Black realize that the counterattack:} 53... Nxb5 54. cxb5 Bxe4 55. Bg3 Qh8 {comes one move too short and Black is mated after:} 56. Bxe5+ {(Anand) }) 54. Bg3 Bxb5 55. cxb5 Qd6 56. Qe2 {Amnesty.} ({"I could not see a move after:"} 56. Kg2 $1 {"then White will trade the queens and take on e5 after Kg2-f3." (Anand) But perhaps Black can hold with:} Qxd1 57. Bxd1 Nxb5 58. Bxe5+ Kc8 {[although here} 59. Be2 Na7 (59... Nc7 60. Bg4+ Kd8 61. Bxc7+ Kxc7 62. e5 Nd8 63. c4) 60. Ba6 $1 Nc6 61. Bf4 {looks winning for White too - PD]}) ({ Stronger seems:} 56. c4 $1 Qxd1+ 57. Bxd1 Nd6 58. Bxe5 Nxc4 59. Bg3 {with the key point of a kingside breakthrough after:} Na5 60. Bh5 $1 gxh5 61. g6 fxg6 62. f7 {and wins.}) 56... Ne6 57. Bxe6 ({Anand was still afraid of:} 57. Qc4 { although this should be holdable after:} Nxg5 58. Qd5 Qxd5 59. exd5 Nd6 60. Bxe5 Kc7 {"followed by Ng7-h7-f8-d7 to force the trade of the bishops as all the pawn endgames are draw." (Anand)}) 57... Qxe6 58. Qh2 Qg4 59. Kf2 Qxe4 60. Bxe5+ Kc8 61. Qh3+ Kd8 62. Qh8+ Kd7 63. Qh3+ Kd8 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.22"] [Round "3.3"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E16"] [WhiteElo "2516"] [BlackElo "2819"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:36:52"] [BlackClock "0:45:18"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. g3 Nc6 6. a3 Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 d5 8. Bg2 O-O (8... dxc4 9. Qc3 e5 10. dxe5 Ng4 11. O-O O-O 12. Qxc4 Ncxe5 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. Qb4 Qxb4 15. axb4 c6 {Fridman,D (2591)-Almasi,Z (2702) Batumi 2018}) 9. O-O b6 $146 (9... dxc4 10. Qc3 e5 11. dxe5 Ng4 12. Qxc4 Ncxe5 13. Nxe5 Qxe5 14. Nc3 c6 15. Rad1 Be6 {Bellegotti,G (2415)-De Filippis,F (2398) ICCF email 2016}) 10. Qc2 {Caruana wasn't sure this was necessary.} Bb7 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Nc3 Nd8 13. e3 (13. b4 $5 {Gustafsson, Leko}) 13... c5 {Black is fine now.} 14. Rfd1 Ne6 15. Rac1 Rfd8 16. Qb1 Rac8 17. b4 c4 18. Ne5 g6 19. h4 Nf8 20. Qb2 N8d7 21. f4 a6 22. Bh3 b5 {"Probably a bad move."} ({Caruana suggested} 22... Rc7) 23. g4 Nxe5 24. fxe5 Ne4 25. Nxe4 dxe4 26. g5 Rc7 27. Rf1 Bd5 28. Rf6 Rc6 {"I realized my king was so weak. It never gets any better."} 29. Qf2 a5 30. h5 axb4 31. axb4 Rf8 ({After} 31... Rxf6 32. gxf6 Qxb4 33. Qf4 Qf8 34. hxg6 hxg6 35. Kg2 {Caruana didn't see his counterplay.}) 32. Rf1 {"A really bad move."} ( {After} 32. Qf4 {"I don't see a move." (Caruana)}) 32... c3 33. Kh2 $6 { Caruana also didn't like this.} Ra8 {"Now I have so much counterplay. He lost the plot entirely."} 34. hxg6 $6 (34. Kh1 {stops} Ra2 {because of} 35. Rxc6 { (Caruana)}) 34... hxg6 35. Rxc6 Bxc6 36. Rc1 Qxb4 37. Kg3 (37. e6 {Important is } Rf8 $1 38. exf7+ Rxf7 39. Be6 Qd6+ {Caruana}) 37... Qa3 38. Rh1 $2 ({A good chance was} 38. Be6 $1 {when Black should go back:} Qe7 (38... Rf8 39. Qf6 $1 Qxc1 40. Qxg6+) (38... fxe6 39. Qf6 {also gives perpetual.})) 38... c2 39. e6 Be8 40. Qd2 Qd3 41. Qf2 Ra3 42. Kf4 Qd1 0-1 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.22"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2695"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "1:01:08"] [BlackClock "0:51:25"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ne7 10. Rd1+ Ke8 11. Nc3 Ng6 12. b3 Be7 13. Ne4 a5 (13... f6 14. Bb2 Kf7 15. Re1 h5 16. Re3 h4 17. Rae1 Rh5 18. c4 b6 19. exf6 gxf6 20. Rd1 Be6 21. Rde1 Bd7 22. Rd1 Be6 23. Rde1 Bd7 24. Rd1 {1/2 (24) Guseinov,G (2664)-Howell,D (2693) Astana 2019}) 14. Re1 a4 15. Bb2 Be6 16. Nd4 Nf4 $146 ( 16... Bd7 17. Nf6+ gxf6 18. exf6 Rg8 19. Re3 axb3 20. axb3 Rxa1+ 21. Bxa1 c5 { Lucki,S (2327)-Fillon,D (2215) ICCF email 2010}) 17. Rad1 h5 18. h4 Nd5 19. c4 Nb4 20. a3 Na6 21. b4 c5 22. Nxe6 fxe6 23. b5 Nb8 24. f4 Rf8 25. Nf6+ $5 (25. b6 $5) 25... gxf6 26. exf6 Bd6 ({The main point was} 26... Rxf6 27. Bxf6 Bxf6 28. Rxe6+ Kf7 29. Rxf6+ Kxf6 30. Rd8 {and the pin is terrible for Black. White will win on the kingside.}) 27. Rxe6+ $5 ({Promising was} 27. Rd5 $1 {and going for the h-pawn.}) 27... Kf7 28. Rde1 (28. Re3 {stops the development of the b8-knight (as on Nd7 White takes on d6) when} Rd8 29. Rg3 Rg8 30. Re3 { would also be equal.}) 28... Rd8 {Now White has to be quick because if the black knight joins the party, it's over.} 29. g4 $1 hxg4 30. h5 Nd7 31. Re7+ $1 Bxe7 32. Rxe7+ Kg8 33. Rg7+ Kh8 (33... Kf8 $2 34. h6) 34. f7 Rf8 35. f5 (35. Kf2) 35... Nb6 36. Bf6 Nxc4 (36... Nd7) 37. Rxg4+ Kh7 38. Rg7+ Kh6 39. Rg6+ Kh7 40. Rg7+ Kh6 41. Rg6+ Kh7 (41... Kxh5 42. Rg5+ Kh4 43. Rg6+ Kh3 44. Kf2 $1 Rxf7 45. Rg3+ Kh2 46. Rg2+ Kh3 47. Rg3+) 42. Rg7+ Kh6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Site "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Date "2019.04.22"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A22"] [WhiteElo "2845"] [BlackElo "2774"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "126"] [EventDate "2019.04.20"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 {Vishy is used to meeting Nc3 with Bb4 and hence Magnus went for g3.} Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 {If not on move two, then move three! But Vishy has to play Bb4!} 4. e4 $5 {This was the same move that Magnus played against Caruana at the World Championships 2018 in the rapid phase. It was clear that Anand had come prepared for it.} Bxc3 5. dxc3 d6 ({The pawn cannot be won as after} 5... Nxe4 6. Qd5 (6. Qg4 {is also interesting.}) 6... Nf6 7. Qxe5+ Qe7 8. Qxe7+ Kxe7 9. Bg2 $14 {White has a small but persistent edge.}) 6. f3 $5 {The most natural move would be to play Bg2. But Magnus has different ideas. He doesn't want his bishop to be on g2. Rather he would like to naturally place it on d3 and the knight will come into the game from h3 to f2. All of this had already been seen in Carlsen's game against Nikita Petrov from the World Rapid Championships 2018.} a5 (6... Be6 7. Nh3 h6 8. Nf2 a5 9. f4 Na6 10. f5 Bd7 11. Bg2 b5 12. cxb5 Bxb5 13. b3 a4 14. c4 Bc6 15. Be3 axb3 16. axb3 Nc5 17. Bxc5 dxc5 18. Qxd8+ Kxd8 19. Rxa8+ Bxa8 20. Kd2 $14 {1-0 (68) Carlsen,M (2835) -Petrov,N (2593) St Petersburg 2018}) 7. Nh3 $5 (7. Bd3 Be6 8. Ne2 {The knight is not so well placed here. Carlsen would like to use the e2 square for his queen and the knight would do better on f2.}) 7... a4 {The first new move of the game. Until now the players were following Svidler vs Tomashevsky.} 8. Nf2 Be6 9. Bd3 Nbd7 10. Qe2 c6 $6 (10... Nc5 11. Bc2 Nfd7 12. Nd1 Nb6 13. Ne3 { White seems to have stabilised his position. Yet, this might be a better way to play than what Vishy did in the game.}) 11. f4 $1 {Carlsen is extremely alert and now threatens to trap the bishop on e6 with f5.} Nb6 (11... Nc5 12. f5 Bc8 13. Bc2 $16) 12. Be3 {White has just free flowing development and Black has absolutely no plans in the position. Anand understands the gravity of the situation and tries to take some desperate measures.} c5 13. O-O-O (13. fxe5 { This would win a pawn, but Anand hoped that it would give him enough compensation and activity in return.} dxe5 14. Bxc5 Qc7 15. Bb4 Nxc4 16. O-O-O $36) 13... Qe7 14. f5 {Magnus now gains a lot of space on the kingside.} Bd7 15. g4 h6 16. h4 {Let's just take a stock of the situation. White has more space, he has the bishop pair and there is a huge pawn storm coming down his throat. And not to forget, the player with the white pieces is Magnus Carlsen!} O-O-O 17. g5 Ne8 18. Bd2 {Magnus prepares b4.} hxg5 19. hxg5 Nc7 20. Ng4 Rdg8 21. Rh2 Qf8 22. Rdh1 Kb8 23. b4 axb3 24. axb3 Nc8 25. Kb2 Qd8 26. Rh7 Rxh7 27. Rxh7 Rh8 {Vishy manages to exchange both the pair of rooks. His position remains quite difficult, but at least psychologically you have lesser pieces to worry about in this cramped position.} 28. Qh2 (28. Rxg7 Qf8 {traps the rook.}) (28. g6 $1 {Was a finish that Magnus missed.} fxg6 29. Rxg7 gxf5 30. exf5 $18 {The active pieces combined with the f-pawn gives White a winning edge.}) 28... Rxh7 29. Qxh7 Qf8 30. Ne3 Ne7 31. Kc2 Qg8 32. Qh4 Qf8 {This is not Anand's style to wait passively, but here he has no option.} 33. Kd1 Nc6 34. Qh7 Ne7 35. Ke2 Nc8 36. Kf2 Ne7 37. Be2 Qg8 38. Qh1 (38. Qxg8+ Nxg8 39. Nd5 {Should also be clearly better, but Carlsen wanted to keep the queens on and understandably so.}) 38... g6 $1 {A great decision to try and clarify the pawn structure on the kingside. Now Carlsen has to constantly worry about whether black will take on f5 or not. Meanwhile he has three options. Pushing to f6, taking on g6 and letting things remain as they are! Not so easy to decide, which one is the best.} 39. Qh6 (39. f6 Nc6 {give Black some squares to play with.}) 39... Ne8 (39... gxf5 40. Qxd6 $18) 40. f6 Nc6 41. b4 $5 Nc7 (41... cxb4 42. cxb4 Nd4 43. b5 $16 {Yes, Black has the d4 square, but apart from that nothing else is going his way and Bb4 is a big threat.