Games
[Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha"] [Date "2015.12.20"] [Round "1"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Sunilduth Lyna, Narayanan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A28"] [WhiteElo "2784"] [BlackElo "2494"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "QAT"] [TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 (4. g3) 4... Bb4 {[%csl Re3]} 5. Qc2 O-O 6. Nd5 Re8 7. Qf5 {[%csl Gf6][%cal Gd5f6,Rf3g5,Rf1d3]} d6 {[%cal Rc8f5]} 8. Nxf6+ {[%emt 0:10:44]} gxf6 {[%emt 0:31:42]} 9. Qc2 {[%emt 0:06:45]} (9. Qh5 d5 ) 9... e4 {[%emt 0:02:38]} 10. Ng1 {[%emt 0:10:08][%csl Gf6,Gf7,Gh7]} (10. Nh4 f5 11. g3 d5 {0-1 (36) Keene,R (2510)-Timman,J (2590) Bad Lauterberg 1977}) 10... d5 {[%emt 0:12:07]} 11. a3 {[%emt 0:02:20]} Bf8 {[%emt 0:00:14][%cal Gf8g7]} 12. cxd5 {[%emt 0:00:17]} Qxd5 {[%emt 0:00:12]} 13. Ne2 {[%emt 0:00:09] [%cal Ge2g3,Ge2f4,Ge2c3]} (13. Bc4 $6 Qg5 $1 {[%csl Gg2][%cal Gg5g2] 0-1 (32) Arabidze,M (2403)-Kosteniuk,A (2530) Kutaisi 2015}) 13... Bf5 {[%emt 0:04:42]} (13... f5 14. Nc3 Qd8 {1/2-1/2 (56) Kharlov,A (2609)-Korotylev,A (2558) Krasnodar 2002}) 14. b4 {[%emt 0:15:32][%csl Gf6][%cal Gc1b2]} a5 {[%emt 0:06: 56]} (14... Ne5 {[%csl Ge5]} 15. Nc3 (15. Nf4 Qd6) 15... Qc6 {[%csl Gc6,Gd5, Ge4,Gf3,Gg2][%cal Gc6e4,Gf5e4,Ge5d3]}) 15. Nc3 {[%emt 0:05:58]} Qe6 {[%emt 0: 09:25]} 16. b5 {[%emt 0:00:17]} Ne5 {[%emt 0:09:57]} (16... Ne7) 17. Nxe4 { [%emt 0:00:53]} Nd7 {[%emt 0:02:13][%cal Gf5c2]} 18. d3 {[%emt 0:08:40]} Bxe4 { [%emt 0:00:40]} 19. dxe4 {[%emt 0:00:05]} Nc5 {[%emt 0:00:22][%cal Ge6e4,Gc5e4, Gc5b3]} (19... Qxe4 20. Qxe4 Rxe4 21. Bb2) 20. Bb2 {[%emt 0:03:38]} Rad8 { [%emt 0:02:28]} 21. Rc1 {[%emt 0:05:01][%cal Gf1c4,Gc1c7]} (21. f3 {[%csl Ge3] [%cal Gc5b3]} Nb3 22. Rd1 Rxd1+ 23. Qxd1 a4 {[%cal Gf8c5]}) (21. Bc4 Qxe4 { [%csl Gc5,Ge4][%cal Ge4c4]}) 21... Nxe4 {[%emt 0:01:42][%csl Gd8,Ge4,Ge6,Ge8]} 22. Bd3 {[%emt 0:03:31][%cal Gd3e4,Gb2f6,Gc1c7]} Nxf2 {[%emt 0:06:29][%csl Gf2] } 23. Bxh7+ {[%emt 0:01:18]} (23. Qxf2 Rxd3 24. Qg3+ Bg7 25. O-O Rxe3) (23. Kxf2 Qxe3+ 24. Kf1 Rxd3 $19) 23... Kg7 {[%emt 0:01:09]} 24. O-O {[%emt 0:01:11] } Nd3 {[%emt 0:03:31]} (24... Ng4) (24... Qxe3 25. Rxf2) 25. Bxd3 {[%emt 0:02: 22]} Qxe3+ {[%emt 0:00:03]} 26. Kh1 {[%emt 0:02:16]} Rxd3 {[%emt 0:00:16]} ( 26... Qxd3 27. Bxf6+ {[%csl Gd8]} Kg6 28. Bxd8) 27. Rxf6 {[%emt 0:02:25][%csl Gf6]} Kg8 {[%emt 0:00:44][%cal Gb2h8]} (27... Qe1+ 28. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 29. Rf1+ { [%cal Gb2g7]}) 28. Rcf1 {[%emt 0:02:35][%csl Gf7][%cal Ge3e1]} Qe2 {[%emt 0:04: 56]} (28... Bg7 29. Rxf7 Bxb2 30. Qc4 Qe6 31. Rf8+ Kg7 32. R1f7+ Kg6 33. Qxd3+) 29. Qc4 {[%emt 0:01:55]} Rd7 {[%emt 0:00:15]} (29... Qxb2 30. Qxf7+) 30. Rg6+ ( 30. Rg6+ Kh7 31. Qh4+ Kxg6 32. Rf6+ Kg7 33. Qh8+ Kxh8 34. Rh6+ Kg8 35. Rh8#) 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.12.20"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Batsiashvili, Nino"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A09"] [WhiteElo "2834"] [BlackElo "2498"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:16:35"] [BlackClock "0:12:17"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c5 4. c4 d4 5. b4 {The world champion goes for a reversed Benko Gambit.} cxb4 6. a3 b3 ({Black can naturally accept the gambit with} 6... bxa3 7. Bxa3 Nc6 {For example} 8. d3 g6 9. Nbd2 Bg7 10. Ra2 $5 O-O 11. Qa1 {with compensation for the pawn in Vachier Lagrave,M (2742)-Wojtaszek, R (2698) Germany 2014}) 7. Qxb3 Nc6 8. O-O e5 9. e3 {The advantage of the extra tempo- White can play more aggressively.} ({In identical situation the Benko player with the black pieces would chose the more restrained} 9. d3 { approach.}) 9... Be7 {Careful, solid play. Castle first, think later.} 10. exd4 exd4 11. Bb2 O-O 12. Re1 ({A novelty, in comparison to} 12. d3 Rb8 13. Nbd2 h6 14. Qc2 Bc5 15. Nb3 {with some advantage for White in Sabia,C (2209) -Ficco,C (2150) Foligno 2010}) 12... Re8 {Another way to play the position is} (12... Rb8 $5 13. d3 {Then Black can try to shift the kingside knight to a better spot with} ({One of Black's ideas is revealed in the line} 13. Ne5 Be6) 13... Nd7 $5 {This seems tactically justified after} 14. Nxd4 Bf6 15. Nf3 Nc5 16. Bxf6 Nxb3 17. Bxd8 Rxd8 18. Ra2 Bf5) 13. a4 {With the obvious intention to bring the knight on a3. However, this allows a freeing operation.} (13. d3 { might be preferrable with unclear game.}) 13... Na5 {Batsiashvili forces trades. The preliminary} (13... Be6 {looks good for Black too. For example} 14. Na3 (14. d3 Bb4) 14... h6 {When pawn grabbing} 15. Qxb7 $4 {is illegal due to} Na5 16. Qa6 Bc8 17. Qb5 a6 18. Qe5 Bxa3) 14. Qd3 Be6 {Black's organized army makes great impression.} 15. Na3 Bxa3 {A bit hasty. Now Black equalizes, almost...Instead, she could have brought the rook out first:} (15... Rc8 $5 { when Black seems to level the game completely in all lines} 16. Qxd4 (16. Bxd4 b6 $5 {and only then capture on c4.} ({But not} 16... Nxc4 $2 17. Rxe6 $1) ({ Although} 16... Bxa3 17. Rxa3 Rxc4 18. Bxa7 Qxd3 19. Rxd3 Rxa4 20. Ng5 Nc4 { could be good enough for the draw as well.})) (16. Nxd4 Nxc4 17. Nxc4 Bxc4) 16... Bxa3 17. Bxa3 Nxc4) 16. Bxa3 Bxc4 17. Qxd4 Qxd4 18. Nxd4 Bd5 {The resulting endgame is somewhat for White. Carlsen owes the bishop pair and the more active pieces, while Batsiashvili is a proud owner of the better pawn structure.} 19. Rxe8+ {The world champion prefers to occupy the more distant file from the black king and restricts the Na5 in the process.} (19. Nf5 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Nc4 {lets the horse out.} (20... Nd5)) 19... Rxe8 20. Rc1 b6 ({ Black's difficulties are illustrated by the line:} 20... Bxg2 21. Kxg2 h6 ( 21... Rd8 $6 22. Be7 $1) (21... b6 22. Bb4) 22. Nf5 {where the black knight should remain on the rim as} Nc6 23. Nd6 Rb8 24. Nxb7 {simply loses a pawn.}) 21. Bf1 $1 {The best chance is to keep the bishop pair. The alternatives fail to impress:} (21. Rc7 Re1+ 22. Bf1 h5) (21. Bb4 Nb3 22. Nxb3 Bxb3 23. a5 h6 ( 23... Nd5)) 21... Bb7 ({Perhaps} 21... h6 {is a bit more accurate, with counterattack in case of} 22. Nf5 Nb3 23. Rc7 Re1) 22. Nf5 Rd8 23. d4 Nd5 24. Bg2 {One winning attempt is the rook trade after} (24. Nd6 Ba8 25. Rc8 $5 Rxc8 26. Nxc8 {Black should hold after} Bc6 ({Or} 26... a6 27. Bxa6 Bc6 28. Ne7+ ( 28. Bb5 Bxb5 29. axb5 Nb3 30. Bb2 Nd2 {the poor position of the white bishop can hardly offer any winning chances to White.}) 28... Nxe7 29. Bxe7 Nb3 30. Bd8 Nxd4 31. Bxb6 Nf3+ 32. Kg2 Ne5+ 33. Kf1 Bxa4) 27. Bg2 {with the threat Bg2xd5.} Bd7 28. Nxa7 Nc3 29. d5 Nxa4 {and although White can play further it should be a draw.}) 24... g6 25. Nd6 Ba8 26. h4 {Once more Carlsen could have traded the rooks, in a better version in comparison to the line above:} (26. Rc8 $1 Rxc8 27. Nxc8 {White wins a pawn in all the lines} Bb7 (27... Nc4 28. Bc1 Kg7 (28... a6 29. Bxd5) 29. Nxa7) (27... a6 $4 {loses on the spot due to} 28. Bxd5 Bxd5 29. Ne7+) 28. Nxa7 Nc3 29. Bb4 {looks better than} (29. Bxb7 Nxb7 ) 29... Nxa4 30. Bxa5 Bxg2 31. Kxg2 (31. Bxb6 Bf3) 31... bxa5 32. Nc6 f5 33. Nxa5 Kf7 34. Kf3 {If we use Botvinnik's formula for the knight endgames this should be a win for White. Indeed, most of the 4 versus 3 knight endgames are won for the stronger side even if the pawns are on the same flank.}) 26... h5 27. Re1 {A cunning tactical idea by Carlsen. Alas, it does not work.} ({ This was the last chance for} 27. Rc8) 27... Bc6 $1 {Batsiashvili is not afraid! The e5 point cannot be covered} (27... f6 $2 28. Ne8 $1 {will leave Black helpless-} Kf7 29. Bxd5+ Bxd5 30. Re7+) ({But perhaps} 27... a6 28. Re5 Nf6 {was playable, say} 29. Bxa8 Rxa8 30. Re7 b5 31. axb5 axb5 32. Nxb5 Nc6 { with good chances to hold.}) 28. Re5 {It seems as Black felt into the trap but} Nf6 29. Rxa5 Bxg2 30. Rxa7 Bd5 {Revealed one of the good defensive methods when fighting the bishop pair- a pawn sacrifice for opposite colored bishops.} 31. Ra6 Nd7 ({Black could have alos traded the rooks at once} 31... Ra8 32. Rxa8+ Bxa8 33. Nc4 Nd5 {which should be also holdable.}) 32. Nb5 $6 {A blunder, which allows Black too much activity. Instead both} (32. Kf1) ({Or} 32. Bc1 { would ahve kept the extra pawn. Would that be a win for White is another story. }) 32... Re8 $1 {Showing no respect to the world champion and intending to mate him in two.} 33. Bb4 Re2 34. Ra7 Nf6 {The active blac pieces force White to play carefully to hold the balance.} 35. Kf1 Rb2 (35... Bf3 $5 {might have been more unpleasant for White.}) 36. Bc3 Rc2 {The preliminary check} (36... Bc4+ {was also good-} 37. Ke1 Re2+ 38. Kd1 Rxf2) 37. Rc7 Ng4 38. Ke1 Rxf2 39. Rc8+ Kh7 40. Rd8 Bf3 {The time trouble is over and Carlsen plays the only move} 41. Re8 {Even world champions should not disrespect the famous Georgian chess school. The rude checkmate attempt} (41. d5 $4 {would be neatly punished after} Re2+ 42. Kf1 Ne3+ 43. Kg1 Rg2+ 44. Kh1 Rxg3+ 45. Kh2 Nf1#) 41... f6 { Everything is equal and the game is heading towards the logical end.} (41... Bd5) 42. Re7+ Kg8 43. Re8+ Kh7 44. Re7+ Kg8 45. Bd2 Rg2 46. Bf4 g5 {Trades as many pawns as possible.} (46... Kf8 47. Bd6 Kg8) 47. hxg5 fxg5 48. Bxg5 Rxg3 49. Nc3 Bc6 50. Kd2 Rg2+ 51. Re2 Nf2 {Nino Batsiashvili demonstares once more perfect calcualtion.} (51... Rxe2+ 52. Kxe2 Kf7 {would also do.}) 52. d5 Bxd5 $1 {A nice finish of an excellent game.} 53. Nxd5 Ne4+ 54. Ke3 Rxe2+ 55. Kxe2 Nxg5 56. Nxb6 Ne6 57. a5 Nc7 {Great play by one of Georgia's best female players!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.20"] [Round "1.28"] [White "Fang, Yuxiang"] [Black "Khismatullin, Denis"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A37"] [WhiteElo "2438"] [BlackElo "2654"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. g3 Nc6 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Bf5 7. d3 Qd7 8. Nd5 Rb8 9. a4 Nf6 10. Bd2 h5 11. h4 Ng4 12. Bc3 Nge5 13. Rb1 O-O 14. Nxe5 dxe5 15. b4 b6 16. b5 Nd8 17. a5 Qd6 18. Ra1 Bd7 19. axb6 axb6 20. Ra7 e6 21. Ne3 f5 22. Nc2 Nf7 23. Qa1 Rfd8 24. Qb2 Be8 25. Rfa1 Rd7 26. Ne1 Bf6 27. f4 Bh8 28. Nf3 exf4 29. Bxh8 Nxh8 30. Rxd7 Bxd7 31. Qe5 Nf7 32. Qxd6 Nxd6 33. Ne5 Be8 34. gxf4 Kg7 35. Ra7+ Kf6 36. Bc6 {Black resigned here since threats of Rf7 or Nd7+ are too much to handle. Everything now wins, but one pretty ending could have been} Bxc6 37. bxc6 Rd8 38. c7 (38. Nf3 {heading for Ng5-Nh7 mate is also quite nice since} Nf7 39. Ng5 Nxg5 (39... Rf8 40. Rxf7+ Rxf7 41. Nxf7 Kxf7 42. c7) 40. hxg5#) 38... Re8 39. c8=Q Rxc8 (39... Nxc8 40. Rf7#) 40. Nd7+ Ke7 41. Nxb6+ 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.20"] [Round "1.41"] [White "Naroditsky, Daniel"] [Black "Siva, Mahadevan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2628"] [BlackElo "2400"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 Bg4 5. Ne5 Be6 6. cxd5 Bxd5 7. f3 g6 8. Bh3 Nfd7 9. e4 Nxe5 10. dxe5 Bc4 11. Qxd8+ Kxd8 12. Na3 Ba6 13. e6 fxe6 14. Bf4 Nd7 15. Bxe6 Ke8 16. Rd1 Nf6 17. Be5 Bg7 18. Bc3 Rf8 19. g4 Rd8 20. h4 Bh8 21. h5 g5 22. h6 Nd7 23. Bg7 Nc5 24. Rxd8+ Kxd8 25. Bxf8 Nxe6 26. Bg7 Nxg7 27. hxg7 Bxg7 28. b3 h6 29. Nc2 b6 30. Ne3 e6 31. Kd2 Ke7 32. a4 Kd6 33. Rc1 c5 34. Nc4+ {You have the be sure you can break the blockade before allowing this trade, but the endgame author can be trusted on this one.} Bxc4 35. Rxc4 a5 36. Rc1 Kc6 37. Kd3 Be5 38. Kc4 Bf6 39. Rh1 Bg7 40. Rh2 e5 41. Rd2 Bf6 42. Rd5 { A first zugzwang to force a concession.} Kc7 43. Kb5 Bg7 44. Rd1 Bf6 45. Rd5 Bg7 {But now how to break through?} 46. Ka6 (46. Rd2 Bf6 47. Rh2 Bg7 48. Rh5 Kb7 49. f4 exf4 50. e5 Bxe5 51. Rxh6 f3 {Could offer Black some resistance, so Naroditsky goes for the "other" break"}) 46... Bf6 47. b4 $1 axb4 (47... cxb4 48. Rb5 {and White will get his passed pawn on the queenside}) 48. a5 bxa5 49. Rxc5+ Kd6 50. Rd5+ Ke6 51. Kxa5 Be7 52. Rb5 Bd6 53. Rxb4 $1 {The point of the whole operation. This resource makes the win much easier.} Bc5 (53... Bxb4+ 54. Kxb4 Kd6 55. Kb5 {is elementary}) 54. Rb6+ 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Salem, A.R. Saleh"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2622"] [BlackElo "2766"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Nh5 10. Nbd2 Qf6 11. Kh1 Qg6 12. Bc4 a6 13. b4 Ba7 14. a4 Kg7 15. b5 Nxg3+ 16. fxg3 Na5 17. Ba2 f5 18. Qe2 Bd7 19. bxa6 {This was the first chance to play the tactic...Do you see it yet?} bxa6 20. exf5 {And this was the second chance...} (20. Nxe5 $1 dxe5 21. exf5 Bxf5 (21... Rxf5 22. Rxf5 Qxf5 23. Rf1 {is actually a worse version for Black}) 22. Qxe5+ Kh7 (22... Qf6 23. Rxf5) 23. Qxc7+ Kh8 24. Qe5+ Kh7 25. Qxa5 {Should be a technical win for White.}) 20... Qh5 21. d4 Bxf5 22. dxe5 Qg6 23. Bb1 Nc6 24. exd6 cxd6 25. g4 Bxb1 26. Raxb1 Bc5 27. Rb7+ Kh8 28. h3 Rfe8 29. Qc4 Na5 30. Qf7 Qxf7 31. Rxf7 Re2 32. Rb1 Kg8 33. Rc7 Rae8 34. Nf1 R2e7 35. Rxe7 Rxe7 36. Ng3 Rb7 37. Rd1 Nc4 38. Nd4 Ne3 39. Re1 Nd5 40. Ngf5 Nxc3 41. Re6 Rb4 42. Nxh6+ Kf8 43. Nf3 Ne4 44. Nf5 Rxa4 45. Kh2 a5 46. h4 gxh4 47. g5 Bf2 48. Kh3 Bg3 49. Nxg3 hxg3 50. Rh6 Kg7 51. Kg4 Nf6+ 52. Kxg3 Rg4+ 53. Kh3 Rxg5 54. Nxg5 Kxh6 55. Nf7+ Kg6 56. Nxd6 a4 57. Nb5 Kf5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Qatar Masters Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Grandelius, Nils"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2784"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 {Giri generally prefers the Taimanov Sicilian, but every once in a while he opts for the Najdorf too.} 6. h3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f4 ({Another plan is} 8. Be3 Be7 9. Qf3 O-O 10. g4 a5 11. O-O-O a4 12. Nc5 a3 {as in the recent masterpiece Khismatullin,D (2654) -Sjugirov,S (2646) Khanty-Mansiysk 2015}) 8... Be7 {Giri revealed at the press-conference that he was not sure about his memories of the line and mentioned two recent games, important for the line:} (8... b5 9. f5 Bc8 10. Bg5 Bb7 11. Qf3 Nbd7 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Kb1 Rc8 {Grischuk,A (2785)-Wojtaszek,R (2701) Riga 2013}) ({And} 8... Nbd7 9. f5 Bxb3 10. axb3 d5 11. exd5 Bb4 12. Bd2 O-O 13. Qe2 Bxc3 14. bxc3 e4 {Sutovsky,E (2635)-Shirov,A (2712) Poikovsky 2015 Although White won both these games Black did reasonably well out of the opening.}) 9. f5 Bd7 {A novelty. The bishop is heading for the c6 square.} ({ A Najdorf specialist chose instead} 9... Bc8 {trying to fianchetto the bishop asap and keeping the queenside knight's options open-} 10. Qf3 b5 11. a3 Bb7 12. g4 d5 $1 {and Black was already better in Sutovsky,E (2632)-Wojtaszek, R (2736) Bilbao 2014}) 10. Be3 b5 {The fight for the d5 square is fierce. Black dismissed the immediate} (10... Bc6 11. Qf3 d5 {due to} 12. Nxd5 $1 ({Giri also calculated the cunning line} 12. exd5 Bxd5 $1 13. Qg3 $6 Ne4 $1 14. Qxe5 Nc6 15. Qxd5 Bh4+ {and all of a sudden Black wins the queen} 16. Ke2 Nxc3+) 12... Bxd5 13. O-O-O Nxe4 14. Bc4 $1 {where Black's position falls apart.}) 11. Qf3 ({Perhaps Grandelius should have gone for} 11. a3 Bc6 12. Qf3 {which seems more stable.}) 11... b4 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. exd5 {Now that the d5 outpost disappeared Black should be fine.} Bg5 {In order to trade the "poor bishop". This however leaves the queenside somewhat poorly placed.} (13... a5 14. Nd2 { would have been somewhat better for White.}) ({But} 13... O-O {looks quite good for him. I suspect that Giri did not want to show where is his king going yet. He often leaves it in the middle in the Taimanov and if you remember his game again Saric in Wijk this year you might find a lot of similarities to the one you are following right now.}) 14. Bxg5 ({White has nothing after} 14. Bf2 O-O 15. Bd3 Bb5) 14... Qxg5 15. Bd3 Bb5 16. h4 {Grandelius is a very strong attacking player and remains true to his style. Objectively though a better approach would have been the one suggested by the top commentator P.Svidler:} ( 16. Nd2 Nd7 17. Ne4 Qe7 18. O-O {followed by the opening of the queenside with a2-a3} Nf6 19. a3 {Giri believed this should not be too bad for Black but the impression is that he is worse.}) 16... Qd8 17. g4 Nd7 18. g5 $6 {"A mistake that gives the "h" file to Black." (Giri).} (18. O-O-O) 18... h6 $1 {Or else White's initiative on the kingside might become annoying-} (18... Qb6 19. O-O-O a5 20. Nd2 Nc5 21. Bxb5+ Qxb5 22. h5 {and White is ready to open files (Giri).} ) 19. Rg1 {One more timid move. The Dutch GM believed that White should do better if sacrifices a pawn:} (19. f6 gxf6 20. g6 fxg6 21. Bxg6+ Ke7 22. O-O-O {intending Rh1-e1 and Nb3-d4-f5 with compensation for a pawn.}) 19... hxg5 20. hxg5 Bxd3 21. Qxd3 Rh5 $1 {"A strong move that forces the white queen to be misplaced" (Giri). Things are not that simple though...} 22. Qg3 ({Black is indeed doing great in the endgame after} 22. Qe3 Qb6 {as the white pawns are overstretched.}) ({Also in the line} 22. Qd2 a5 $1 {when the knight is deprived of the d2 square.}) ({However, there was a third possibility that Giri did not mention:} 22. f6 $1 {with the idea} gxf6 ({Safer is} 22... g6 23. O-O-O {but then the white queen would not have to leave.}) 23. g6 $1 {This looks like an improved version of the pawn sacrifice from above.}) ({And even} 22. O-O-O $5 {was interesting with the idea to get the file back after} Rxg5 23. Rh1) 22... Qc7 23. O-O-O Rc8 {Now Black has almost all his pieces wonderfully placed. Only the knight can do better and once that the "a" pawn starts moving White's position will become critical.} 24. Rd2 a5 25. Kb1 ({ Giri was a bit afraid of the line} 25. f6 g6 26. Qe1 a4 27. Nd4 {but it fail tactically due to} Nb6 28. Nc6 Nxd5 {and Black nets a pawn.