Games
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Black "Oparin, Grigoriy"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2604"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Be2 dxc4 {
[%emt 0:00:05] D37: Queen's Gambit Declined: Bf4} 8. O-O (8. Bxc4 a6 9. a4 c5
10. O-O cxd4 11. Qxd4 b6 12. Rfd1 Bb7 13. Be2 Nc5 14. Qxd8 Rfxd8 15. Bc7 Rxd1+
16. Rxd1 {1/2-1/2 (40) Khismatullin,D (2619)-Jakovenko,D (2704)
Khanty-Mansiysk 2016}) 8... a6 9. a4 c5 10. d5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 exd5 12. Qxd5 {
LiveBook: 8 Games} Nf6 13. Qe5 Be6 14. Ng5 Bd7 15. Bxc4 Qe8 $146 16. a5 Bb5 17.
b3 h6 18. Nf3 Rd8 19. Qf5 Qc6 20. Qc2 Nd5 21. Rad1 Nxf4 22. exf4 Qc7 23. Ne5
Bxc4 (23... Bd6 $5 {seems wilder.} 24. Qe4 Bxc4 25. bxc4 Bxe5 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27.
fxe5 b5) 24. Qxc4 {The position is equal.} Bf6 25. b4 (25. Qc3 $5 {looks
sharper.} Rfe8 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. g3 Bxe5 28. fxe5 Rd4 29. Qf3) 25... Bxe5 26.
fxe5 Rxd1 (26... Qxe5 $5 {feels hotter.} 27. bxc5 Qc7 28. Rb1 Rd2 29. Qb4 Rd7)
27. Rxd1 Rd8 28. Rxd8+ Qxd8 $11 {KQ-KQ} 29. h3 ({Of course not} 29. bxc5 Qxa5
30. Qc1 Qb5 $17) 29... cxb4 30. Qxb4 Qc7 31. f4 1/2-1/2
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2811"]
[BlackElo "2786"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. e3 e6 {LiveBook: 6 Games. A34:
Symmetrical English: 2 Nc3, lines with ...d5} (5... O-O 6. Nge2 Nc6 7. d4 d6 8.
O-O Bd7 9. b3 a6 10. Bb2 Rb8 11. a4 Na5 12. e4 e5 13. dxe5 dxe5 14. Nd5 Nc6 15.
f4 Re8 16. h3 Nxd5 17. exd5 Nb4 18. Qd2 e4 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 {1/2-1/2 (28) Svidler,
P (2759)-Ponomariov,R (2706) Almaty 2016}) 6. d4 cxd4 7. exd4 O-O {The
position is equal.} 8. Nf3 d5 9. b3 $146 (9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 exd5 11. O-O
Qb6 12. b3 Nc6 13. Bb2 Be6 14. Qd2 Rac8 15. Rac1 Rfe8 16. Ne5 Ne7 17. Rxc8 Rxc8
18. Rc1 {1/2-1/2 (18) Rochel,H-Klarius,G DDR 1984}) 9... Ne4 10. Bb2 Nxc3 11.
Bxc3 b6 12. cxd5 exd5 13. O-O Nc6 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. dxe5 {With the idea Bb4.}
Be6 16. Re1 Qd7 17. Qd2 Rac8 18. Bd4 Rc7 19. a4 Rfc8 20. Bf1 Bf8 21. Ba6 Rd8
22. h4 Bc5 23. b4 Bxd4 24. Qxd4 Qe7 25. Bd3 Kg7 26. a5 $36 {White has good
play.} Rdc8 27. axb6 axb6 28. Bf1 b5 (28... h5 $11) 29. Bd3 $14 ({Of course not
} 29. Bxb5 Rb8 30. Bf1 (30. Ra5 Rcb7 31. Bd3 Rxb4 $11) 30... Qxb4 $11) 29...
Rc4 30. Bxc4 Qxb4 31. Rab1 Qxc4 32. Qd2 h5 (32... Ra8 $16 {was necessary.} 33.
h5 Kg8) 33. Rbc1 $18 Qb3 34. Rxc8 Bxc8 35. Qf4 Bf5 $2 {[#]} (35... d4) 36. e6
$1 {White is clearly winning.} Bxe6 {[#]} 37. Qe5+ $1 Kh7 38. Ra1 1-0
[Event "Zurich Korchnoi CC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2017.04.13"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Pelletier, Yannick"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A07"]
[WhiteElo "2793"]
[BlackElo "2541"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2017.04.13"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O Bg4 {Nakamura reminded that he played
similarly against GM Varuzhan Akobian at the U.S. Championship.} 5. h3 Bh5 {
Akobian took on f3.} 6. d3 Nbd7 7. Qe1 e5 8. e4 dxe4 9. dxe4 Be7 10. Nbd2 O-O
11. Nh4 Re8 12. Nc4 Bf8 13. a4 Qc7 14. Bd2 Nc5 15. Ba5 b6 {Adding these moves
didn't have a huge purpose according to Nakamura, except to perhaps take away
the b6 square from a knight in the future.} 16. Bc3 Nfd7 17. f4 {One of the
first critical moments according to Nakamura.} f6 (17... exf4 18. gxf4 b5) 18.
fxe5 fxe5 19. Ne3 Ne6 {Nakamura didn't like this move. "This is where he went
wrong."} 20. Nef5 {Moves like this highlighted a problem. Nakamura:
"Everything was so straight forward for me, I could play all my moves
instantly. Because of this, [Pelletier] got himself in trouble on the board
and on the clock, which is never good."} Rad8 21. Kh1 Nf6 22. Nh6+ {played
instantly.} gxh6 (22... Kh8 23. g4 Bg6 (23... Bf7 24. Bxe5) 24. Nxg6+ hxg6 25.
Bxe5 $1 {again!}) 23. Rxf6 Nd4 24. Rf2 {Nakamura said his dream plan was
dropping his bishop back to a square like b2, then playing c3, then hopping
back in to f5 with his other knight.} Bg6 25. Qe3 Qg7 26. Raf1 Be7 27. Nxg6
Qxg6 (27... hxg6 28. Rf7 Qxf7 29. Rxf7 Kxf7 30. Qxh6 {Looks "kind of shaky"
for Black since he has no plan and White still has the bishops [Nakamura].})
28. Be1 {c3 is coming...} Rf8 29. b4 Rxf2 30. Rxf2 Rf8 31. c3 Rxf2 32. Bxf2 Ne6
33. h4 Nc7 34. Qd3 Qd6 35. Qc4+ Qe6 36. Qxe6+ Nxe6 37. Be3 Bf8 38. Bh3 Kf7 39.
Bf1 {Nakamura conceded a tempo, but is still much better.} (39. Bf5 c5 $1 40.
b5 c4 {"Black just wants to go ...Nc5 and get bishops of opposite color."
[Nakamura]}) 39... Nc7 (39... c5 {Was Black's best chance according to
Nakamura.}) 40. Bc4+ Kf6 41. Kg2 Ne8 42. Bg8 Kg7 43. Be6 {Now if ..c5, the
White king walks all the way over into the light squares.} Nf6 44. Kf3 Kg6 45.
Bf5+ Kg7 46. Ke2 h5 47. Kd3 Kf7 48. a5 1-0
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.04.13"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B46"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:31"]
[BlackClock "0:04:18"]
1. e4 {When Mike asked me today to "show the 10,000 ways Nepo could have won"
I got very excited. I anticipated viciously the moment in which I can expose a
Super GM and make him a mere mortal, but...} c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4
Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. e5 Qc7 8. Bf4 ({Another way to play it is:} 8.