}) 42. bxc5 dxc5 43. Nd5 Ne6 44. Be3 Ka7 45. Bg4 b6 46. Nc7 Qc8 47. Nb5+ Kb8 {White is trying hard to break in, but it is not so easy.} 48. Nd6 (48. Qh7 Ned8 $1 $11) 48... Qg8 49. Qh1 Qf8 50. Qd1 Ncd8 51. Nb5 Bc6 (51... Bxb5 52. cxb5 Kc7 $16 {White is of course better here as well. But Black has some defensive chances in the position.}) 52. Kg1 $1 {The idea of this move is pretty simple. White wants to play his bishop to g3 via f2. It's never easy to make such king moves, but Magnus is quite good at that!} Nc7 $2 {A big error. After this Black is lost.} 53. Bf2 Nb7 54. Bg3 Bxb5 55. cxb5 Qd6 {Somehow Anand is trying to minimize the damage. Now White has multiple ways to win, but all of them revolve around exchanging the queen and then using the two bishops to win the game. The most interesting way is to play Kg2 and the idea is that after the queen exchange, when a knight comes from d6-e4-c3, then there is no check on e2 and hence Kg2 is an ultra prophylactic move that is completely winning. Magnus tries to keep the queens on and this easies Anand's defensive task.} 56. Qe2 $2 {The idea is to play Qh2, but I think Carlsen missed that Ne6-f4 would be a strong idea.} ( 56. Kg2 $1 Z0 57. Qxd6 Nxd6 58. Bxe5 Nxe4 59. Bf4 Nxc3 60. Be6 $1 $18) (56. Qxd6 Nxd6 57. Bxe5 Nxe4) (56. c4 $1 Qxd1+ 57. Bxd1 Nd6 58. Bxe5 Nxe4 (58... Nxc4 59. Bg3 $18) 59. Bf4 Kc8 60. Bg4+ Kd8 61. Kf1 Ne8 62. Ke2 N8d6 63. Ke3 $18 ) 56... Ne6 $1 57. Bxe6 (57. Qh2 Nf4 $11) 57... Qxe6 58. Qh2 Qg4 $1 {Finally Black gets his activity.} 59. Kf2 Qxe4 60. Bxe5+ Kc8 61. Qh3+ Kd8 62. Qh8+ Kd7 63. Qh3+ Kd8 {Carlsen is objective enough to understand that he has no advantage now and accepts a draw. A moral victory for Vishy Anand as he was completely losing after around 11 to 12 moves into the game! Great fight displayed by Anand who didn't bow down to Magnus' excellent technique.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.23"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2735"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:45:00"] [BlackClock "0:25:32"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 b4 9. d4 d6 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Nbd2 Bc5 12. a5 h6 (12... Be6 13. Bxe6 fxe6 14. Qe2 Ng4 15. Rf1 Bxf2+ 16. Rxf2 Nd4 17. Qc4 Nxf2 18. Kxf2 Qh4+ 19. Kg1 Qg4 { So, W (2788)-Aronian,L (2805) London 2017}) 13. h3 Qd6 14. Qe2 Be6 15. Nc4 Qe7 16. Be3 Rab8 17. Bxc5 $146 (17. Red1 Nxe4 18. Ba4 Ng3 19. fxg3 Bxc4 20. Qxc4 Bxe3+ 21. Kh2 Nxa5 22. Qe4 Bb6 23. Rd5 Nb7 24. Rxe5 Qf6 {Karjakin,S (2770) -Svidler,P (2743) Kazan 2014}) 17... Qxc5 18. Ncd2 Rfe8 ({Afterward Svidler said his analysis went} 18... Bxb3 19. cxb3 Qb5 {but during the game he didn't like} 20. Qxb5 Rxb5 21. Rec1 Nxa5 22. Rxc7 Nb7 {and "it's drawish but it's a nightmare," said Leko, who also analysed this.}) 19. Qxa6 Ra8 20. Qe2 Nxa5 21. Bxe6 fxe6 22. Ra4 (22. Ra2 Nd7 23. Rea1 Nb6) 22... Ra7 $2 {Blundering a pawn. "In bad positions it's easy to blunder." (Leko)} 23. Qe3 $1 Qxe3 24. Rxe3 { Now both e5 and b4 hang.} c5 25. Nxe5 Nc6 26. Rxa7 Nxa7 27. Rd3 Nb5 28. f3 Ra8 29. Nb3 Rc8 30. Nc4 Kf8 31. Kf2 Ke7 32. Rd1 g5 33. Ra1 Nd7 34. Ke3 Nd6 35. Nxd6 Kxd6 36. Ra6+ Ke7 37. Na5 Ne5 38. g3 1-0 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.23"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B11"] [WhiteElo "2693"] [BlackElo "2774"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:51:44"] [BlackClock "1:23:55"] 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. g3 Nf6 7. a3 (7. Bg2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2 a5 10. d3 Na6 11. f4 Nc7 12. g4 dxe4 13. dxe4 Nb5 14. Nxb5 cxb5 15. Be3 Qc7 {Nakamura,H (2777)-Aronian,L (2767) chess.com INT 2018}) 7... Bc5 8. d3 O-O 9. Bg2 Nbd7 10. O-O b5 11. Qd1 $146 (11. Qe2 a5 12. Bd2 Bd4 13. Nd1 dxe4 14. dxe4 Ne5 15. Bf4 Nc4 16. c3 Bc5 17. a4 Qb6 {Aguiar,H (2028) -Koekemoer,B Caldas Novas 2011}) 11... Qb6 12. Qe2 a5 13. Kh1 d4 14. Nb1 e5 15. Nd2 Bd6 16. f4 Qc7 17. f5 Nb6 18. g4 c5 {"I thought I was worse, quite simply. I thought his attack would be much faster than mine," said Anand.} 19. Nf3 ({ Aronian suggested} 19. g5 Nfd7 20. f6 ({or} 20. Qh5 Rfc8 21. Nf3 {and Anand was worried about the plan Nf3-h2-g4 which Vallejo didn't see.}) 20... g6 21. h4) 19... c4 20. Bg5 {Now White's attack will be too slow. Aronian said he wasn't even sure if White is threatening to take on f6 here.} Nfd7 21. f6 g6 22. Bh6 (22. h4 $5) 22... Rfc8 23. Ng5 $2 (23. Qf2 {or}) (23. Qd2 {make more sense.}) 23... Bf8 $1 {Remarkably, trading the dark-squared bishops helps Black a lot here. The pawn on f6 is too weak for the cruel plan to just bring the white queen to h6, which means Black's attack on the queenside will be quicker.} 24. Bxf8 Nxf8 25. Qe1 Nbd7 26. a4 bxa4 27. Rxa4 cxd3 28. cxd3 h6 29. Nf3 Ne6 30. Qh4 Kh7 ({Anand noted that the immediate} 30... Qc2 {is also fine.} ) 31. g5 h5 32. Raa1 Qc2 33. Rf2 Qxd3 34. Bf1 Qb3 35. Nd2 Qb4 36. Be2 {A last try but Anand won't make a mistake in the remainder.} Qxd2 37. Bxh5 Qxg5 38. Bxg6+ Kxg6 39. Rg2 Qxg2+ 40. Kxg2 Rh8 41. Qg3+ Kxf6 42. Rf1+ Ke7 43. Qa3+ Ndc5 44. Rc1 Kd6 45. b4 axb4 46. Qxb4 Rab8 47. Qc4 Ke7 0-1 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.23"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B34"] [WhiteElo "2819"] [BlackElo "2845"] [PlyCount "142"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:49:00"] [BlackClock "1:34:45"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Ne7 9. c4 Ng6 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qb4 Bf5 12. h4 h5 13. Bg5 Qb8 14. Qa4 $146 ( 14. Be2 a6 15. Nc3 Qc7 16. g3 Be7 17. Be3 e4 18. O-O O-O 19. Bxh5 Ne5 { Karjakin,S (2753)-Carlsen,M (2845) Shamkir 2019}) 14... Bd7 15. Qc2 Bxb5 16. cxb5 Be7 17. Bd3 Nf8 18. b6 {Caruana felt this was the critical move.} (18. Be3 ) 18... Nd7 {"A bit of a surprise."} ({Caruana thought} 18... axb6 {would lead to a dangerous rook ending for Black after the forced sequence} 19. Bb5+ Nd7 20. Rc1 Qd8 21. Qc7 Bxg5 22. hxg5 Ke7 23. O-O Rc8 24. Qxb7 Rb8 25. Qxd7+ Qxd7 26. Bxd7 Kxd7 27. f4) 19. bxa7 (19. Bb5 Qd8 20. Rc1 Qxb6 {is met by} 21. Bxd7+ $1 (21. Qc7 Qxb5 22. Qc8+ Bd8 $1 23. Qxa8 f6) 21... Kxd7 22. O-O {with a plus for White.}) 19... Qxa7 20. O-O Bxg5 21. hxg5 O-O 22. Bf5 Rad8 23. b4 (23. Qc7 $5 Nc5 24. b4 Na6 25. Qc4 g6 26. Bh3 {Caruana}) 23... Qd4 24. Qc7 Nb6 25. Rad1 ({Here Caruana should have tried} 25. g6 $1 Nxd5 26. gxf7+ Kh8 27. Qxb7 Rb8 28. Qd7 {with the advantage, but he missed that} Nf4 {can be answered by} 29. g3 $1 Ne2+ 30. Kh2 {and Black is in danger of getting mated.}) 25... Qf4 {"When we got to this position I started to realize it's just a mess and probably OK for Black." (Caruana)} 26. Bh3 Na4 27. g6 fxg6 (27... f5 28. Rc1) 28. Qc2 b5 (28... Qxb4 $5) 29. Qxg6 Rf6 30. Qxh5 g6 $1 ({In his earlier calculations Caruana had only looked at} 30... Rh6 31. Qg4 Qxg4 32. Bxg4 {which is a version of the endgame where White is better instead of Black.}) 31. Qg4 Qxg4 32. Bxg4 Rf4 33. Be6+ Kg7 34. Rc1 (34. a3 Nc3 35. Rd2 Rd4) 34... Rxb4 35. Rc7+ Kh6 36. g3 Nc5 37. f4 $1 (37. Kg2 Rf8) 37... exf4 {Quickly played.} ({Caruana was more worried about} 37... Ne4 38. fxe5 dxe5 39. Re1 Rf8 (39... Ng5 40. Re3) 40. Rc2 {and "it's holding on by a thread, if it is." (Caruana)}) 38. Rxf4 Rxf4 39. gxf4 Ra8 40. Rc6 Ne4 41. Bh3 $1 {Caruana was lucky that this was the 41st move. He spent 24 minutes to find the clearest way to the draw.} ({The instinctive reaction is} 41. f5 Rxa2 42. f6 Ra8 43. f7 {but Caruana was worried to lose both his pawns after} Kg7 44. Rb6 Kf6 45. Rxb5 Ng5 {however} 46. Rb1 Nxe6 47. Rf1+ $1 Ke7 48. dxe6 {still draws.}) ({He also wasn't sure about} 41. Rb6 Rxa2 42. Rxb5 Rf2 43. f5 g5 (43... gxf5 44. Rb4) 44. Rb8 (44. Rb4 Rf4) 44... Rf4 45. Rg8 g4 46. Kg2 g3) 41... Rxa2 42. Bg2 Ng3 (42... Nc5 43. Rxd6 b4 44. Rb6 ({or} 44. Rc6 $1) 44... b3 45. d6 b2 46. Kh2 {Caruana}) 43. Rxd6 Ne2+ 44. Kf1 Nxf4 45. Be4 Ra4 46. Bxg6 {"I don't need this tactic really but I might as well..." (Caruana)} Nxg6 47. Rb6 Rf4+ 48. Ke1 b4 49. d6 Rd4 50. d7 Rxd7 51. Rxb4 Kg5 52. Ke2 Re7+ 53. Kd2 Kf5 54. Rb5+ Ne5 55. Rb4 Rd7+ 56. Ke2 Nd3 57. Ra4 Nf4+ 58. Ke1 Kg4 59. Ra3 Rd8 60. Rc3 Rh8 61. Ra3 Rh2 62. Kd1 Kf5 63. Re3 Nd5 64. Re8 Kf4 65. Kc1 Nc3 66. Re7 Ne4 67. Re8 Ke3 68. Re7 Rh6 69. Rc7 Kd3 70. Rd7+ Rd6 71. Rxd6+ Nxd6 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.23"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "2695"] [BlackElo "2516"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 {Naiditsch tries to confuse his younger opponent as much as possible.} a6 3. Nge2 ({Naturally White can always switch back to the main lines with:} 3. Nf3 d6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Be3 {Guseinov,G (2664) -Artemiev,V (2709) Skopje 2018}) 3... d6 4. a4 Nf6 {It is working. Keymer already thought for more than four minutes on this move.