}) 25... a4 26. Nc1 Qc4 $1 {Better than} (26... Nb6 27. Qg4 $1 {that forces the black rook back} Nc4 28. Re2 Rh8 {(Giri)}) 27. Qf3 ({Here} 27. Qg4 Rh4 28. Qxc4 Rcxc4 {leads to perfect endgame for Black.}) 27... Rh4 28. f6 g6 {Black controls all the files and does not need to open more.} 29. Rh1 Nc5 {This brings the last piece into the action.} ({Svidler mentioned} 29... e4 {but it is not better due to} 30. Re1 Ne5 31. Qd1) (29... Nb6 $5 {deserved attention too.}) ({But the preliminary } 29... a3 $1 30. bxa3 Nc5 {with huge attack seems best.}) 30. Rdh2 Ne4 { The critical moment of the game.} ({The computer believes} 30... Rxh2 31. Rxh2 Kd8 {was best for Black, but I am not sure I understand a thing here.}) 31. Qd1 ({Both players missed that in the line} 31. Qe3 a3 {White does not have to go for} 32. Qa7 {which is indeed winning for Black after Giri's recommendation} ({ But can free himself of the mating threat with} 32. c3 $1 {which takes over the initiative for him. For example} Rxh2 33. Rxh2 {is already losing for Black-} bxc3 34. Rh8+ Kd7 35. Qh3+) 32... Kf8 (32... Rc7 33. Qa4+ Kd8 34. Rxh4 (34. Qa8+ Rc8 35. Qa5+ Ke8 36. Qa7 {returns to the main line where Black can still find the move} Kf8 $1) 34... Nd2+ 35. Ka1 axb2+ 36. Kxb2 Qc3#)) 31... Rxh2 32. Rxh2 Kd7 $1 ({Avoiding the cunning trap:} 32... Nxg5 33. Qg1 Nf3 34. Rh8+ Kd7 35. Qa7+ Rc7 36. Qxa4+ {and White wins.}) 33. Qg1 Qxd5 34. Qa7+ Ke6 $1 {Too many Short followers...} 35. Qg1 {With the innocent threat of a check from g4.} ({The barce black king will eat all the white kingside pawns after} 35. Qe7+ Kf5 36. Qd7+ Qe6 37. Qxa4 Kxg5 ({Or} 37... Qc4 {first.})) 35... Kd7 36. Qa7+ Ke6 ({There was an alternative} 36... Rc7 37. Qxa4+ Ke6 38. Qe8+ Kf5 { with serious advantage for Black.}) 37. Qg1 Qc4 $1 {Frees the d5 square for the king!} 38. Re2 $2 {This loses. For good or bad Grandelius should have gone for the complications} (38. Qg4+ Kd5 39. Qd7 Rc7 ({Carlsen showed a sense of humor with his suggestion} 39... Kd4 {but it is doubtful he would have used it in his own game} 40. Ne2+ Ke3 41. Qh3+) 40. Qxa4 {and here instead of the suggested by Giri} Nxg5 {that leads to a mess after} ({Black has a safer try} 40... Ke6 $1 {with good winning chances.}) 41. Rd2+ Ke6 42. Qe8+ Kf5 (42... Kxf6 43. Qd8+ Re7 44. Qxd6+ Qe6 (44... Re6 $2 45. Qd8+ Re7 46. Rf2+) 45. Qxb4) 43. Rf2+ Kg4 {Still messy, but objectively much better for Black.}) 38... b3 $1 39. axb3 {Allows a nice finish of the game.} ({We already know where is the king heading to after} 39. Qg4+ Kd5 $1) ({Objectively best was} 39. cxb3 axb3 40. a3 Nc5) 39... axb3 40. cxb3 Qxe2 $1 {A pretty final strike. White resigned due to the mate:} (40... Qxe2 41. Nxe2 Nd2+ 42. Ka2 Ra8+ 43. Qa7 Rxa7#) 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "2.30"] [White "Fedoseev, Vladimir3"] [Black "Ali Marandi, Cemil Can"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2454"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Be2 e5 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Nb5 Bb4+ 11. Bd2 Bxd2+ 12. Nxd2 a6 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nd4 Bg4 15. Bxg4 Nfxg4 16. Rc1 Qh4 17. g3 Qh3 18. Ke2 Nxe3 $5 {Still good, but better (and less fun) was} (18... Nxf2 19. Kxf2 Rac8 {And the White queen can't really keep in contact with the looming fork on d3.}) 19. Kxe3 Rfe8 20. Qf5 Qh6+ 21. f4 Nc6+ 22. Kd3 Nxd4 23. Kxd4 Qb6+ 24. Kc3 g6 25. Qd7 Rad8 26. Qa4 Qe3+ 27. Kb2 Qxd2+ 28. Rc2 Qd3 29. Qa5 Rc8 30. Rxc8 Rxc8 31. Ka3 d4 32. Re1 b5 33. Qb4 Qc2 34. Qxd4 {Everything's been fine up until now for the attacker, but ...Rb8 on this turn or the next would have sealed the full point.} a5 ( 34... Rb8 {And there's too many threats. After ..b4+ mate will come on either c6 or a2, and if} 35. b4 Rc8 36. Re3 Qa4+ 37. Kb2 Rc2+ 38. Kb1 Qxa2#) 35. Qd7 Qc5+ 36. Kb2 Qc2+ 37. Ka3 b4+ 38. Ka4 Qxa2+ 39. Kb5 Rb8+ 40. Ka6 Qxb3 41. Re8+ Rxe8 42. Qxe8+ Kg7 43. Kxa5 Qb2 44. Kb5 b3 45. Qe3 h5 46. Kb4 Qxh2 47. Qe5+ Kg8 48. Qe8+ Kg7 49. Qe5+ Kh7 50. Qd5 Qb2 51. Qxf7+ Kh6 52. Qe7 Qg7 53. Qg5+ Kh7 54. Kxb3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "2.16"] [White "Dubov, Daniil"] [Black "Gagare, Shardul"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D36"] [WhiteElo "2655"] [BlackElo "2470"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. Nf3 c6 9. Qc2 Re8 10. O-O-O Nf8 11. Rdg1 Be6 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. g4 g6 14. h4 c5 15. g5 Bg7 16. dxc5 Rc8 17. Nd4 Rxc5 18. Kb1 Bd7 19. Qd2 Ne6 20. Nce2 Qb6 21. h5 Rc7 22. hxg6 hxg6 23. Nxe6 Rxe6 24. Rh4 a5 25. Nd4 Re8 26. Rgh1 Qb4 27. Qe2 Qe7 28. Rg1 Rec8 29. Qd2 b6 30. a3 Re8 31. Rhh1 Rc5 32. Rg3 Ba4 33. f4 Bd7 34. f5 Bxf5 35. Nxf5 gxf5 36. g6 Qe5 37. gxf7+ Kxf7 38. Rf3 Ke7 39. Rxf5 Qg3 40. Rh7 {seems best but the computer suggests the less obvious Rhh5} Kd6 41. Rf7 ( 41. e4 {was the ticket}) 41... Qxe3 42. Qh2+ Ke6 43. Bg6 {How could there not be a mate!?} Rc1+ 44. Ka2 a4 45. Qh3+ Qxh3 46. Rxh3 Rf8 47. Rxf8 1/2-1/2 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Grandelius, Nils"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2784"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nb3 $5 { At the London Chess Classic almost everyone retreated their knight to e2. The knight to b3 is also one of the main moves but not as popular as Nde2.} Be6 8. f4 Be7 (8... Nbd7 9. f5 Bxb3 10. axb3 d5 $1 {was played by Shirov against Sutovsky and Black is already completely fine. The point is that Nxd5 is bad as after Nxd5 there is a check on h4 and direct exd5 is met with Bb4.} 11. exd5 (11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. Qxd5 Qh4+) 11... Bb4 $44 {[%cal Gd8b6,Gd7c5]}) 9. f5 Bd7 10. Be3 b5 (10... Bc6 11. Qf3 d5 12. Nxd5 Nxd5 13. O-O-O $16) 11. Qf3 b4 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. exd5 Bg5 14. Bxg5 Qxg5 15. Bd3 Bb5 16. h4 (16. O-O {could have been more prudent. But knowing what an aggressive player Nils is, his move with h4 is one that can be expected from him.}) 16... Qd8 17. g4 Nd7 18. g5 $6 { According to Giri in the press conference this was an inaccuracy by White as it allows Black to activate his rook with h6.} h6 $1 19. Rg1 (19. f6 {Good or bad, this should have been tried.} gxf6 20. g6 $1 fxg6 21. Bxg6+ Ke7 {Black king looks safe on e7 but after} 22. O-O-O {White is surely the one who can create dangerous threats in this position.}) 19... hxg5 20. hxg5 Bxd3 21. Qxd3 Rh5 $1 {It seems it is difficult for White to defend the g5 pawn as Qd2 is met by a5 threatening a4 when the knight doesn't have the d2 square to retreat. And Qe3 is met by Qb6.} 22. Qg3 Qc7 23. O-O-O Rc8 {Mate on c2 is threatened.} 24. Rd2 a5 25. Kb1 a4 26. Nc1 Qc4 27. Qf3 Rh4 28. f6 g6 29. Rh1 Nc5 30. Rdh2 Ne4 31. Qd1 (31. Qe3 $5 {Black has to find} Rh5 $1 32. Qa7 Kf8 $1 33. Qxa4 Nd2+ 34. Ka1 Qxc2 35. Qxc2 Rxc2 36. Rxh5 gxh5 37. Nd3 {And the position is unclear.} ) 31... Rxh2 32. Rxh2 Kd7 33. Qg1 Qxd5 34. Qa7+ Ke6 35. Qg1 Kd7 36. Qa7+ Ke6 37. Qg1 Qc4 $1 38. Re2 (38. Qg4+ Kd5 39. Qd7 Rc7 40. Qxa4 Ke6 $17) 38... b3 39. axb3 axb3 40. cxb3 Qxe2 $1 {A very complicated game which is quite typical of the Sicilian.} 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "2.23"] [White "Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B20"] [WhiteElo "2486"] [BlackElo "2834"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 {Aravindh is famed in the Indian chess circuits for his unorthodox openings. But against the World Champion he decides to play it safe with 1.e4.} c5 2. b3 $5 {Well, so much for the well trodden paths! The 16-year-old had beaten Alexei Shirov with 1.b3 a year ago. This time he tries to catch a bigger fish with that move but 1.e4 c5 2.b3 is much different than 1.b3.} g6 $5 {After the game in an interview Carlsen said that he had considered playing this line with White but did not like this 2...g6 move. And hence he tried it. This is the same line recommended by Peter Heine Nielsen in his book Experts against the Anti-Sicilians.} 3. Bb2 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 {Here Aravindh sank into a deep thought. He was of course out of theory and wanted to clarify the position as much as he could. There is a chance that the e5 pawn would become weak and hence he decides to advance the pawn.} 5. e6 $6 (5. d4 Qa5+ 6. Qd2 Qxd2+ 7. Nxd2 cxd4 8. Ngf3 Bg7 $11 {might be a better way for White to play, but I think Black has absolutely no problems in this position as well.}) 5... f6 $1 6. exd7+ Qxd7 {The e-pawn made four moves and exchanged itself for the d7 pawn which hadn't moved even once in the game.} 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. Bb5 Nc7 9. Bxc6 Qxc6 $15 {Black already has a bishop pair and the possibility to establish a strong center with e5. He is clearly better. One would assume that the World Champion would win quite easily from this point onwards. But Aravindh doesn't give up easily.} 10. Qf3 Bd7 11. O-O-O e5 12. Qxc6 Bxc6 13. f3 Ne6 14. Nge2 Be7 15. Rhf1 b5 16. Rde1 Kf7 17. Nd1 a5 {Things are going excellently for Black as he slowly but steadily builds up his position. White has nothing much that he can do than to wait and hope for the opponent to go wrong.} 18. Ne3 Bd6 $6 {The problem with this move is that the bishop is a little exposed on d6 and can be hit with the move Nc4 or Ne4.} (18... Rhe8 { was much better.}) 19. Nc3 h5 $6 (19... a4 {was necessary to stop White from going a4.}) 20. a4 $1 {Securing the c4 square for the knight.} b4 21. Ne4 Bc7 22. Nc4 {Suddenly things are not at all clear. White has an excellent square for his knight on c4 and the Black pawns, which were once very strong, now look like targets.} h4 23. g4 hxg3 24. hxg3 Rh3 25. g4 {[%cal Rg4g5] [#]} (25. f4 $5 {Trying to open the position could have been a possible option.} exf4 26. gxf4 Bxe4 27. Rxe4 $13) 25... Rd8 $2 {A gross miscalculation by the World Champion. If one were to ask what is it that White threatens here, it is easy to see that the move is g4-g5. Carlsen overlooks that and allows White to gain the advantage.} (25... g5 $1 $17) 26. g5 $1 Bxe4 (26... f5 27. Bxe5 $1 $18) 27. fxe4 Nf4 (27... Nxg5 28. Bxe5 Bxe5 29. Nxe5+ Kg7 30. Nc4 $14 {is surely a slight edge for White.}) 28. gxf6 $1 Ke6 29. Ne3 (29. d3 g5 30. f7 Rf8 31. Rg1 Kf6 32. Kd1 Rxf7 33. Bc1 Rg7 34. Rg4 Rh4 35. Ne3 $14 {was a possible way to continue the game when White has a pleasant position thanks to the more compact pawn structure.}) 29... g5 30. Nd5 (30. d3 $14) 30... Bd6 31. Rg1 Rg8 32. Rg4 Rh4 33. Rgg1 g4 34. Ne3 g3 {The position has changed a bit in the last few moves and White has lost his edge.} 35. Nf5 Rhh8 $1 (35... Rh3 36. f7 Kxf7 37. Nxd6+ $18) 36. f7 (36. Nxg3 Rh3 $1 $19) (36. f7 Rg4 $1 {and the rook on h8 controls the f8 square.}) 36... Rg6 37. Kd1 g2 {And here Aravindh's flag fell. Most probably the position is already lost as Nh3 winning an exchange is coming up. An interesting game where Magnus was once again put under some strong pressure by his 300 points lower rated opponent.} 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "2.3"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Naroditsky, Daniel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2628"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "139"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bd6 6. Bg2 c6 7. O-O Nbd7 8. b3 Ne4 9. Bc1 O-O 10. Qc2 f5 11. Ba3 Bxa3 12. Nxa3 Qe7 13. Qb2 b6 14. e3 Bb7 15. Rac1 Rfc8 16. cxd5 cxd5 17. Rxc8+ Rxc8 18. Rc1 Qf8 19. Nb5 a6 20. Nc3 Qd6 21. Bf1 b5 {Diagram [#] The position is nothing special. It is a typical stonewall which seems to be slightly better for White. But it is that type of edge which slowly withers away. Wesley found a way to keep the flame of initiative alive.} 22. a3 $1 {[%cal Gc3a2,Ga2b4,Gb4d3,Ga2c1,Gc1d3,Gd3e5] A terrific move. This not only takes the b4 square under control but prepares the move Na2! From there the knight can go to b4-d3 or c1-d3 and then jump to e5.} Rc6 (22... b4 23. axb4 Qxb4 24. Nxe4 fxe4 25. Rxc8+ Bxc8 26. Qc2 Qb7 (26... Bb7 27. Qc7 $18) 27. Ng5 $36) 23. Na2 $1 (23. Ne2 {controls the c1 square but doesn't aim at b4 and hence is not as effective as Na2.}) 23... Rxc1 (23... g5 24. Rxc6 Bxc6 25. Nb4 $1 {[%cal Gb4d3,Gd3e5,Gf3e5]}) 24. Nxc1 Qc7 25. Nd3 {White has a clear edge now as he will plonk his knight to e5 and kick the one on e4 away with f3. } Bc8 26. Nfe5 $1 Nxe5 27. Nxe5 Kf8 28. f3 $14 {Wesley is better and went on to convert his advantage in a long endgame.} Qc3 29. Qxc3 Nxc3 30. Bd3 Ke7 31. Kf2 Kd6 32. g4 a5 33. h4 b4 34. axb4 axb4 35. Bc2 Ba6 36. gxf5 exf5 37. Bxf5 Nd1+ 38. Ke1 Nxe3 39. Bxh7 Ng2+ 40. Kf2 Nf4 41. Ke3 Ng2+ 42. Kf2 Nf4 43. Bc2 Bb5 44. Ke3 Ng2+ 45. Kf2 Nf4 46. Ng4 Ke6 47. Bd1 Nd3+ 48. Ke3 Ne1 49. Kf4 Ng2+ 50. Kg3 Ne1 51. Ne3 g6 52. f4 Ba6 53. Bg4+ Kd6 54. f5 gxf5 55. Nxf5+ Ke6 56. Ne3+ Kf7 57. Nxd5 Nc2 58. Nc7 Bd3 59. Ne6 Ne3 60. Nc5 Bc2 61. Kf4 Ng2+ 62. Kg5 Ne3 63. Kf4 Ng2+ 64. Kg5 Ne3 65. Be6+ Ke7 66. h5 Bh7 67. h6 Nc2 68. Bf5 Bxf5 69. Kxf5 Nxd4+ 70. Ke4 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "2.24"] [White "Batsiashvili, Nino"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A40"] [WhiteElo "2498"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] {The hero of round one, Nino Batsiashvili, who drew Magnus Carlsen, faced another stiff challenge in the form of Pentala Harikrishna today.} 1. d4 Nc6 $5 {Harikrishna decides to avoid well known paths and instead go for original play.} 2. c4 e5 3. d5 Nce7 4. Nc3 Ng6 5. a3 (5. g3 {dominating the knight on g6 could have been a much more useful move than a3.}) 5... f5 6. e4 fxe4 7. Nxe4 Nf6 8. Bg5 d6 9. Bd3 Be7 10. Bxf6 (10. Bd2 $1 $14) 10... gxf6 {Of course Harikrishna recaptures the bishop with the pawn. The knight on e4 no longer feels so secure.} (10... Bxf6 11. Ne2 $14 {followed by Ng3 or Nc3 is a risk free edge for White who has complete control of the e4 square.}) 11. Ng3 Nf4 12. Bf5 $2 {After this it all goes downhill for White.} (12. Be4 $1 {This strong move would have allowed White to gain a substantial edge. What is the reason for the same? First of all White threatens N1e2 to evict the knight from f4. So Black has to be quick and must do something immediately but what is it that he can do?} f5 (12... h5 $5 13. N1e2 h4 14. Nxf4 hxg3 15. Ng6 gxf2+ (15... Rxh2 16. Rxh2 gxh2 17. Qh5 $18) 16. Kxf2 $16) (12... O-O $5 {This is what Hari had planned. However, White now has the counterintuitive move} 13. Nf5 $1 Bxf5 14. Bxf5 Nxg2+ 15. Kf1 Nf4 16. Ne2 $1 $16 {With a firm grip on the light squares White is clearly better.}) 13. Nxf5 $1 Nxg2+ 14. Kf1 Nf4 15. Ne2 $1 $14 {is a clear edge for White.}) 12... Bxf5 $1 13. Nxf5 Qd7 14. Nxe7 $2 ( 14. g4 {was relatively better.}) 14... Nxg2+ $1 15. Kf1 Nf4 $1 {The knight on e7 is not running away anywhere. Black is clearly better.} 16. Rc1 Kxe7 $1 { Connecting the rooks.} 17. Rc3 Rag8 18. Ne2 Nxe2 19. Qxe2 h5 20. Ke1 Qf5 21. Kd2 Rg4 22. Kc1 Rhg8 23. Rf1 b6 24. h3 Rf4 25. Qe3 Rg2 26. Rc2 Rf3 27. Qh6 Qg5+ {Nino resigned as she will lose the h3 pawn as well and will be two pawns down. Not such a great game for the Georgian player after a wonderful first round result.} 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "2.30"] [White "Fedoseev, Vladimir"] [Black "Ali Marandi, Cemil Can"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2454"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Be2 e5 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Nb5 Bb4+ 11. Bd2 Bxd2+ 12. Nxd2 a6 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nd4 Bg4 15. Bxg4 Nfxg4 16. Rc1 Qh4 17. g3 Qh3 18. Ke2 {Diagram [#] The Semi-Slav for White has gone completely wrong. His king is misplaced in the centre and the knight on g4 is ready to sacrifice its life to rip open the white king. So f2 or e3 is the question?} Nxe3 $5 {This is less powerful but also leads to a good attack.} (18... Nxf2 $1 {was much more accurate and would have ended the game quite quickly.} 19. Kxf2 Rac8 $1 {The computer suggests this move, but it is of course not so easy for humans to see it when there is a much more tempting option in Ng4.} (19... Ng4+ {This is the most human move.} 20. Kf3 $1 {the staunchest defence.} (20. Kg1 Nxe3 $19 {The queen is attacked and the mate on g2 cannot be averted.}) (20. Ke2 Qg2+ 21. Ke1 Qf2+ 22. Kd1 Nxe3#) 20... Rae8 21. Rce1 Re6 $1 22. Nxe6 fxe6+ 23. Ke2 Qg2+ 24. Kd1 Nf2+ 25. Kc1 Nxh1 $19 {leads to a position where Black is clearly winning.}) 20. Qf5 (20. Qb1 Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Qxh2+ 22. Ke1 (22. Kf1 Ng4 $19) 22... Qxg3+ 23. Kd1 (23. Kf1 Ng4 $19) 23... Qxe3 $19 {Black has four pawns for the piece and the white king is completely exposed.}) 20... Qxf5+ 21. Nxf5 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Nd3+ $19) 19. Kxe3 ( 19. fxe3 Qg2+ $19 {The h1 rook falls.}) 19... Rfe8 20. Qf5 Qh6+ 21. f4 Nc6+ 22. Kd3 Nxd4 23. Kxd4 Qb6+ 24. Kc3 g6 $1 {The queen doesn't really have a good square to go to.} 25. Qd7 (25. Qd3 Re3 $19) (25. Qc2 Rac8+ $19) (25. Qb1 Rac8+ 26. Kb2 Qd4+ 27. Ka3 Qxd2 $19) 25... Rad8 26. Qa4 Qe3+ 27. Kb2 Qxd2+ 28. Rc2 Qd3 {Black is a pawn up and has excellent chances to convert the position. White on the other hand can be happy that his king is at least safe and he won't lose soon.} 29. Qa5 $2 (29. Rhc1 $17) 29... Rc8 $1 30. Rxc8 Rxc8 31. Ka3 d4 32. Re1 b5 33. Qb4 Qc2 34. Qxd4 a5 35. Qd7 {Diagram [#] It is Black to play and win.} Qc5+ $1 (35... Rb8 {with the idea of b4 and Qa2 is another way to win.