Qe2 Rb8 9. f4 d5 10. exd6 Bxd6 {when Black seems fine as in Kobalia,M (2651)
-Rublevsky,S (2695) Khanty-Mansiysk 2013}) 8... f5 9. g4 {White attacks the
king that stayed in the center, and will be happy if it castles short too.} Ne7
10. gxf5 Nxf5 11. Bd3 Be7 $146 {A novelty. Another guru of the line played
instead} (11... Rb8 12. Qf3 Rxb2 13. O-O Be7 14. Bxf5 exf5 15. Rad1 O-O {
and Black got a wonderful position in Safarli,E (2471)-Laznicka,V (2594)
Pardubice 2007}) 12. Bxf5 exf5 13. Rg1 O-O 14. Qh5 {The most natural
continuation. Two other queen moves deserve serious attention too.} (14. Qd2 $5
) (14. Qd3 $5) 14... d5 {Svidler also plays in a very classical way, but it
seems that Nepomniachtchi should be happier. His attack is running faster and
this is what matters in these positions.} 15. O-O-O Kh8 {Believe it or not,
but this prophylaxis makes things worse for Black. The computer suggests
instead} (15... Bc5 {and claims that White is slightly better. I believe that
it will change its mind if we guide it a bit. White looks way better.}) 16. Rd3
{Both rooks are joining the queen. The black king seems desperately week.} Be6
{The bishop hurries to help.} 17. Rdg3 {A clever idea to lure the black rook
to f7 thus cutting the bishop away from the g8 square. This is the only moment
where I found (sorry, the engine found) a clear win for White. Check this out:}
(17. Rh3 Bg8 (17... h6 {would be easier} 18. Qxh6+ gxh6 19. Rxh6#) 18. Ne2 $1 {
So far nothing exceptional, all the white pieces join the party that the black
king initiated. Now Black should make a move, let's say} ({Not} 18. Bh6 $2 gxh6
19. Qxh6 Rf7 {when Black has everything defended.}) 18... Rae8 {When the
thunder strikes} 19. Bh6 $3 gxh6 20. Qxh6 Bd8 (20... Rf7 21. Nf4 {still leaves
Svidler no defense against Nf4-g6 mate.}) 21. Nf4 {and Nepomniachtchi can
claim it "You've been Thunderstruck!"}) 17... Rf7 18. Rh3 {The point behind
the previous move.} (18. Ne2 $1 {OK, this was still winning. My bad.}) 18... g5
{The only move.} (18... h6 $2 19. Bxh6 {would be mate.}) 19. Bxg5 f4 20. Bxf4 {
White sacrifices the exchange.} ({Another computer line goes} 20. Qg6 Qxe5 21.
Rh6 Rg7 22. Bxe7 Rxe7 (22... Rxg6 23. Rgxg6) 23. Rg5 Qe1+ 24. Nd1 Rf8 {White
is better, but there is a lot of play ahead. As long as the second player is
not checkmated he can play on and on.}) ({A calmer continuation was} 20. Bxe7
Qxe7 21. Rh4 Bf5 {when Black has compensation for a pawn.Next he will start
advancing the central pawns.}) ({And} 20. Rh4 Qxe5 {is not clear at all.})
20... Raf8 21. Ne2 Bxh3 22. Qxh3 {It seems as White is winning nevertheless.
He wants to put his queen on g3, push the e-pawn and checkmate on g7, g8 or
along the long diagonal.} Qc8 $1 {But Svidler is a defensive giant today.} ({
Instead} 22... Rxf4 $2 23. Nxf4 Rxf4 24. Qg3 {would had won for White.}) 23. e6
({Or} 23. Qe3 Qe6) 23... Rxf4 24. Qg3 ({The important point behind Svidler's
queen move is seen in the line:} 24. Nxf4 Rxf4 25. Qg3 Qf8) 24... Rg8 25. Qxf4
Rxg1+ 26. Nxg1 Qxe6 27. Nf3 {It all ended in an endgame where White is up a
pawn, but Black has serious drawing chances. Svidler has the right bishop on
the board with all the pawns placed on light squares. The main problem for
Nepo is that he does not have great outposts for the knight.} Bd6 28. Qe3 Qf6 (
28... Qxe3+ 29. fxe3 Kg7 30. Kd2 {might be also holdable. The bishop is often
much bigger than the knight in these situation.}) 29. Kb1 Kg7 30. a3 {The next
moves are very logical. Both players are improving their positions bit by bit.}
a5 31. h3 h5 32. Qd3 (32. h4 $5 {might have been better.}) 32... Bc5 33. Qe2
Kh6 34. h4 {The knight finally gets a great outpost, but will never reach it
as both white pawns will be discovered.} Qf5 35. Qa6 Qxf3 36. Qxc6+ Kg7 37.
Qxc5 Qh1+ 38. Ka2 Qxh4 {The queen endgame is famous for drawing tendencies. A
passed pawn can easily compensate for many extra pawns.} 39. Qxd5 Qg4 40. c4 h4
41. c5 Kf6 $3 {Another great move by Svidler. The passer is stopped. The
obvious line was:} (41... h3 42. c6 h2 43. c7 h1=Q 44. Qxh1 Qc4+ 45. Kb1 Qxc7
46. Qd5 {when White should win.}) 42. Qd8+ ({Or} 42. c6 $4 Qe6 {when Black
wins!}) 42... Kf7 43. Qc7+ Kf6 44. Qd8+ Kf7 45. Qd3 Qe6+ 46. Kb1 Qe1+ 47. Ka2
Qe6+ 48. Ka1 ({White would have to give perpetual anyway after} 48. b3 a4 $1 {
since} 49. c6 $4 {once again loses to} (49. Qh7+ $11 {is a draw instead.})
49... Qxb3+ 50. Qxb3+ axb3+ 51. Kxb3 Ke7) 48... Qe1+ 49. Ka2 1/2-1/2
[Event "Korchnoi Zurich Chess Challenge"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Oparin, Grigoriy"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2604"]
[BlackElo "2793"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a6 7. a4 O-O 8. Re1
Ba7 9. h3 Ne7 10. Nbd2 Ng6 11. d4 Re8 12. Qb3 Qe7 13. Nf1 c6 14. dxe5 dxe5 15.
Ng5 Rf8 16. a5 Nh4 17. g3 Ng6 18. Kg2 Ne8 19. Qc2 Nd6 20. Bb3 Kh8 {The Ng5 is
hard to dislodge, but Black has time.} 21. Qe2 h6 (21... f6 $2 22. Nxh7 Kxh7
23. Qh5#) 22. Qh5 Qe8 (22... Kg8 23. Qxg6) (22... Qf6 23. Re2 {Doesn't
untangle either, since even after ...Kg8 you still can't play ...hxg5 since
Bxg5 traps the queen.}) 23. Be3 f6 {Finally getting this in.} 24. Nf7+ (24. Qd1
fxg5 25. Qxd6 {was what the commentators expected, but Nakamura could have
then found} Nf4+ $1 26. gxf4 gxf4 27. Bxa7 Bxh3+ $1 28. Kg1 (28. Kxh3 Qh5+ 29.
Kg2 Rf6) 28... Qh5 {with a very strong initiative for Black}) 24... Nxf7 {
Played immediately. But when asked why not} (24... Kh7 $3 {Nakamura told Chess.
com he just didn't consider it. Indeed, it's not often you can take a knight
three ways and chose instead to leave on of your own pieces en prise.} 25. Nxd6
(25. Bxh6 Nxf7) 25... Nf4+ 26. gxf4 Qxh5 {And White gets some play but not
enough for the queen.}) 25. Qxg6 Bxh3+ {The same thematic idea instead nets
Black a pawn, which turns out to be enough} 26. Kh2 (26. Kxh3 Ng5+) 26... Bxf1
27. Bxa7 Ng5 28. Qxe8 Rfxe8 29. Rxf1 Rxa7 30. Rad1 b6 31. axb6 Rb7 32. Bc2 a5
33. Rd6 Rxb6 34. b3 Ne6 35. Rb1 Nc5 36. b4 axb4 37. Rxb4 Ra6 38. Rc4 Ra2 39.
Bd1 Nb7 40. Rdxc6 Rxf2+ 41. Kg1 Rd2 42. Bh5 Ra8 43. Rc8+ Rxc8 44. Rxc8+ Kh7 45.