} 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. f4 {Now the players enter Closed Variation waters, once a favorite of both Smyslov and Spassky.} ({The last moment in which White could have switched back to "more" theoretical positions with} 8. d4) 8... O-O 9. d3 Rb8 10. h3 Nd7 $146 {A logical novelty. The knight opens the road for the bishop.} ({I doubt that the players knew that a predecessor saw:} 10... Qc7 11. g4 b5 12. axb5 axb5 13. Ng3 b4 14. Nce2 Nd7 15. f5 {Leiro Giralt,D (2174) -Cuadras Avellana,J (2250) Barcelona 2019}) 11. g4 h6 12. Ng3 Bh4 $1 {"This bishop is such a monster! I would hang to have such a bishop." (Aronian)} 13. Nce2 b5 {The pawn structure obliges White to attack on the kingside and Black on the opposite wing. Both players should however should pay a close attention to the center.} 14. Kh2 b4 15. Be3 ({If White tries to get rid of the annoying bishop with:} 15. Ng1 {then} Nd4 {when the opening of the queenside} 16. c3 bxc3 17. bxc3 Nb3 {works well for Black.}) 15... a5 16. Qd2 ({Keymer is ready for the opening of the center after:} 16. d4 Ba6 $1) 16... Ba6 {Here c5-c4 is the positional threat.} 17. b3 {Duly stopped. Next Naiditsch prepares his kingside assault.} Qe7 18. Rg1 Rbc8 {Protecting the knight against any central surprises, like e4-e5.} 19. Raf1 g6 20. e5 {Finally Naiditsch decided that the position should get opened.} ({Black is not afraid of:} 20. f5 Bg5) 20... d5 ({ On} 20... dxe5 21. f5 $1 {would be the reply when} Bg5 {is not that appealing any more due to:} 22. Bxg5 Qxg5 23. Qxg5 hxg5 24. fxe6 fxe6 25. Rxf8+ Kxf8 26. Bxc6 $1 {followed by Ng3-e4 and the knights dominate.}) 21. f5 Ncxe5 {So far the young German player did really well, but his last move opened the game in White's favor. With so many options one can easily get low on time and choose wrong!} ({The correct way was suggested by Keymer's coach:} 21... g5 $1 { "is so aestetically pleasing" (Leko). Black locks the kingside and if Naiditsch tries to mate a-la Aronian with:} 22. f6 Qd8 23. Bxd5 {there is the cool a-la-Leko defence:} Ncxe5 $1 {which destroys the white center. Then Black would be better.} ({There is no need to enter the complications after:} 23... exd5 24. Nf5)) 22. Bxh6 Rfe8 23. fxg6 fxg6 (23... Nxg6 {does not solve Black's kingside problems either as} 24. Nh5 {brings more pieces closer to the king.}) 24. g5 Nf7 {Obviously Black intended to deal with the annoying bishop once and for all, but this just opened the gates for the white pieces.} 25. Qf4 Nxh6 ( 25... Bxg5 {does not work due to:} 26. Qxf7+ $1 Qxf7 27. Rxf7 {winning material.}) ({The refutation of the move:} 25... Nxg5 {is much more complex. Obviously:} 26. Qxh4 $4 ({However} 26. Nh5 $1 {is strong in order to open the g-rook. Perhaps somewhere into the arising lines Keymer committed an oversight in his preliminary calculations. Then:} gxh5 ({And against Aronian's suggestion:} 26... Kh7 {White has the fantastic:} 27. Qxh4 $3 Nf3+ 28. Bxf3 Qxh4 29. Bg5 {trapping the queen.}) 27. Qxh4 Nf3+ 28. Bxf3+ {comes with a check and White wins.}) 26... Nf3+ {is not the good idea.}) 26. Qxh4 Nf7 { Now Naiditsch is in his element.} 27. Nh5 $3 {This knight cannot be left alive, but:} gxh5 {Allows another great shot:} 28. Rf6 $3 {Two powerful pieces sacrifice themselves but open the road for the remaining army.} Nxf6 ({White's attack is also irresistible after:} 28... Nde5 29. Nf4 Qc7 30. Qxh5 Kg7 31. Rf1 Bb7 {One beautiful finish being:} 32. g6 Kxf6 33. Nxd5+ Kg7 34. Qh7+ Kf8 35. g7#) ({Perhaps the most resilient was:} 28... Nfe5 {Although then White should also win thanks to his immense supply of attackers:} 29. Nf4 Nxf6 30. gxf6 Qh7 31. Qg5+) 29. gxf6 Qd6+ ({Or} 29... Qc7+ 30. Nf4 Kf8 31. Qg3 Nh6 (31... Ne5 32. Qg5) 32. Bf3 $1 Qh7 33. Qg7+ Qxg7 34. Rxg7 Red8 35. Nxe6+ Ke8 36. Re7#) 30. Nf4 {Up a rook, Black is defenseless. The pawn on f6 is more valuable than any of the black rooks!} Kf8 31. Qg3 Red8 32. Re1 $1 ({There was an alternative win after:} 32. Bxd5 $1 exd5 ({Or} 32... Ke8 33. Bxe6 {with unstoppable attack.}) 33. Qg8#) 32... e5 33. Ng6+ Ke8 34. Nxe5 Qxf6 ({Or otherwise Black loses the queen after:} 34... Nxe5 35. Rxe5+ Kd7 36. Rxd5) 35. Ng4+ Qe7 36. Nf6+ { And mate next move.} 1-0 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.23"] [Round "4.5"] [White "Meier, Georg"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D90"] [WhiteElo "2628"] [BlackElo "2773"] [PlyCount "188"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:04:44"] [BlackClock "1:19:19"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. h3 $5 dxc4 (5... O-O 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. e4 Nxc3 8. bxc3 c5 9. Be2 b6 10. Be3 Bb7 11. Qd3 cxd4 (11... e6 12. O-O Nc6 13. Rfd1 cxd4 14. cxd4 Qd6 15. Rac1 Rfd8 {Bluebaum,M (2633)-Van Wely,L (2667) Brest FRA 2018}) 12. cxd4 Ba6 13. Qc2 Qd7 14. Bxa6 Nxa6 {Bluebaum,M (2633) -Ragger,M (2672) Brest FRA 2018}) 6. e4 c5 7. d5 O-O 8. Bxc4 b5 $146 (8... a6 9. a4 Nfd7 10. a5 b5 11. axb6 Qxb6 12. O-O Ne5 13. Nxe5 Bxe5 14. Qc2 e6 15. Na4 Qc7 16. Be3 Bd4 {Radin,D (2043)-Gajcin,S (1755) Novi Sad 2016}) 9. Nxb5 Nxe4 10. O-O Ba6 11. Qe2 Nd6 12. Nxd6 Qxd6 13. Re1 Bxc4 14. Qxc4 Rd8 15. Bf4 Qxd5 16. Qxd5 Rxd5 17. Rxe7 Nc6 18. Re2 Nb4 19. Rae1 h6 20. b3 Kh7 21. Re7 Rf5 22. Bg3 g5 23. Ne5 Kg8 24. Nc4 Bd4 25. R1e2 Nd5 26. Re8+ Rxe8 27. Rxe8+ Kh7 28. Ra8 Nc3 29. Rxa7 Ne2+ 30. Kh2 Bxf2 31. Bxf2 Rxf2 32. Ne5 Nf4 33. Rxf7+ Kg8 34. Rf6 $6 (34. Kg3 $1 Rxg2+ 35. Kf3 Rxa2 36. Rf6) 34... Rxg2+ 35. Kh1 Re2 36. Nd7 Kg7 37. Ra6 Nxh3 38. Nxc5 Nf4 39. Ra4 Kg6 40. Ne4 Rb2 41. Ng3 Kf6 42. Ra6+ Ne6 43. Ra4 Nc5 44. Ra5 Nd3 45. Ra6+ Ke5 46. Rxh6 Rxa2 47. Rh8 Rb2 48. Rf8 g4 49. Kg1 Rxb3 50. Re8+ Kd5 51. Rd8+ Ke6 52. Re8+ Kf6 53. Rf8+ Ke7 54. Rg8 Rb1+ 55. Kg2 Nf4+ 56. Kf2 Rb2+ 57. Ke3 Nd5+ 58. Kd4 Nf6 59. Rg5 Ke6 60. Re5+ Kf7 61. Rg5 Rb4+ 62. Ke5 Nh7 63. Rf5+ Kg6 64. Rf1 Rb3 65. Ne2 Rb5+ 66. Kd4 Ng5 67. Nf4+ Kf5 68. Ng2+ Nf3+ 69. Ke3 ({This was the moment for Meier to reach the R vs RN endgame:} 69. Kc4 $1 Rb8 70. Rf2 $1 {(preventing the fork) and Black cannot do anything against 71.Ne3 and 72.Nxg4.}) 69... Rb3+ 70. Kf2 Nh2 $1 {A nice try, which still shouldn't have won.} 71. Ra1 ({The only move was} 71. Rd1 $1 { so that after} g3+ {you don't need to go to the corner because of} 72. Ke2 Rb2+ 73. Rd2) 71... g3+ 72. Kg1 Nf3+ 73. Kh1 Rb2 74. Ra5+ Ke4 75. Ra1 Nd4 76. Kg1 Rf2 77. Ra4 Ke5 78. Ra5+ Kd6 79. Ra6+ Kc5 80. Ra5+ Kb4 81. Ra1 Kb3 82. Rd1 Nf3+ 83. Kh1 Kb2 {A nice Zugzwang.} 84. Rg1 {The only way to keep the game going, but MVL had seen that this is also winning for Black.} Nxg1 85. Kxg1 Kc3 (85... Rf3 {was another method.}) 86. Ne3 Kd3 87. Nf1 Ke2 88. Nxg3+ Kf3 {Of course a player of MVL's caliber knows this is winning.} 89. Nf5 (89. Nf1 Rg2+ 90. Kh1 Re2) 89... Rd2 90. Nh4+ Kg3 91. Nf5+ Kg4 92. Ne3+ Kf3 93. Nf5 Rd5 94. Ne7 Rc5 0-1 [Event "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Site "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Date "2019.04.23"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B11"] [WhiteElo "2693"] [BlackElo "2774"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2019.04.20"] 1. e4 c6 {Vishy continues with the Caro Kann. It served him well in round 1 against MVL and he sees no reason why not to repeat it.} 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 { The most solid line.} 4. h3 Bxf3 (4... Bh5 {is another option, but leads to very sharp play.}) 5. Qxf3 e6 6. g3 Nf6 7. a3 {White wouldn't like Black to play Bb4 and put more pressure on e4 and that's the reason why he goes for a3.} Bc5 8. d3 O-O 9. Bg2 Nbd7 {We are now in a territory of King's Indian Attack. Although one may argue that the knight on c3 is not usual and also the queen on f3, still the structure is the same and the battle lines will be clearly drawn once White goes e4-e5.} 10. O-O b5 {Anand begins with his queenside play immediately.} 11. Qd1 (11. Qe2 {it is quite possible that Paco wanted to keep this e2 square free for his knight.}) 11... Qb6 12. Qe2 a5 13. Kh1 d4 14. Nb1 e5 15. Nd2 Bd6 16. f4 {Although White has lost quite a few tempi with Qf3-d1-e2 and Nc3-b1-d2, he has an excellent structure and the idea is to simply push his pawn to f5 and roll his g-pawn down the board. Somehow it is just easier being White here.} Qc7 17. f5 Nb6 (17... h6 18. g4 Nh7 19. h4 Be7 { is a normal way to prevent g5 but after} 20. Nf3 Qd8 21. Qe1 f6 $16 {Black is just very passive and White will soon get in the g5 break.}) 18. g4 c5 19. Nf3 (19. g5 {Why not?} Ne8 20. Nf3 {f6 will be coming in soon and White is just many moves ahead than what he was in the game.}) 19... c4 {Vishy is now back in the race.} 20. Bg5 $2 {Another pretty slow move and one without too much of a sting.} (20. Nh2 $5 {in order to play g5 followed by Ng4.}) 20... Nfd7 21. f6 g6 22. Bh6 (22. h4 {The idea is to play h5 and blast open the position.