} 36. Re8+ Kg7 $1 37. Qd4+ (37. Rxb8 Qc1#) 37... Kh6 38. Rxb8 Qc1+ 39. Qb2 b4+ 40. Ka4 Qxb2 $19) 36. Kb2 Qc2+ (36... Qf2+ $1 37. Ka3 Rc2 {and it is game over as there is no perpetual.} 38. Qe8+ (38. Re8+ Kg7 $19) 38... Kg7 39. Qe5+ f6 40. Qe7+ Kh6 41. Qf8+ Kh5 $19) 37. Ka3 b4+ $6 38. Ka4 Qxa2+ 39. Kb5 Rb8+ 40. Ka6 Qxb3 41. Re8+ Rxe8 42. Qxe8+ Kg7 {Black is still clearly better but the win is not as easy as before.} 43. Kxa5 Qb2 44. Kb5 b3 45. Qe3 h5 46. Kb4 Qxh2 47. Qe5+ Kg8 48. Qe8+ Kg7 49. Qe5+ Kh7 50. Qd5 Qb2 51. Qxf7+ Kh6 52. Qe7 Qg7 53. Qg5+ Kh7 54. Kxb3 {A miraculous escape for Fedoseev who must have thanked his lucky stars for this half point.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "2.17"] [White "Yuffa, Daniil"] [Black "Bologan, Viktor"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D10"] [WhiteElo "2504"] [BlackElo "2654"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] {This is not such a huge upset as Yuffa is just 150 points lower rated than Bologan. However, considering that Viktor was in excellent form at the recently concluded European Team Championships it is surely a great result for the Russian youngster.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 dxc4 {Taking the pawn before White has played Nf3 is not so common but this totally playable.} 4. e4 b5 5. a4 b4 6. Nb1 Nf6 7. e5 Nd5 8. Bxc4 e6 9. Nf3 Be7 10. O-O Bb7 11. Nbd2 Nd7 12. Ne4 {White's position is quite pleasant. His next plan is to play Bg5 and exchange the dark squared bishops so that the d6 and c5 squares are weakened. Bologan prevents it but loses further time.} h6 13. a5 $1 {Threatening to gain more space with a6.} Rc8 14. Bxd5 $1 {A very anti-intuitive decision, but all will be clear pretty soon.} cxd5 15. Nd6+ $1 Bxd6 16. exd6 {The d6 pawn is pretty weak and most probably will be lost, but while it is alive it causes quite some inconvenience to Black. The b4 pawn is also weak and can be attacked by Qa4 and Bd2. On the other hand the b7 bishop is pretty passive. All this leads to quite a strong initiative for White.} Ba6 17. Re1 O-O 18. Bd2 $1 Rb8 19. Ne5 $1 {Threatening a fork on c6.} Nxe5 20. dxe5 $16 {[%csl Gd6,Ge5] The d6 pawn which looked weak has now transformed itself into a pillar of strength.} f5 21. Qh5 Kh7 22. Rac1 Rb7 (22... Qxa5 23. Rc7 $1 $18) 23. Rc5 $1 { Threatening to double the rooks on the c-file.} b3 24. h4 $1 {I quite like this move, as Bg5 can be played and back rank threats are no longer a problem.} Bb5 25. Bg5 (25. Rec1 {was objectively stronger.}) 25... Qxa5 26. Rec1 Qb4 27. Rc7 Rxc7 $2 (27... Bd7 {Blocking the rooks action on the seventh rank was important.} 28. Rxb7 Qxb7 29. Rc7 Qb5 $16 {Black is still in the game.}) 28. Rxc7 Qe1+ 29. Kh2 Qxe5+ 30. f4 $1 {Nicely calculated by Daniil. The d6 pawn is taboo.} Qd4 (30... Qxd6 31. Qxh6+ $1) 31. Qxh6+ $1 {It's surprising that Viktor allowed this, but there was really no way to prevent it.} Kg8 32. Qxe6+ Kh8 33. Qe5 {The safest route to victory.} Qxe5 34. fxe5 Re8 35. Be7 d4 36. d7 Bxd7 37. Rxd7 d3 38. Bb4 {A very strong game by Daniil Yuffa who surprisingly is not even a GM yet. But by the looks of his play I am sure that he will be one pretty soon.} 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha"] [Date "2015.12.22"] [Round "3"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Svane, Rasmus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B17"] [WhiteElo "2372"] [BlackElo "2529"] [PlyCount "140"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "QAT"] [TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"] 1. e4 {(102s)} c6 {(0s)} 2. d4 {(11s)} d5 {(0s)} 3. Nd2 {(9s)} dxe4 {(0s)} 4. Nxe4 {(7s)} Nd7 {(0s)} 5. Ng5 {(86s)} h6 {(7s)} 6. Ne6 {(155s)} Qb6 {(5s)} 7. Nxf8 {(85s)} Nxf8 {(2s)} 8. c3 {(432s)} Bf5 {(164 s)} 9. Nf3 {(64s)} Ng6 { (478s)} 10. Bc4 {(210s)} Nf6 {(88s)} 11. h4 {(1047s)} Bg4 {(1062s)} 12. Qd3 { (1610s)} e6 {(132s)} 13. Nh2 {(573s)} Bf5 {(156s)} 14. Qe2 {(41s)} Nxh4 {(741s) } 15. g3 {(180s)} Be4 {(816s)} 16. f3 {(153s)} Nf5 {(1s)} 17. fxe4 {(130s)} Nxg3 {(2s)} 18. Qg2 {(78s)} Nxh1 {(15s)} 19. Qxg7 {(477s)} Ke7 {(180s)} 20. Qg2 {(66s)} c5 {(84s)} 21. e5 {(191s)} Nd5 {(120s)} 22. Bxd5 {( 83s)} exd5 {(5s)} 23. Qxh1 {(11s)} cxd4 {(48s)} 24. Nf3 {(74s)} Qg6 {(515s)} 25. Qh4+ {(42s)} Kf8 {( 3s)} 26. Qxd4 {(53s)} Re8 {(100s)} 27. Be3 {(25s)} Qg2 {[#] (270s)} 28. Nd2 {(192s)} ({Had White not been down to less than *one minute*, he would not doubt have seen} 28. e6 $1 {a move that begs to be analyzed} Rh7 {and then worked out the consequences of} 29. Ne5 {after which all the lines work for White.}) 28... Qg3+ {(64s)} 29. Kd1 {(1s)} Rxe5 {(75s)} 30. Qc5+ {(46s)} Re7 { (354s)} 31. Qc8+ {(41s)} Re8 {(43s)} 32. Bc5+ {(31s)} Kg7 {(2s)} 33. Qf5 {(32s) } Qg6 {(384s)} 34. Bd4+ {(23s)} f6 {(25s)} 35. Qxg6+ {(47s)} Kxg6 {(5s)} 36. Bxa7 {(23s)} h5 {(66s)} 37. Kc2 {(11s)} h4 {(6s)} 38. Rg1+ {(61s)} Kf7 {(31s)} 39. Bd4 {(28s)} h3 {(15s)} 40. Rh1 {(0s)} Re2 {[#] (0s) Time control has been made, and whatever White had earlier is but a long-lost dream. Black's powerful pair of rooks and passed f- and h-pawns are deadly.} 41. Kd3 {(331s)} Rg2 {(437s)} 42. a4 {(117s)} h2 {(94s)} 43. b4 {(67s)} Rh3+ {(475s)} 44. Kc2 { (38s)} Rhg3 {(201s)} 45. Bb6 {(305s)} Re2 {(518s)} 46. Bc7 {(39s)} Rgg2 {(17s)} 47. Bf4 {(4s)} Ke6 {(246s)} 48. Kd3 {(259s)} Kf5 {(11s)} 49. Be3 {(87s)} Kg4 { (15s)} 50. Nf1 {(614s)} f5 {(10s)} 51. a5 {(97s)} f4 {(16s)} 52. Bc5 {(119s)} Kh3 $2 {(179s) A mistake that throws the win away, but to be fair, seeing the entire line that ensues was far from obvious.} ({Black needed to play} 52... Kf5 $1 {to prevent White's pawns from playing a decisive roll.}) 53. b5 {(143s) } Re1 {[#] (39s) This forces the line that follows, after which White will save the half point.} 54. Rxh2+ {(36s)} Rxh2 {(5s)} 55. Nxh2 {(3s)} Kxh2 { (120s)} 56. Bd6 {(17s)} Kg3 {(108s)} 57. a6 {(28s)} bxa6 {(255s)} 58. b6 $1 { (1s)} Rb1 {(71s)} 59. Bb4 {(12s) Protecting the advance.} Rd1+ {(41s)} 60. Kc2 {(92s)} Rh1 {(22s)} 61. b7 {(14s)} Rh8 {(4s)} 62. Bd6 $1 {(3s) and it is remarkable that the pin is the saving factor. Had the Black king been on g2, then advancing the f-pawn would win. Was Kg3 a mistake? No, since the pawn was pinned anyhow, and needed to be protected.} a5 {(78s)} 63. b8=Q {(89s)} Rxb8 { (1s)} 64. Bxb8 {(1s)} a4 {(32s)} 65. Bd6 {(41s)} Kg4 {(50s)} 66. Kd2 {(20s)} Kf3 {(35s)} 67. Kd3 {(18s)} Kg3 {( 26s)} 68. Ke2 {(35s)} Kg4 {(37s)} 69. Kd2 { (71s)} Kg3 {(16s)} 70. Ke2 {(30s)} Kg4 {(9s)} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha"] [Date "2015.12.22"] [Round "3"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Lenderman, Aleksandr"] [Result "*"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2626"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "QAT"] [TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"] 1. d4 {[%emt 0:00:00]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 2. c4 {[%emt 0:00:00]} e6 {[%emt 0: 00:00]} 3. Nf3 {[%emt 0:00:00]} Bb4+ {[%emt 0:00:13]} 4. Nc3 {[%emt 0:00:21]} c5 {[%emt 0:00:25]} 5. g3 {[%emt 0:00:59]} Nc6 {[%emt 0:00:12]} 6. Bg2 { [%emt 0:00:30]} Ne4 {[%emt 0:00:26]} 7. Bd2 {[%emt 0:01:20]} Nxd2 {[%emt 0:00: 10]} 8. Qxd2 {[%emt 0:00:01]} cxd4 {[%emt 0:00:11]} 9. Nxd4 {[%emt 0:00:04]} Qb6 {[%emt 0:00:08]} 10. e3 {[%emt 0:02:03]} Ne5 {[%emt 0:00:34]} 11. b3 { [%emt 0:00:21]} Qa5 {[%emt 0:00:08]} 12. Rc1 {[%emt 0:00:52][%csl Gc8]} O-O { [%emt 0:01:58]} 13. O-O {[%emt 0:00:23][%csl Gc8]} a6 {[%emt 0:07:00][%csl Gb5] } 14. Rfd1 {[%emt 0:02:03]} (14. f4 Ng4 {[%cal Gg4f6] 0-1 (42) Cheparinov,I (2678) -Ivanchuk,V (2703) Jermuk 2009}) 14... Ba3 {[%emt 0:07:19]} 15. Rc2 { [%emt 0:02:17]} Rb8 {[%emt 0:03:37][%cal Gb7b6,Gb6b5]} 16. Qe2 {[%emt 0:01:05] [%csl Gb5][%cal Ga5d2,Gc4b5,Ge2c4]} Rd8 {[%emt 0:02:22][%csl Gc8][%cal Gd7d5]} 17. h3 {[%emt 0:06:19][%csl Gh3][%cal Gg1h2]} Be7 {[%emt 0:03:10]} 18. f4 { [%emt 0:01:23]} Nc6 {[%emt 0:00:47]} 19. Kh2 {[%emt 0:00:21][%csl Gb7,Gc6,Gd4, Gg2,Gh2]} Nb4 {[%emt 0:13:25]} (19... d5 $2 20. cxd5 exd5 21. Nxd5 Rxd5 22. Bxd5 Qxd5 23. Nxc6 {[%cal Gd1d5]}) 20. Rcc1 {[%emt 0:02:48][%cal Gc1c3]} Nc6 { [%emt 0:00:08]} (20... d5 21. cxd5 Nxd5 22. Nxd5 exd5 $14) (20... b6 $2 21. a3 Qxa3 (21... Nc6 22. Bxc6) 22. Ra1) 21. Qd3 {[%emt 0:09:39][%cal Gd3d8,Gd3h7]} Ba3 {[%emt 0:04:09]} 22. Bxc6 {[%emt 0:12:37][%cal Ga3c1]} (22. Rc2 Nb4) (22. Rb1 Bb4 (22... Nxd4 23. exd4 (23. Qxd4 d6) 23... Bb4 (23... d6) 24. Rbc1 d5) 23. Nce2 (23. Rbc1 $11 Ba3) 23... d5 {[%csl Gd5,Ge3][%cal Gf2f4]}) 22... Bxc1 { [%emt 0:01:15]} (22... dxc6 $1 23. Nxc6 (23. Rb1 Bb4) 23... Rxd3 24. Nxa5 Rd7 $1 {[%csl Ga5,Gd7][%cal Gc1b1,Ga3b4]} (24... Rxd1 25. Rxd1 $16 {[%csl Gc8]}) 25. Rxd7 Bxd7 26. Rd1 Be8 $19 {[%csl Gb4][%cal Ra3b4]}) (22... bxc6 $2 23. Nxc6 ) 23. Be4 {[%emt 0:00:03][%csl Gc1]} Bb2 {[%emt 0:12:16]} (23... Ba3 24. Bxh7+ Kh8 25. Nf3 $44 {[%csl Gb8,Gc8][%cal Gf3g5,Gf3e5,Gc3e4]}) 24. Nxe6 {[%emt 0:04: 08][%cal Gd3d8]} (24. Bxh7+ $5 Kh8 25. Ne4) 24... fxe6 {[%emt 0:04:59]} (24... Qxc3 25. Bxh7+ Kh8 26. Nxd8 Qxd3 27. Bxd3 Kg8 28. Bf5 Bf6 29. Nxf7 Kxf7 30. Bxd7 $16) 25. Bxh7+ {[%emt 0:00:07]} Kh8 {[%emt 0:01:11]} (25... Kf7 26. Bg6+ Ke7 27. Qd6+ Kf6 $11 {draw? Really?}) 26. Ne4 {[%emt 0:00:07]} Rf8 {[%emt 0:05: 36]} (26... Kxh7 27. Nf6+ Kh6 28. Qh7#) (26... Qxa2 $2 27. Qc2 {[%cal Gc2a2]}) (26... Bf6 $1 27. Nxf6 (27. c5 Qxa2+ (27... Qb5) 28. Rd2 Qa1 29. Nd6 Rf8) (27. Qe2 Kxh7 28. Rd5 exd5 29. Qh5+ Kg8 30. Nxf6+ gxf6 31. Qg6+ $11) 27... gxf6 28. Qg6 Qxa2+ 29. Kg1 Qe2 $11 30. Qxf6+) 27. Bg6 {[%emt 0:02:27]} Kg8 {[%emt 0:13: 11]} (27... d5 28. Qe2 dxe4 {[%cal Ge2h5]} 29. b4 $18 {[%cal Ga5h5,Ge2h5]}) 28. Qe2 {[%emt 0:08:26]} Bf6 {[%emt 0:01:18]} (28... Rf6 {[%csl Gg6]} 29. Nxf6+ Bxf6 {[%cal Ge2h5]} 30. b4 {[%cal Gc5h5]} Qd8 {[%csl Gf6]} (30... Qxb4 31. Qh5 $18) 31. e4 $18 {[%csl Gb8,Gc8][%cal Ge4e5,Ge2h5]}) 29. c5 {[%emt 0:02:48]} Bc3 {[%emt 0:06:14]} 30. Qh5 {[%emt 0:01:36]} Rf5 {[%emt 0:00:13]} (30... Rd8 31. Qh7+ Kf8 32. Qh8+ Ke7 33. Qh4+ Kf8 34. Nxc3 {[%cal Gh4h8,Gh8g7]} Qxc3 35. Qxd8# ) 31. Bxf5 {[%emt 0:00:21]} exf5 {[%emt 0:00:07]} 32. Qe8+ {[%emt 0:00:02]} Kh7 {[%emt 0:00:08]} 33. Ng5+ {[%emt 0:00:02]} Kh6 {[%emt 0:00:07]} 34. Rd6+ { [%emt 0:00:04]} Bf6 {[%emt 0:00:04]} 35. Qh8+ {[%emt 0:00:04]} Kg6 {[%emt 0:00: 05]} 36. Qh7# {[%emt 0:00:01]} * [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.23"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2663"] [BlackElo "2834"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Bg5 Nc6 9. Qd3 Nb4 $5 $146 {This move was made quite quickly by Magnus and hence he was clearly prepared.} 10. Qd2 h6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nd5 $6 (12. a3 {is met by} Bg5 13. Qd1 Nc6 14. O-O Be6 15. Qd3 O-O 16. Rad1 $11 {And White has a much better position than what happened in the game.}) 12... Nxd5 13. Qxd5 Qc7 14. O-O-O Be7 15. Kb1 Be6 16. Qd3 O-O $15 {Black has a very pleasant position due to the following reasons: 1. He has the bishop pair. Although the bishop on e7 is not particularly great it can be activated either on g5 or after White plays f4 it can be strong on the a1-h8 diagonal. 2. The d5 square is weak, however the knight on b3 is at least three moves away from it and cannot really take advantage of it. 3. And last but not the least Black has a clear plan of attack on the queenside with b5-b4, a5-a4. White also can push his pawns down the board but somehow he lacks the firepower in that zone.} 17. f4 exf4 18. Nd4 Bd7 19. Rhf1 Bf6 20. Rxf4 Be5 {The bishop on e5 is really strong now.} 21. Rff1 Rac8 22. c3 b5 23. Nf3 Be6 24. Nd4 Bc4 25. Qf3 b4 $1 {White's king position is slowly but surely getting ripped open where as White has not yet started his play on the kingside.} 26. cxb4 Qb6 $1 27. Bxc4 Rxc4 28. Nc2 Rfc8 {The f7 pawn is not really so important as the king can hide safely on f7. Yet it made sense to take the pawn and then play Rd2.} 29. Rd2 (29. Qxf7+ Kh8 30. Rd2 Qc6 31. Qf2 Qxe4 (31... a5 {was played by Magnus in the game.}) 32. Re2 $14 {And White should defend this position and might well be slightly better.}) 29... Qc6 (29... Qc7 $1) 30. Qxf7+ Kh8 31. Qf2 a5 32. a3 $2 (32. bxa5 {is a computer move but it looks extremely scary and I won't be surprised if there is a mate somewhere around the corner.} Rb8 33. b3 Rc3 $40) 32... axb4 33. Nxb4 Qxe4+ 34. Ka2 Rxb4 $1 35. axb4 Ra8+ 36. Kb3 Rb8 37. Ka2 Qxb4 {The queen, rook and bishop combine to launch a winning attack against the White king.} 38. Rc1 Qa4+ 39. Kb1 Qe4+ 40. Rcc2 Bxb2 41. Qf3 Qe1+ 42. Rd1 Bd4+ (42... Bd4+ 43. Kc1 Be3+ {with a winning position. A fine game by Magnus Carlsen who had very little difficulty in crushing his talented young opponent.}) 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.23"] [Round "4.9"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Naroditsky, Daniel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D77"] [WhiteElo "2796"] [BlackElo "2628"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 Nf6 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 {It is surprising to see Vladimir playing something mainstream.} dxc4 7. Na3 c3 8. bxc3 c5 9. Ne5 Nc6 $1 {Daniel is well prepared. Giving up this pawn is quite well known.} 10. Nac4 $1 (10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bxc6 Bh3 $44 {Gives Black excellent compensation.}) 10... Nd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd2 Ba6 13. Ne5 Qd6 14. Re1 cxd4 (14... Bxe5 15. dxe5 Qxe5 {is similar to the game but here having the c3 and c5 pawns means that the White queen can go to a3 and try to put pressure on the c5 pawn. White has the pleasant position here too.} 16. Qc1 $1 $14) 15. cxd4 Bxe5 16. dxe5 Qxe5 17. Rc1 {What is White's compensation for the missing pawn? First of all he has the bishop pair, which is a huge asset in this open position. Secondly the knight on d5 is not stable as e4 will be coming soon. And lastly the c6 pawn is quite weak and will most probably fall.} Rfd8 18. Qc2 Rac8 19. Qc5 Qd6 20. Qa5 (20. Qxa7 c5 {lands the white queen in a precarious situation on a7.}) 20... c5 21. Bh3 e6 22. Bg5 Re8 (22... Rd7 {was maybe a tad better.}) 23. Rcd1 Qe5 24. Bd2 Qh5 25. Bf1 Bb7 26. Qxa7 Rc7 27. Qa4 Ra8 28. Qc4 Nb6 29. Qc1 c4 30. Bg5 {Until this point both the players have been matching blow for blow and playing pretty well. However, here Daniel goes completely wrong and lands up in a lost position.} Qg4 $2 31. Bd8 $1 (31. e4 $1 {was even stronger. The threat is to play h3 and Bg2 and trap the queen.}) 31... Rc6 32. h3 Qh5 33. Bg5 {g4 with the threat of winning the queen is not so easy to parry.} Rc5 34. Bf6 Qf5 35. Bd4 Rb5 36. e4 Qf3 37. Bg2 Qa3 38. Qxa3 Rxa3 39. Rb1 $1 {A simple move that wins the house.} Rxb1 40. Rxb1 {The knight on b6 and the bishop on b7 are so awkwardly placed that one of them will fall.} c3 41. Bxb6 {A nice win for Kramnik after surviving a scare against Vocaturo yesterday. Daniel Naroditsky played quite well and can be happy at giving the World Champion quite a tough fight.} 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.23"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2663"] [BlackElo "2834"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Bg5 Nc6 9. Qd3 {Carlsen said his last move was "directed exactly against this."} Nb4 10. Qd2 h6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nd5 {Carlsen said White should've kept all of the knights on the board. "It's clear that he's not fighting for an advantage here."} Nxd5 13. Qxd5 Qc7 14. O-O-O Be7 15. Kb1 Be6 {Carlsen thought he was "just better" here. With no White piece able to lodge on d5, that's generally the assessment of these structures.} 16. Qd3 O-O {"And here I was actually considering long castle just for the hell of it! Even then I'm comfortably better."} (16... O-O-O 17. Nd2 d5 18. Bf3 Qb6 {- Carlsen}) 17. f4 {"A nice try. I mean, if he does nothing, he will get run over." - Carlsen.} exf4 18. Nd4 Bd7 (18... Qa5 19. Nxe6 fxe6 20. Qb3 Qe5 21. Bc4 Kf7 {Carlsen squinted when looking at this after the game, but Svidler couldn't refute this way of playing for Black. Svidler said if Black gets ...b5 in he is winning.}) 19. Rhf1 Bf6 20. Rxf4 Be5 21. Rff1 Rac8 22. c3 b5 23. Nf3 Be6 24. Nd4 Bc4 25. Qf3 b4 26. cxb4 Qb6 27. Bxc4 Rxc4 28. Nc2 Rfc8 29. Rd2 Qc6 30. Qxf7+ Kh8 31. Qf2 a5 $2 32. a3 (32. b5 Qxe4 33. Qf5 {"and it's an entirely different ballgame" - Carlsen}) 32... axb4 33. Nxb4 Qxe4+ 34. Ka2 Rxb4 35. axb4 Ra8+ 36. Kb3 Rb8 37. Ka2 Qxb4 38. Rc1 (38. Re1 Bc3 $1 39. bxc3 (39. Ree2 Bxb2 $1 40. Rxb2 Qa4+ 41. Kb1 Qd1+ 42. Ka2 Ra8+) 39... Ra8+) 38... Qa4+ 39. Kb1 Qe4+ 40. Rcc2 Bxb2 41. Qf3 Qe1+ 42. Rd1 (42. Qd1 Bc3+ 43. Kc1 Ra8 {brought a big smile to Carlsen's face when he showed it off} (43... Bxd2+ {is fine too})) 42... Bd4+ 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.12.23"] [Round "4.14"] [White "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Black "Vocaturo, Daniele"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A40"] [WhiteElo "2723"] [BlackElo "2597"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:09:06"] [BlackClock "0:01:36"] 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Bb4+ {How to name this opening? Advanced Bogo-Indian? Or flexible Bogo-Indian?} 3. Bd2 Bxd2+ 4. Qxd2 Nf6 5. Nc3 d5 6. e3 {Wojtaszek wants to develop his knight on e2.