Bg4 Nd6 46. Rc6 Kg6 47. Bf3 Nf7 48. c4 Ng5 49. Bg2 Kh5 50. c5 Kg4 51. Ra6 Rc2
52. c6 Kxg3 53. Ra3+ Kf4 54. Ra6 h5 0-1
[Event "Zurich"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2811"]
[BlackElo "2751"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Nbd2 d6 6. c3 c5 7. Bd3 b6 8. O-O
Bb7 9. Re1 Nc6 10. h3 Rc8 11. Qe2 Rc7 12. a3 Qc8 13. e4 cxd4 14. cxd4 Nd7 15.
e5 dxe5 16. d5 Nd4 17. Nxd4 exd4 18. Bxe7 Re8 19. d6 Rc5 20. f4 Nf6 21. Nb3 Rc6
22. Rac1 Nd5 23. Bb5 Nxf4 24. Qg4 Rxc1 25. Nxc1 d3 26. Nxd3 Nxd3 27. Qxc8 Bxc8
28. Rd1 Nxb2 29. Rc1 Bd4+ 30. Kf1 Nd3 31. Bxd3 Be6 32. Bb5 Rb8 33. d7 a6 34.
Rd1 Bxd7 35. Bxd7 {After great and forceful play by White, it shouldn't be too
hard, right?} Be5 36. Rd5 Bb2 37. Bd6 Ra8 38. Rd2 Ba1 39. Bc7 b5 40. Ba5 (40.
Bc6 Rc8 41. Rd7 Bf6 42. Bd5 Rf8 43. Bd6 {Was probably the first way to force
resignation since} Rd8 44. Bxf7+ Kg7 45. Be6+ Rxd7 46. Bxd7 {should be easy})
40... Bf6 41. Re2 Kg7 42. Kf2 Bd4+ 43. Kf3 Bc5 44. Bc3+ Kf8 45. Bb4 Bxb4 46.
axb4 Rd8 47. Bc6 Rd4 48. Re8+ Kg7 49. Re7 $6 (49. Ra8 {is fine, since all the
queenside pawns will be swept off and White still wins, however}) (49. Re4 {
seems even more natural}) 49... Rxb4 50. Bd5 Kf6 51. Rxf7+ Ke5 {Suddenly Black
is getting annoying.} 52. Bb7 a5 53. Rxh7 a4 54. Bc6 a3 55. Bxb5 Rxb5 56. Ra7
Rb3+ 57. Kg4 Kd4 58. Kg5 Kc3 {Even if White gets two passers against a rook,
he can't win since they are too far from hitting paydirt.} 1/2-1/2
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Pelletier, Yannick"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2786"]
[BlackElo "2541"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:04:24"]
[BlackClock "0:00:31"]
1. e4 e6 {One can immediately sense the influence of Viktor Kortschnoi in the
Swiss chess.The French defense is Palletier's main weapon which served him
well for many years.} 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Be7 {
A fashionable line.} ({The main line remains} 6... Nc6 {with more than fifteen
thousand games played so far. One recent example went} 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 O-O 9.
a3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Nb8 {as in Svidler,P (2748)-Short,N (2675)
Caleta 2017}) 7. Be3 b6 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bb5 Ndb8 {Pelletier is regrouping his
troups in inticipation of the trade on c6. Another way to play it is:} (9...
Qc7 10. f5 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 {Zhigalko,A (2584)-Lupulescu,C (2609)
Calimanesti Caciulata 2016}) ({The dangers that Black is facing are well
illustrated by the following game:} 9... Bb7 10. O-O-O a6 11. Bxc6 Bxc6 12. f5
b5 13. fxe6 fxe6 14. Ne2 c4 15. Ng5 Nf8 16. Rhf1 Bxg5 17. Bxg5 Qd7 18. Qc3 h6
19. Qh3 Rh7 20. Qf3 Rh8 21. Qh3 Rh7 22. Qf3 Rh8 23. Qh5+ g6 24. Qh3 {1-0 (24)
Bok,B (2614)-Kjartansson,G (2457) Gjakova 2016}) 10. Qf2 $146 {A novelty.
Anand paciently prepares the kingside attack. The queen overprotects d4 and
lets the white knight step back to the e2 square.} ({So far White tried to
attack only with the bull's} 10. f5 a6 11. Bxc6+ Nxc6 12. O-O cxd4 13. Nxd4
Nxe5 14. fxe6 fxe6 15. Qe2 {with compensation for a pawn in Lobanov,S (2432)
-Tabatabaei,M (2493) Khanty-Mansiysk 2016}) 10... c4 {This seems to be good
for White. He is happy to have the center closed as he can start the kingside
attack at once. In case of} (10... cxd4 $5 11. Nxd4 Bd7 12. Nf3 {The black
pieces seem clumsy but he can play} O-O {followed by f7-f6.}) 11. Ne2 a6 12.
Bxc6+ Nxc6 13. c3 b5 14. g4 h5 {As otherwise the knight will go too close to
the black king:} (14... b4 15. Ng3) 15. gxh5 Rxh5 16. h4 Rh8 {More accurate
seems the immediate:} (16... b4 $1 {The rook on h5 may choose another square
to retreat. On:} 17. Ng3 {Black can just grab the pawn} (17. f5 $5 {deserves
serious consideration when} Rxf5 ({However after} 17... exf5 18. Nf4 Rh6 {
the rook is better placed on the sixth rank than on the eight.}) 18. Ng3 {
[%csl Yf5] traps the rook. Still} Qa5 19. Nxf5 exf5 {is not clear at all.}) ({
Also, in case of} 17. Qg2 Bf8 18. f5 exf5 19. Nf4 Rh6 {Black's defensive
resources seem higher as in the game. The rook in standing really well on h6.})
17... Bxh4 ({Although} 17... Rh8 {might be even better when f4-f5 is not as
dangerous as in the game.})) 17. Qg2 Bf8 18. f5 $1 {Opens the road for the
light pieces.} exf5 19. Bg5 Qc7 {Perhaps} (19... Qa5 $5 20. Nf4 ({Or} 20. h5 b4
21. h6 bxc3 22. bxc3 Rb8 23. Kf2 Be6) 20... b4 {was more active, keeping White
busy in the center.}) 20. h5 {Now Anand's play is very easy and
straightforward. The knights have distinct edge over the bishops in the closed
position.} Be6 21. h6 (21. Nf4 $5) 21... Kd7 (21... gxh6 $2 {drops material
after} 22. Bf6 Rh7 23. Qg8) 22. h7 $1 {The pawn on h7 is extremely poweful.
His plan is to put the knights on f4 and g5, capture with the knight from g5
to e6 and win at least the exchange with Nf4-g6.} Re8 23. Bd2 Kc8 24. a4 {
Even better than:} (24. Nf4 Kb8 25. Ng5 Nd8 26. O-O-O) 24... b4 25. Nf4 Qd7 {
It is difficult to give Black good advice. In case of:} (25... Na5 26. Ng5 {
The play can continue:} Nb3 27. Rd1 g6 (27... Kb7 28. Ngxe6 fxe6 29. Ng6 Be7
30. Ke2 Bd8 31. Nxh8 Rxh8 32. Qg6) 28. Ngxe6 fxe6 29. Qxg6 {White seems to win
here as well.}) 26. Ng5 g6 27. Kf1 {Anand avoids any tricks, such as:} (27.