} Rfc8 23. h5 cxd3 24. cxd3 Qc2 25. Qe1 $1 {White doesn't care for his pawns. He is going for mate!} Qxd3 26. hxg6 hxg6 27. Qh4 {The next order of work is to play Bh6-g7 and mate the opponent on h8 and Black has no real way to defend against it.}) 22... Rfc8 23. Ng5 Bf8 $1 {Vishy finds the best prophylactic move in the position to get his knight to f8.} (23... cxd3 24. Qf2 $1 {was Vallejo's idea when he can sacrifice a couple of pawns to checkmate his opponent.} dxc2 25. Rac1 d3 26. Nxh7 $1 Kxh7 27. Qh4 {This will be all over in a few moves.}) 24. Bxf8 Nxf8 {Black is now safe on h7. But what if the queen can reach h6? Well, the way to defend against that is to keep an eye on the f6 pawn.} 25. Qe1 (25. h4 Nbd7 26. h5 Ra6 $1 27. hxg6 hxg6 {The f6 pawn is quite weak because of which it is difficult to attack down the h-file. An instructive variation can proceed.} 28. Qf2 Rxf6 29. Qh4 Rf4 $19 {And White has hit a dead end.}) 25... Nbd7 26. a4 {Vallejo realizes that he is not going to win the battle on the kingside and hence plays on the queenside, but this clearly means that something has gone wrong.} (26. Qh4 Ra6 $1 $19) 26... bxa4 27. Rxa4 cxd3 28. cxd3 h6 29. Nf3 Ne6 (29... Nxf6 30. Nxd4 {Vishy wanted to avoid this mess, although it is not so bad for him.}) 30. Qh4 Kh7 31. g5 h5 {The only way for White to breakthrough now is to sacrifice something on h5. But it will take some time. Meanwhile Black will create quite a bit of damage from the queenside.} 32. Raa1 Qc2 33. Rf2 Qxd3 34. Bf1 Qb3 35. Nd2 Qb4 (35... Qxb2 36. Rb1 Qc2 37. Be2 Qxd2 38. Bxh5 Qxg5 {is similar to the game.}) 36. Be2 {Vallejo goes into desperation mode, but he didn't have anything better.} Qxd2 37. Bxh5 Qxg5 $1 {Vishy has seen it all.} 38. Bxg6+ Kxg6 39. Rg2 Qxg2+ 40. Kxg2 Rh8 41. Qg3+ Kxf6 42. Rf1+ Ke7 {Black has two knights and a rook for a queen and a safe king. He is winning.} 43. Qa3+ Ndc5 44. Rc1 Kd6 45. b4 axb4 46. Qxb4 Rab8 47. Qc4 Ke7 {An exciting game for sure, but one where Vallejo could have made use of his trumps better.} 0-1 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.24"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Meier, Georg"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2509"] [BlackElo "2621"] [PlyCount "161"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 b5 ({The other main option} 5... Bb4 6. Bxc4 Nxe4 7. O-O Nf6 8. Qa4+ Nc6 9. Ne5 Rb8 10. d5 exd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Qxc6+ Qd7 14. Qxd5 {was discussed recently in Mamedyarov,S (2817)-Caruana,F (2832) Germany 2019}) 6. e5 Nd5 7. Nxb5 Nb6 8. Be2 Nc6 9. O-O Be7 10. Qd2 Bb7 11. Qf4 Qd7 12. Nc3 $1 $146 {A strong novelty that took Meier out of book.} ({Apparently the more experienced player expected to get kingside counterplay with the timely g7-g5 as in the predecessor:} 12. Rd1 g5 $1 13. Qg3 O-O-O 14. d5 g4 15. Qxg4 Rhg8 16. Qh3 Nxd5 17. Bxc4 Ncb4 {Dubov,D (2703)-Matlakov,M (2700) St Petersburg 2018}) 12... h6 ({The problem with} 12... g5 {now is:} 13. Nxg5 Bxg5 14. Qxg5 Nxd4 15. Bh5 $1 {(Keymer, Meier)}) 13. Rd1 ({For a while White did not understand what is wrong with:} 13. Ne4 { but then he figured out the opponent's cunning idea:} g5 14. Nf6+ Bxf6 15. Qxf6 Rh7 $1 {and the white queen will be trapped after Nb6-d5. (Keymer, Meier)}) 13... g5 14. Qg3 O-O-O 15. Be3 {Here Black noticed that his king is feeling quite uncomfortable on c8. White often threatens the central break d4-d5 after which the black queen and the king might get skewered with Be2-g4.} Nb4 { "Desperation." (Meier)} ({For the above-mentioned reasons the move:} 15... Kb8 $5 {deserved serious attention. Then the idea from the game:} 16. Nd2 {would not yield White much after:} ({True, White can keep an edge with:} 16. Ne4) 16... f5 $1 17. exf6 Bxf6 18. Nxc4 Nxc4 19. Bxc4 Nxd4 {with counterplay.}) 16. Nd2 {Simply winning the pawn.} h5 {Black is looking for practical chances.} ( 16... f5 {does not work due to:} 17. exf6 Bxf6 18. Nde4 Bg7 19. Nc5 Qe7 20. Nxe6 $1 {when the weakness of the h3-c8 diagonal is decisive.}) (16... Bd5 17. Nxd5 Qxd5 (17... exd5 $4 18. Bg4) 18. Rdc1 {is horrible for Black.}) 17. Nxc4 g4 18. Nxb6+ {Initiating some exchanges.} ({Also good was:} 18. Na5 Ba8 19. Bb5 c6 20. Bf1) 18... axb6 19. Bb5 Bc6 20. Bxc6 Qxc6 21. Qf4 Rdf8 22. d5 $1 { A very strong move, which opens all the files for the white rooks.} ({After:} 22. Rac1 Nd5 23. Qe4 Kd7 24. Nxd5 Qxd5 25. Qxd5+ exd5 {Black can hope to build a solid defensive set up.}) 22... Nxd5 23. Nxd5 exd5 24. Rac1 Qb7 (24... Qd7 $2 25. Bxb6) 25. Qf5+ {But this is wrong. "I was very happy to see Qf5, I thought it's my only chance to survive." (Meier)} ({After} 25. b4 $1 {"intending b4-b5 and then Rc1-c6 I am just lost." (Meier) Indeed the difference in the strenght of the pieces is overwhelmingly in White's favour.}) 25... Kb8 26. Qd7 c5 27. Qxd5 Qxd5 28. Rxd5 Rd8 29. Rdd1 {Keymer kept the extra pawn, but Meier can now activate all his pieces.} (29. Rcd1 Rxd5 30. Rxd5 Kc7 {would win some tempos for Black.}) 29... Kc7 30. Kf1 Kc6 31. Ke2 Rhe8 32. f4 f6 $1 {Black is activating his rooks.} 33. exf6 Bxf6 34. Rxd8 Rxd8 35. b3 Re8 36. Kd3 Rd8+ 37. Kc2 Re8 38. Re1 {The more active pieces should be sufficient to hold the balance.} Kd5 {Not bad at all.} ({Keymer thought that} 38... Ra8 $1 {instead is better, with a draw after:} 39. a4 b5 40. axb5+ Kxb5) 39. a4 Re4 40. Bd2 Rxe1 41. Bxe1 Ke4 42. f5 (42. b4 cxb4 43. Bf2 Bd8 44. Kb3 h4 $1 45. Kxb4 h3 $1 {should also be a draw.}) 42... h4 $2 {Most likely a miscalculation.} ({ Correct was:} 42... Kxf5 $1 43. Bg3 h4 44. Bc7 Be5 45. Bxb6 h3 46. gxh3 (46. g3 $2 Bxg3 {even loses for White.}) 46... gxh3 47. Bxc5 Bxh2 48. a5 Bc7 49. Bg1 Bxa5 {and draw is inevitable.}) 43. Bc3 Bxc3 44. Kxc3 Kxf5 45. Kc4 Kf4 46. Kb5 Ke3 47. Kxb6 Kf2 48. a5 Kxg2 {Pessimsm never saved a game.} ({Here Meier could have miraculously saved himself. by getting rid of a pawn he later wished was away from the board:} 48... c4 $3 49. bxc4 Kxg2 {Then, the same winning idea that Keymer used in the game no longer works:} 50. a6 Kxh2 51. a7 g3 52. a8=Q g2 53. Qb8+ Kh3 54. Qc8+ Kh2 55. Qc7+ Kh3 56. Qd7+ Kh2 57. Qd6+ Kh3 58. Qe6+ Kh2 59. Qe5+ Kh3 {and if} 60. Qe1 g1=Q+ 61. Qxg1 {stalemate!}) 49. a6 Kxh2 50. a7 g3 51. a8=Q g2 $2 {Only this is the real losing move.} ({Both} 51... h3 {and }) ({again} 51... c4 $1 {would still have drawn here according to the tablebase.}) 52. Qb8+ Kh3 53. Qc8+ Kh2 54. Qc7+ Kh3 55. Qd7+ Kh2 56. Qd6+ Kh3 57. Qe6+ Kh2 58. Qe5+ Kh3 {Now Keymer went into the thinking tank, but carefully calculated everything almost till the end.} 59. Qe1 c4 60. b4 $1 { Keeping the wrong pawn aboard. This is where we see why was it that important to sacrifice the pawn on move 48.} ({Black was hoping for the stalemate to work:} 60. bxc4 g1=Q+ 61. Qxg1) 60... c3 61. Kc6 c2 62. Qc1 Kh2 63. Qxc2 Kh3 64. Qd3+ Kh2 65. Qe2 Kh3 66. Qe3+ Kh2 67. Qf2 h3 (67... Kh3 68. Qg1 Kg3 69. b5 h3 70. b6 h2 71. Qe3+ Kh4 72. Qf2+ Kh3 73. Qf3+ Kh4 74. Qxg2) 68. b5 Kh1 69. Qg3 h2 70. Qf3 Kg1 71. Qe3+ Kf1 72. Qf4+ Kg1 73. b6 h1=Q 74. b7 {This is how far the German prodigy calculated! White is winning as his opponent is soon running out of checks.} Qh7 75. b8=Q Kh1 76. Qf3 Qc2+ 77. Kd5 Qd2+ 78. Ke4 Qc2+ 79. Ke5 Qc5+ 80. Kf6 Qd4+ 81. Kg6 1-0 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.24"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2845"] [BlackElo "2710"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Nd5 a5 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Re8 8. d3 (8. e3 Bf8 9. d4 d6 10. h3 h6 11. Nxf6+ Qxf6 12. d5 Nb4 13. e4 Bd7 14. Be3 Qg6 15. Qb1 Na6 {Inarkiev,E (2727)-Zhigalko,S (2639) Poikovsky 2017}) 8... Nxd5 9. cxd5 Nd4 10. Nxd4 $146 (10. Nd2 c6 11. e3 Nf5 12. a3 Bf8 13. b3 cxd5 14. Bxd5 Ne7 15. Bg2 d5 16. Bb2 Nc6 {Jonckheere,P (2382)-Pakenas,P (2423) ICCF email 2005}) 10... exd4 11. e4 c6 12. Bf4 cxd5 13. a3 Bc5 14. b4 Bf8 15. exd5 d6 16. bxa5 Qxa5 17. Bd2 Qa6 18. Qf3 g6 19. Bb4 Bf5 20. Rad1 Re5 21. g4 Bd7 22. Qf4 h5 23. h3 hxg4 24. hxg4 Qb6 25. Bf3 Ba4 26. Rc1 Bg7 27. Kg2 Bb3 28. Rh1 $5 { Sacrificing the d-pawn.} (28. Rfe1 {would have prevented} Bxd5 {because of} 29. Bxd5 Rxd5 30. Re7 Rf8 31. Rc8) ({However after} 28. Rfe1 {White doesn't have much after e.g.} Qd8) 28... Bxd5 29. Bxd5 Rxd5 30. Rh3 Qd8 31. Qf3 Rb5 32. Qg3 Qg5 33. Rc7 Rd8 34. Rh1 Qd5+ 35. Qf3 Qxf3+ 36. Kxf3 d5 $6 {This allows White to become active.} (36... Bf6 $5) 37. Rhc1 $1 Be5 38. Rc8 Rxc8 39. Rxc8+ Kg7 40. g5 $1 {There's now a bit of pressure on Black, who is a pawn up but would rather do without his most advanced d-pawn here.} f6 41. Re8 Rb6 42. Re7+ Kg8 43. Kg4 ({Peter Leko suggested the plan to take on f6 and then bring the kind and play f2-f4. This could be done with e.g.} 43. Kg2 Kh8 (43... Rb5 $2 {allows } 44. f4 $1 Bxf4 45. gxf6 {and wins}) 44. gxf6 Bxf6 45. Rd7 Kg8 46. Kg3 { and White might have some chances here.