} ({Now} 6. Nf3 {will switch into proper Bogo-Indian and this move was a choice of Mamedyarov and Bacrot amongst others. }) 6... O-O 7. cxd5 ({The move} 7. Nf3 {is still possible, for example} Qe7 8. Qc2 c6 9. Bd3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nbd7 11. O-O e5 12. Bb3 exd4 13. exd4 {and White was better in Riazantsev,A (2646)-Roiz,M (2600) Berlin 2015}) 7... exd5 8. Bd3 Nc6 {This was played only once before but seems very, very logical. In the arising Carlsbad pawn structure Black would love to swap off the light-squared bishops. In the usual Carlsbad the black queenside knight is already on d7 and in order to achieve the desired trades the knight has to take the long route via f8-e6-g7 and on the top of this Black has to spend time on Rf8-e8 and g7-g6. Vocaturo is more clever, he creates the positional threat in just two moves.} 9. Nge2 Ne7 10. Qc2 {Stops Bc8-f5.} g6 {A novelty. Black consistently plays for Bc8-f5.} ({The only predecessor saw} 10... b6 11. b4 c6 12. Rb1 Bd7 13. O-O {with slight but long-lasting advantage for White, Vaisser, A (2555) -Bricard,E (2460) France 1993}) 11. h3 {Aggressive play. White wants to prove that g7-g6 was not perfect and that the kingside is weak as well.} (11. O-O Bf5 {should be fine for Black.}) 11... Bf5 12. g4 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 {"I thought this position is promising for me" Wojtaszek "but Black's next move is very strong." } Nc8 $1 {The knight is heading for the optimal d6 square and then it will have the pleasant choice between the e4 and c4 beauties.} 14. O-O-O Nd6 15. f3 {If White had now the time to play Ne2-g3 followed by g4-g5 everything would be great, but...} Re8 16. Nf4 {White found nothing better than this move, but it has a flaw.} ({It transpires that} 16. Ng3 {is too slow due to} b5 $1 17. e4 ({Worse is} 17. Nxb5 Nc4 $1 ({Or} 17... Nxb5 18. Qxb5 Rxe3 {in both cases with advantage for Black.})) 17... dxe4 (17... b4 18. Nxd5 Nxd5 19. exd5 Qg5+ { is even stronger.}) 18. fxe4 b4 {with Black's edge (Wojtaszek)}) ({Black is also doing great after} 16. g5 Nh5 17. Nxd5 Qxg5 {(Wojtaszek)}) 16... c6 17. h4 Nc4 $1 18. e4 Qd6 $1 {A very nice maneuver, missed by the Polish GM.} 19. e5 Qb4 {With the double threat of checkmate in one and Nc4xe5! Wojtaszek thought for a moment that he is lost, but then managed to put himself together and found an excellent resource.} 20. Qe2 $1 ({White also calculated the line} 20. Qc2 Ne3 21. Qd2 Nxd1 22. Kxd1 Nd7 23. h5 {but came to the conclusion that there is not enough compensation after} c5 ({Or first} 23... Nb6)) 20... Nxe5 21. a3 {The black queen feels overburdened.} Qc4 22. g5 $1 Nfd7 (22... Qxe2 23. Ncxe2 {drops a piece.}) 23. Qc2 $1 {Suddenly, the black knight is in danger.} ( {Wojtaszek dismissed} 23. Qd2 {due to the pretty resource} Nc5 $1 24. dxc5 Nxf3 ) ({He also did not like} 23. Qh2 $5 {for the same reason-} Nc5 {but here he missed a simple move for White in the line} ({However, Black can play for compensation with} 23... b5 $5 24. Kb1 (24. dxe5 Nxe5 25. Kb1 a5) 24... a5 { and nothing is clear at all.}) 24. dxe5 (24. dxc5 Nxf3 25. Qg3 Re3 {is indeed good for Black (Wojtaszek)}) 24... d4 25. Qe2 $1 {and White wins a piece.}) 23... Nxf3 ({The familiar trick} 23... Nc5 {was still there when Black can save the knight but lose precious time. Wojtaszek planned} 24. Kb1 Ned7 { and now either} 25. Nfxd5 ({But not} 25. Ncxd5 cxd5 $1) (25. h5 $1 {with strong attack is also great for White.}) 25... cxd5 26. dxc5 {with advantage for White.}) ({Black can sacrifice the knight for three pawns in the line} 23... Nf8 24. b3 Qa6 25. dxe5 Qxa3+ 26. Qb2 Qxb2+ 27. Kxb2 Rxe5 {but it is clear that White has the better chances.}) 24. Qf2 $1 {The queen dance is over, the knight is trapped.} Nde5 25. Kb1 (25. dxe5 $2 Qxf4+) 25... Nxd4 $2 { A time-trouble blunder.} ({White expected} 25... Rad8 {(to stop the knight sacrifice on d5)} 26. dxe5 Nxe5 (26... Qxf4 27. Rd3 {In both cases White has the upper hand but there is plenty of play ahead.})) 26. Rxd4 Qc5 27. Ncxd5 { The correct idea, but in the wrong move order.} ({Not} 27. h5 Nf3 $1 { (Wojtaszek)}) ({However, the preliminary} 27. Rc1 $1 {and only after} Qf8 28. Ncxd5 $1 {was the correct move order.} cxd5 29. Nxd5) 27... cxd5 28. Rc1 (28. Nxd5 Nf3 $1 {is again good for Black.}) 28... Qf8 $2 {Now the attack is unstoppable.} ({Correct was} 28... Qb5 $1 29. a4 (29. Nxd5 $2 Nd3 $1) 29... Qa6 30. Nxd5 Nd3 31. Nf6+ Kh8 {when nothing is clear. Most likely the players should split the point after something like} 32. Qf3 Nxc1 33. Nxe8 Rxe8 34. Qxf7 Qe2 35. Kxc1 Qe1+ 36. Kc2 Rc8+ 37. Rc4 Qe2+ 38. Kb3 Qd3+ 39. Rc3 Qd1+ 40. Ka2 Qxa4+ 41. Ra3 Qc4+ 42. Qxc4 Rxc4 43. Rxa7 Rxh4 44. Rxb7 Ra4+ 45. Kb3 Ra5 46. Rb8+) 29. Nxd5 {Once that the knight occupies f6 outpost, the "h" pawn will rush in and open the file for the heavy pieces.} Rec8 30. Re1 Nc6 31. Rde4 (31. Nf6+ Kh8 32. Rd7) 31... Rd8 32. Nf6+ Kh8 33. h5 gxh5 34. Rh1 Rd6 35. Rxh5 Rxf6 36. gxf6 (36. Qxf6+ Qg7 37. Reh4) 36... Qd6 37. Rxh7+ $1 Kxh7 38. Qf5+ { Black resigned as it is mate in three.} (38. Qf5+ Kh8 39. Rh4+ Kg8 40. Qg4+ Kf8 41. Rh8#) 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.23"] [Round "4.3"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Akopian, Vladimir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D17"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2648"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 8. g3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 f6 12. O-O g5 13. Nxe5 gxf4 14. Nxd7 Qxd7 15. a5 fxg3 16. hxg3 Qxd1 17. Rfxd1 a6 18. Rd4 Rd8 19. Rad1 Rxd4 20. Rxd4 Be7 21. Ne4 Bxe4 22. Bxe4 Rg8 23. Rd3 Rg5 (23... Rg7 24. Rb3 Bf8 {and GM Peter Svidler didn't seem worried that White could break through.}) 24. Rb3 Rb5 25. Rxb5 axb5 26. Bxh7 Bb4 27. f4 Bxa5 {White's winning chances seem small, but his three one is more mobile, and there's zero risk. Also, he had to play at least three more moves by rule anyway!} 28. Kf2 Bd2 29. Kf3 Bc1 30. b3 c5 31. Bd3 c4 32. bxc4 bxc4 33. Bxc4 Ke7 34. Kg4 Be3 35. Kf5 Bf2 36. g4 Be3 37. g5 fxg5 38. Kxg5 Kd6 {GM Alejandro Ramirez opined that sometimes these positions are easier to defend without the pawn on the b-file so that all forces can be used on the kingside. Unfortunately, without the b-pawn White is theoretically winning.} 39. Kf5 Kc5 40. Bd3 b5 41. Ke4 Bc1 42. Ke5 {After a long defense, this seems to be the critical choice for Black. What to do with the king? Black chooses to use it to help marshal his own pawn, but blockading the e-pawn may have earned the half point.} b4 43. Bc2 Kc4 (43... Bb2+ 44. Ke6 Kd4 45. f5 (45. e4 Bc1 46. f5 Kc3 $1 {And Black seems to be holding since White needs to maintain the "one diagonal defense" - his bishop needs to be able to stop Black's pawn and guard e4 on the same line.} 47. Bb1 (47. Ba4 Kd4 48. Bc2 Kc3) 47... Kb2 48. Bd3 Kc3) 45... Ke3 46. Bd3 b3 47. f6 Bxf6 48. Kxf6 b2 49. Ke5 b1=Q 50. Bxb1 Kxe2 {is Black's idea}) 44. f5 Bb2+ 45. Ke6 b3 (45... Kd4 { Now Black's wasted tempo disallows the previous line} 46. e4 Kc3 47. Bb1 Bc1 48. e5 Kb2 49. Be4 {- the bishop has an extra square!}) 46. Bb1 Ba3 47. e4 Kd4 48. f6 {Black resigned in view of Kf5 and the advance of the e-pawn.} 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.23"] [Round "4.9"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Naroditsky, Daniel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D77"] [WhiteElo "2796"] [BlackElo "2628"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 Nf6 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 dxc4 7. Na3 c3 8. bxc3 c5 9. Ne5 {According to Kramnik, he briefly discussed this move with his seconds before the game and it is "not as harmless" as it seems.} Nc6 10. Nac4 Nd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd2 {"It actually looks very strange this Bd2. On the first sight I didn't like it at all but OK I trust my seconds," Kramnik said.} Ba6 (12... cxd4 13. cxd4 Bxd4 14. Rc1 {"And I have good compensation. Will it be enough for serious advantage or not? I don't know." - Kramnik.}) 13. Ne5 Qd6 14. Re1 cxd4 15. cxd4 Bxe5 (15... c5 {Kramnik said he "couldn't figure out how to refute it" and gave these lines:} 16. Qa4 cxd4 (16... Bb7 {is a better try for Black due to the long line} 17. Qd7 Bxe5 18. Qxb7 Bxd4 19. Qxd5 Qxd5 20. Bxd5 Rad8 {and both the Ra1 and both bishops are loose}) 17. Nc6 {as good for White due to the threat of Bxd5 and then Nxe7+}) 16. dxe5 Qxe5 17. Rc1 { "It's clear that here White has definitely enough compensation" - Kramnik.} Rfd8 18. Qc2 Rac8 19. Qc5 Qd6 20. Qa5 c5 21. Bh3 e6 22. Bg5 Re8 23. Rcd1 Qe5 24. Bd2 Qh5 25. Bf1 Bb7 26. Qxa7 Rc7 27. Qa4 Ra8 28. Qc4 Nb6 29. Qc1 c4 30. Bg5 Qg4 31. Bd8 Rc6 32. h3 Qh5 33. Bg5 Rc5 34. Bf6 Qf5 35. Bd4 Rb5 36. e4 Qf3 37. Bg2 Qa3 38. Qxa3 Rxa3 39. Rb1 Rxb1 40. Rxb1 c3 41. Bxb6 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.22"] [Round "3.15"] [White "Harika, Dronavalli"] [Black "Ni, Hua"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E08"] [WhiteElo "2513"] [BlackElo "2693"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "124"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2 Nbd7 9. Bf4 b6 10. Rd1 Bb7 11. Ne5 Nh5 12. Bc1 Nhf6 13. Bf4 Nh5 14. Bc1 Nhf6 15. Bf4 Rc8 16. Nc3 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Nd7 18. cxd5 cxd5 19. e4 d4 20. Rxd4 Bc5 21. Rd3 Bc6 22. a3 a5 23. b4 axb4 24. axb4 Bxb4 25. Qb2 Bc5 26. Nb5 Ra8 27. Rad1 Ra5 28. Nd4 Ba4 29. Nb3 Rb5 30. Qa2 Bxb3 31. Rxb3 Rxb3 32. Qxb3 Qc7 33. Qb2 Ra8 34. h4 Nf8 35. h5 Rd8 36. Rc1 Qe7 37. Qb3 Ra8 38. Be3 h6 39. Bf1 Bxe3 40. Qxe3 Nd7 41. Rb1 Qd8 42. Qd4 Qc7 43. Qd6 Qa7 44. Rb5 Rc8 45. Rb1 Rc2 46. Rd1 b5 47. Qd4 Qxd4 48. Rxd4 Nxe5 49. Rd8+ Kh7 50. Bxb5 Rb2 51. Be8 g5 52. f4 Nf3+ 53. Kf1 e5 54. Rd7 exf4 55. gxf4 g4 56. Bxf7 g3 57. Be6+ Kh8 58. Rd8+ Kh7 59. Rd7+ Kh8 60. Rd8+ Kg7 61. Rg8+ Kf6 62. Bd5 $4 {Our editor only allows for two question marks...} (62. Rxg3 Nd2+ 63. Ke1 Kxe6 64. Rg6+ {is a draw}) 62... Rf2# 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.23"] [Round "4.11"] [White "Tomashevsky, Evgeny"] [Black "Salem, A.R. Saleh"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D41"] [WhiteElo "2744"] [BlackElo "2622"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 e6 6. Bc4 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. d4 cxd4 9. exd4 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Qc7 11. Qe2 Nd7 12. Bd3 Qxc3 13. Rb1 Nf6 14. Rb3 Qc7 15. Ne5 Rd8 16. g4 g6 17. g5 Nd5 18. Bd2 Bd6 19. Ng4 e5 20. Nh6+ Kg7 21. Be4 Nf4 22. Qf3 Qe7 23. h4 Ne6 24. Bxb7 Rb8 25. Bxc8 Rdxc8 26. dxe5 Bxe5 27. Rxb8 Rxb8 28. Re1 Bd4 29. Re4 Rd8 30. Kg2 Qb7 31. Bc3 Kf8 32. Bb4+ Bc5 33. Nxf7 Rd3 34. Qg4 $4 (34. Nd8+ Rxf3 35. Nxb7 Rxf2+ 36. Kg3 {and White wins a piece due to the pin on the a3-f8 diagonal} Rf5 37. Nxc5 Nxc5 38. Rc4) 34... Rd4 { and now Black wins due to a pin of his own!} 35. Qxe6 Qxe4+ 36. Qxe4 Rxe4 37. Bxc5+ Kxf7 38. h5 a6 39. Kf3 Re5 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.23"] [Round "4.26"] [White "Wei, Yi"] [Black "Vignesh, N R."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C79"] [WhiteElo "2730"] [BlackElo "2422"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "136"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. O-O Bd7 6. d4 Nf6 7. dxe5 Nxe5 8. Bxd7+ Qxd7 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Nd4 O-O 11. Nf5 Rfe8 12. Bg5 Bd8 13. f4 Ng6 14. Qd3 Qc6 15. Qd4 Nf8 16. Bxf6 Ne6 17. Qd3 Bxf6 18. Nd5 Bd8 19. Rae1 Qd7 20. Qh3 c6 21. Nde3 Bb6 22. Kh1 Bxe3 23. Rxe3 Rad8 24. Qh4 Nf8 25. Nxg7 Kxg7 26. f5 Ng6 27. f6+ Kh8 28. Qh6 Rg8 29. Rg3 Qe8 30. Rf5 Qf8 (30... Qxe4 $2 31. Qxh7+ Kxh7 32. Rh5#) 31. Qh3 h6 32. Rh5 Kh7 33. Rgg5 Rh8 34. Qg4 Re8 $2 35. Rxg6 $1 Rg8 ( 35... fxg6 36. Rxh6+ $1 Qxh6 (36... Kxh6 37. Qh4#) 37. Qd7+ Kg8 38. f7+ Kg7 39. fxe8=Q+ Kf6 40. Qde7#) 36. Rxg8 (36. Rhxh6+ Qxh6 37. Rxh6+ Kxh6 {was perhaps the better way to go - Black's rooks can't coordinate and White will advance his kingside pawns.}) 36... Qxg8 37. Qf4 Qg6 38. Rf5 Rg8 39. Qf1 Qg4 40. Rf4 Qe6 41. b3 Rg5 42. h3 Re5 43. Qd3 Kg8 44. Qf3 Kf8 45. Qg3 Rg5 46. Qf2 Qe5 47. h4 Rg6 48. g3 Ke8 49. Kh2 Kd7 50. Qb6 Kc8 51. Qf2 Kd7 52. Qf3 Ke6 53. Rf5 Qb2 54. Kh3 Rxf6 55. c3 Rxf5 56. Qxf5+ Ke7 57. e5 dxe5 58. Qxe5+ Kf8 59. Qh8+ Ke7 60. Qe5+ Kf8 61. Qh8+ Ke7 62. Qxh6 Qxc3 63. Qf4 Kf8 64. h5 b5 65. b4 Kg7 66. Kg4 Qc4 67. Qxc4 $4 {Oh no! The refusal to draw cost White here. You have to be 110 percent sure when transferring into a king-and-pawn ending.} bxc4 68. Kf4 f5 $1 {and that's it! White can never take on f5 to step outside the "square of the pawn" while the move itself inhibits White's ability to connect and protect his kingside pawns. Now Black's king just marches up to collect the bounty.} 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.24"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Li, Chao B"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D70"] [WhiteElo "2834"] [BlackElo "2750"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O f5 10. e5 Nb4 11. Nh3 Qe8 {"As far as I know, pretty unusual," - Carlsen. Now the world champion said he was making some waiting moves until Black relented and played ...Be6, allowing knight to hope with tempo, and thus play h4 to secure its post.} 12. Kb1 a5 13. Be2 c6 {"I was happy to see ...c6 actually. I think it's a good move!" Why was Carlsen happy? Now the queen can't ever hop to a4 to mate him!} 14. Rc1 Kh8 15. Ka1 Be6 16. Nf4 Qf7 17. h4 $1 {"Once I saw h4, it looks so interesting, I hardly couldn't play it." - Carlsen. He said he couldn't find any other good option.} (17. a3 Rfd8 18. h4 Bxe5 19. h5 gxh5 {"It didn't seem convincing at all"} (19... g5 20. Ng6+)) 17... Bxa2 18. h5 Kg8 (18... gxh5 {Carlsen expected this move.} 19. Rxh5 (19. Nxh5 a4 (19... Rg8 20. Nf4 a4 21. e6 Bxe6 22. Rxh7+ Kxh7 23. Rh1+ Bh6 24. Nxe6 {with threats of Rxh6 mate and Ng5+ (Carlsen)}) 20. Nxg7 {"I don't see myself getting mated there."}) 19... a4 20. Rch1 a3 {"I wasn't sure about this at all. "}) 19. hxg6 hxg6 20. g4 {"It feels like White has to come first." - Carlsen} Bb3 21. Bd1 {This move impressed the commentators greatly and cause Li Chao to think a lot (he admitted to Carlsen he missed the move). It guards critical light squares and, more importantly, allows the queen to swing to h2.} a4 22. Qh2 Rfd8 23. Qh7+ Kf8 24. d5 Nc4 {"This was amazing, I hadn't seen it at all." - Carlsen} 25. Nxg6+ Ke8 (25... Qxg6 26. Qxg6 a3 27. Rh8+ Bxh8 28. Bh6+ Bg7 29. Bxg7+ Kg8 30. Bh6+ Kh8 31. Qg7#) 26. e6 a3 27. exf7+ Kd7 28. Ne5+ (28. f8=N+ { Carlsen said this was very tempting! Read below the game for why he [correctly] chose not to.}) 28... Bxe5 29. Qxf5+ Kc7 30. Qxe5+ Nxe5 31. Bxb3 axb2+ 32. Kxb2 Nbd3+ 33. Kb1 Nxc1 34. Rxc1 Kc8 35. dxc6 bxc6 36. f4 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.12.24"] [Round "5.8"] [White "Korobov, Anton"] [Black "Swiercz, Dariusz"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D70"] [WhiteElo "2713"] [BlackElo "2646"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:07:01"] [BlackClock "0:02:29"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 {A popular move order.} d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O Qd6 10. Nb5 {Mamedyarov introduced this move in the modern practice back in the distant 2004...} ({White can postpone the jump and go first} 10. Kb1 Rd8 {and only then} 11. Nb5 Qd7 12. d5 a6 13. Nc3 Na5 14. Bd4 {with unclear play in the blitz game Aronian,L (2784) -Volokitin,A (2639) Berlin 2015}) 10... Qd7 ({No-one had ever tested the computer move} 10... Qd8) 11. f4 Qe6 {The point behind Black's previous move. He needs to counter attack as quick as possible.} 12. Nc3 ({With his kingside undeveloped White cannot afford the McDuck's approach} 12. Nxc7 $2 Qxa2 13. Nxa8 Na5 $1 {leads to lethal attack for Black.}) 12... Nc4 13. Qe2 N6a5 (13... Nxe3 14. Qxe3 {is also possible and was tested in the game Wang Hao-Svidler, Stavanger 2013.}) 14. Bf2 {Korobov decided to keep this bishop. Since Black did not take it on the previous move some players believed that he may never take it.} ({Afresh example is} 14. Nf3 c5 15. e5 cxd4 16. Nxd4 Qb6 17. Nf5 Nxe3 18. Nxe3 Nc6 19. Ned5 Qd8 20. g3 Be6 21. Bg2 {with advantage for White, Karjakin,S (2780)-Giri,A (2720) Wijk aan Zee 2013}) 14... c5 {A sharp position occurred. Both sides castled in different flanks and in these situations the main question is who is faster. Swiercz tries to open files as early as possible and he has every right to do so. Even the rough, mechanical calculation reveals that he is already ahead in the development. The other logical possibilities are} (14... b5 $5) ({And} 14... Rd8 $5) 15. Nf3 ({Bad is } 15. dxc5 $2 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Qf6 {with double attack against c3 and f4.}) (15. d5 {fails to impress neither after} Qb6) ({However, the immediate} 15. e5 { is interesting with the idea to meet} b5 {with} 16. d5 Qf5 17. g3 {The threat is Bf1-h3 when White wants to make use of his knight on g1. But Black may pretend that he did not see it and go for} b4 {when} 18. Bh3 $6 {Bumps into} bxc3 $1 19. Bxf5 $2 cxb2+ 20. Kc2 Bxf5+ 21. Kc3 Rab8 {and Black wins. Such sharp lines are typical for positions with open kings.}) 15... b5 16. e5 { Building some barricades seems more useful at the moment} (16. Kb1 $5 Qa6 17. Qc2) 16... Qa6 ({White would be happy to close the position after} 16... b4 17. Ne4 b3 18. a3) 17. Ne4 $2 {It is not that obvious, but White badly needed this knight in the defense of his king. Correct was} (17. dxc5 Bf5 (17... Bh6 18. g3 Bg4 {is another possibility.}) 18. Nd4 {with unclear play.}) 17... Bf5 $1 { A cold shower. Instead of defending, Swiercz brings another piece in the attack.} 18. g4 ({Probably here Korobov realized that on the planned} 18. Nxc5 {Black has the killer} Nb3+ $3 19. Nxb3 (19. axb3 Qa1#) 19... Qxa2 20. Rd3 Rac8 {and White has to resign.