Ngxe6 Rxe6 (27... fxe6 28. Qxg6 {is not something to be afraid of}) 28. Nxd5
Nxe5 $1) 27... b3 28. Re1 Nd8 29. Re2 Qb7 {The time had come to collect the
harvest.} 30. Ngxe6 Nxe6 (30... fxe6 {would not help neither due to} 31. Qxg6 {
followed by either Rd2-h2, queen retreat and Nf4-g6 or by a bishop transfer to
f6.}) 31. Nxd5 {Without this pawn Black cannot survive.} Be7 (31... Rd8 32. Ne3
Qxg2+ 33. Rxg2 {c4 pawn will drops soon, then b3, etc.}) 32. Nxe7+ Rxe7 33. d5
Nf8 34. Bh6 Re8 (34... Nxh7 35. Bg7) 35. Bxf8 Rexf8 36. Rh4 Kd8 {There is
nowhere to hide.} 37. Rd2 Re8 38. e6 Re7 (38... fxe6 39. dxe6+ Kc8 40. Rxc4+
Kb8 41. Rb4) 39. Qg5 1-0
[Event "Zurich SUI"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A35"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2786"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2017.04.13"]
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 g6 7. Ng5 e6 8.
Nge4 f5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Nc3 d4 11. Nd5 Bd6 12. d3 Be6 13. h4 Be5 14. Nf4 Bf7
15. Bd2 Rc8 16. Rc1 b6 17. O-O Bxf4 18. Bxf4 Bd5 19. e4 dxe3 20. fxe3 O-O 21.
Bg5 Qd6 22. e4 Bxa2 23. exf5 gxf5 24. b3 Nd4 25. Bf4 Qe6 26. Re1 Qf7 27. b4 Bd5
28. bxc5 Bxg2 29. Kxg2 Rxc5 (29... Nb3 30. Rc3 Nxc5 {Always thinking about
reducing pawns islands! Black still retains an edge with the latent power of
the queenside pawns.}) 30. Rxc5 bxc5 31. Qa4 Rc8 32. Kh3 Ne6 33. Re5 c4 34. Qa6
Nxf4+ 35. gxf4 Rc7 {Things are still equal, but White's king has carved out
some shelter, while Blacks is about to feel the draft.} 36. Re2 c3 $2 (36...
Qd5 {holds, although there's a lot of checks to analyze.}) 37. Qd6 $2 (37. Rg2+
Kf8 38. Qd6+ Qe7 39. Qd5 $1 {is diabolical geometry}) 37... Qd7 $2 (37... h5 {
holds, giving Black the same sliver of shelter on the h-file that his
counterpart enjoys}) 38. Rg2+ Kf7 39. Qe5 Qc6 40. Qg7+ Ke8 41. Re2+ {Resigns,
since the tandem toy with Black but finally mate after 41...Kd8 42. Qf8+ Kd7
43. Re7+ Kd6 44. Re5+! Kd7 45. Qe8+ Kd6 46. Qe6#} 1-0
[Event "Zurich SUI"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A36"]
[WhiteElo "2793"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2017.04.13"]
1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. e3 e5 6. Nge2 Nge7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nd5
d6 9. Nec3 Bf5 10. d3 Qd7 11. a3 Bh3 12. Rb1 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 Nxd5 14. cxd5 Ne7
15. b4 cxb4 16. axb4 Bh6 17. e4 Bxc1 18. Rxc1 Rfc8 19. Qd2 Rc7 20. f4 Rac8 21.
fxe5 (21. f5 gxf5 22. exf5 f6 $1 23. Ne4 Nxd5 $1 24. Qa2 Qf7 {When it is
Svidler about to play the exact same knight discovered attack tactics the
Nakamura used in round two! Also note that} 25. Qxd5 $2 {doesn't work since}
Qxd5 {pins the knight before it can fork! [Svidler]}) 21... dxe5 22. Rc2 Qd6
23. Qf2 Nf5 $1 {Likely missed by Nakamura.} 24. exf5 Rxc3 25. Rxc3 Rxc3 26. Qf3
gxf5 27. Qxf5 Qxd5+ 28. Kh3 Rc6 29. g4 Rd6 30. Rf3 Qe6 31. Qg5+ Kf8 32. Re3
Qh6+ 33. Qxh6+ Rxh6+ 34. Kg3 Rb6 35. Re4 f6 36. h4 Rd6 37. Re3 Rd4 38. g5 Kg7
39. b5 Rb4 40. gxf6+ Kxf6 41. Rf3+ Kg7 42. Rf2 Rxb5 43. Ra2 a5 44. Kg4 Kf6 45.
Ra3 Kg6 46. h5+ Kf6 47. Ra1 Rb4+ 48. Kg3 a4 49. Rf1+ Kg5 0-1
[Event "Zurich"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2793"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. e3 e5 6. Nge2 Nge7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nd5
d6 {A36: Symmetrical English vs ...g6:4 Bg2 Bg7} 9. Nec3 (9. a3 a5 10. Nec3 Be6
11. Rb1 Rb8 12. d3 Qd7 13. Re1 Bh3 14. Bh1 Nxd5 15. Nxd5 b5 16. cxb5 Rxb5 17.
Bd2 Rfb8 18. Bc3 Ne7 19. Nxe7+ Qxe7 20. a4 R5b6 21. Bxa5 Rxb2 22. Rxb2 Rxb2 23.
Bc3 {1/2-1/2 (23) Sanduleac,V (2435)-Doncea,V (2460) Creon 2009}) 9... Bf5 $146
(9... Rb8 10. b3 Be6 11. Bb2 Qd7 12. f4 f5 13. Qe2 Bf7 14. Rad1 Rfe8 15. h3 a6
16. Ba1 b5 17. g4 e4 18. gxf5 gxf5 19. d3 b4 {1-0 (19) Poliakov,A (2173)
-Krasikov,V (2311) Moscow 2017}) 10. d3 Qd7 11. a3 Bh3 12. Rb1 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 {
LiveBook: 3 Games} Nxd5 14. cxd5 Ne7 15. b4 cxb4 16. axb4 Bh6 17. e4 Bxc1 $1
18. Rxc1 Rfc8 (18... f5 $11 {keeps the balance.}) 19. Qd2 Rc7 20. f4 Rac8 21.
fxe5 dxe5 22. Rc2 (22. Rf2 $16) 22... Qd6 23. Qf2 (23. Rfc1 $11) 23... Nf5 $1
$17 24. exf5 {aiming for Ne4.} Rxc3 25. Rxc3 Rxc3 {Endgame KQR-KQR} 26. Qf3
gxf5 27. Qxf5 Qxd5+ 28. Kh3 Rc6 29. g4 Rd6 30. Rf3 ({White should play} 30. Kh4
) 30... Qe6 31. Qg5+ {[#]} (31. Qxe6 $17 {was worth a try.} Rxe6 32. Re3) 31...
Kf8 $1 $19 32. Re3 Qh6+ 33. Qxh6+ Rxh6+ $17 {KR-KR} 34. Kg3 {[#]} Rb6 $1 35.
Re4 f6 36. h4 (36. g5 $142) 36... Rd6 $19 37. Re3 Rd4 38. g5 Kg7 39. b5 Rb4 40.
gxf6+ (40. d4 $142 Rxb5 41. dxe5 Rxe5 42. Rd3) 40... Kxf6 41. Rf3+ Kg7 42. Rf2
Rxb5 43. Ra2 a5 44. Kg4 Kf6 45. Ra3 Kg6 46. h5+ Kf6 47. Ra1 $2 (47. Kf3) 47...
Rb4+ {Black is clearly winning.} 48. Kg3 a4 49. Rf1+ Kg5 0-1
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2786"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 g6 7. Ng5 {A34:
Symmetrical English: 2 Nc3, lines with . ..d5} (7. h4 Bg7 8. h5 Bf5 9. Qb3 Ndb4
10. Kf1 Nc2 11. Ng5 Ne5 12. Rb1 Nd4 13. Qxb7 Rb8 14. Qxa7 O-O 15. hxg6 hxg6 {
1/2-1/2 (28) Van Wely,L (2695)-Dominguez Perez,L (2739) chess.com INT 2017})
7... e6 8. Nge4 f5 $146 (8... Be7 9. d3 O-O 10. Bh6 Re8 11. h4 Nd4 12. g4 Nb4
13. Rc1 e5 14. a3 Bxg4 15. axb4 cxb4 {1-0 (42) Agdestein,S (2560)-Polugaevsky,
L (2575) Haninge 1988}) 9. Nxd5 {Black is slightly better.} exd5 10. Nc3 d4 11.