}) 43... f5+ 44. Kf3 Bh2 $1 ({Maybe Carlsen was hoping for} 44... Bg7 45. Kf4 Kh8 46. Rd7 Rb5 47. Rd6 Kh7 48. Re6 { when Black is almost running out of moves.}) 45. Rd7 Rb5 {Now the only try seems to be the rook endgame.} 46. Bd6 Bxd6 47. Rxd6 Rb3 $6 {This does give White some hope.} (47... Kf7) 48. Rxg6+ Kh7 49. Rh6+ Kg7 50. Kf4 Rxd3 51. a4 ({ The alternative was} 51. Rd6 {when} Rxa3 52. Rxd5 Ra8 $1 53. Rxd4 Rb8 {is a nice way of playing and good for a draw, e.g.} 54. Rd7+ Kg8 $1 ({not} 54... Kg6 $2 55. Rd6+ Kg7 56. Rb6) 55. Kxf5 b5 56. Rd3 b4 57. Rb3 Rf8+) 51... Rc3 $1 { Accurate.} (51... Ra3 52. Rd6 Rxa4 53. Kxf5 {is tricky.}) 52. Rd6 Rc5 53. Rd7+ Kg6 54. Rxb7 Rc6 55. a5 d3 56. Ke3 Rc5 57. f4 d2 58. Kxd2 Rxa5 59. Rd7 Kh5 60. Ke3 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.24"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "2737"] [BlackElo "2698"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:52:20"] [BlackClock "0:54:09"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. O-O d6 6. c3 g5 7. Nbd2 Bg7 8. Bb3 Nh5 $146 (8... O-O 9. Nc4 d5 10. Ncxe5 dxe4 11. dxe4 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 Nxe4 14. Nd3 Re8 {Giri,A (2783)-Matlakov,M (2700) St Petersburg 2018}) 9. Nc4 Nf4 10. Ne3 Be6 11. d4 $5 (11. Nf5) (11. g3) 11... exd4 12. Nf5 Bxf5 13. exf5 dxc3 14. bxc3 Ne5 ({Vallejo didn't see how he would lose after} 14... Bxc3 {but thought it was "too much." Gustafsson's suggestion} 15. Bxf4 gxf4 16. Bxf7+ {however is not much:} Kxf7 17. Qb3+ Kg7 18. Qxc3+ Qf6) 15. Nxe5 dxe5 16. Qf3 O-O (16... c6 $5 {Vallejo}) 17. Qxb7 Ne2+ 18. Kh1 Nxc1 19. Raxc1 Qf6 20. Qxc7 (20. Qe4 Rfd8) 20... Qxf5 21. Bd5 (21. c4 $5 e4) 21... Rad8 22. c4 Rd7 23. Qc6 Rfd8 24. Rcd1 Bf8 25. g3 Kg7 26. Kg2 Qf6 27. Qxf6+ Kxf6 28. Rb1 h5 29. h3 Bc5 30. Rb5 Rc7 31. Rfb1 (31. g4 h4) 31... g4 32. hxg4 hxg4 33. Rb7 Rdc8 34. f3 Bb6 35. Rxc7 Rxc7 36. fxg4 e4 37. Rf1+ Kg7 38. Bxe4 Rxc4 39. Rxf7+ Kxf7 40. Bd5+ Kg7 41. Bxc4 Bc5 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.26"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Meier, Georg"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "2621"] [BlackElo "2845"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O O-O 5. d4 d6 6. b3 b5 7. Bb2 Bb7 8. Nbd2 Nbd7 9. c4 bxc4 10. Nxc4 a5 11. Rc1 c5 {The opening went quite well for Black and he was happy with his position.} 12. dxc5 Nxc5 13. Bd4 Ncd7 {N A novelty which prepares the advance of the central pawns.} ({In a recent game Black also got promising position after:} 13... Nfe4 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Qd4+ f6 16. Rfd1 d5 17. Ncd2 e5 {Fridman,R (2463) -Timman,J (2575) Germany 2018}) 14. a4 Ra6 15. Na3 {"I did not particularly like this plan (for White). I felt the knight is not as great on b5 as it looked." (Carlsen)} ({Perhaps White should have tried:} 15. Ne1 Bxg2 16. Nxg2 Qa8 17. f3 {when the knight is indeed standing well on c4.}) 15... Qa8 16. Nb5 Rc6 17. Rxc6 Bxc6 18. Ne1 Bxg2 19. Nxg2 Rc8 {"Maybe this was not as great as I allowed some counterplay." (Carlsen)} ({Instead the world champion suggested:} 19... h5 {which looks good for Black.}) 20. Na7 Rd8 21. Qc2 ({Black only expected the repetition of moves: } 21. Nb5) 21... e5 22. Be3 d5 $1 {Now the cenral majority comes into motion when White is not particularly prepared for it.} 23. Nc6 Re8 24. Bd2 Ne4 25. Nxa5 Rc8 26. Qa2 Ndf6 {Black has more than enough compensation for the pawn. His center is mobile, whereas the white misplaced knight is standing on the road of his passers.} ({Black also considered the immediate capture:} 26... Nxd2 {but after:} 27. Qxd2 Nf6 28. f3 {"Looks ugly (for White) but I do not know what to do." (Carlsen)}) 27. Be1 {Meier keeps the bishop in a vain attempt to prevent the penetration of the black pieces via the c3 square.} (27. b4 Nxd2 28. Qxd2 Ne4 {"followed by Ne4-c3 and he is pretty busted." (Carlsen)}) 27... Nc3 {But the knight jumps there anyway.} 28. Bxc3 Rxc3 29. b4 {The pawns are moving but only for a moment.} Bf8 30. Qb2 ({"He could go":} 30. Nb3 { "trying to push the a-pawn, but I suspect I am better here as well."(Carlsen) Say:} Bxb4 31. a5 Qa6) 30... d4 31. e3 $2 {"Pretty suicidal."} ({Instead the world champion expected:} 31. Ne3 $1 {with the idea to bring the knight into the game, when:} Qc8 32. Nec4 Rxc4 33. Nxc4 Qxc4 34. Rc1 Qxb4 35. Qxb4 Bxb4 { "probably it is just a draw." (Carlsen)}) 31... Ne4 (31... Nd5 {would have won the pawn faster after:} 32. exd4 Bxb4 33. Nb3 Qxa4 34. Nc5 Qc6) 32. exd4 exd4 33. Nb3 ({White's problems are all over the board. The straightforward attempt to win the passer:} 33. Rd1 {Stumbles into a sudden kingside attack after:} Ng5 34. Rxd4 Nf3+ 35. Kh1 ({Or} 35. Kf1 Nxh2+ 36. Kg1 Nf3+ 37. Kf1 Qa6+ 38. b5 Qxa5 ) 35... Qc8 $1 36. Rd1 Qh3) 33... d3 34. Rc1 Rxc1+ {Safe play. Black takes both the white queenside pawns.} ({Carlsen got pretty embarrassed in the commentary room when he noticed he could have taken the pawn:} 34... Bxb4 { "This is pretty insane."}) ({He only considered:} 34... Bg7 $1 {which by the way should be winning after:} 35. Rxc3 Bxc3 36. Qb1 d2 37. Nc5 Ng5 $1 {when Black is combining kingside threats with the advance of the d-pawn.}) 35. Qxc1 Qxa4 36. Qc4 Nc5 $1 {A nice trick to keep the extra pawn.} 37. Nd2 ({Since:} 37. Nxc5 {loses to:} Qd1+ 38. Ne1 Qxe1+ 39. Kg2 d2) 37... Qa1+ 38. Nf1 d2 39. Nge3 Ne6 40. Qb3 Qe1 {"I got lucky I have this." (Carlsen)} ({Black missed:} 40... Nd4 41. Qd1 $1) 41. Kg2 ({If} 41. b5 Nc5 {"followed by Nc5-e4 wins for Black" (Carlsen)}) 41... Bxb4 {"From afar I saw that I will win this pawn and thought I should be gradually winning, but then I realized it was far more difficult."(Carlsen)} 42. Qb2 h5 {Prevents any Ne3-g4-h6+ related activity.} 43. h4 (43. Qxb4 $2 d1=Q 44. Qb8+ Qd8) 43... Ba5 44. Qb8+ Nf8 45. Qa8 Bc3 46. Qc6 Qc1 47. Qd5 Ne6 48. Qc4 Ba5 ({Carlsen regretted he did not go:} 48... Nd4 $1 {which would lead to a position he was trying to reach later. Then a possible line runs:} 49. Qd3 Qa1 $1 {When Black does not fear:} 50. Nxd2 (50. Qe4 d1=Q) 50... Bxd2 51. Qxd2 Qa8+ {When White is defenseless:} 52. f3 (52. Kg1 Nf3+) (52. Kf1 Qh1#) (52. Kh3 Qh1#) 52... Qxf3+ 53. Kh2 Ne2 {with a win.}) 49. Qd5 Bb4 50. Qb5 Qc3 51. Qd5 Qc1 52. Qb5 Bc3 53. Qa4 Bd4 54. Nd1 ({One of the winning ideas for Black is to trade his bishop for the knight:} 54. Qb3 Bxe3 55. Nxe3 {Then look for a way to lift the blockade with the knight:} Nd4 56. Qa4 Nc2 $1 {However, there is always a problem with his weak king. After:} ( 56... Nf5 57. Qe8+ Kg7 58. Qe5+ Kh7 59. Nxf5 gxf5 60. Qxf5+ {is perpetual at once.}) 57. Qe8+ Kg7 58. Qe5+ Kh7 59. Qd5 $1 {White is "sticking" to the f7 pawn and survives Say:} Nxe3+ 60. fxe3 Kg7 61. Qd4+ Kg8 62. Qd8+ Kh7 63. Qd7) 54... Kg7 55. Kf3 {The beginning of the end. Meier decided he can finally get rid of the pawn.} ({As in the line from above, White could have defended with: } 55. Nfe3 Bxe3 56. Nxe3) 55... Bf6 56. Ke2 Nd4+ 57. Kd3 Qb1+ 58. Kxd2 $4 { It was a pretty "hellish" position for White to defend (Carlsen) and at the end, low on time Meier errs.} ({After} 58. Ke3 {"I could not see anything (for Black)" (Carlsen)}) 58... Qe4 $1 {There is no defense from the discovered check/mating threats.} 0-1 [Event "Classic"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.26"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C48"] [WhiteElo "2710"] [BlackElo "2779"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:18:30"] [BlackClock "0:15:56"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Ba4 c6 6. Nxe5 d6 7. Nf3 Bg4 8. d3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. O-O Be7 (10... Bb4 11. Qe1+ Ne6 12. Ne5 Bh5 13. Qe4 O-O 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Nxd5 cxd5 16. Qxb4 Rb8 17. Qc3 Qh4 {Duda,J (2678)-Naiditsch,A (2684) Barcelona 2016}) 11. Re1 Nc7 {N} (11... O-O 12. Nxd5 cxd5 13. c3 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Ne6 15. f4 d4 16. f5 Nc5 17. Bc2 Re8 {Rublevsky,S (2652)-Bacrot,E (2725) Khanty-Mansiysk 2005}) 12. Bg5 Nxf3+ (12... Nce6 {looks fine for Black.} ) 13. gxf3 Be6 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. Bb3 O-O-O 16. Qd2 Qf6 (16... h6 $5) 17. Qe3 Kb8 (17... Rhe8 $5) 18. f4 Bf5 19. Qg3 Ne6 20. Bxe6 fxe6 21. Re5 h5 22. Kh1 h4 23. Qe3 Rhf8 24. Rg1 Rf7 25. a3 h3 26. Rg5 Rdf8 27. Ne2 c5 28. Ng3 Bh7 29. Nh5 Qd8 30. Nxg7 1-0 [Event "Classic"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.26"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C48"] [WhiteElo "2698"] [BlackElo "2828"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "1:27:17"] [BlackClock "1:01:02"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 {Akiba Rubinstein's preferred method. } (4... Bb4) 5. Bc4 (5. Ba4 {is another line while}) (5. Nxd4 exd4 6. e5 { is known to be very drawish.}) 5... Bc5 {This is why the line is known to be a gambit.