}) ({White is clearly worse after both} 18. Kb1 Nc6) ( {Or} 18. g3 Nc6) 18... Bxg4 19. Nxc5 {Now that the bishop is away from the b1-h7 diagonal it seems as White can do this. But...} Nb3+ $1 {Comes anyway.} 20. Kb1 {There is no choice} (20. axb3 Qa1+ 21. Kc2 Qxb2+ 22. Kd3 Bf5+ 23. Ne4 Qxb3#) ({Or} 20. Nxb3 Qxa2 {we do not count.}) 20... Nxc5 21. dxc5 {The smoke had cleared. Black kept all his active pieces and White has no defenders of the queenside, nor development. With natural play Swiercz converts his indisputable advantage.} f6 (21... Rad8 {was quite convincing too.}) 22. Rg1 Bh5 23. Qe4 fxe5 24. Bxc4+ bxc4 25. Rd7 ({Computer claims White's best chance is the endgame after} 25. Nxe5 Bxd1 26. Rxd1 Rad8 27. Rxd8 Rxd8 28. Qxc4+ Qxc4 29. Nxc4 Kf7 {but Black is obviously winning here as well.}) 25... Bxf3 26. Qxf3 Qe6 27. Rgd1 ({Or} 27. Qg4 {when Black has a pleasant choice of winning continuations} Rf5 ({And} 27... Qxg4 28. Rxg4 exf4 29. Rxe7 Rab8)) 27... e4 $1 28. Qe2 Rfb8 29. R1d4 c3 $1 ({Even better than} 29... Bxd4 30. Rxd4 c3 31. b3 Rd8 {which also wins.}) 30. b4 ({In case of} 30. b3 {Swiercz can enjoy another sac on the b3 square} Rxb3+ $1 31. axb3 Qxb3+ 32. Kc1 (32. Ka1 c2) 32... Qa3+ 33. Kc2 Qb2+ 34. Kd1 Qb1#) 30... Bxd4 31. Rxd4 a5 32. b5 c2+ $1 {It is over.} 33. Qxc2 (33. Kxc2 Qxa2+ 34. Kd1 Qb1+ 35. Kd2 Rxb5) 33... Rxb5+ 34. Kc1 e3 35. Re4 exf2 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.24"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Khismatullin, Denis"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E12"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2654"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Nc3 c5 7. e4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bc5 9. Nf3 Ng4 10. b4 $5 {Combined with his round three attack against GM Alex Lenderman, "Shak" has played some of the most exciting games this year.} Bxf2+ 11. Ke2 {White threatens h3 and there's no natural place for the bishop to retreat.} Bh4 12. h3 Nh6 (12... Nf6) 13. g4 Be7 14. g5 Ng8 {A funny position where White has so much advanced and Black isn't even on the fifth rank yet. Black's e7-bishop and g8-knight have both moved four times, and both in the shape of a diamond!} 15. Bf4 a6 16. Rd1 h6 17. g6 f5 18. Ne5 {Black's development issues haven't gotten any better! White playing on both flanks reminds of Tony Miles.} Qc7 {This reporter was half expecting to see Ke3 to defend the bishop!} 19. Bh2 Nf6 20. Nf7 Qxc4+ 21. Ke1 Qc8 {Black is setting some of record for backward moves.} 22. Bg2 Nxe4 23. Nxh8 Nxc3 24. Rd3 Bh4+ 25. Bg3 Bxg2 26. Bxh4 Bxh1 27. Nf7 Kf8 28. Rxc3 Nc6 29. Bg3 Qe8 30. Bd6+ Kg8 31. Qd2 Ne7 32. Nxh6+ gxh6 33. Qxh6 Qxg6 34. Rg3 Kf7 35. Rxg6 Nxg6 36. Qh7+ Kf6 37. h4 Nf8 38. Be7+ {What a mess, but what fun! Black resigned since after Qg7+ the knight is lost and the h-pawn is fast.} 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.24"] [Round "5.15"] [White "Vitiugov, Nikita"] [Black "Zhang, Zhong"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C18"] [WhiteElo "2724"] [BlackElo "2619"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. h4 Nbc6 8. h5 h6 9. Qg4 Qc7 10. Bd2 Nf5 11. Nf3 cxd4 12. cxd4 Ncxd4 13. Nxd4 Qxe5+ 14. Be3 Nxe3 15. Bb5+ Kf8 16. fxe3 Qxe3+ 17. Ne2 Qc5 18. Bd3 Bd7 19. Rf1 Re8 20. Kd2 Re7 21. Rf3 Be8 22. Nf4 Kg8 23. Raf1 e5 24. Rg3 f5 (24... f6 {and you can play either} 25. Qxg7+ (25. Ne6 {wins in the middlegame}) 25... Rxg7 26. Rxg7+ Kxg7 (26... Kf8 27. Ne6#) 27. Ne6+ {wins in the endgame}) 25. Ne6 {happened anyway! Black resigned since even if 25...Qa5+ 26. c3 fxg4 27. Rf8 mate!} 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.12.26"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2648"] [BlackElo "2784"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "130"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:05:10"] [BlackClock "0:01:04"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 { The modern Najdorfplayer will arrely allow and "advanced vesrion" of the fianchettoe line. Although both} (7... Be6 8. g4 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Bg2 Bb4 11. O-O Bxc3 12. Nxc3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 {Kamsky,G (2733)-Shankland,S (2512) Saint Louis 2011}) ({And} 7... Be7 {are still playable, but it seems as Black is suffering here. One example} 8. g4 O-O 9. Be3 Nbd7 10. Ng3 b5 11. g5 {with advantage for White, Swiercz,D (2629)-Kempinski,R (2647) Poland 2015}) 8. Bg5 { White on his term tries to prove that h7-h5 was a weakening move.} Be6 9. Bxf6 {And then switches to play for the d5 outpost.} Qxf6 10. Nd5 Qd8 11. Qd3 Nd7 12. O-O-O g6 {Still, Black has two bishops and harmonious development in return for the powerful knight on d5.} 13. Kb1 Nc5 {A novelty in comparison to} (13... Rc8 {which was played not long time ago. In a game that both adversaries knew well. One of them played at this same tournament and Ganguly was a long-time second of the former world champion Anand and possibly has worked this line with him some time ago-} 14. Nec3 Rc5 15. Be2 b5 16. a3 Nb6 17. g4 hxg4 18. Nxb6 Qxb6 19. hxg4 Rxh1 20. Rxh1 {and Anand went on to win a modal endgame in Anand,V (2803)-Topalov,V (2803) London 2015}) 14. Qf3 Bg7 ({ Naturally, anytime Black captures on d5 White will recapture with a piece} 14... Bxd5 15. Rxd5) 15. Nec3 b5 16. Be2 Rb8 {Impudently intending to trap the white knight on c3 after b5-b4.} 17. a3 ({As otherwise White may have problems with his e4 pawn-} 17. Rd2 b4 18. Nd1 Qh4) 17... Bd7 $1 {A nice maneuver that prepares both a6-a5 and b5-b4 as well as Nc5-e6-d4.} 18. Qe3 {Ganguly decided to defend vigorously.} ({Another idea was to swpa the roles of the knights but after} 18. Ne3 Bc6 (18... a5 19. Rxd6) 19. Ncd5 Ne6 20. Bd3 Nd4 21. Qg3 h4 22. Qh2 {White's pieces are awkwardly placed.}) ({Objectively best might be} 18. g4 {with the idea to meet} Ne6 {with} ({Black can also try} 18... a5 $5 {which may lead to tremendous complications after} 19. gxh5 (19. b4 {is still an option for White} Ne6 20. gxh5 Rxh5 21. Qg3 Rh8 22. h4 {with unclear play.}) 19... Rxh5 20. Qg3 {and now} b4 $1 21. Bxh5 bxc3 22. Bxg6 Rxb2+ 23. Ka1 Qb8 { Threatens mate in two after 24...Rb2-a2+} ({Not} 23... fxg6 $2 24. Qxg6+ Kf8 25. Qxd6+ Kg8 26. Qxc5) 24. Qxc3 Na4 25. Qc4 fxg6 {When everything is unclear and my computer claims 0.00...} 26. Nc7+ Ke7 (26... Kd8 27. Rxd6 Qxc7 28. Qg8+ Ke7 29. Rxg6 Bf6 30. Qh7+ Ke6 31. Qg8+) 27. Rhg1) 19. gxh5 Rxh5 20. Qg3 Rh4 21. Bg4 {which will be much better version that the game continuation for White.}) 18... a5 {Simple and strong, although} (18... Ne6 {was also interesting. True, Black has to sacrifice a pair of pawns in the line} 19. Qa7 a5 20. Qa6 b4 21. axb4 axb4 22. Na2 b3 23. cxb3 O-O) 19. b4 $5 {This was Ganguly's idea. He believes that his central construction is solid enough to survive any flank attacks.} ({Safer was} 19. Na2) 19... Ne6 20. g3 Nd4 21. Bd3 Be6 {Giri is not afraid of f2-f4, but perhaps it made good sense to avoid that option with the preliminary} (21... h4 $5 22. g4 (22. f4 hxg3 23. f5 Qh4 {looks good for Black. }) 22... O-O {with good play for Black.}) 22. f4 {Obviously White cannot sit and wait until his opponent opens the game on the queenside.} axb4 23. axb4 Ra8 {Once again "Show me what you've got" approach.} ({Instead} 23... exf4 24. gxf4 Ra8 25. e5 {is a mess.}) 24. f5 {White is consistently trying to reach the black king.} gxf5 25. exf5 Nxf5 {Better than} (25... Bxf5 26. Bxf5 Nxf5 { When White has a choice of attacking options} 27. Qd3 ({Or} 27. Qf3 Nd4 28. Rxd4 exd4 29. Re1+ Be5 30. Nxb5) 27... Nd4 28. Nxb5 {and as the black Rh8 is not joining the game soon, White should be better.}) 26. Bxf5 Bxf5 27. g4 { The same policy again- no shelter for the black king as in the line:} (27. Nxb5 O-O 28. g4 Bh7 {However, it seems as Ganguly forgot that Giri likes to keep his Monarch in the center. Somewhere around the e6-d5-f5 squares...}) 27... hxg4 28. hxg4 Rxh1 29. Rxh1 Be6 $1 {The pawn is anything but yummy} ({After} 29... Bxg4 $6 30. Qe4 $1 Be6 {Now best is the preliminary} 31. Rh7 $1 ({ White can reagin the exchange at once with} 31. Nc7+ Qxc7 32. Qxa8+ {but this is less appealing due to the simple} Ke7 33. Nd5+ (33. Nxb5 $5) 33... Bxd5 34. Qxd5 Qc3 {with e5-e4 coming White will have to force perpetual sooner or later. }) 31... Bf8 32. Nxb5 Rc8 33. Rh8 {when White is dominating.}) 30. g5 ({If} 30. Qe4 Kf8 {stops any Nd5-c7 fork ideas.}) 30... Kf8 {Giri repelled the attack and is now in command. Still, the vulnerable position of his king and the naughty white knights prevent him of winning smoothly.} 31. Nf6 $1 {White's best chance is to keep this bishop away from his king. The other one is not that dangerous.} Ra6 {Defends the d6 pawn and prepares the doubling of the heavy pieces along the "a" file.} (31... Qc7 32. Qd3) 32. Qf3 Qc7 ({Premature is} 32... Qa8 33. Qxa8+ Rxa8 34. Rd1 Ke7 35. Nxb5 ({Or even} 35. Nfd5+ Kd8 36. Nxb5) 35... Bxf6 36. gxf6+ Kxf6 37. Nxd6 {when White should get the draw.}) 33. Nh7+ Ke8 34. Nf6+ Bxf6 {In mutual time trouble Giri saveguards the king. Aslo possible was} (34... Kd8 {with the idea to meet} 35. Rh7 $2 {with} ({White should better defend with} 35. Qd3 Qa7 36. Kb2 {with good chances of survival.} ) 35... Qa7 $1 {and Black wins.}) 35. gxf6 {The only move as the counterattack} (35. Qxf6 {fails to} Qc4 $1 ({Even the rook endgame after} 35... Qxc3 36. Rh8+ Kd7 37. Qd8+ Kc6 38. Qc8+ Bxc8 39. Rxc8+ Kd7 40. Rxc3 Ra4 {is won for Black.}) 36. Rh8+ Kd7 {and if anyone is mated, it not going to be Black.}) 35... Kd7 { Misses a good chance to increase the advantage after} (35... Qc6 $1 {Black should try to get rid of the queens.} 36. Qxc6+ (36. Rh8+ Kd7 37. Qd3 Qc4) 36... Rxc6 37. Nxb5 Rb6 {and Black is close to winning.}) 36. Rd1 Qa7 37. Kb2 Bc4 38. Qe4 Kc7 39. Nd5+ Kb8 ({But not} 39... Bxd5 $2 40. Qxd5 Kc8 41. Rh1 { when White is better.}) 40. Nc3 Kc7 {Giri repeats the moves for the second time to get the additional time after move fourty.} ({If} 40... Qf2 41. Rh1 Qxf6 42. Qg4 {creates the threat Qg4-g8+ followed by Rh1-h8 with strong attack. Nothing is clear after} Qd8 43. Qg7) ({However, Black can deviate from the repetition with} 40... Qb7) 41. Qf3 {Knowing the latter, Ganguly deviates first. He then tries to get in the opponent's camp with his queen.} Qa8 42. Qe3 Qc6 43. Qg3 Ra8 44. Ra1 $1 {Weakens the eight rank and leads to a favourable pair or pieces.} Rxa1 45. Kxa1 Qb6 46. Qh4 d5 47. Kb2 ({Tricks do not work} 47. Qxc4+ $2 dxc4 48. Nd5+ Kc6 49. Nxb6 Kxb6) 47... Qd6 48. Kc1 {The culmination of the game. Black is up a pawn but the position of his king is insecure. It is quite obvious that he cannot make progress without advancing his pawns.} Qa6 {Now the white queen gets too much activity. Correct was} (48... d4 49. Ne4 { and now not} Qxb4 $6 ({Here strong is} 49... Qc6 $1 50. Qg4 Be6 51. Qe2 Qc4 { with excellent winning chances for Black.}) 50. Qg3 $1 {when Black loses the important e5 pawn.}) 49. Qg5 $1 Kd6 50. Qg8 $1 {The queen is ready for the perpetual.} Qa3+ ({Perhaps Giri intended to go for the f6 pawn and realized only now that} 50... Ke6 51. Qg4+ Kxf6 52. Qh4+ {will force him to abandon the e5 pawn in order to avoid the perpetual.}) 51. Kd2 Qa7 52. Qe8 Qd7 53. Qg8 Qb7 54. Qe8 Qd7 55. Qg8 e4 {There is practically no choice.} (55... Qc7 56. Qe8 e4 57. Nxb5+ Bxb5 58. Qxb5) (55... d4 56. Ne4+ Kc7 57. Qf8) 56. Qg3+ Kc6 57. Qe5 Qc7 58. Qe8+ Kb6 59. Qe7 Qf4+ 60. Kd1 Qf1+ 61. Kd2 Qf4+ 62. Kd1 e3 63. Qd8+ Ka6 {The perpetual is a fact as} (63... Qc7 64. Nxd5+ Bxd5 65. Qxd5 {draws as well. }) 64. Qa8+ Kb6 65. Qd8+ Ka6 {Fundamental battle!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.26"] [Round "6.7"] [White "Jakovenko, Dmitry"] [Black "Bologan, Viktor"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D15"] [WhiteElo "2737"] [BlackElo "2654"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. e3 Bf5 6. Qb3 b5 7. cxd5 cxd5 8. a4 b4 {"This is very fashionable line. Somehow White for a long time didn't go for these complications, which is not so easy for Black I think. I was prepared and know the theory." - Jakovenko.} 9. Qxb4 Nc6 10. Qc5 Na5 11. Bxa6 Rxa6 12. Qb5+ Rc6 13. Ne5 Bd7 14. Nxd7 Nxd7 15. Bd2 {Jakovenko said he thinks Bologan missed the move order with 15. Bd2 first.} (15. Nxd5 e6 16. Bd2 exd5 17. Bxa5 Qa8 {unclear (Jakovenko)}) 15... Qa8 (15... e6 16. Ne2 {now White just wins back his pawns and gets to keep his pawns}) 16. Nxd5 e6 17. Nf4 Ra6 18. O-O Bd6 19. d5 exd5 20. Rfd1 Nc6 {now Jakovenko said that blindly remembering the computer line meant he couldn't figure out why he'd placed his rook on d1!} (20... d4 {was the only line that Jakovenko had prepared for} 21. Bb4 Bxb4 22. Qxb4 Nc6 23. Qa3 {and Jakovenko said White should be "much better" }) 21. Bc3 (21. Qxd5 Ne7 22. Qxa8+ Rxa8 23. Bc3 Be5 24. Rxd7 Bxc3 25. Rxe7+ Kxe7 26. Nd5+ Ke6 27. Nxc3 {should be drawn} (27. Nc7+ Kd7 28. Nxa8 Bxb2 29. Ra2 Rxa8 30. Rxb2 Rxa4 {should also be drawn! Jakovenko couldn't figure out why his computer thought White was better!})) 21... Bxf4 22. exf4 O-O 23. Rxd5 Nb6 (23... Nf6 24. Bxf6 gxf6 25. Rd6 Rb8 26. Qc4 Rb4 {was Jakovenko's improvement for Black}) 24. Rg5 g6 25. a5 Rd8 26. Re1 Nc8 27. Rd5 Rxd5 $4 ( 27... Nd6 28. Rxd6 Rxd6 29. Qxa6 Qxa6 30. Re8# {was what Jakovenko was hoping for, but he got an expedited version}) 28. Re8# {"He wasn't in the mood for discussing the game of course" - Jakovenko.} 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.26"] [Round "6.29"] [White "Wei, Yi"] [Black "Bromberger, Stefan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2730"] [BlackElo "2521"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O c6 10. c4 Nc5 11. Bxc5 dxc5 12. Qf4 Qa5 13. Bd3 Bf6 14. a3 Be6 15. Ng5 Bxg5 16. Qxg5 Rad8 17. Rhe1 Rfe8 18. f4 h6 19. Qh5 f6 20. Bg6 Rxd1+ 21. Qxd1 Rd8 22. Rxe6 $1 Rxd1+ 23. Kxd1 Qd8+ 24. Ke2 Kf8 25. Kf3 {No rush for Re8+ - it'll be there in two moves or 20!} Qd7 26. Re1 Qd8 27. Kg4 Qd7+ 28. Kh5 Qd8 29. a4 {White's not toying with Black - he's making sure the resulting king-and-pawn ending is won.} a5 30. g4 Qd7 31. h4 Qd8 32. Re8+ (32. b3 { Now that would have been rubbing it in.}) 32... Qxe8 33. Bxe8 Kxe8 34. Kg6 Kf8 35. Kh7 (35. g5 hxg5 36. hxg5 fxg5 37. fxg5 Kg8 {would require counting tempos, but there's no need for that.}) 35... Kf7 36. g5 {Now it's easy. After all the pawns trade White has three tempo moves to Black's one.} 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.26"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2648"] [BlackElo "2784"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "130"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. Bg5 Be6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. Nd5 Qd8 11. Qd3 Nd7 12. O-O-O g6 13. Kb1 {The thing about top players like Giri is that they are not only very well updated with the latest games but they also find improvements over it. Here the players are following the game Anand vs Topalov from the London Chess Classic that took place 20 days ago. Anand had won a nice game with white so Ganguly tried it once again but Anish already had an improvement prepared.} Nc5 (13... Rc8 { was Anand-Topalov.}) 14. Qf3 Bg7 15. Nec3 b5 16. Be2 Rb8 17. a3 Bd7 {Defending the b5 pawn and preparing a5-b4.} 18. Qe3 a5 19. b4 {While this stops b4, one thing is certain that White's king is quite exposed now.} Ne6 20. g3 Nd4 21. Bd3 Be6 22. f4 axb4 23. axb4 Ra8 24. f5 gxf5 25. exf5 Nxf5 26. Bxf5 Bxf5 27. g4 hxg4 28. hxg4 Rxh1 29. Rxh1 Be6 {Black has won a pawn and looks pretty solid, although White with his excellent knights does have some compensation.} 30. g5 $6 (30. Qe4 {with the idea of Nc7 was interesting.}) 30... Kf8 31. Nf6 Ra6 32. Qf3 Qc7 33. Nh7+ Ke8 34. Nf6+ Bxf6 35. gxf6 Kd7 {Black got rid of his bad bishop and his king is also safe. Add to it the fact that he is a pawn up and you can realize that the rest is just a matter of technique for a player of Giri's calibre.} 36. Rd1 Qa7 37. Kb2 Bc4 38. Qe4 Kc7 39. Nd5+ Kb8 40. Nc3 Kc7 41. Qf3 Qa8 42. Qe3 Qc6 43. Qg3 Ra8 44. Ra1 Rxa1 45. Kxa1 Qb6 46. Qh4 d5 47. Kb2 Qd6 (47... e4 48. Qg5 (48. Qf4+ Qd6 $19) 48... Qd4 49. Qg7 Kd6 50. Qf8+ Ke5 51. Qe7+ Kf5 {would have been quite an easy win for Anish. The king escapes the perpetual and the e-pawn marches towards the last rank.}) 48. Kc1 Qa6 49. Qg5 Kd6 50. Qg8 Qa3+ 51. Kd2 Qa7 52. Qe8 Qd7 53. Qg8 Qb7 54. Qe8 Qd7 (54... e4 55. Qg8 Qa7 56. Qe8 Qd7 57. Qg8 Ke5 $19 {It is important to activate the king is in order to win. The f6 pawn will fall now.}) 55. Qg8 e4 56. Qg3+ Kc6 57. Qe5 Qc7 58. Qe8+ Kb6 59. Qe7 {White has just too much activity now.} Qf4+ 60. Kd1 Qf1+ 61. Kd2 Qf4+ 62. Kd1 e3 63. Qd8+ Ka6 64. Qa8+ Kb6 65. Qd8+ Ka6 { Quite a depressing draw for Anish, who was better for almost the entire game. A great result for Ganguly who is having a superb tournament.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.26"] [Round "6.7"] [White "Jakovenko, Dmitry"] [Black "Bologan, Viktor"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D15"] [WhiteElo "2737"] [BlackElo "2654"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. e3 Bf5 6. Qb3 b5 7. cxd5 cxd5 8. a4 b4 $5 {This is a very interesting pawn sacrifice. What Black intends to do is to play Nc6 followed by e6 and take control of the b4 square. In this way he gets a lead in development at the cost of a pawn.} 9. Qxb4 Nc6 10. Qc5 (10. Qb3 Rb8 11. Qd1 Nb4 {is already very bad for White.}) 10... Na5 11. Bxa6 $5 (11. Qa3 {is the other theoretical move but after} e6 12. b4 Nc6 13. Na2 Bd6 { it looks somehow that Black has excellent compensation.