Nd5 Bd6 12. d3 Be6 13. h4 Be5 14. Nf4 Bf7 15. Bd2 Rc8 16. Rc1 b6 17. O-O Bxf4
18. Bxf4 Bd5 19. e4 dxe3 $1 20. fxe3 O-O 21. Bg5 Qd6 22. e4 Bxa2 23. exf5 gxf5
24. b3 {And now Bxc6 would win.} Nd4 25. Bf4 Qe6 26. Re1 Qf7 (26... Bxb3 27.
Rxe6 Bxd1 28. Bd5 $16) (26... Qd7 $15 27. b4 cxb4 28. Rxc8 Rxc8) 27. b4 $1 $11
Bd5 28. bxc5 $1 Bxg2 29. Kxg2 Rxc5 30. Rxc5 bxc5 31. Qa4 Rc8 32. Kh3 ({Of
course not} 32. Qc4 Qxc4 33. dxc4 a5 $15) 32... Ne6 33. Re5 {[#]} c4 $1 34. Qa6
(34. dxc4 Nxf4+) 34... Nxf4+ 35. gxf4 {Endgame KQR-KQR} Rc7 {Strongly
threatening ...c3.} 36. Re2 {Black must now prevent Rg2+.} c3 $2 (36... Qh5 $11
37. Rg2+ Kf7) 37. Qd6 $2 (37. Rg2+ $18 Kf8 38. Qd6+ Re7 39. Qh6+ Ke8 40. Qc6+
Rd7 41. Re2+ Kd8 42. Qa8+ (42. Qxc3 Rc7 43. Qh8+ Kd7 $18) 42... Kc7 43. Qxa7+
Kc8 44. Re8+ $1 Qxe8 45. Qa8+ Kc7 46. Qxe8 Rxd3+ 47. Kg2) 37... Qd7 $2 {[#]} (
37... h5 $11 38. Qh6 Qf8 39. Qxh5 Re7) 38. Rg2+ $1 $18 Kf7 39. Qe5 Qc6 40. Qg7+
Ke8 41. Re2+ 1-0
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2811"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7. Nf3 cxd4 8.
cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 O-O 11. Rc1 b6 {[%emt 0:00:05] D41: Queen's
Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch with cxd5} 12. Bd3 Bb7 13. O-O Nd7 14. Qf4 h6 {
LiveBook: 6 Games} 15. h4 ({Don't play} 15. Rc7 e5 16. Qc1 Nc5 17. Rxc5 bxc5
$15) 15... Rc8 16. Rxc8 Qxc8 17. Rc1 Qb8 18. Qxb8 Rxb8 19. Rc7 Nf6 $146 20. Ne5
{[#] Strongly threatening f3.} Bxe4 21. Bxe4 ({Of course not} 21. Rxa7 Bxd3 22.
Nxd3 Rd8 $15) 21... Nxe4 22. Rxf7 $11 {Endgame KRN-KRN} a5 23. Rc7 b5 24. f3
Nd6 25. Ra7 a4 26. h5 Nf5 27. Nc6 Rc8 28. Ra6 $1 {aiming for g4.} ({Much worse
is} 28. Ne7+ Nxe7 29. Rxe7 Rc1+ 30. Kh2 Ra1 $17) 28... Kh7 (28... Kf8 $11 {
keeps the balance.}) 29. Kf2 $16 b4 30. g4 b3 $1 31. axb3 axb3 32. gxf5 $14 {
KRN-KR} b2 33. Rb6 Rxc6 $1 34. Rxb2 exf5 {KR-KR} 35. Ke3 Rc3+ 36. Kf4 $1 g5+
37. Kxf5 Rxf3+ 38. Ke4 Rf1 {[#]} (38... Rh3 $16) 39. Rb7+ (39. d5 $1 $18 {
has better winning chances.}) 39... Kg8 $16 40. d5 {d6 is the strong threat.}
g4 $2 (40... Re1+ $16 {is a better chance.} 41. Kf5 Rd1) 41. Rb6 $2 (41. d6 $18
{and the rest is easy.} Rd1 42. Ke5) 41... Kf7 {White is better.} 42. Rxh6 g3 {
Hoping for ...g2.} 43. Rg6 Rh1 44. Rxg3 {Black must now prevent Ke5.} Rxh5 45.
Kd4 Ke7 46. Kc5 Rh6 47. Rg7+ Kd8 48. Kd4 1/2-1/2
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Pelletier, Yannick"]
[Black "Oparin, Grigoriy"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2541"]
[BlackElo "2604"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. d4 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8.
Qc2 {E11: Bogo-Indian} Ne4 9. Nc3 (9. Bf4 c6 10. Nc3 g5 11. Bc1 f5 12. b3 b6
13. Bb2 Bb7 14. Rad1 Qe8 15. Nd2 Nd6 16. Ba3 Rc8 17. Rfe1 Nf7 18. Qb2 {1/2-1/2
(30) So,W (2822)-Nakamura,H (2793) Saint Louis 2017}) 9... Nxd2 10. Nxd2 c6 {
LiveBook: 16 Games} 11. Rfd1 Rb8 12. Rac1 $146 (12. e4 dxe4 13. Ndxe4 f5 14.
Nd2 e5 15. d5 Qc7 {0-1 (29) Lei,T (2467)-Tari,A (2584) Wijk aan Zee 2017})
12... f5 13. e3 Nf6 14. Nf3 Bd6 15. Ne2 Qe7 16. Nf4 Bd7 17. Nd3 Be8 18. Nfe5 g5
19. f4 gxf4 20. gxf4 (20. exf4 $14 Bh5 21. Re1) 20... Bh5 $11 21. Bf3 Bxf3 22.
Nxf3 Kh8 23. c5 Bc7 24. Kh1 Rg8 25. Rg1 Ng4 26. Qe2 Rg6 27. Rg3 Rbg8 28. Rcg1
Qf8 29. Nf2 R6g7 30. h3 Nf6 31. Rxg7 Rxg7 32. Qd1 h6 33. Rxg7 Qxg7 34. Qg1 Ne4
35. Qxg7+ Kxg7 {Endgame KBN-KNN} 36. Kg2 b6 {[#]} (36... Kf7 $11 {remains
equal.}) 37. cxb6 (37. Nd3 $1 $16) 37... axb6 38. Nxe4 fxe4 $16 {KB-KN} 39. Ng1
Bd6 40. Ne2 Kf6 41. Kf2 c5 42. b3 cxd4 43. Nxd4 e5 ({Black should try} 43...
Bc5 $11) 44. fxe5+ (44. Nb5 $1 $14 Bc5 45. Nc3) 44... Bxe5 $11 45. Nc2 Ke6 46.
a4 Kd6 47. Ke2 Bc3 48. Kf2 Kc5 49. Ke2 Kd6 1/2-1/2
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2747"]
[BlackElo "2724"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Ng5 $5 e6 8.
d3 Bg7 9. Nge4 $146 {This is the second time Svidler has this position. The
previous time, he had got a sizeable advantage against Caruana in the 2016
candidates.} b6 {keeping things more flexible, instead of the direct 0-0. The
drawback is that it allows some tactics with Qa4, as happened in the game.
This move was played by Polugaevsky, 28 years ago already!} (9... O-O {it's
not necessary to commit this move so early. White exploits this by} 10. h4 b6
11. h5 Bb7 12. hxg6 hxg6 13. Bh6 Nxc3 14. bxc3 f5 15. Qc1 fxe4 16. Bxg7 Kxg7
17. Qh6+ Kf6 18. dxe4 Rh8 19. e5+ Kf7 20. Qf4+ Kg7 21. Rxh8 Qxh8 22. O-O-O $1
$16 {Svidler,P (2757)-Caruana,F (2794) FIDE Candidates 2016 (7) 1/2-1/2}) 10.