} 6. Nxe5 Qe7 7. Nf3 d5 {Black plays as active as possible.} 8. Bxd5 (8. Nxd5 Qxe4+ 9. Ne3 Bg4 10. Be2 Nxe2 11. Qxe2 O-O-O 12. d3 Qe6 13. c3 {1/2 Nguyen,A (2487)-Lukacs,P (2488) Hungary 2000}) 8... Bg4 9. d3 O-O-O (9... Nd7 10. Be3 $6 (10. h3) 10... Ne5 11. Bxf7+ $6 Nxf7 12. Nd5 Qd7 13. c3 Nxf3+ 14. gxf3 Bxe3 15. Nxe3 Bh5 {and Black soon won in Adhiban,B (2689)-Yu,Y (2764) Gibraltar 2019}) 10. Be3 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Rxd5 $1 12. exd5 Re8 13. O-O (13. c3 { is another known drawing line played in several grandmaster games, e.g.} Nxf3+ 14. gxf3 Qh4 15. Kd2 Rxe3 $1 16. fxe3 Qf2+ 17. Kc1 Bxf3 18. Qe1 Bxe3+ 19. Kb1 Bxh1 20. Qxh1 Qe2 21. a4 Qxd3+ 22. Ka2 Qc4+ 23. Kb1 Qd3+ 24. Ka2 Qc4+ 25. Kb1 Qd3+ 26. Ka2 Qc4+ 27. Kb1 Qd3+ 28. Ka2 {1/2 Wei Yi (2743)-Ding Liren (2777) Chiva CHN 2017}) 13... Bxf3 14. gxf3 Bd6 15. f4 Qh4 16. Bxd4 (16. c3 Qh3 $1 17. cxd4 g5 $1 18. Re1 gxf4 19. Bxf4 Bxf4 $1 20. Rxe8+ Kd7 {and White cannot avoid the perpetual, e.g.} 21. Qa4+ c6 22. dxc6+ bxc6 23. Qxa7+ Kxe8 24. Re1+ Kf8) 16... Bxf4 17. Kg2 {The only move to avoid checkmate.} Qg5+ {N} ({Also possible is} 17... Qxh2+ 18. Kf3 Qh3+ 19. Kxf4 Qh2+ 20. Kf3 Qh3+ {1/2 Kravtsiv, M (2654)-Wang,H (2711) Abu Dhabi 2018}) 18. Kh1 (18. Kh3 Qh6+ 19. Kg2 (19. Kg4 $2 f5+) 19... Qg5+) 18... Qh4 19. Kg2 Qg5+ 20. Kh1 ({After} 20. Kf3 {Black can go} Qh5+ 21. Kxf4 Qxh2+ 22. Kf3 (22. Kg5 $2 f6+ 23. Kg4 f5+ 24. Kg5 Qh6+ 25. Kxf5 Rf8+ 26. Kg4 Rf4+ {and White is mated}) (22. Kg4 $2 f5+ {is the same}) ( 22. Kf5 g6+ 23. Kf6 {is asking for trouble:} Qf4+ 24. Kg7 Qxd4+ 25. Kh6 { and besides perpetual, Black can consider trying for more with e.g.} ({not} 25. Kxf7 $2 Kd8 $1) 25... Rg8 $5) 22... Qh3+ 23. Kf4 Qh2+) 20... Qh4 21. Kg2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Classic"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.26"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "2761"] [BlackElo "2509"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:41:23"] [BlackClock "0:08:43"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. Nge2 d6 4. g3 (4. a4 Nf6 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. f4 O-O 9. d3 Rb8 10. h3 Nd7 11. g4 h6 {Naiditsch,A (2695)-Keymer,V (2516) Classic 2019}) 4... Nf6 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. O-O e6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bd7 9. Re1 Be7 10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. e5 dxe5 12. Bxc6+ bxc6 13. Rxe5 (13. Qxd8+ Rxd8 14. Rxe5 Nd5 15. Na4 Nb4 16. Re2 Rd1+ 17. Kg2 O-O 18. Nc3 Rd7 {Sarkar,J (2297)-Jaracz,P (2467) Ortisei 2018}) 13... O-O ({Keymer considered} 13... Nd5 {was well, as played in Macieja,B (2634)-Jakubowski,K (2483) Warsaw 2003}) 14. Qxd8 {N} (14. Bd2 Qb6 15. Rb1 Rfd8 16. Qe2 Ng4 17. Be3 Nxe3 18. Rxe3 Rd4 {Macieja,B (2613) -Guliyev,N (2526) Warsaw 2005}) 14... Rfxd8 15. Re2 {Keymer had missed this move.} c5 16. Na4 Rd1+ 17. Kg2 Rad8 18. b3 Nd5 19. c3 ({Aronian suggested} 19. Bb2 $5 {when Keymer planned} Nb4) 19... Rc8 20. Re4 ({Keymer's nice idea was} 20. Nb2 Nxc3 21. Rc2 Bf6 22. Nxd1 Nxd1 23. Rb1 Nc3 24. Ra1 Nd1) 20... Nf6 21. Re2 Nd5 22. Rd2 Rxd2 23. Bxd2 c4 24. Nb2 Bf6 25. Nxc4 Bxc3 26. Rd1 Bxd2 27. Rxd2 g5 28. Kf3 Kg7 29. Ne3 (29. Ke2) 29... Rc3 30. Rc2 $6 {Now Aronian gets into a bit of trouble.} f5 31. Rxc3 ({Keymer: "Maybe he had planned} 31. Ke2 $2 {but that runs into} f4 {"}) 31... Nxc3 32. a4 g4+ 33. Kg2 Kf6 34. Nc2 Ne4 35. b4 Nc3 36. b5 axb5 37. a5 Nd5 38. a6 Nc7 39. a7 Ke5 40. Kf1 Kd5 {Now Aronian finds the only move.} 41. Nb4+ $1 Kc4 42. Nc6 Kd3 43. Ke1 Na8 44. Nd8 e5 45. Nc6 Ke4 46. Kd2 Kd5 47. Nb4+ Kc4 48. Nc6 Kd5 49. Nb4+ Ke4 50. Nc6 f4 51. Kc3 Kd5 52. Nb4+ Ke4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Classic"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.26"] [Round "6.5"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2737"] [BlackElo "2775"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:07:11"] [BlackClock "0:51:30"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 (6. bxc3 g6 7. Bb5+ Bd7 8. Be2 Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. d4 Nc6 11. Rb1 Qc7 {Aronian,L (2765) -Vachier Lagrave,M (2781) London 2018}) 6... Qc7 7. e4 e6 8. Be3 Bd7 {N "I quite liked this," said Svidler. "I am pretty sure I am not supposed to do what I did."} (8... Nd7 9. Nd2 Be7 10. Qg4 O-O 11. Qg3 Bd6 12. f4 f5 13. e5 Be7 14. O-O-O b5 {Matlakov,M (2683)-Lagarde,M (2615) Bastia 2018}) ({Svidler noted that} 8... Be7 9. Nd2 O-O 10. Qg4 Nc6 11. Qg3 {is also nice for White.}) 9. Nd2 Bc6 10. Qg4 Nd7 11. Qg3 O-O-O $1 {The idea behind Black's eighth move.} 12. Bf4 {Svidler preferred to "get a game" instead of trading queens and going for the draw straight away.} e5 13. Bg5 f6 14. Be3 g6 15. Qh3 (15. Be2 {MVL} f5 (15... Kb8) 16. Bg5 Re8 17. exf5 gxf5 18. Bh5) 15... Kb8 16. Be2 (16. Qe6 $5 {stops 16...Nb6 and the queen can come to b3 (MVL).}) 16... Nb6 17. b3 (17. O-O $5 Na4 18. Rab1) 17... h5 ({Only after playing this MVL found} 17... Nc8 $5 18. O-O Nd6 19. Bxc5 b6 (19... Nxe4 20. Nxe4 Bxe4 21. Bxa7+) 20. Bxd6 Bxd6) 18. O-O Bh6 {A "professional move" according to Peter Leko because it's a "clean equalizer. "} (18... Bd7 19. Qg3 g5 20. f3 h4 21. Qf2 {Svidler}) (18... g5 19. Rfd1 Bd7 20. Qg3 h4 21. Qf3 Be7 22. Bf1 (22. h3 Rdg8) 22... g4 23. Qe2 {Svidler}) 19. Bxh6 Rxh6 20. Qe3 Rh7 21. Rfd1 Rhd7 22. Nf1 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Rxd1 24. Bxd1 Nc8 ( 24... c4 $5 25. h4 (25. b4)) 25. f3 Qd6 26. Be2 Ne7 (26... g5 27. Ng3 h4 28. Nf5 Qf8 {Svidler}) 27. Qh6 {For a moment White seems to have something...} f5 $1 {...but MVL finds a good answer.} 28. Ne3 fxe4 29. Nc4 Qf6 30. fxe4 Kc7 31. g3 Ng8 32. Qh7+ Ne7 33. Qh6 Ng8 34. Qh7+ Ne7 35. Qh6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Classic"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.27"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2845"] [BlackElo "2761"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. Bd2 {N A novelty, which leads to a slow maneuvering play.} ({Rather than the sharp} 10. Bb5+ Nbd7 11. Bxf6 Qxc3+ 12. Kf1 gxf6 13. h4 Qb4 14. Rh3 a6 15. Be2 Ne5 16. Rb1 Qd6 17. Rc3 {which was Grischuk,A (2766) -Karjakin,S (2773) Saint Louis 2018}) 10... O-O 11. Qe2 e5 12. Nb3 Qc7 13. O-O Bg4 14. f3 Rc8 15. Bd5 Nxd5 16. exd5 Bh5 {In comparison to some Nimzo-Indian lines this bishop landed on the other side of the board, rather than on b7 and this favors White as it will not pressurize the c4 pawn easily.} 17. c4 { "If anyone can try (to play for a win) it is White." (Carlsen)} Nd7 18. Rfc1 ({ After:} 18. Rac1 a5 {"he has some tricks" (Carlsen)} 19. a4 b6 20. Be3 e4) 18... b6 19. a4 a5 {At the annotator's booth, an idea was suggested that Aronian should have better done without this move, in order to avoid the weakening of the b6 pawn.} ({It is however difficult (impossible!) to predict what will happen in the future and the fact that the annotators went that far in the search of Aronian's mistake speaks louder than ever about the quality of Carlsen's play!} 19... Qd6 20. a5 Bg6 21. Be3 h6) 20. Qf2 {White's ideas are indeed clear. He wants to hit the weakness on b6 with everything that he as. As a rule he is happy to see the queens off the board as the weakness becomes harder to defend. The alternative weaknesses on c4 and a4 are harder to access by Aronian.} Qd6 21. Be3 Bg6 ({Maybe Aronian should have defended with} 21... Qb4 $5 22. Qc2 Bg6 23. Qc3 Qd6 $5 {trying to prevent White's optimal setup.} ({Black should generally try to avoid the endgame:} 23... Qxc3 24. Rxc3 {due to the huge weakness on b6.})) 22. Qd2 $1 {A positional trick.} ( {"I do not want to go for:"} 22. Qb2 Bd3 23. Nd2 Qg6 {"and then he gets counterplay with h7-h5." (Carlsen)}) 22... f6 $6 {This is the move that the world champion wanted to provoke. Now the Qd6-g6 idea from above is no longer possible and f6-f5 is "too slow." "Eventually I am getting somewhere on the queenside." (Carlsen)} ({Better was} 22... Rc7 {when Black needs not to fear the forcing line:} 23. c5 Nxc5 24. Nxc5 bxc5 25. Rc4 f5 26. Rac1 Bf7) 23. Qb2 Rc7 24. Nd2 ({White avoided:} 24. Qa3 Qxa3 25. Rxa3 Bf7 {as he is not co-ordinated enough.}) 24... Nc5 {Aronian disliked this move, but according to Carlsen his opponent panicked as he could not find a decent plan.} ({However:} 24... Rac8 {can be met with:} 25. Qa3 $1 Qxa3 26. Rxa3 Nc5 27. Bxc5 Rxc5 28. Rcc3 {followed by doubling on the b-file and a real edge for White.}) 25. Qa3 Rd8 26. Rc3 f5 $6 {The attempt to do something makes things worse for Aronian.} ({Black just had to wait with:} 26... Rcc8 {although it is not a human thing to stay still while your opponent improves.}) 27. Re1 e4 {Consistent, but it does not lead to the desired counterplay.} ({On a semi-waiting move like:} 27... h6 {(Leko) White intended:} 28. Bf2 ({Although:} 28. Bxc5 {is even better with large advantage after both:} bxc5 ({Or} 28... Rxc5 29. Rb3 { ganging against the b-pawn.