}) 11... Rxa6 12. Qb5+ Rc6 13. Ne5 Bd7 14. Nxd7 (14. Nxc6 Bxc6 15. Qe2 Nb3 $17 {followed by e6 is clearly better for Black.}) 14... Nxd7 15. Bd2 $5 (15. Nxd5 e6 16. Bd2 (16. Nc3 $2 Be7 {followed by Qc7 and 0-0 is just better for Black.}) 16... exd5 17. Bxa5 Qa8 {and here Black is ok.}) 15... Qa8 16. Nxd5 e6 17. Nf4 $5 {This is the first new move in the databases – although truth be told I played the same move against Abhilash Reddy in the eighth round of Mumbai Mayor's Cup 2014. However that game did not make it to the databases. White asks Black to defend the a5 knight.} Ra6 (17... Nc4 18. Rc1 $16) 18. O-O (18. d5 {was played by me and after} e5 19. Nd3 Bd6 20. Rc1 $6 Ke7 $1 {Black was threatening already to trap my queen with Rb8, and he won the game. Jakovenko found a much better move order. 0-1 (34) Sagar,S (2309)-Abhilash,R (2189) Mumbai Mayor's Cup 2014.} ) 18... Bd6 19. d5 $5 exd5 (19... Bxf4 20. exf4 $16) 20. Rfd1 Nc6 {Jakovenko had not studied this move and when he reached this position it was quite unclear for him what is to be done. That is because he had prepared with the computer and the engine never suggested the move. This is the downside to computer preparation: often when our opponent deviates we do not know how to continue. Yet Dmitry is a strong player and could work out the best way to play on the board.} (20... d4 {is the computer's suggestion, and also what Jakovenko had prepared.} 21. Bb4 Bxb4 22. Qxb4 Nc6 23. Qa3 {when White has good compensation as Black cannot 0-0.}) 21. Bc3 (21. Qxd5 Ne7 22. Qxa8+ Rxa8 23. Bc3 (23. a5 $5 $14) 23... Be5 24. Rxd7 Bxc3 25. Rxe7+ Kxe7 26. Nd5+ Kd6 27. Nxc3 Rhb8 $11 {and Black cannot lose this position.}) 21... Bxf4 (21... O-O { was also possible.}) 22. exf4 O-O 23. Rxd5 Nb6 $6 (23... Nf6 {was much better as after} 24. Bxf6 gxf6 $11 {this structure looks ugly, but Black is doing absolutely fine here.}) 24. Rg5 $1 g6 (24... f6 {Viktor might have wanted to continue with this move but later saw that Rxg7 is simply crushing.} 25. Rxg7+ $3 Kxg7 26. Qg5+ Kf7 (26... Kh8 27. Bxf6+ Rxf6 28. Qxf6+ Kg8 29. Ra3 $1 { The rook makes a dramatic entrance and ends the game.}) 27. Qxf6+ Ke8 28. Re1+ Kd7 29. Qg7+ $1 Kd6 30. Bb4+ $1 Nxb4 31. Qe7+ Kd5 32. Qe5+ Kc4 33. Qc3+ Kd5 34. Re5+ Kd6 35. Qc5+ Kd7 36. Re7+ Kd8 37. Qc7# {So many black pieces but none of them controlled the key e5, c5, c7, e7 squares.}) 25. a5 Rd8 26. Re1 Nc8 27. Rd5 Rxd5 $2 (27... Rf8 {would have put up a fight, but White is better after} 28. b4 $18) 28. Re8# {A fine game by Jakovenko who contributed to the development of the theory in this variation.} 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.26"] [Round "6.16"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Black "Esen, Baris"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2710"] [BlackElo "2562"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Bg5 Be6 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Qd3 O-O 11. O-O-O Be7 12. Nd5 Bxd5 13. Qxd5 Qc7 14. Bg4 Nc6 15. Kb1 Rfd8 {This position is typical for the Be2-Bg5 system in the Najdorf. However, we should learn from the great Vassily Ivanchuk who completely outplayed his opponent from this point onwards.} 16. a3 {Stopping Nb4.} Bf6 17. Rd3 Qb6 18. Rf1 Rab8 19. g3 {A useful move – can be helpeful to gain space with f4 as well as h4.} Nd4 20. Na5 $1 {The knight is coming to c4 and the d4 knight can be kicked away at some point with c3.} Nc6 21. Nc4 Qc7 22. Ne3 {[%csl Gd5][%cal Gb3a5,Ga5c4,Gc4e3] You can see how the knight made its route from b3-a5-c4-e3 and is now looking at the juicy hole on d5.} (22. Nxd6 $2 Nd4 $17) 22... Ne7 23. Qc4 Qa5 24. Rfd1 b5 25. Qb4 Qxb4 26. axb4 { A strategic victory for White who has left Black with absolutely no counterplay and lots of weaknesses.} Rb6 27. h4 {Stopping Bg5 just in case.} g6 28. Rc3 Rb7 $6 (28... d5 $1 {Good or bad this was a chance to activate his pieces as after} 29. Nxd5 (29. exd5 e4 30. Rc7 Rbd6 {White is surely better here but Black keeps an eye on the d5 pawn and at least has some play.} 31. f4 $1 Nxd5 32. Rc8 $1 $18) 29... Nxd5 30. exd5 Be7 {Black attacks the b4 pawn, and in this opposite coloured bishop endgame the drawing chances are pretty good.}) 29. Bh3 h5 30. f3 Bg7 31. g4 Bh6 32. g5 Bf8 33. Ra3 Rb6 34. c3 $1 { Ivanchuk now shifts his attention to the a6 pawn. But not so soon. He will first make sure that d6-d5 is not possible.} Ra8 35. Kc2 Kg7 36. Kd3 Ra7 (36... f6 {Black should play this. But here too it is not clear how to create counterplay.}) 37. Ke2 Ra8 38. Kf2 Ra7 39. Rda1 Ra8 40. Ra5 Ra7 41. Ke1 Kg8 { The next task is to relocate the bishop is such a manner to control the d5 square.} 42. Bf1 Nc6 43. R5a2 Ne7 44. Bd3 Kg7 45. Ke2 Kg8 46. Bc2 Bg7 47. Kf2 Kf8 48. Bd3 Ke8 49. Nd5 $1 Nxd5 (49... Rc6 50. Bxb5 $18) 50. exd5 {The problem is that there is no way to stop Ra5 followed by Bxb5 and the a6 pawn also falls.} Bf8 51. Ra5 Be7 52. Bxb5+ {A smooth positional victory by Ivanchuk.} 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.26"] [Round "6.11"] [White "Ni, Hua"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E60"] [WhiteElo "2693"] [BlackElo "2644"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] {If ever you were in doubt about how important space advantage is then you should have a look at this game!} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Be2 {This line with not committing your knight to c3 is becoming quite popular against Grunfeld experts. ...d5 now would not be so great due to cxd5 Nxd5 and e4, and there is no knight to exchange on c3.} d6 (5... c5 $5 {It could be the best idea to transpose the game into a Benoni structure where e3 is not such a dangerous line.}) 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. Qc2 Re8 9. Re1 exd4 (9... e4 10. Nd2 Qe7 {is a reversed King's Indian Attack. Being Black the attack might not be very dangerous, but it is better than what happened in the game.}) 10. exd4 Nb6 11. Bf4 {White now has a static advantage that is difficult to neutralize due to the symmetrical pawn structure.} Bf5 12. Bd3 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 Qd7 14. b3 Rxe1+ 15. Rxe1 Re8 16. Rxe8+ Qxe8 17. h3 {So what exactly is White's advantage? In one simple word it is - space! White has so much space in this position that it is extremely difficult for Black to find a constructive plan. And Ni Hua is pretty good at converting such technical dry positions.} a6 18. a4 Nbd7 19. a5 Qd8 20. b4 b6 {Tired of waiting passively, Vidit lashes out, but now the a6 pawn becomes weak.} 21. axb6 Nxb6 22. Bg5 Qa8 23. Bxf6 Bxf6 24. c5 Nd7 (24... Nd5 25. Qe4 c6 26. Nxd5 cxd5 27. Qf4 $16) 25. Qc4 dxc5 26. bxc5 a5 27. Nd2 Bg7 28. Nde4 Nf6 (28... h6 29. d5 Qe8 {is better than what happened in the game, but this still looks pretty rishy for Black.}) 29. d5 Nxe4 30. Nxe4 a4 31. d6 $1 {The d-pawn is much more dangerous than the a-pawn.} a3 32. dxc7 Qb7 33. Qd5 $1 a2 (33... Qxd5 34. c8=Q+ Bf8 35. Nf6+ $18) (33... Qxc7 34. Qa8+ $1 Bf8 35. Nf6+ Kg7 36. Ne8+ $18) 34. Qxb7 (34. Qxb7 a1=Q+ 35. Kh2 Qe5+ 36. g3 $18 { A superb game by Ni Hua who showed why Space is one of the important assets to have in the game of chess.}) 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.26"] [Round "6.29"] [White "Wei, Yi"] [Black "Bromberger, Stefan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2730"] [BlackElo "2521"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O c6 10. c4 Nc5 11. Bxc5 dxc5 12. Qf4 Qa5 13. Bd3 Bf6 14. a3 Be6 15. Ng5 Bxg5 16. Qxg5 Rad8 17. Rhe1 Rfe8 18. f4 h6 19. Qh5 f6 20. Bg6 Rxd1+ 21. Qxd1 Rd8 {Diagram [#] Wei Yi has not been having a great tournament in Doha, but in this round he showed some nice tactical brilliance. Here Qe2 was also good for a clear advantage for White, but the Chinese prodigy goes for the queen sacrifice.} 22. Rxe6 Rxd1+ 23. Kxd1 {The funny thing about this position is that the black king can never escape the mating net and hence the queen will always be tied down. At the right moment when the white king will be in the perfect position, White should play Re8+ and transpose in to a winning pawn endgame.} Qd8+ 24. Ke2 Kf8 25. Kf3 Qd7 (25... Qd1+ 26. Kg3 Qd8 27. Re1 {is similar to the game.}) 26. Re1 Qd8 27. Kg4 Qd7+ 28. Kh5 Qd8 29. a4 { Improving the position to the maximum.} (29. Re8+ {Just for curiousity's sake, the pawn ending even now is winning.} Qxe8 30. Bxe8 Kxe8 31. Kg6 Kf8 32. Kh7 Kf7 33. h4 {is also winning as after} b5 34. b3 b4 35. a4 a5 36. g3 $1 (36. g4 f5 $1 37. g5 h5 $11) 36... Kf8 37. g4 Kf7 38. g5 $18 {wins as in the game.}) 29... a5 $2 30. g4 Qd7 31. h4 Qd8 32. Re8+ $1 Qxe8 33. Bxe8 Kxe8 34. Kg6 Kf8 35. Kh7 Kf7 36. g5 $1 (36. g5 hxg5 37. hxg5 fxg5 38. fxg5 Kf8 39. g6 $18 { A nice game for Wei Yi but quite an easy calculation compared to the brilliant ones that he has shown in the past.}) 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.27"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2834"] [BlackElo "2784"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 {No Rossolimo today. Giri said "Magnus only wants a draw with White when he clinches something," but the Norwegian famously declined draw offers that would have clinched the 2013 Sinquefield Cup and the 2014 World Championship.} Nf6 {Giri admitted after the game he played this move order to avoid lines he forgot to look at (like, say, 4. Qxd4)} 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 {"You can assume I was looking for a sharp fight" - Giri. "Magnus doesn't have particularly good results against the Najdorf."} 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Bg5 Be6 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Qd3 Be7 11. Nd5 Nd7 12. Rd1 Bxd5 13. Qxd5 Qc7 14. Nd2 {This surprised Giri. He called it a "bluff" - Carlsen can't get to e3 before castling as Giri showed in this line: 14...0-0 15. Nc4 b5 16. Ne3 Qa5+ wins a2.} O-O 15. O-O b5 {Now the Nd2 is not going anywhere, since it can't access d5 through f1 or c4.} 16. c3 g6 17. a3 Rab8 18. Rfe1 {Giri said White would be better if he could just remove the knights. Most of his analysis centered on how to prevent the Nd2 from getting to a useful square.} Rfd8 19. Qa2 Nc5 (19... Qc6 20. Bd3 {and now Giri though the bishop might play checkers to b3 via c2.}) 20. Bf1 Bg5 21. Nb3 Qc6 22. Na5 Qc7 23. Nb3 Qc6 24. Rd5 {Giri thought Carlsen should have repeated.} Nd7 25. Rd3 Nc5 26. Rf3 { Again Giri considered a repetition prudent for White. "This is his style - he pushes because he knows that if he's worse he can escape anyway, and he might even win. That's his approach to chess. Many other players, they always try to objectively make the best move."} Rd7 27. Na5 Qa8 28. Qd5 Qxd5 29. exd5 e4 30. Rh3 {Giri thought he was better here due to the wayward rook, but couldn't find a clear continuation. White's plan is Nc6, b4, c4.} f5 31. Nc6 Rb6 32. b4 Na4 33. c4 Rc7 34. Rb3 Bd2 (34... Bf6 35. f3) 35. Rd1 Bg5 36. g3 Bf6 37. Rc1 ( 37. f3 Nb2) 37... Rbxc6 {Not forced yet, but Giri does it anyway. White was not yet threatening c5:} (37... Kg7 38. c5 Rbxc6 39. dxc6 Rxc6 {and the c-pawn falls}) 38. dxc6 Rxc6 39. Rbb1 Bg5 40. Rc2 d5 (40... Nb6 41. Rd1 bxc4 42. a4 { and Black's position collapses (Giri)}) 41. c5 d4 42. Rd1 Bf6 43. Rcd2 Nc3 ( 43... d3 44. Bxd3 exd3 45. Rxd3 {Giri didn't want to face this.}) 44. Rxd4 Nxd1 45. Rxd1 Bb2 46. Rd8+ Kf7 47. Ra8 Bxa3 48. Bxb5 Rc7 49. Rxa6 Bxb4 50. c6 Ke7 51. Rb6 Bd6 52. Rb7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.27"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2834"] [BlackElo "2784"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 {No Rossolimo today. Giri said "Magnus only wants a draw with White when he clinches something," but the Norwegian famously declined draw offers that would have clinched the 2013 Sinquefield Cup and the 2014 World Championship.} Nf6 {Giri admitted after the game he played this move order to avoid lines he forgot to look at (like, say, 4. Qxd4)} 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 {"You can assume I was looking for a sharp fight" - Giri. "Magnus doesn't have particularly good results against the Najdorf."} 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Bg5 Be6 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Qd3 Be7 11. Nd5 Nd7 12. Rd1 Bxd5 13. Qxd5 Qc7 14. Nd2 {This surprised Giri. He called it a "bluff" - Carlsen can't get to e3 before castling as Giri showed in this line: 14...0-0 15. Nc4 b5 16. Ne3 Qa5+ wins a2.} O-O 15. O-O b5 {Now the Nd2 is not going anywhere, since it can't access d5 through f1 or c4.} 16. c3 g6 17. a3 Rab8 18. Rfe1 {Giri said White would be better if he could just remove the knights. Most of his analysis centered on how to prevent the Nd2 from getting to a useful square.} Rfd8 19. Qa2 Nc5 (19... Qc6 20. Bd3 {and now Giri though the bishop might play checkers to b3 via c2.}) 20. Bf1 Bg5 21. Nb3 Qc6 22. Na5 Qc7 23. Nb3 Qc6 24. Rd5 {Giri thought Carlsen should have repeated.} Nd7 25. Rd3 Nc5 26. Rf3 { Again Giri considered a repetition prudent for White. "This is his style - he pushes because he knows that if he's worse he can escape anyway, and he might even win. That's his approach to chess. Many other players, they always try to objectively make the best move."} Rd7 27. Na5 Qa8 28. Qd5 Qxd5 29. exd5 e4 30. Rh3 {Giri thought he was better here due to the wayward rook, but couldn't find a clear continuation. White's plan is Nc6, b4, c4.} f5 31. Nc6 Rb6 32. b4 Na4 33. c4 Rc7 34. Rb3 Bd2 (34... Bf6 35. f3) 35. Rd1 Bg5 36. g3 Bf6 37. Rc1 ( 37. f3 Nb2) 37... Rbxc6 {Not forced yet, but Giri does it anyway. White was not yet threatening c5:} (37... Kg7 38. c5 Rbxc6 39. dxc6 Rxc6 {and the c-pawn falls}) 38. dxc6 Rxc6 39. Rbb1 Bg5 40. Rc2 d5 (40... Nb6 41. Rd1 bxc4 42. a4 { and Black's position collapses (Giri)}) 41. c5 d4 42. Rd1 Bf6 43. Rcd2 Nc3 ( 43... d3 44. Bxd3 exd3 45. Rxd3 {Giri didn't want to face this.}) 44. Rxd4 Nxd1 45. Rxd1 Bb2 46. Rd8+ Kf7 47. Ra8 Bxa3 48. Bxb5 Rc7 49. Rxa6 Bxb4 50. c6 Ke7 51. Rb6 Bd6 52. Rb7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.27"] [Round "7.23"] [White "Bologan, Viktor"] [Black "Al-Sayed, Mohammed"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E70"] [WhiteElo "2654"] [BlackElo "2520"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nge2 O-O 6. Ng3 h5 7. Be2 Nbd7 8. f4 h4 9. Nf1 e5 10. fxe5 dxe5 11. d5 Nh7 12. g4 c6 13. h3 Re8 14. Be3 g5 15. Nd2 Ndf8 16. Nf3 Bf6 17. Qb3 Ng6 18. O-O-O Qa5 19. c5 Nf4 20. Bc4 Qc7 21. d6 Qd7 22. Bxf4 {Black resigned in view of} (22. Bxf4 exf4 (22... gxf4 23. g5 Bg7 ( 23... Nxg5 24. Rhg1) 24. g6) 23. e5 Bxe5 24. Rhe1 Bf6 25. Bxf7+ Qxf7 26. Rxe8+) 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.27"] [Round "7.12"] [White "Matlakov, Maxim"] [Black "Grandelius, Nils"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E07"] [WhiteElo "2684"] [BlackElo "2632"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Bf4 Nbd7 9. Nc3 dxc4 10. e4 b5 11. d5 Qb6 12. Be3 Bc5 13. dxc6 Qxc6 14. e5 Nd5 15. Nd4 Qa6 16. a4 Nxe3 17. fxe3 b4 18. Ncb5 Rb8 19. Nc6 Rb6 $1 (19... Rb7 { Also playable, but not nearly as fun!}) 20. Nc7 Qb7 21. Ne7+ Bxe7 22. Bxb7 Rxb7 {There's no obvious infiltration for White, and Black holds all the trumps besides material: weaknesses around White's king, connected mobile pawns, and eventually some powerful bishops.} 23. Nb5 Nxe5 24. Qd4 f6 25. Rad1 Rd7 26. Qe4 Bc5 27. Rxd7 Bxd7 28. Nd4 Bxa4 29. Ra1 {The other plan was to begin advancing some kingside pawns. White instead tries to give some material back to create some targets, but it's not enough.} Bd7 30. Ra5 Bb6 31. Rxe5 fxe5 32. Qxe5 c3 33. bxc3 bxc3 34. Nxe6 (34. Nc2 {Is a better alternative, but you can understand White not wanting to play this passively. It's much harder to play for the first player.}) 34... Rf6 35. Nf4 c2 36. Qd5+ Be6 37. Qd2 Bb3 38. Qc3 Rf7 39. Ne2 Bd5 40. h4 h5 41. g4 hxg4 42. h5 g3 43. Qe5 Bf3 44. Nc1 Rf6 45. Nd3 g2 46. h6 Bc6 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.27"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2834"] [BlackElo "2784"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Bg5 Be6 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Qd3 Be7 11. Nd5 Nd7 12. Rd1 Bxd5 13. Qxd5 Qc7 14. Nd2 O-O 15. O-O b5 16. c3 g6 17. a3 Rab8 18. Rfe1 Rfd8 19. Qa2 Nc5 20. Bf1 Bg5 21. Nb3 Qc6 22. Na5 Qc7 23. Nb3 Qc6 24. Rd5 Nd7 25. Rd3 Nc5 26. Rf3 Rd7 {[#] The entire battle in this game revolved around the d5 square. Giri has been careful not to allow Magnus to somehow get his knight to d5 and is thus maintaining equal chances.} 27. Na5 Qa8 $1 {Keeps an eye on the e4 pawn.} ( 27... Qc8 {Anish was afraid of b4 followed by an eventual c4.}) 28. Qd5 $5 { With this move Magnus gives up the fight for d5 but secures the c6 square for his knight. Both players thought that they were doing very well at this point in the game. The truth is somewhere is between - the position is round about equal.} Qxd5 29. exd5 e4 30. Rh3 f5 {The rook on h3 is quite stupidly placed, but with his next two moves Magnus clears the third rank.} 31. Nc6 Rb6 32. b4 Na4 33. c4 Rc7 34. Rb3 Bd2 (34... Bf6 35. f3 {is pretty good for White.}) ( 34... Kg7 35. Nd4 {followed by Ne6 looked scary to Anish, although here bxc4 is very good for Black.} bxc4 $15) 35. Rd1 Bg5 {In some lines now Black has Nb2 resources attacking the rook on d1. This was the idea of losing a tempo with Bg5-d2-g5.} 36. g3 Bf6 37. Rc1 Rbxc6 {Black gets good compensation for the exchange.