Qa4 (10. h4 {now is met by} h6) ({A nomal move like} 10. Bd2 {would be met by}
Bb7 {and Black has a comfortable position.}) (10. Bg5 f6 11. Bd2 Qd7 $5 $11)
10... Bb7 ({here, Polugaevsky went wrong with} 10... Bd7 11. Nxd5 exd5 12. Nd6+
Ke7 13. Nxf7 $18 {Dzindzichashvili,R (2540)-Polugaevsky,L (2575) New York op
1989 (6) 0-1}) 11. Bg5 f6 12. Bf4 Nxf4 13. Nxf6+ Kf7 $1 (13... Bxf6 14. Bxc6+
Bxc6 15. Qxc6+ Kf7 16. gxf4 {would just win a pawn.}) 14. gxf4 Bxf6 15. Bxc6
Bxc3+ 16. bxc3 Qf6 {[#] This double attack/tactic is the point of Kf7, to take
on f6 with the Queen. Now White is forced to return back one of the pawns, and
the position is equal. Black didn't really require any special preparation, as
this is already the 3rd game in this position, which indicates that Svidler
was quite content to draw.} 17. d4 Bxc6 18. Qxc6 Qxf4 19. e3 Qf6 20. Qc7+ Qe7
21. Qf4+ Qf6 22. Qc7+ Qe7 23. Qf4+ Qf6 1/2-1/2
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Pelletier, Yannick"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2786"]
[BlackElo "2541"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Be7 7. Be3 b6 8. Qd2
Nc6 9. Bb5 Ndb8 $5 {Looks unusual to me, returning to the stable.} (9... Bb7 {
appears more normal and here White can play in various ways.}) 10. Qf2 {
(3) played relatively quickly by Vishy, this move forces Black to close the
position, allowing White to go after Black's kingside with f5.} c4 (10... cxd4
11. Nxd4 Bd7 12. Nf3 $5 {looks quite odd for Black. For example, where is the
b8 knight going to go?}) 11. Ne2 (11. f5 exf5 12. Qg3 Kf8 13. Bxc4 dxc4 14. d5
{Looks interesting for White, but Black has} Nxe5 $1 15. Qxe5 (15. Nxe5 Bh4)
15... Bd6 16. Qd4 Bc5 {And Black has neutralized White's initiative.}) 11... a6
12. Bxc6+ Nxc6 13. c3 b5 (13... h5 $5 {was worth considering.} 14. f5 exf5 15.
h4 Be6 16. Nf4 Kd7 {with a game.}) 14. g4 {Having made the necessary
prophylaxis on the queenside with c3, White starts. The position still appears
balanced to me. Black plays on the queenside, and White on the kingside. Due
to the closed nature of the position, the kings are free to roam around.} h5 $6
{inspired by King's Indian, where Black meets White's b4 with a5, as I heard
in the post game. The classical rule goes like 'Do not move pawns on that side
where you are weak.'} (14... b4 {seems like a good alternative.} 15. Ng3 Qa5
16. Bd2 bxc3 17. bxc3 Rb8 18. f5 Rb2 {and it seems to me that Black has
adequate counterplay.}) 15. gxh5 Rxh5 16. h4 Rh8 (16... b4 17. f5 $5 exf5 18.
Nf4 Rh6 19. Qg2 {is (0.00) according to the engine, but it appears better for
White to me. At least practically, it's much easier to play as White.}) 17. Qg2
Bf8 18. f5 $1 exf5 19. Bg5 {Here, the position is already difficult for Black.
Yannick spent 11 minutes on his next move, bringing his time remaining to just
4 minutes, opposing to Vishy's 27.} Qc7 (19... Qa5 20. h5 Be6 21. h6 b4 22. Kf2
Kd7 23. h7 {looks difficult for Black, but at least maybe he could try for
some counter play with} bxc3 24. bxc3 Rb8 25. Bc1 Qa4 {and try something.}) 20.
h5 Be6 21. h6 {comes by force.} Kd7 (21... gxh6 22. Bf6) 22. h7 Re8 23. Bd2 {
After this move, Black's kingside is paralyzed. Having subjugated a part of
Black's army to one part, White goes about exploiting the weaknesses on other
sides.} Kc8 24. a4 $1 b4 25. Nf4 Qd7 26. Ng5 g6 27. Kf1 (27. Kf2 {was stronger
as pointed out by Vishy. Point is to prepare Rh2,Rah1, take on e6 and then
take the rook either via Nf7 or Ng6.}) 27... b3 28. Re1 {Rook comes to h-file
anyway. Since Black has no counterplay, White can take all the time he wants.}
Nd8 29. Re2 Qb7 30. Ngxe6 {harvest time.} Nxe6 (30... fxe6 31. Qxg6 $18) 31.
Nxd5 Be7 32. Nxe7+ Rxe7 33. d5 Nf8 34. Bh6 Re8 (34... Nxh7 35. Bg7 $18) 35.
Bxf8 Rexf8 36. Rh4 Kd8 37. Rd2 Re8 38. e6 Re7 39. Qg5 1-0
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Oparin, Grigoriy"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2604"]
[BlackElo "2793"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a6 7. a4 {The latest
trend in Italian.} O-O 8. Re1 Ba7 9. h3 Ne7 10. Nbd2 Ng6 11. d4 Re8 12. Qb3 Qe7
13. Nf1 c6 14. dxe5 dxe5 15. Ng5 Rf8 16. a5 {White has achieved some space on
the queenside. However, with Queen having gone towards the queenside, the
kingside appears a little less controlled.} Nh4 17. g3 Ng6 {b8 knight's
journal: provoke weakness - check.} 18. Kg2 Ne8 19. Qc2 $2 (19. h4 $142 h6 20.
Nf3 $11) 19... Nd6 20. Bb3 Kh8 $2 (20... Qd7 $142 $5 {would've made the
situation very awkward for White, as} 21. g4 {appears forced to me, and now,
after} Qc7 {Black is better due to White's weak kingside.}) 21. Qe2 {White
tries to go directly against Black's king, but direct threats can be directly
defended....} h6 22. Qh5 Qe8 23. Be3 $2 (23. Nxf7+ {doesn't work simply due to}
Rxf7 $19) (23. Kh2 $142 {prohylaxis against the discovered check.} f6 (23...
Bxf2 24. Rd1 Bc5 25. Be3 $16) 24. Nf3 Kh7 25. Rd1 Be6 $11) (23. Kg1 f6 24. Nf3
{was also possible, as after} Nf4 25. Qxe8 Nxh3+ 26. Kg2 Rxe8 27. Be3 Bxe3 28.
Rxe3 {White has full compensation for the pawn as Black's pieces aren't well
co ordinate and the h3-knight is offside.}) 23... f6 24. Nf7+ Nxf7 25. Qxg6
Bxh3+ 26. Kh2 {I am curious what Grigory misevaluated here, but Black is just
a pawn up.} Bxf1 27. Bxa7 Ng5 28. Qxe8 Rfxe8 29. Rxf1 Rxa7 30. Rad1 {Black is
a pawn up, but conversion is still not taken for granted. First step is to
activate the pieces.} b6 $1 31. axb6 Rb7 32. Bc2 a5 33. Rd6 Rxb6 34. b3 Ne6 35.
Rb1 Nc5 36. b4 axb4 $2 (36... Nb7 $8 37. Rd3 Rb8 $15) 37. Rxb4 Ra6 {[#]} 38.
Rc4 $2 {the decisive mistake.} (38. Bd1 $142 {A very powerful move. On one
hand, White does prophylaxis against f2, on the other hand, White's bishop is
heading towards a deadly location.} Ra3 (38... Kh7 39. Bg4 $11) 39. Bh5 Rc8 40.