}) 29. Rce3 {when one of the weaknesses on e5 or a5 might soon fall.})) ({Probably Aronian's best chance was:} 27... f4 $1 28. Bxc5 Rxc5 {Hoping for some tricks/counterplay in the lines given by Carlsen:} 29. Rb3 ({Or} 29. Qb2 Rcc8 30. Rb3 Qc5+ 31. Kh1 Qf2 {(Carlsen)}) 29... Bc2 { With the idea:} 30. Rb2 $2 Rxd5 $1 {(Carlsen)}) 28. fxe4 fxe4 29. Bxc5 Rxc5 ( 29... Qxc5+ 30. Qxc5 {"then whatever he takes I go with the rook on the b-file and bring the king to e3. It should be at least very bad for Black." (Carlsen)} ) 30. Nxe4 Qe5 31. Rce3 Rcc8 32. h3 $3 {"A very clever waiting move." (Carlsen) To multiply its effect, it was played in Aronian's severe time-trouble.} ({ In case of the immediate:} 32. Nc5 Qd6 33. Ne6 Qxa3 34. Rxa3 Rd6 {White may have problems with his c4 pawn. (Carlsen)}) 32... Qc7 ({If Black does something similar like:} 32... h6 {Then the idea with:} 33. Nc5 {wins as at the end of the line:} Qd6 34. Ne6 Qxa3 35. Rxa3 Rd6 {White has the strong:} 36. Rg3 $1 {(Carlsen)}) ({He believed he is also winning after:} 32... Qd4 33. Nd6) (32... Rxc4 33. Nd2 Qxd5 34. Nxc4 Qxc4 35. Qb3 Qxb3 36. Rxb3 {should be also lost for Black.}) 33. Nd2 {"He has no play whatsoever." (Carlsen)} Re8 34. Re7 Rxe7 35. Rxe7 Qd8 ({Or} 35... Qc5+ 36. Qxc5 Rxc5 37. Rb7 {when the queenside pawns drop.}) 36. Qe3 Rc7 37. Re6 Rc5 38. Qb3 1-0 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.27"] [Round "7.5"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E01"] [WhiteElo "2828"] [BlackElo "2710"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:04:15"] [BlackClock "0:00:50"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Bb4+ 5. Nd2 O-O 6. Ngf3 dxc4 7. O-O b5 8. a4 c6 9. b3 (9. Ne1 Nd5 10. e4 Nb6 11. a5 N6d7 12. e5 Bb7 13. Ne4 Na6 14. Bg5 Be7 15. Bxe7 Qxe7 16. Nd6 Rab8 {Wang,H (2709)-Ding,L (2777) Huaian 2017}) 9... c3 10. Nb1 Bb7 11. Qc2 c5 12. Nxc3 cxd4 13. Nxb5 Nc6 {N} (13... Be4 14. Qc4 Nc6 15. Nfxd4 Nxd4 16. Bxe4 Nxe4 17. Nxd4 Bc3 18. Nc6 Qd7 19. Ra2 Rfc8 {Pichot,A (2584)-Raghunandan,K (2352) Sharjah 2019}) 14. Qc4 Qe7 15. Nbxd4 Na5 16. Qb5 Rfd8 17. Bf4 $6 Bc3 $6 {Naiditsch must have miscalculated here.} ({Possible was the tactic} 17... Nxb3 $5 {when after} 18. Nxb3 Rd5 19. Nc5 (19. Qc4 Rc8 { traps the queen}) 19... Bxc5 20. Qb3 Rdd8 {when Black should be OK.}) 18. Rac1 a6 19. Qe5 {The self-pin is fine beause Na5 will be hanging.} Bxf3 $6 {After this Black's position becomes critical.} (19... Ng4 20. Nf5 $1) (19... Bb4) 20. Bxf3 Bxd4 21. Qxa5 Nd5 22. Bc7 $1 {With a series of powerful, computer-accurate moves Caruana is going to win material on the queenside.} Rd7 23. e3 (23. Rfd1) 23... Qf6 24. Bxd5 Rxd5 25. Qb4 Bb2 26. Rc2 h5 27. Qb7 Rf8 28. Qxa6 h4 29. Qc4 h3 30. Qg4 Rd3 31. b4 Rb3 32. Qxh3 Ra8 33. b5 1-0 [Event "Classic"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.27"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Meier, Georg"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C10"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2621"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:26:20"] [BlackClock "0:00:45"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. Be3 Bd6 8. Bd3 (8. Ne5 O-O 9. Qf3 Nd5 10. O-O-O c5 11. Nc4 Nxe3 12. fxe3 Bc7 13. Bd3 Qe7 {Bauer,C (2647)-Meier,G (2623) Nancy 2019}) 8... O-O 9. Qe2 b6 10. O-O-O Bb7 11. Kb1 (11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 Be7) 11... c5 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bh4 Rc8 14. Rhe1 { N "Nothing special." (Meier)} (14. c3 Be7 15. Bg3 cxd4 16. Nxd4 Rc5 17. Rhe1 Qc8 {Caruana,F (2817)-Meier,G (2621) Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden 2017}) 14... Bxf3 15. Qxf3 c4 16. Be4 (16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Qxf6 gxf6 {is just nothing (Meier).}) 16... g5 17. Bg3 Bxg3 18. fxg3 Kg7 (18... c3 $5) 19. c3 (19. d5 c3 20. dxe6 Qe7 {Meier}) 19... b5 20. g4 (20. h4 b4 (20... g4) 21. cxb4 Rb8 {Meier} 22. hxg5 hxg5 23. a3 a5) 20... Qd6 ({Meier saw} 20... b4 21. d5 Qa5 22. Rf1 Nxe4 23. Qxe4 bxc3 24. dxe6 Rb8 25. Rd7 Rxb2+ 26. Kc1 {and White wins!}) 21. Rf1 { "I felt he is just trying to bail out."(Meier)} (21. a3 a5) (21. Bc2 b4 22. Rf1 Nd5 23. Qe4 Nf6) 21... Nxe4 22. Qxe4 Qxh2 23. d5 Qd6 24. Qd4+ e5 25. Qxa7 Rc5 $6 (25... b4 26. Qe3) 26. Qb7 e4 27. Rf5 e3 28. Kc1 b4 $5 {The only way to keep the initiative according to Meier.} 29. Qxb4 $6 ({Meier didn't mention the active defense} 29. Rdf1 $1 {when} Rc7 {is forced and} 30. Qxb4 {is a whole different story.}) 29... Rb8 30. Qa4 Rcb5 31. Qa7 R8b7 32. Qxe3 (32. Qd4+ $2 f6) 32... Rxb2 33. Qe5+ Qxe5 34. Rxe5 Rxg2 35. Rd4 $6 ({Meier felt that} 35. d6 {should be enough for a draw but Anand is blundering a mating idea for Black.}) 35... Rg1+ 36. Kc2 $2 (36. Rd1) 36... Rgb1 {There you have it; easy to miss!} (36... Rgb1 {The only way to avoid the mate is by giving up a rook:} 37. Kd2 R7b2+ 38. Ke3 Re1+) 0-1 [Event "GRENKE Chess Classic 2019"] [Site "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Date "2019.04.26"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C48"] [WhiteElo "2695"] [BlackElo "2774"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2019.04.20"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Ba4 c6 6. Nxe5 d6 7. Nf3 Bg4 { In return for the pawn, Black gets excellent play.} 8. d3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. O-O Be7 (10... Nxc3 11. bxc3 Nxf3+ 12. gxf3 Be6 13. Bb3 Bd6 {seems to have scored quite well for Black in the past.}) 11. Re1 Nc7 $6 {This move was played by Anand after 6 minutes of thought. It can be concluded that he was not prepared for this position.} (11... O-O 12. Nxd5 cxd5 $13) (11... Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bxf3 13. gxf3 Nf5 {According to the engines, Black is doing fine here. He 0-0, gets his queen to d7, connects the rooks, seems not so bad.}) 12. Bg5 (12. Be3 $14) 12... Nxf3+ (12... Nce6 $1 $11 13. Nxd4 Bxd1 14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. Rxe6 Bg4 16. Rxe7+ Qxe7 17. Bxe7 Kxe7 $11) 13. gxf3 Be6 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. Bb3 $6 ( 15. Qe2 O-O 16. Qe5 $14) 15... O-O-O (15... O-O 16. f4 Qf6 17. Qf3 $13 { It doesn't seem that White should be better here in any way.}) 16. Qd2 Qf6 17. Qe3 Kb8 $6 (17... a6 18. f4 Bxb3 19. axb3 Ne6 $11 {And now there is no check on e5 because the king is on c8 and not on b8 like in the game.}) 18. f4 Bf5 ( 18... Bxb3 19. axb3 a6 20. Qg3 $36) 19. Qg3 Ne6 {You can say that after this move Black is doomed, because White simply snaps off the knight will his bishop. The remaining light squared bishop on the board can cause no real damage and White can continue his play on the dark squares and win the game.} 20. Bxe6 fxe6 21. Re5 h5 22. Kh1 h4 23. Qe3 Rhf8 24. Rg1 Rf7 25. a3 h3 26. Rg5 Rdf8 27. Ne2 c5 28. Ng3 (28. Qxc5 Rc7 $1 $132) 28... Bh7 29. Nh5 Qd8 30. Nxg7 { All of Black's pawns are falling. A game that was quite uncharacteristic of Anand.} 1-0 [Event "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Site "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Date "2019.04.27"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Meier, Georg"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C10"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2628"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2019.04.20"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 {Meier plays his pet variation - the French Rubinstein.} 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. Be3 {The bishop looks weird on e3, but the idea is to develop your bishop on d3, put your queen on e2 and 0-0-0.} (7. Bd3 {is the main move.}) 7... Bd6 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Qe2 b6 10. O-O-O Bb7 {The interesting thing here is that Anand and Meier have already played this position before in 2013 and the German GM has played the same position against Caruana, Kulaots and Lomasov, losing all the three games. So this was a well thought out opening choice by Vishy.} 11. Kb1 c5 $1 {Very direct.} 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bh4 (13. dxc5 bxc5 $13) 13... Rc8 14. Rhe1 (14. c3 {was played by Caruana against Meier.}) 14... Bxf3 $5 {A very committal decision.} 15. Qxf3 ( 15. gxf3 {was also plausible because you get an open file on the kingside. However, Anand decides to keep things simple by taking on f3 with the queen.}) 15... c4 16. Be4 g5 {To play such a pawn push in front of your king, surely seems risky. It remains to be seen if Anand can take advantage of such bold play by his opponent.} 17. Bg3 Bxg3 18. fxg3 Kg7 {What Meier is essentially saying is that I have my pawns on h6 and g5. They look weak. But my idea is to keep the kingside closed and start play on the queenside. The main point being that h4 can be met with g4 and it is not so easy to open the kingside.