} 38. dxc6 Rxc6 39. Rbb1 Bg5 $1 {This was the move that Magnus had missed. The rook has to move to a square where it will be undefended, and then the c4 pawn could be attacked further.} 40. Rc2 d5 41. c5 d4 {Optically Black's position looks superb. If he gets three moves and brings his king over to d5, it will be a horrible position for White. But Magnus senses the danger and quickly presses the emergency brakes.} 42. Rd1 Bf6 (42... d3 43. Bxd3 exd3 44. Rxd3 $16 {is clearly better for White because of the protected passed pawn on c5 and the active rooks that will wreak havoc in Black's position.}) 43. Rcd2 Nc3 44. Rxd4 Nxd1 45. Rxd1 Bb2 46. Rd8+ Kf7 47. Ra8 Bxa3 48. Bxb5 Rc7 ( 48... axb5 49. Rxa3 $14 {would be a sad endgame to defend for Black.}) 49. Rxa6 Bxb4 50. c6 Ke7 51. Rb6 Bd6 52. Rb7 {A nice game with a lot of subtle ideas.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.27"] [Round "7.5"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A22"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2648"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "169"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nb6 6. e3 $5 {This line with e3 is not common but has been seen many times in the past and hence is not really a surprise.} Nc6 7. Nge2 Qd3 $5 {An idea borrowed from the game Svidler-Nepomniachtchi, Russian Championships 2011. Try finding the game to see the similar contours to this move.} 8. f4 f6 9. Be4 Qa6 {This entire white strategy of Qd8-d3-a6 looks quite suspect.} 10. fxe5 fxe5 11. Ng1 $1 {Of course Mamedyarov undevelops! After seeing his games from this tournament we all know that we can always expect something unexpected from him!} (11. O-O { would be unambitious and would give Black a fine position after} Bg4 {and 0-0-0 coming up.}) 11... Nd7 12. Nd5 (12. Qh5+ g6 13. Bxg6+ hxg6 14. Qxh8 Nb4 $1 $17 {was Ganguly's idea.}) 12... Bd6 13. Qh5+ Kd8 14. Nf3 Nc5 15. Qg5+ Ne7 $1 16. Nxe7 Bxe7 17. Qxe5 {White has won a pawn, but the black king is safe on d8 and Black can quickly get his pieces in to the game.} Rf8 18. Rf1 Qc4 $2 ( 18... Bd7 {with the idea of Nxe4 and Bc6 could be quite strong as after} 19. d4 Nxe4 20. Qxe4 Bc6 21. d5 Qa5+ 22. Bd2 Qxd5 $17 {Black is just better.}) 19. Bxh7 Bh3 20. Rf2 $16 Bf6 21. Qf4 Nd3+ 22. Bxd3 Qxd3 23. g4 {Mamedyarov plays this phase of the game quite well and has a tangible edge. But in such wild positions you can never really have a stable assessment as humans are always prone to errors.} Qd7 24. Ne5 Qd5 25. Ng6 Qh1+ 26. Ke2 Qg1 27. Nxf8 { Mamedyarov has won a rook but now has to be careful against Black's counter attack.} Bxg4+ 28. Kd3 Ke8 {Making some space for the rook to come to d8. Now the next move is extremely easy for the computer to see but almost impossible for the humans to play.} 29. Rf1 {The more human approach.} (29. b3 $3 Rd8+ ( 29... Bxa1 $2 30. Qe4+ $1 Kd8 31. Ng6 $18 {A check on e7 with the queen and rook on f8 are threatened. Black is busted.}) 30. Kc4 $1 {The white king boldly moves around as if he is in a park. But there is absolutely no way to get to the king. He will escape.} Qd1 31. Qe4+ Kf7 (31... Kxf8 32. Ba3+ $18 { [%cal Ga1d1]}) 32. Rxf6+ gxf6 33. Qg6+ Ke7 34. Ba3+ $18) 29... Rd8+ 30. Kc2 Qg2 31. Nh7 $2 {An extremely bad move by Mamedyarov, who hands over the advantage to Black in just one move. It is a little unfair to condemn the play in such a complicated position with clocks ticking. It really is not easy.} Be2 $2 { This gives White an option to sacrifice his rook and wriggle out.} (31... Qc6+ 32. Kb1 Be2 {was the right move order as after} 33. Nxf6+ gxf6 {Bd3+ is an unstoppable threat and White will have to part with a huge chunk of his material advantage.} 34. a3 (34. b3 Bd3+ 35. Kb2 Rd6 $3 $19 {[%cal Gc6c2,Gd6a6] Once again not easy to see, but it does exist.}) 34... Bd3+ 35. Ka2 Qc2 $19 { and Bc4+ will claim the queen.}) 32. Nxf6+ gxf6 33. b3 $1 Bd3+ (33... Qc6+ 34. Kb2 Bd3 35. Qxf6 Qc2+ 36. Ka3 {is absolutely nothing now.}) 34. Kb2 Bxf1 35. Qxc7 $16 {White is better now. His king is safer and he is two pawns up.} Bd3 36. Ka3 Bf5 37. Bb2 Qxd2 38. Bxf6 Qd6+ {Unfortunately Ganguly had to exchange the queens.} 39. Qxd6 Rxd6 40. Bd4 {White is two pawns up although due to the opposite coloured bishop endgame it seems a tad difficult to convert this position. However in the end Mamedyarov did that and moved into the lead.} Ra6+ 41. Kb4 Be4 42. a4 Rh6 43. Ra2 a6 44. Rf2 Bd5 45. a5 Kd7 46. Kc3 Rc6+ 47. Kb2 Rh6 48. b4 Rh5 49. Kc3 Rh4 50. Kd3 Ke6 51. Rb2 Rh3 52. Ba7 Rh8 53. Bb6 Rh7 54. Kc3 Rh4 55. Bd8 Rc4+ 56. Kd3 Rc8 57. Bg5 Bc4+ 58. Ke4 Bd5+ 59. Kd4 Rc4+ 60. Kd3 Rg4 61. Bf4 Rg1 62. b5 Rd1+ 63. Kc2 Rg1 64. Rb4 axb5 65. Rxb5 Rg4 66. Kc3 Rh4 67. Rb6+ Kf5 68. Kd4 Bf3 69. Rb2 Rh7 70. Rb5+ Ke6 71. e4 Rd7+ 72. Ke3 Bg2 73. Rb6+ Kf7 74. h4 Re7 75. e5 Re6 76. Rb2 Bd5 77. Rd2 Bc6 78. h5 Re8 79. h6 Ra8 80. Rh2 Kg6 81. h7 Rh8 82. Rh6+ Kg7 83. a6 Bg2 84. a7 b5 85. e6 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.27"] [Round "7.7"] [White "Sjugirov, Sanan"] [Black "Jakovenko, Dmitry"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2646"] [BlackElo "2737"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O e6 5. h3 Bh5 6. d3 {Just six moves into the game and we already have a position that has been played only once before.} Nd7 7. e4 Bd6 8. exd5 cxd5 9. c4 Ne7 {The knight on f6 can be pushed away with g4-g5 and hence Black prefers to develop it on e7.} 10. Nc3 O-O 11. cxd5 exd5 12. g4 Bg6 13. Nh4 Nb6 14. Bg5 $1 Qd7 (14... f6 15. Nxg6 Nxg6 16. Be3 $14) 15. a4 $1 Rae8 16. a5 Na8 17. Nxg6 Nxg6 18. Qa4 (18. Nxd5 Nc7 $44 {gives Black fine compensation for the pawn.}) 18... Qe6 19. Bd2 Qe5 20. f4 Bc5+ 21. Kh1 Qb8 22. Nxd5 Bd6 23. Qd4 Rd8 24. Bc3 f6 25. g5 $1 {Black's position is falling apart.} Ne7 26. gxf6 Nf5 27. Qc4 Rf7 28. fxg7 Rc8 29. Nf6+ Kxg7 30. Nd7+ Kg8 31. Nxb8 Rxc4 32. dxc4 Ng3+ 33. Kg1 Ne2+ 34. Kh2 Nxf4 35. Kh1 {Black is a rook down and completely lost – he decided to throw in the towel. Maybe this was the most accurate game played by Sanan Sjugirov in his entire career. Every move he made was almost the top choice of the engine. Just shows how strong this young lad really is.} 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.27"] [Round "7.9"] [White "Vitiugov, Nikita"] [Black "Sasikiran, Krishnan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2724"] [BlackElo "2638"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. c3 d6 6. Bb3 a6 7. O-O h6 8. Re1 O-O 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Nf1 Bxb3 11. Qxb3 Re8 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Nxe3 Qd7 14. h3 Ne7 15. Nh2 c6 16. Nhg4 Nxg4 17. hxg4 d5 18. Rad1 Rad8 19. d4 exd4 20. Rxd4 c5 21. Rd2 d4 22. cxd4 cxd4 23. Red1 Nc6 24. f3 g6 25. Nd5 Kg7 26. Qb6 Re6 {White had a pleasant position, but Sasikiran's last move, Re6, turned out to be an error which was taken advantage of by Vitiugov in superb fashion.} 27. Rxd4 $1 Nxd4 28. Qxd4+ {If the king moves to g8 the Nf6 will win back the material, and hence Sasikiran played f6, asking Vitiugov to show his cards.} f6 {[#]} 29. Nc7 $3 {A brilliant move. Now Qxd4 loses to Nxe6+} Re7 30. Ne8+ $1 {What an aesthetic little check! The e8 square is guarded by all the three major pieces! If you go to h7 or g8 then f6 is taken by the knight with check and if you go to f7 or f8 or h8 then Qxf6 comes with check.} (30. Ne6+ {was also similar.}) 30... Qxe8 31. Qxd8 Qf7 {Black has a weak king and a pawn less. Quite easy for a player of Vitiugov's standard to convert this position.} 32. Rd6 g5 33. b3 Re8 34. Qb6 Re7 35. Qd4 Re6 36. Rd7 Re7 37. Rd5 Qe8 38. a4 Qc6 39. Rd6 Qc1+ 40. Kf2 Rf7 41. e5 Qc2+ 42. Kg3 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.28"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2834"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 O-O 8. Rc1 dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5 10. O-O cxd4 11. Ne4 Qe7 12. exd4 {"This is quite a fashionable line," Carlsen said. "At the board I was cursing myself for not checking this stuff before the game...Usually people try some stuff but if Black is accurate it's a short draw."} Rd8 13. Qe2 Nc6 14. Rfd1 {Carlsen thought the rooks belonged on d1 and e1, if there was a way to get them there.} Ba5 {"If he could get a3, b4 and Nc5, that would be nice, but I don't think he's in time for that," Carlsen said.} 15. Ng3 Bb6 16. Qe4 Bd7 17. h4 (17. Bd3 f5 {and} (17... g6 {are both good according to Carlsen})) 17... Be8 18. a3 Rd6 {Mamedyarov told Carlsen he missed this move.} 19. Qg4 $2 (19. d5 {According to Carlsen, forced, but "it's pretty miserable." After wholesale exchanges, Black has the bishops for nothing.}) 19... Rad8 20. d5 (20. Ne4 R6d7) 20... Qf8 {"I just couldn't see anything for him," Carlsen said.} 21. Qe4 (21. Ba2 exd5 { "It's just a very healthy pawn, and probably more than that," Carlsen evaluated.} 22. Nf5 Bd7 23. Rxd5 Rxd5 24. Bxd5 Bxf5 25. Qxf5 Ne7 {- Carlsen}) 21... Ne7 22. Bd3 f5 23. Qe5 Nxd5 24. Bxf5 (24. Bc4 Qf6 25. Qxf6 gxf6 26. Nd4 Bxd4 27. Rxd4 Bc6 {"It's still a bit of work," Carlsen said.}) 24... exf5 25. Nxf5 Rc6 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.12.28"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Sjugirov, Sanan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2796"] [BlackElo "2646"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:12:26"] [BlackClock "0:10:00"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. Bf4 {Kramnik is playing the London system regularly of lately and scores very well.} c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 cxd4 6. exd4 Bf5 7. c3 { Now the position resembles the Exchange line of the Caro-Kann with the important difference that white's light squared bishop did not have a chance to occupy the b1-h7 diagonal.} e6 8. Qb3 Qc8 9. Nh4 Bg6 ({I annotated recently a fresh game in the line between two of the participants in Doha. It went:} 9... Be4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Nf3 Bd6 12. Bxd6 Nxd6 13. Bd3 Qc7 {and hereWhite uncorked a novelty} 14. Qc2 {and went on to win later, Carlsen-Wojtaszek, ETCC Reykjavik 2015.}) 10. Nxg6 hxg6 11. Bd3 (11. h3 Be7 12. Bd3 Bd8 $1 13. Nf3 Bc7 {with approximate equality, Grischuk,A (2774)-Motylev,A (2649) Berlin 2015}) 11... Nh5 12. Be3 Bd6 13. O-O-O {A novelty and a very aggressive set up. Since White is going to attack on the kingside anyway now Sjugirov needs to think well what to do with his own monarch.} ({In all the predecessors White played: } 13. g3 {avoiding the bishop swap. One example is} Nf6 14. Qd1 O-O 15. f4 Rb8 16. a4 a6 17. a5 b6 18. axb6 Rxb6 19. Ra2 a5 {with approximate equality and a draw on move 141 in Kamsky,G (2741)-Macieja,B (2614) Achaea 2012}) 13... a6 $1 {Sjugirov decided to postpone castling for the time being and to create counter-play on the queenside.} ({White's play is easy after} 13... Bf4 14. g4 Bxe3 15. fxe3 Nf6 16. Rdg1 {followed by g4-g5 and e3-e4 with an edge for White. }) ({However, Black could seriously consider the quick queenside castling} 13... Qc7 14. Kb1 O-O-O) 14. Kb1 b5 15. Qc2 Na5 ({After} 15... O-O 16. h4 { with the idea g2-g4 and h4-h5 seems dangerous for Black.}) 16. Nf3 Nc4 17. Bc1 Qc7 {Black had other tempting options:} (17... Rb8 $5 {and if the game continuation} 18. Ng5 {then} O-O) ({Also good seemed} 17... Qb7 $5 18. Ng5 Nf6) ({However,} 17... Bf4 $6 {should be avoided due to} 18. g4 $1 Bxc1 19. gxh5 Bxb2 20. Bxc4) 18. Ng5 $1 {Kramnik underlines the fact that the black king is not completely safe in the center. The sacrifices on e6, f7 and g6 urge Sjugirov to safeguard his most important piece. But on which side to castle?} Nf4 ({White is better after} 18... O-O-O 19. g3 (19. b3 Na5 20. g3)) ({And faster after} 18... O-O 19. h4) ({White is also very serious about the black king in the line} 18... Nf6 19. Bxg6 $1 fxg6 20. Qxg6+ Kd7 21. Rhe1 {with strong attack.}) ({And if} 18... a5 19. Bxg6 $1 {is very strong and leads to devastating attack after} fxg6 20. Qxg6+ Kd7 21. Nxe6 Qb8 22. Rhe1) 19. Bf1 { This could be named the natural dominance of the bishops against the knights. Although the horses did everything they could to scare the bishops they are there only temporary and the little peasants- "b" and "g" pawns will help the lords get back to their lands.} O-O-O $2 {Only this move can be named a real mistake. Black castles into it.} ({Similar is} 19... O-O 20. h4 a5 21. g3 Nh5 22. Be2 Nf6 23. h5) ({But Sjugirov could and should have kept the same policy of not-castling-yet with} 19... Be7 20. Nf3 Nh5 21. g3 {and only now} O-O) 20. a4 $1 {Black was probably bitterly sorry for pushing these pawns that far.} Qb7 21. axb5 axb5 22. b3 ({Also good is} 22. g3 Nh5 23. b3) 22... Na5 {Or else the "b" pawn will suffer after} (22... Na3+ 23. Bxa3 Bxa3 24. Qa2 Bd6 25. g3 Nh5 26. Qa5) 23. Qa2 Nc6 24. g3 Nh5 25. Bd3 {To hit where it hurts-on the light squares.} ({Another set-up was very good as well-} 25. Qe2 Na7 26. Rd2) 25... Kb8 26. Qe2 Na7 27. Bd2 {Kramnik's moves are easy and straight to the point. Next he intends to bring the rooks out.} Rc8 28. Kb2 Rc6 (28... b4 29. c4 $1 { will be immediately over.}) 29. Ra1 Rf8 {To free the queen and at least trade a pair of rooks.} (29... Nf6 30. Ra2) 30. Ra2 Ra6 31. Rxa6 Qxa6 32. Ra1 Qb7 33. b4 $1 {Fixes the weakness. The end is near.} Nf6 34. Ra5 Bc7 35. Bf4 {Concrete solution.} Bxf4 36. gxf4 Qc7 37. Bxb5 Qxf4 38. Nf3 Ne4 ({Nothing changes} 38... Qc7 39. Ne5 Rc8 40. Qd3 Ne4 41. c4) 39. Ne5 Rh8 40. Nc6+ Nxc6 41. Bxc6 { The loss of the "b" pawn weakened decisively the black king.} Nxc3 {The last desperate try.} ({After the most resilient} 41... Rd8 {White has a bunch of winning options, but I suspect he would have chosen:} 42. b5 (42. Kc2 Qxf2 43. Qxf2 Nxf2 44. b5 Kc7 45. Ra7+ Kd6 46. Rxf7) (42. Qb5+ Kc7 43. Qb7+ Kd6 44. Ra6 Qd2+ 45. Ka3 Qxc3+ 46. Ka4 Qxd4 47. Bxd5+ Ke5 48. Bxe4) 42... Qd2+ 43. Qxd2 Nxd2 44. Ra8+ Kc7 45. b6+ Kxb6 46. Rxd8 Kxc6 47. Rf8) 42. Kxc3 Rh3+ 43. Kc2 Qxd4 44. Qb5+ Kc7 45. Qb7+ Kd6 46. Qb8+ Ke7 {Or mate after} (46... Kxc6 47. Ra6+ Kd7 48. Rd6+ Ke7 49. Qd8#) 47. Qa7+ {The former world champion leaves no chances at all. The endgame is easily won for White.} Qxa7 48. Rxa7+ Kd6 49. Ba4 Rh4 50. Kb3 Rh3+ 51. Kb2 Rh4 (51... Rxh2 52. Rd7+ Ke5 53. Rxf7) 52. Rd7+ Ke5 53. Ka3 Kd4 54. Rxf7 Rxh2 55. b5 Kc5 56. Rc7+ {Black resigned due to} (56. Rc7+ Kb6 57. Rc6+ Kb7 58. Rxe6 Rxf2 59. Rxg6) 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.28"] [Round "8.7"] [White "Grandelius, Nils"] [Black "Yu, Yangyi"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E35"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2736"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 c5 8. dxc5 g5 9. Bg3 Ne4 10. Nf3 Qa5 11. Nd2 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bxc3 13. Rb1 Nc6 14. e3 Bb4 15. h4 gxh4 16. Rxh4 Qxc5 17. Qa4 Ba5 18. Bb5 Bd7 19. Qf4 $2 Qc2 {such a simple winning move} 20. Bxc6 (20. Rd1 Bxd2+ 21. Rxd2 Qb1+ 22. Rd1 Qxb5 { loose piece drop off once again!}) (20. e4 Qxb1+) 20... Qxd2+ 21. Kf1 Qd3+ 22. Kg1 Qxb1+ 23. Kh2 Bxc6 24. Qe5+ Kd7 25. e4 Rhe8 26. Qf5+ Kd8 27. Qxf7 Bd7 28. Qf6+ Kc8 29. exd5 b6 30. Rc4+ Kb7 31. Rc7+ Ka6 32. Rxd7 Re1 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.28"] [Round "8.59"] [White "Bivol, Alina"] [Black "Tabatabaei, M.amin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A33"] [WhiteElo "2344"] [BlackElo "2482"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "38"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e6 6. g3 Qb6 7. Ndb5 Ne5 8. Bf4 Nfg4 9. e3 a6 10. Qa4 Ra7 $3 11. Be2 (11. Nxa7 Qxb2 {and the triple threat on a1, c3 and f2 is too much for White to handle.}) 11... axb5 12. Qxb5 Qd8 13. b4 b6 14. h3 Ba6 15. Qa4 Qa8 16. O-O-O Bxc4 17. Qc2 Bxe2 18. Qxe2 Rc7 19. Kb2 Rxc3 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.28"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2834"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 O-O 8. Rc1 dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5 10. O-O cxd4 11. Ne4 Qe7 12. exd4 {This is much more combative than taking on d4 with the knight. The isolated pawn means that there is an imbalance and an imbalance means that both sides have to play actively to make use of their imbalances.} (12. a3 {is the new move with which Dubov beat Anand in the World Rapid.}) 12... Rd8 13. Qe2 Nc6 14. Rfd1 Ba5 15. Ng3 Bb6 16. Qe4 Bd7 17. h4 $5 {Typical Mamedyarov. Until here everything was seen in the game Shimanov-Matlakov 2014. But this is a new move.} Be8 18. a3 Rd6 19. Qg4 $6 ({ It was a good time to think about equalizing and get rid of the isolated pawn. } 19. d5 exd5 (19... Rad8 20. Qc2 $1 Rxd5 (20... exd5 21. Nf5 $16) 21. Bxd5 exd5 $14) 20. Rxd5 Qxe4 21. Nxe4 Rxd5 22. Bxd5 Rd8 23. Nc3 $11) 19... Rad8 { Now the d4 pawn is just a weakness.} 20. d5 Qf8 $1 {You are not going to be able to fool Magnus. He takes out his queen from the Nf5 fork tricks and gets ready to take on d5.} 21. Qe4 Ne7 {Thanks to the pin on the d-file the pawn cannot really move.} 22. Bd3 f5 $1 23. Qe5 Nxd5 24. Bxf5 $2 exf5 25. Nxf5 { Did Mamedyarov stir up some complications once again?} Rc6 $1 {Not really! The rook on c1 would hang if the d-rook moved and if Rxc6 then bxc6 would solidify the knight on d5.} 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.28"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Sjugirov, Sanan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2796"] [BlackElo "2646"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 cxd4 6. exd4 Bf5 7. c3 e6 8. Qb3 Qc8 9. Nh4 $1 {At the first possible opportunity Kramnik goes ahead to create an imbalance. Once he achieves that he will have much easier task in outplaying his opponent.