Bg6 Rxc3 41. Rxc6 $11) 38... Ra2 39. Bd1 Nb7 40. Rdxc6 Rxf2+ 41. Kg1 (41. Kh3
Na5 42. Rc8 (42. Bh5 Rf8 43. Rc8 Nxc4 44. Rxf8+ Kh7 45. Rb8 Nd6 $19) 42... Nxc4
43. Rxe8+ Kh7 $19) 41... Rd2 42. Bh5 Ra8 {the point! White isn't in time for
Bg6 due to mate threat. Black just coasts home.} 43. Rc8+ Rxc8 44. Rxc8+ Kh7
45. Bg4 Nd6 46. Rc6 Kg6 47. Bf3 Nf7 48. c4 Ng5 49. Bg2 Kh5 50. c5 Kg4 51. Ra6
Rc2 52. c6 Kxg3 53. Ra3+ Kf4 54. Ra6 h5 0-1
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2811"]
[BlackElo "2751"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Nbd2 d6 6. c3 c5 7. Bd3 b6 8. O-O
Bb7 9. Re1 Nc6 $6 {I am not entirely sure if this is the right place for the
knight in this setup. Usually, it goes to d7} (9... Nbd7 10. e4 (10. h3) 10...
cxd4 11. cxd4 h6 {with a position.}) 10. h3 Rc8 11. Qe2 Rc7 12. a3 {I think
White already has a slight edge here.} Qc8 13. e4 cxd4 14. cxd4 Nd7 {White has
built a strong center, while Black's pieces suffer from asphyxiation due to
lack of space. Vlad spends 6 minutes and finds a concrete continuation that
ends with a clear advantage.} 15. e5 $5 (15. Qe3 $14 {was another possibility,
continuing to suffocate Black.}) 15... dxe5 16. d5 Nd4 17. Nxd4 exd4 18. Bxe7
Re8 (18... Bxd5 19. Bxf8 Qxf8 $5 {is possible but I don't think Black gets
much compensation.} 20. Rac1 Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Nc5 22. b4 Nxd3 23. Qxd3 h6 24. Nb3
$16) 19. d6 Rc5 20. f4 $1 {[#] A very strong move, taking control. White just
has a huge space advantage now. The bind by the e7-d6 is especially strong.}
Nf6 21. Nb3 Rc6 22. Rac1 {exchanging the active rook.} (22. Bb5 Rc2) 22... Nd5
23. Bb5 Nxf4 {White has various ways to win a piece now.} 24. Qg4 (24. Qf1 $142
{would've ended the game at once.} Ne6 (24... Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Qe6 26. Qxf4 Rc8
27. d7 $18) 25. Rxc6 Bxc6 26. Rc1 $18) 24... Rxc1 25. Nxc1 d3 26. Nxd3 Nxd3 27.
Qxc8 Bxc8 28. Rd1 Nxb2 29. Rc1 Bd4+ 30. Kf1 Nd3 31. Bxd3 Be6 32. Bb5 Rb8 33. d7
a6 34. Rd1 Bxd7 35. Bxd7 Be5 {The position is just winning, but Kramnik had
only one minute remaining.} 36. Rd5 Bb2 37. Bd6 Ra8 38. Rd2 Ba1 39. Bc7 b5 40.
Ba5 (40. Bc6 Rc8 41. Rd7 $18) 40... Bf6 41. Re2 Kg7 42. Kf2 Bd4+ 43. Kf3 Bc5
44. Bc3+ Kf8 45. Bb4 Bxb4 46. axb4 Rd8 47. Bc6 Rd4 48. Re8+ Kg7 49. Re7 Rxb4 {
After the loss of this pawn, Black gets some counterchances.} 50. Bd5 Kf6 51.
Rxf7+ Ke5 {This king's placement is very important as it forces White's bishop
to vacate from a2-g8.} 52. Bb7 a5 {Now, the pawn sprints towards a2. It's
already a draw.} 53. Rxh7 (53. Re7+ Kd6 54. Rxh7 a4 55. Be4 a3 56. Ra7 Ra4 57.
Rxa4 bxa4 58. Bb1 Kc5 59. Ke3 Kb4 60. Kd2 Kb3) 53... a4 54. Bc6 a3 {Probably
Kramnik was counting on Ra7 here when looking afar, which just fails to.....}
55. Bxb5 (55. Ra7 Ra4 56. Rd7 (56. Rxa4 bxa4) 56... a2 57. Rd5+ Kf6 58. Rd1
Ra3+ 59. Kg4 b4 $19) 55... Rxb5 56. Ra7 Rb3+ 57. Kg4 Kd4 58. Kg5 Kc3 1/2-1/2
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2793"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. e3 e5 6. Nge2 Nge7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nd5
d6 9. Nec3 Bf5 10. d3 Qd7 11. a3 Bh3 $5 12. Rb1 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 Nxd5 14. cxd5 Ne7
15. b4 (15. e4 {Svidler was worried about this in the post game.} Rac8 {
prophylaxis against b4.} (15... f5 16. b4 cxb4 (16... b6 17. bxc5 bxc5 18. Qa4
$14) 17. Rxb4) 16. Bd2 f5 {Black seems alright to me. The position seems
balanced.} 17. b4 {would be met by} c4 $11) 15... cxb4 16. axb4 Bh6 {logically
getting rid of the bad bishop.} 17. e4 {Black has got rid of his bad bishop,
but among the remaning pieces, the e7 knight isn't exactly well placed. The
knight is well controlled by White's pawns.} Bxc1 18. Rxc1 Rfc8 19. Qd2 Rc7 20.
f4 Rac8 21. fxe5 dxe5 {[#]} 22. Rc2 (22. Rf6 Nf5 23. exf5 Rxc3 24. Rxc3 Qxd5+
25. Kh3 Rxc3 26. Qxc3 Kg7 {and the rook is trapped, as there's no b6 square.})
(22. Rf2 $1 {is an immensely strong move here, threatening d6. If Black
defends against this with} a6 {then White now goes} 23. Rf6 {the important
point being that Nf5 doesn't trap the f6 rook because it now has b6, after
Black has played a6.} Kg7 24. Rcf1) 22... Qd6 $2 23. Qf2 {[#]} Nf5 $1 {A
brilliant move, possibly underestimated by Hikaru.} 24. exf5 Rxc3 {In one
stroke, Black has exchanged his bad knight for White's better knight, and has
left White's position with weak pawns all over.} 25. Rxc3 Rxc3 {White loses a
pawn by force.} 26. Qf3 gxf5 27. Qxf5 Qxd5+ 28. Kh3 Rc6 {Black is a pawn up
here, but apart from that, White's queenside/center pawn is also quite weak.
Black is bound to win a second pawn, and Svidler converts his advantage
flawlessly. White's position is so bad that even Hikaru couldn't save this.}
29. g4 Rd6 30. Rf3 Qe6 31. Qg5+ Kf8 32. Re3 Qh6+ 33. Qxh6+ Rxh6+ 34. Kg3 Rb6
35. Re4 f6 36. h4 Rd6 37. Re3 Rd4 38. g5 Kg7 39. b5 Rb4 40. gxf6+ Kxf6 41. Rf3+
Kg7 42. Rf2 Rxb5 43. Ra2 a5 44. Kg4 Kf6 45. Ra3 Kg6 46. h5+ Kf6 47. Ra1 Rb4+
48. Kg3 a4 49. Rf1+ Kg5 0-1
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.14"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2811"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7. Nf3 cxd4 8.
cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 O-O 11. Rc1 b6 12. Bd3 Bb7 13. O-O Nd7 14. Qf4
h6 15. h4 Rc8 16. Rxc8 Qxc8 17. Rc1 Qb8 18. Qxb8 Rxb8 19. Rc7 Nf6 20. Ne5 Bxe4
21. Bxe4 Nxe4 22. Rxf7 a5 23. Rc7 b5 24. f3 Nd6 25. Ra7 a4 26. h5 Nf5 27. Nc6
Rc8 28. Ra6 {Both sides have played relatively fast until now. The position is
(0.00) objectively but practically Black has to be precise. His pawns have
been stopped for now, and White's pieces are well placed, controlling a good
number of important squares. On the kingisde, the h5 pawn is a useful asset
for White. I believe Black should just disturb the c6-knight and he can
neutralise.} Kh7 $6 (28... Kf7 29. Kf2 Ne7 30. Ne5+ Kf6 {was maybe more
accurate. Black has advanced his king, unleashed his rook.}) 29. Kf2 b4 30. g4
(30. Nxb4 Nxd4 31. Rxa4 Rc4 32. a3 Nc2 {is probably a 3 vs 2 rook endgame draw.