} 19. c3 b5 20. g4 $6 {I think it is from this point that Anand loses the thread of the game. His idea is understandable. He wants to play h4 without Black being able to play g4. But it turns out that Black is able to generate enough counterplay. } (20. Bc2 {The idea now is to place your rook on e5. Hence Black must do something active.} Rb8 21. h4 g4 22. Qf4 $16 {It just feels as if White should be faster here.}) 20... Qd6 21. Rf1 (21. h4 gxh4 22. Bb7 $5 (22. g5 hxg5 23. Bb7 Nd5 $1 $19) 22... Rc7 23. Re5 Nh7 {Black manages to hold on here.}) 21... Nxe4 22. Qxe4 Qxh2 {Meier is brave and picks up the h2 pawn.} 23. d5 $5 (23. Rh1 Qd6 $17) 23... Qd6 $1 {A powerful move. Meier says to Vishy, I am pawn up and my plan is to simply consolidate my position. Anand's intuition surely dictated to him that he should have compensation, but concretely in the game it was difficult to find.} (23... exd5 24. Rxd5 Rce8 25. Qf3 Re6 26. Rxb5 $11 { Black is holding here, but White also has nothing to worry.}) 24. Qd4+ { Clearly you do not make this move happily. Winning the a7 pawn is in now way similar to the h2 pawn. While Black's g-pawns have been doubled here, for Black losing the a7 pawn would mean that he has good attacking chances down the a-file.} (24. dxe6 Qxe6 25. Qd4+ Kg8 $17) 24... e5 25. Qxa7 Rc5 (25... b4 $5 $17) 26. Qb7 e4 27. Rf5 e3 28. Kc1 (28. Re1 Rc7 29. Qxb5 Qg3 30. Re2 Qxg4 31. Rf3 Qe4+ $15) 28... b4 $5 29. Qxb4 $2 (29. Rdf1 {was necessary.} Rc7 30. Qxb4 {White doesn't have an advantage here, but he shouldn't really be worse.}) 29... Rb8 $1 30. Qa4 Rcb5 {The e3 pawn ensures that there is no good way to defend the b2 pawn.} 31. Qa7 R8b7 32. Qxe3 Rxb2 33. Qe5+ Qxe5 34. Rxe5 Rxg2 35. Rd4 (35. d6 Rbb2 36. Rd4 $5 (36. Rdd5 Rxa2 37. Kb1 Rab2+ 38. Kc1 Rgc2+ 39. Kd1 Rh2 40. Kc1 Rbc2+ 41. Kb1 Rxc3 42. d7 Rb3+ 43. Kc1 Ra3 44. Kb1 (44. Rb5 Ra1+ 45. Rb1 Rh1+ 46. Kc2 Raxb1 47. d8=Q Rhc1+ $19) 44... c3 $19 {And Black's construction is just more fast.}) 36... Rxa2 37. Kb1 Rab2+ 38. Kc1 Rbc2+ 39. Kb1 Rxc3 40. d7 Rb3+ 41. Kc1 Ra3 42. Rb5 $11 Ra1+ 43. Rb1 Rg1+ 44. Kc2 Raxb1 45. d8=Q Rgc1+ 46. Kd2 $11 {And now the queen on d8 is not hanging as we have a rook on d4.}) 35... Rg1+ 36. Kc2 (36. Rd1 {and the game goes on.}) 36... Rgb1 $1 {White is losing his rook on e5.} (36... Rgb1 37. Rxc4 R7b2+ 38. Kd3 Rd1+ 39. Ke3 Re1+ 40. Kd4 Rd2+ $19) 0-1 [Event "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Site "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Date "2019.04.28"] [Round "8"] [White "Svidler, P..."] [Black "Carlsen, M.."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2735"] [BlackElo "2845"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2019.04.18"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 (3... Nf6 4. Bb5) 4. Bc4 Be7 5. d3 d6 6. Nd2 (6. Ng5 Bxg5 7. Qh5 Be7 8. Qxf7+ Kd7 $19) 6... Nf6 7. Nf1 Nd7 8. Nd5 Nb6 9. Nxb6 axb6 10. c3 O-O 11. Ne3 Bg5 12. O-O Kh8 13. a3 (13. Nd5 Bxc1 14. Rxc1 Be6 $11) (13. Bd2 Bxe3 14. fxe3 {Anand vs Ivanchuk 2001.}) 13... f5 14. Nxf5 Bxc1 (14... Bxf5 15. Bxg5 Qxg5 16. exf5 Qxf5 (16... Rxf5 17. Qb3 $16) 17. Qb3 $16) 15. Rxc1 Bxf5 16. exf5 d5 17. Ba2 Rxf5 18. Qg4 Rf6 (18... g6) 19. f4 exf4 20. Qg5 (20. Rxf4 Ne5 21. Qg3 Rxf4 22. Qxf4 Nxd3 $19) 20... Qf8 $1 (20... d4 21. Rxf4 dxc3 22. bxc3 Rxa3 23. Bc4 $13) (20... Qd6 21. Qxd5 Qxd5 22. Bxd5 $14) 21. Qxd5 (21. Bxd5 Rf5 $19) 21... Rd8 22. Qf3 (22. Qg5 Rxd3) 22... Ne5 23. Qe4 (23. Qxb7 f3 $19) 23... Ng4 24. Rce1 Ne3 25. Rf2 Re8 26. Qxb7 g5 $1 27. Rfe2 g4 28. Rf2 Qh6 29. Qc7 Ref8 30. h3 gxh3 31. g3 fxg3 32. Rxf6 (32. Qxg3 Rxf2 $19) 32... h2+ 33. Kh1 g2# 0-1 [Event "Classic"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.04.29"] [Round "9.3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A37"] [WhiteElo "2845"] [BlackElo "2775"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 {The solid Symmetrical English.} 5. Nf3 d6 6. O-O Bf5 7. h3 Nf6 ({Black chose a different route:} 7... Qd7 8. Kh2 e5 9. d3 h6 10. a3 Nge7 11. Rb1 a5 12. Nd2 {in Harikrishna,P (2725)-Ragger,M (2687) St Petersburg 2018}) 8. d3 O-O 9. Be3 a6 10. Qd2 b5 {N A novelty and a Benko-style sacrifice. But Carlsen was not impressed. "‪Sometimes he does this; he makes these impulsive decisions. He very much likes to give up pawns for the initiative but the problem is that there is no initiative, it’s just a free pawn.‬" (Carlsen)} ({It is doubtful that the players were aware of the predecessor:} 10... Qd7 11. g4 Be6 12. Bh6 Rab8 13. e4 b5 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. b3 {Schmidbauer,A (1886)-Dolinar,J (1788) Vienna 2012}) 11. cxb5 axb5 12. Nxb5 Qa5 13. Nc3 $1 {Keeping the queens on the board.} ({ The Benko compensation along the a- and b-files is more evident in the endgame. After:} 13. Qxa5 Rxa5 14. Nc3 Rb8 15. Rfb1 Be6 {with the idea Nf6-d5 Blck will get decent compensation for the pawn.}) 13... Rab8 14. Rfc1 {Overprotects the knight as the easiest way to stop Black's pressure is to advance the b-pawn.} Rfc8 15. b3 e5 {A sad necessity. Vachier-Lagrave blocks his own bishop.} ({ However if he does not push this pawn it will be White who will seize the center after say:} 15... Bd7 16. d4 cxd4 17. Nxd4) 16. Bh6 Nd4 ({It makes no sense to preserve the blocked bishop:} 16... Bh8) 17. Bxg7 Nxf3+ {A surprise for the world champion.} ({He probably expected something along the lines of:} 17... Kxg7 18. Nxd4 exd4 19. Ne4 {with a solid extra pawn.}) 18. exf3 $1 { But a pleasant one. Now White gets a chance to open the game a bit faster.} ({ After} 18. Bxf3 {"nothing is going to happen for some time." (Carlsen)}) 18... Kxg7 19. f4 {The point.} Qa6 ({If} 19... Rd8 {to prepare for the opening of the d-file then:} 20. g4 $5 {is strong:} Bc8 21. g5 Nh5 22. fxe5 dxe5 23. Qe3 { when the black pieces lack harmony.}) 20. fxe5 dxe5 21. Na4 {It is Vachier-Lagrave who has the weaknesses now.} Nd7 ({Or} 21... Qxd3 22. Qxd3 Bxd3 23. Nxc5 {entering an endgame.}) 22. Rc3 Rb4 23. g4 {Another energetic decision.} (23. Nxc5 {is less clear after:} Nxc5 24. Rxc5 Rxc5 25. Qxb4 Rc2 26. a4 Qa7) 23... Be6 {After some thought Carlsen enters a deeply calculated line which leads to a queen endgame.} 24. Nxc5 Nxc5 25. Rxc5 Rxb3 ({Now} 25... Rxc5 {simply drops a second pawn to:} 26. Qxb4 Rc2 27. Qb8 f6 28. Be4) 26. Rxc8 Bxc8 27. Rc1 Rxd3 28. Qe2 Be6 (28... Rd6 $2 {would see Black's queen overworked after:} 29. Qxe5+ Kg8 30. Bf1) 29. Qxe5+ Kg8 ({Obviously Black does not want to weaken his king:} 29... f6 30. Rc7+ Bf7 31. Qe7) 30. Rb1 (30. Bf1 $6 Qa3 31. Rb1 Rd8 {leaves White with the problem of the hanging a-pawn.}) 30... Rd8 31. Rb8 Rxb8 32. Qxb8+ Kg7 33. Bd5 $1 {Carlsen should have seen this idea from afar.} ({As after the other normal continuation:} 33. Qb2+ Kg8 34. a3 Qd3 { White would experience great difficulties advancing the a-pawn.}) 33... Bxd5 34. Qe5+ f6 35. Qxd5 {The endgame should be won for White. The a-passer cannot be stopped, whereas the white king is safe enough to avoid the perpetual.} h5 { Hoping to discover the white monarch.} ({Somewhat more resilient was the preliminary:} 35... Qa7 36. Qb3 h5) 36. gxh5 gxh5 37. Qd7+ Kg6 38. a4 Qe2 39. Qd5 {The ideal spot for the queen. The control of the long diagonal prevents the perpetual, while the queen helps her own passer and hits the black pawns.} f5 40. a5 f4 41. Kg2 {Zugzwang.} ({Surely not:} 41. Qc6+ Kg7 42. a6 f3) 41... Kh6 ({If} 41... Kf6 42. Qf3 {wins another pawn for White.}) ({So does:} 41... Kg7 42. Qg5+) 42. Qf5 Qc4 43. Kf3 1-0 [Event "GRENKE Chess Classic 2019"] [Site "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"] [Date "2019.04.29"] [Round "9.3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A37"] [WhiteElo "2845"] [BlackElo "2773"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.04.20"] 1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6. O-O Bf5 7. h3 Nf6 8. d3 O-O 9. Be3 a6 10. Qd2 b5 $2 {Carlsen was a bit tired and hence didn't delve deep into this move. He saw that the pawn could be taken and just went ahead with it. According to Magnus Black doesn't get enough compensation for the pawn. After he won this pawn, it was a question of whether MVL could get some compensation or not. As the game progressed the French GM got no real play for the pawn and went on to lose the game.} 11. cxb5 axb5 12. Nxb5 Qa5 13. Nc3 Rab8 14. Rfc1 Rfc8 15. b3 e5 16. Bh6 Nd4 17. Bxg7 Nxf3+ 18. exf3 $1 {I like this flexible decision. If you have an unprejudiced mind, you can easily find this move because after Kxg7, White plays f4 when his advantage increases even further.} Kxg7 19. f4 Qa6 20. fxe5 dxe5 21. Na4 Nd7 22. Rc3 Rb4 23. g4 Be6 24. Nxc5 Nxc5 25. Rxc5 Rxb3 26. Rxc8 Bxc8 27. Rc1 Rxd3 28. Qe2 Be6 29. Qxe5+ Kg8 30. Rb1 Rd8 31. Rb8 Rxb8 32. Qxb8+ Kg7 33. Bd5 Bxd5 34. Qe5+ f6 35. Qxd5 h5 36. gxh5 gxh5 37. Qd7+ Kg6 38. a4 Qe2 39. Qd5 f5 40. a5 f4 41. Kg2 Kh6 42. Qf5 Qc4 43. Kf3 1-0