} Bg6 (9... Be4 $5 10. f3 Bg6 11. Nxg6 hxg6 {should have been considered. The move f3 doesn't do anything constructive to White's position.}) 10. Nxg6 hxg6 11. Bd3 Nh5 12. Be3 Bd6 13. O-O-O a6 14. Kb1 b5 15. Qc2 Na5 (15... Nf4 16. Bf1) 16. Nf3 Nc4 17. Bc1 $1 {First this bishop retreats to its initial square and after a few moves the other one also retreats!} Qc7 18. Ng5 Nf4 19. Bf1 $1 {Quite a picturesque position. Both bishops on their initial squares.} O-O-O $6 {A bad decision by Sanan whose king is not at all safe on the queenside. Kramnik must have been glad to see the sight of 0-0-0.} 20. a4 Qb7 21. axb5 axb5 22. b3 Na5 (22... Na3+ 23. Bxa3 Bxa3 24. g3 Nh5 25. b4 $16 {And the bishop on a3 has come too far from home.}) 23. Qa2 Nc6 24. g3 Nh5 25. Bd3 Kb8 26. Qe2 Na7 27. Bd2 Rc8 28. Kb2 Rc6 29. Ra1 Rf8 30. Ra2 Ra6 31. Rxa6 Qxa6 32. Ra1 {By methodical play Kramnik has got everything in his favour. The bishops are wonderful defenders and at the same time attacking the black queenside and the rook has controlled the open a-file.} Qb7 33. b4 Nf6 34. Ra5 Bc7 35. Bf4 Bxf4 36. gxf4 Qc7 37. Bxb5 Qxf4 38. Nf3 Ne4 39. Ne5 {The knight, bishop, rook, and queen will launch a deadly attack against the black king.} Rh8 40. Nc6+ Nxc6 41. Bxc6 Nxc3 $5 {A desperate attempt to complicate the position. But Kramnik is alert and upto the mark.} 42. Kxc3 Rh3+ 43. Kc2 Qxd4 44. Qb5+ Kc7 45. Qb7+ Kd6 46. Qb8+ (46. Rxd5+ $1 exd5 47. Qd7+ Ke5 48. Qxh3 $18 {was another way to win.}) 46... Ke7 47. Qa7+ Qxa7 48. Rxa7+ Kd6 49. Ba4 Rh4 ( 49... Rxh2 50. Rd7+ Ke5 51. Rxf7 $18) 50. Kb3 Rh3+ 51. Kb2 Rh4 (51... e5 52. Rxf7 Rxh2 53. Kc3 Ke6 54. Rxg7 Rxf2 55. Rxg6+ Kf5 56. Rd6 $18) 52. Rd7+ Ke5 53. Ka3 Kd4 54. Rxf7 Rxh2 55. b5 Kc5 56. Rc7+ {A great game by Vladimir but it must be said that Sanan made his task considerably easier when he castled long. } 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.28"] [Round "8.7"] [White "Grandelius, Nils"] [Black "Yu, Yangyi"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E35"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2736"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 c5 8. dxc5 g5 9. Bg3 Ne4 10. Nf3 Qa5 11. Nd2 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bxc3 13. Rb1 Nc6 14. e3 Bb4 15. h4 gxh4 16. Rxh4 Qxc5 17. Qa4 Ba5 18. Bb5 Bd7 {Diagram [#] White had chances to snatch the advantage at a prior phase of the game but as things stand right now he is not worse. The position is around equal. Nils makes a huge blunder now.} 19. Qf4 $4 Qc2 $1 {A simple double attack on b1 and d2.} 20. Bxc6 (20. Rd1 {Most probably Grandelius missed that this is losing to} Bxd2+ $1 21. Rxd2 Qb1+ $1 $18 {And the bishop on b5 falls.}) 20... Qxd2+ 21. Kf1 Qd3+ 22. Kg1 Qxb1+ 23. Kh2 Bxc6 24. Qe5+ Kd7 {Black is a rook and a piece up and White has absolutely no compensation.} 25. e4 Rhe8 26. Qf5+ Kd8 27. Qxf7 Bd7 28. Qf6+ Kc8 29. exd5 b6 30. Rc4+ Kb7 31. Rc7+ Ka6 32. Rxd7 Re1 0-1 [Event "Qatar Masters Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.12.29"] [Round "9.2"] [White "Yu, Yangyi"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2736"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "153"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:02:09"] [BlackClock "0:03:59"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 {The Nimtzo-Indian remains a reliable weapon for Black.} 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 {The agressive Romanishin line.} cxd4 6. Nxd4 O-O 7. Bg2 d5 8. Nc2 {A relativey rare line. Yu forces the swap of the black bishop.} ({A famous tabia arises after} 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Qb3 Qa5 10. Bd2 Nc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. O-O Bxc3 13. bxc3 Ba6 14. Rfd1 Qc5 15. c4 {Bukavshin,I (2655) -Jakovenko,D (2759) Chita 2015}) ({Both} 8. O-O) ({And} 8. Qb3 {are more common too.}) 8... Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qc7 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Nb4 {A novelty! White gets rid of the isolated pawn. The indifferent development does not promise anything to White:} ({Predecessor (4):} 11. Bb2 Rd8 12. Qc1 b6 13. O-O Bb7 14. Rd1 Nd7 {Cebalo,M (2520)-Hulak,K (2543) Stari Mikanovci 2008}) 11... Nxb4 { So decided to avoid Yu's home preparation. He could have accepted the sacrificed pawn} (11... Qxc3+ 12. Bd2 Qf6 {to which White can play in two different ways. The more dangerous one seems to be the pawn sacrifice after} 13. Rc1 $5 ({Not} 13. Nxd5 exd5 14. Bxd5 $6 Rd8 {with pressure along the d file.}) ({But White can aslo regain the pawn with} 13. Bxd5 exd5 14. Nxd5) 13... Nxb4 14. Bxb4 Rd8 15. Qb3 {White's pieces are dominating, but a pawn is a pawn. Which one is better will be revealed by the future practice.}) 12. cxb4 Rd8 13. Qb3 Nc6 14. O-O ({The black knight can be deprived of the d4 square for a while but} 14. e3 e5 15. O-O Be6 16. Qc3 Rac8 {is just equal.}) 14... Nd4 {This is why So rejected the sacrifice. The centralized knight seems good enough to compensate for the bishop pair.} 15. Qb2 e5 {The more active approach was also good. The line} (15... Qc4 16. Be3 Nxe2+ 17. Kh1 {seems dangerous for the black knight on e2, but there is a way out-} Bd7 18. Rfe1 Nc3 19. Rac1 Rac8 {with unclear play.}) 16. Be3 {White finished the development and wants to make good use of the bishops.} Bg4 $1 {Provokes the f2-f3 advance in order to block the fianchettoe one.} 17. Rac1 Qd7 (17... Nxe2+ $4 18. Qxe2) 18. f3 Bh3 {Since this bishop is stronger than the one on g2 (at least for the moment) Black could have also gone for} (18... Be6 19. Rfd1 a5 {when the bishop is eyeing the a2 pawn.}) 19. Rfd1 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Qe6 {An excellent square for the queen.} 21. Rc7 $1 {Yu squeezed a lot from his novelty. His active rooks put a lot of pressure on Black's position and his bishop looks better than the knight. However, Wesley So's creativity should not be underestimated.} (21. Bxd4 Rxd4 22. Rxd4 exd4) 21... b6 22. a4 Nf5 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. Bf2 ({Perhaps} 24. Bg1 {was a bit more subtle when the Black pawn is not reahcing e3 with a tempo at least.} e4 25. Rxa7 h5 {although Black is still creating dangerous threats.}) 24... e4 {Black is losing the battle for the queenside but makes good use of the absence of the white rook to create threats of his own on the opposite wing.} 25. Qc2 (25. Rxa7 h5 (25... e3 26. Be1 h5) 26. Qc2 e3 27. Be1 {might transpose to the game.}) 25... e3 26. Be1 h5 27. Rxa7 {With this move order Yu could have gone for} (27. Bc3 $1 h4 28. Qe4 Qg6 29. Qg4 $1 {anytime he trades the queens he should be close to winning.}) 27... Nd4 28. Qe4 Qc4 {So is threatening mate!} 29. Qxe3 $5 {White sacrifices a piece. The exclam is for the desire to win, the question- for the objective value of the move. Although as we shall see Yu did not cross the boarderline yet.} ({Objectively the game should ended in a draw after} 29. Qd3 Qxd3 30. exd3 Rc8 31. Re7 Rc2+ 32. Kf1 Nxf3 33. Rxe3 Nxh2+ 34. Kg1 g5 35. a5 bxa5 36. bxa5 g4 37. d4 Nf3+ 38. Kf1 Nh2+) 29... Nc2 30. Qe7 Nxe1+ 31. Kf2 Qd4+ $6 { In time trouble So errs. Correct was} (31... Rd1 32. Qe8+ Kh7 33. Qe4+ Qxe4 34. fxe4 Nc2 35. a5 ({Or} 35. Rxf7 Nxb4 36. Rf5) 35... Nxb4 36. axb6 Rd6 37. Rxf7 Rxb6 {Is this a win for Black is another question, but at least he had taken away the 1-0 result from the board.}) 32. Kf1 Nc2 $2 {And this is proper mistake. He should have forced the draw with} (32... Rf8 33. Kxe1 Qg1+ 34. Kd2 Qd4+ 35. Kc2 Qc4+) 33. Qxf7+ Kh8 34. Qxh5+ Kg8 35. Qf7+ Kh8 36. Qh5+ Kg8 37. Qf7+ Kh8 38. Kg2 Ne3+ 39. Kh3 Kh7 40. Qh5+ Kg8 {Time trouble is over, Yu has four pawns for the knight and great winning chances.} 41. Re7 $1 {A nice move that prepares various threats like Qh5-f7+ followed by Re7-e4 or the advance of the e pawn.} Rf8 $1 {The only defense. Everything else loses fast, say} ( 41... Nc2 $2 42. Qf7+ Kh7 43. e4 (43. Re4 Qd7+)) (41... Qxb4 $4 42. Qf7+ Kh8 43. Qxg7#) 42. a5 bxa5 43. bxa5 Nd5 44. Qe5 Qxe5 45. Rxe5 Nb4 {Black survived to the endgame but the value of the pawns grew now. Yu is still close to winning.} 46. Re4 (46. Rc5 $5) 46... Nd5 47. Rc4 Rf6 48. Rc5 Rf5 (48... Ne3 49. g4) 49. Rc8+ Kf7 50. a6 Ne3 51. g4 Ra5 52. Rc7+ Kf6 53. Rc6+ {Perhaps White simply had to push the pawn further} (53. a7 Ra2 54. Kg3 g5 55. h4 gxh4+ 56. Kxh4 Nd5 57. Rb7 Ne3 58. Kg3 {and once that the white pawns start rolling it should be soon over.}) 53... Kf7 54. Kg3 g5 55. h4 gxh4+ 56. Kxh4 {Now the pawns come into motion.} Nd5 57. e4 Ne7 58. Rb6 Ng6+ 59. Kg3 Ra3 60. g5 Ne5 61. Rf6+ Ke7 62. Kg2 Nd3 63. Rh6 {In the second time-trouble Yu misses what seems to me is a win-} (63. f4 $1 Nc5 64. e5 Nxa6 65. g6 $1) 63... Ra5 {So gets one of the pawns back.} 64. a7 Rxg5+ 65. Kf1 Rg8 (65... Ra5 $2 {loses to the typical trick} 66. Rh8 Rxa7 67. Rh7+) 66. Ke2 Ne5 $2 {It is time for Black to go wrong. He should have held after} (66... Nc5 $1 67. Ke3 Ne6 68. e5 Kf7 69. f4 Rg3+ 70. Ke4 Ra3) 67. f4 Nd7 68. Ra6 {White's pieces are optimally placed and have room for improvement. The game is practically over.} Ra8 69. Ke3 Nc5 70. Ra1 Nb7 71. e5 Nd8 72. Ra6 Kd7 (72... Ne6 73. f5 Nc7 74. Ra5 {followed by a king march to b7 is hopeless.}) 73. f5 Nc6 74. e6+ Kc7 75. f6 Nb4 76. f7 Kb7 (76... Nxa6 77. e7) 77. Rd6 (77. Rd6 Kxa7 78. e7) 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.29"] [Round "9.2"] [White "Yu, Yangyi"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2736"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "153"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 {Yu Yangyi employs the Kasparov/ Romanishin Variation in the Nimzo Indian.} cxd4 6. Nxd4 O-O 7. Bg2 d5 {Wesley So plays in the most classical fashion as possible.} 8. Nc2 $5 {This move is quite rare when compared to the main move 8.cxd5. But all that Yu Yangyi wants is an original game of chess where he has chances to outplay his opponent.} Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qc7 {Wesley was aware of the intricacies in the variation as he made this move keeping an eye on the c4 and c3 pawns.} 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Nb4 $5 $146 {The first real novelty of the game.} Nxb4 (11... Nxc3 12. Qc2 $1 { [%cal Gc2c7]} Nd5 13. Qxc7 Nxc7 14. O-O $44 {With excellent compensation.}) ( 11... Qxc3+ 12. Bd2 $1 $14) 12. cxb4 Rd8 13. Qb3 Nc6 14. O-O Nd4 15. Qb2 e5 { Black seems to have got out of the opening with an extremely comfortable position. However, there is a huge imbalance of knight against bishop, and hence Yu Yangyi has hopes to outplay his opponent.} 16. Be3 Bg4 17. Rac1 Qd7 ( 17... Nxe2+ $2 18. Qxe2 Qxc1 19. Qxg4 $18) 18. f3 Bh3 (18... Be6 {Perhaps it made more sense to preserve the bishop with the one on g2 already being not so great.} 19. f4 Bg4 $132 {and with Qb5 coming up there is quite some pressure on the e2 point.}) 19. Rfd1 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Qe6 21. Rc7 $1 $14 {White has a slight pull in this position, mainly because the rook is well placed on the seventh rank and there is a constant tension between the bishop on e3 and knight on d4, which is White's favour. He can take the knight whenever he wants to.} b6 22. a4 (22. Bxd4 exd4 23. Rc2 {with the idea of tripling on the d-file and winning the d-pawn is also quite strong.}) 22... Nf5 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. Bf2 (24. Bg1 {so that e4-e3 didn't come with a tempo seemed more logical.}) 24... e4 25. Qc2 e3 26. Be1 h5 {Optically Black looks pretty fine. However White still has a pull because the rook is well placed and the a7 pawn is falling. The bishop on e1 looks a tad passive, but it is doing a good job of defending the g3 point and also will not let the knight settle on the d4 square. All in all White is slightly better but Black, thanks to his activity, has excellent chances of equalizing.} (26... Nd4 27. Qd3 $16) 27. Rxa7 $6 { This gives Black a great amount of activity.} (27. a5 $1) 27... Nd4 28. Qe4 Qc4 $1 (28... Qxe4 29. fxe4 Nxe2 30. Kf3 Nc1 31. Kxe3 $16) 29. Qxe3 Nc2 $1 30. Qe7 Nxe1+ 31. Kf2 Qd4+ $6 (31... Rd1 $1 {would have been pretty strong. Of course this requires accurate calculation and also being sure that your king will not be mated.} 32. Qe8+ Kh7 33. Qe4+ (33. Qxf7 Qd4+ 34. Kf1 Nd3+ $19) (33. Ra8 Qd4+ $19) 33... Qxe4 34. fxe4 Nc2 $17 {Is a pretty one sided affair.}) 32. Kf1 (32. Kxe1 Qg1#) 32... Nc2 $6 (32... Rf8 $1 33. Kxe1 Qg1+ 34. Kd2 Qd4+ 35. Kc2 Qc4+ 36. Kd1 Qd4+ $11) 33. Qxf7+ Kh8 34. Qxh5+ Kg8 35. Qf7+ Kh8 36. Qh5+ {That's two times.} Kg8 37. Qf7+ Kh8 38. Kg2 $1 {Not the third! Yu Yangyi changes the move approaching the 40th move time control, asking Wesley to find some tough replies. Black's task is not easy as White already has four pawns as well as a perpetual check in hand all the time.} Ne3+ 39. Kh3 Kh7 40. Qh5+ Kg8 {The 40th move time control is reached and Yu makes a strong move here.} 41. Re7 $1 { The idea is to play Qf7+ followed by Re4 and going to h4.} Rf8 42. a5 $1 { The white king is safe and Black can do absolutely nothing to attack it. Meanwhile the a-pawn is quite a dangerous candidate to become a queen.} bxa5 43. bxa5 Nd5 44. Qe5 $1 {A pragmatic decision. The rook+ 5 pawns endgame can never be lost against the rook+knight+one pawn. So White can enjoy milking the position while Black has to be extremely accurate.} Qxe5 45. Rxe5 Nb4 46. Re4 Nd5 47. Rc4 Rf6 48. Rc5 Rf5 49. Rc8+ (49. e4 $2 Rh5+ 50. Kg2 (50. Kg4 Nf6+ $19) 50... Ne3+ $19) 49... Kf7 50. a6 Ne3 51. g4 (51. a7 Rh5#) 51... Ra5 52. Rc7+ Kf6 53. Rc6+ Kf7 54. Kg3 {White will now slowly set his kingside pawns in to motion.} g5 55. h4 gxh4+ 56. Kxh4 Nd5 57. e4 (57. g5 {With the idea of Kh5 is an even faster way to win.}) 57... Ne7 58. Rb6 Ng6+ 59. Kg3 Ra3 60. g5 Ne5 61. Rf6+ Ke7 {White has made his task a little difficult at this point, but Yu Yangyi finds a way to break this some sort of temporary fortress where none of the white pawns can move.} 62. Kg2 $1 Nd3 (62... Nd7 $1 63. Rh6 Nc5 64. a7 Nd7 65. Rh7+ Ke6 66. f4 Rxa7 {and with the a7 pawn gone the chances of Black securing the draw have considerably increased.}) 63. Rh6 $5 {I like Yu Yangyi's way of converting the win from a human point of view, althought the computer immediately refutes it.} Ra5 $2 (63... Kf7 $1 64. Kf1 (64. a7 Kg7 $11) 64... Kg7 65. Ke2 Nc5 66. Rc6 Nxa6 67. f4 Nb4 68. Rc7+ Kg6 {and once again with the a-pawn gone the chances of Black making a draw have increased considerably.}) (63... Ne1+ 64. Kf2 Nxf3 $2 65. Rh3 $18) 64. a7 $2 (64. Kh3 $5 Rxg5 65. Rh8 $18 {It seems as if White is winning here, but Black has a miraculous defence.} Ne5 $1 66. Re8+ $1 (66. a7 $2 Nxf3 {and we have the famous knight+ rook drawing mechanism.} 67. a8=Q Ng1+ 68. Kh2 Nf3+ 69. Kh3 Ng1+ 70. Kh4 Nf3+ $11) 66... Kxe8 67. a7 Nxf3 68. a8=Q+ Kf7 {And how exactly is White going to win this one?} 69. Qa7+ Kg6 70. Qa6+ Kg7 71. Qb7+ Kg6 72. Qc6+ Kg7 73. Qd7+ Kg6 74. Qd6+ Kg7 75. Qf4 Rh5+ 76. Kg2 Ne5 $11 {White has made progress but it doesn't seem as if he can break this fortress.}) 64... Rxg5+ 65. Kf1 Rg8 (65... Ra5 66. Rh8 $1 Rxa7 67. Rh7+ $18) 66. Ke2 Ne5 $6 (66... Nf4+ $1 67. Ke3 Ne6 {Blocking the rook's path to a6.} 68. f4 Rg3+ $1 69. Kd2 Ra3 70. Rh8 Nf8 $11 {would have been a draw.}) 67. f4 Nd7 68. Ra6 Ra8 69. Ke3 Nc5 70. Ra1 Nb7 $2 {Now it is just lost.} (70... Nd7 $1 71. e5 Ke6 72. Kd4 Kf5 73. Kd5 Kxf4 74. e6 Nf6+ 75. Kd6 Kf5 76. e7 Ne8+ 77. Kd7 Nf6+ $11) 71. e5 $1 Nd8 72. Ra6 Kd7 73. f5 Nc6 74. e6+ Kc7 75. f6 Nb4 76. f7 Kb7 (76... Nxa6 77. e7 $18) 77. Rd6 1-0 [Event "Qatar Masters TB 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.29"] [Round "1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Yu, Yangyi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2834"] [BlackElo "2736"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2015.12.29"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 {Magnus plays the London System in order to have an original game without much theory.} d5 3. e3 e6 4. Nf3 a6 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Bd6 7. Bg3 Nc6 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. Ne5 Ne7 10. O-O b6 11. Bh4 Nf5 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bf4 Bb7 {The players were playing good chess and logical moves, but somehow they were taking a lot of time. After just 13 moves both were down to almost one and a half minutes.} 14. h3 Be7 15. a4 Nd6 16. f3 Nd7 17. Qe2 Nf6 18. Bh2 Qc8 19. Rac1 a5 20. g4 $1 {Carlsen starts a flank attack after securing his centre. Yu Yangyi has been doing nothing much apart from shuffling his pieces, and hence this is quite a logical follow up.} Qd8 21. Qg2 Nd7 22. f4 Rc8 23. Rce1 cxd4 24. exd4 Ba8 25. g5 $1 {A strong move. Carlsen notices that the queen on d8 is overloaded in defending d7 and attacking g5. Also the bishop on h2 can come in to action after hxg5 fxg5.} hxg5 26. fxg5 Nxe5 27. Bxe5 (27. dxe5 d4 {[%csl Ga8] Absolutely no point in opening up the monster on a8.}) 27... Nc4 28. Nf3 Nxe5 29. Rxe5 Bd6 30. Re2 g6 31. Qg4 Kg7 32. h4 Rh8 {[#] Simply unbelievable play by Magnus who executed the next move with just about 20 seconds on his clock!} 33. Rxe6 $3 fxe6 34. Qxe6 Qe8 35. Qxd6 Rc6 (35... Qe3+ 36. Kg2 Qxd3 37. Qd7+ Kg8 38. Qxc8+ $18) 36. Qe5+ Qxe5 37. Nxe5 {The position is completely winning for White.} Rxh4 38. Rf7+ Kg8 39. Ra7 Rc8 40. Bxg6 Bc6 41. Bf7+ Kf8 42. Ng6+ {An excellent blitz game played by the World Champion.} 1-0