}) 30... b3 31. axb3 axb3 32. gxf5 b2 33. Rb6 Rxc6 34. Rxb2 exf5 35. Ke3 {
Maybe this looks drawish, but to me it looks like unnecessarily playing with
fire, especially against Boris, who is perhaps among the best chess players
ever in rook endgames. The alternate 28...Kf7 looks much more safer to me.}
Rc3+ 36. Kf4 g5+ 37. Kxf5 Rxf3+ 38. Ke4 Rf1 (38... Rh3 39. Rb7+ Kg8 40. d5 Kf8
41. Kf5 Rf3+ 42. Ke6 g4 43. d6 Re3+ 44. Kd7 g3 {manages to just hold on.}) 39.
Rb7+ Kg8 40. d5 g4 $4 {[#] Gelfand had just 1 minute remaining here and the
position looks like a draw. But turns out that it actually wins!} (40... Re1+
$1 41. Kf5 (41. Kd4 g4 42. d6 Kf8 {And here the White king doesn't advance
fast to d7.} 43. Kd5 g3 $11) 41... g4 $1 42. Kxg4 (42. d6 Kf8 43. Rh7 Ke8 {
And Black is now safe.}) 42... Re5 43. d6 Rd5 44. d7 Kf8 $11) 41. Rb6 $4 (41.
d6 $142 $1 Rd1 (41... g3 42. d7 Rd1 43. Rb8+ Kf7 44. d8=Q $18) (41... Kf8 42.
Rb8+ Kf7 43. d7 $18) 42. Ke5 Kf8 43. Ke6 $1 Re1+ (43... g3 44. Rb8+ Kg7 45. Rb3
Re1+ 46. Kd7 {leads to a similar position in the 43...Re1+ variations.}) 44.
Kd7 g3 {and now} 45. Rb3 $1 {whereas, in the other position, Black's rook was
on e3. Now, the g3 position is lost by force.} Rg1 (45... g2 46. Rf3+ Kg7 47.
Rg3+ Kf6 48. Rxg2 $18) 46. Rf3+ Kg7 47. Ke7 Re1+ 48. Kd8 Rg1 49. d7 g2 50. Rf2
$18 {And now White simply wins by Rc2 and Kc8.}) 41... Kf7 42. Rxh6 g3 43. Rg6
Rh1 44. Rxg3 Rxh5 45. Kd4 Ke7 46. Kc5 Rh6 47. Rg7+ Kd8 {Rook endings are
complex and just beautiful :)} 1/2-1/2
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A37"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2786"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 e6 6. d4 {[%emt 0:00:05] A37:
Symmetrical English vs ...g6:4 Bg2 Bg7 Nf3} Nxd4 {LiveBook: 58 Games} (6...
cxd4 7. Nb5 d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. O-O Nge7 10. Bf4 O-O 11. Qd2 Nf5 12. g4 Nfe7 13.
h3 a6 14. Nd6 h6 15. Nxc8 Rxc8 16. Bxh6 f5 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Nxd4 {0-1 (62)
Grischuk,A (2754)-Carlsen,M (2857) chess.com INT 2016}) 7. Bf4 Ne7 $146 (7...
d6 8. Nxd4 cxd4 9. Qa4+ Bd7 10. Nb5 Qb6 11. Bxd6 a6 12. Qa3 Rc8 13. Nc7+ Rxc7 {
1-0 (61) Harutyunian,T (2472)-Hovhannisyan,K (2304) Yerevan 2015}) 8. Nxd4 {
The position is equal.} cxd4 9. Nb5 e5 10. Nd6+ Kf8 11. Bd2 Qb6 12. Nxc8 Rxc8
13. Qb3 f5 14. Bxb7 Rc7 $36 {Black is more active.} 15. Bg2 e4 16. O-O Kf7 17.
Rfc1 {[#]} (17. Bf4 $15 Rc5 18. Rfc1) 17... Rhc8 $1 $17 18. Bf4 Qxb3 19. axb3
Rb7 20. Bd6 Ke6 (20... Rxb3 21. Rxa7 Ke6 22. Ba3 $17) 21. c5 Rxb3 22. Rxa7 Nc6
23. Ra2 Be5 24. Bxe5 Kxe5 (24... Nxe5 25. f3) 25. f3 d3 26. exd3 Nb4 ({Don't
play} 26... Rxd3 27. fxe4 fxe4 28. Re1 $15) (26... exd3 27. Rd1 $17) 27. d4+
Kxd4 28. Ra7 (28. Raa1 $142 Rxc5 29. Rxc5 Kxc5 30. fxe4) 28... d5 $19 ({
Inferior is} 28... Rxc5 29. Rxd7+ Nd5 30. Rxc5 Kxc5 31. fxe4 $11) 29. fxe4 fxe4
30. Rd1+ Rd3 (30... Kxc5 $2 31. Bf1 $19) 31. Rda1 Rxc5 32. Bf1 Rd2 33. Rxh7 Nd3
({But not} 33... Rxb2 34. Rb7 $19) 34. b4 $2 (34. Re7) 34... Rcc2 {[#]
Threatens to win with ...Ne5.Black is clearly winning.} 35. b5 Ne5 {( -> ...
Nf3+)} 36. Ra4+ Kc5 0-1
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Oparin, Grigoriy"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2604"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h4 {B90: Sicilian
Najdorf: Unusual White 6th moves, 6 Be3 Ng4 and 6 Be3 e5} (6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bg5 h6
8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Bg7 10. h3 Ne5 11. Nf5 Bxf5 12. exf5 Nbc6 13. Nd5 e6 14. fxe6
fxe6 15. Ne3 Qa5+ 16. c3 Nf3+ 17. Qxf3 Bxc3+ 18. Kd1 Qa4+ 19. Nc2 Bxb2 {
1/2-1/2 (62) Nakamura,H (2785)-Grischuk,A (2742) Sharjah 2017}) 6... e5 7. Nb3
Be6 8. f4 {The position is equal.} g6 $146 (8... Nc6 9. f5 Bxb3 10. axb3 d5 11.
exd5 Nd4 12. Bd3 Nxd5 13. Bb5+ Nxb5 14. Nxd5 {1/2-1/2 (66) Naroditsky,D (2646)
-Zherebukh,Y (2605) Saint Louis 2017}) 9. Be2 Nbd7 10. g4 h5 11. g5 ({White
should try} 11. f5 $16 Bxb3 12. axb3 (12. cxb3 gxf5 13. gxf5 d5 14. exd5 Bb4
$11)) 11... Ng4 $11 12. Rf1 exf4 13. Bxf4 (13. Rxf4 $6 Nde5 $11) 13... Nde5 14.
Qd2 Qc7 15. O-O-O Rd8 16. Nd5 Bxd5 $1 17. Qxd5 Bg7 (17... Rc8 18. c3 $16) 18.
Nd4 O-O 19. Kb1 Rfe8 20. c3 Rc8 21. Bxg4 hxg4 22. h5 gxh5 23. Nf5 (23. g6 $1
$14) 23... Re6 24. Rh1 Ng6 (24... Qb6 $6 25. Be3 (25. Rxh5 $2 Nc4 26. Rh2 Bxc3
27. Qxe6 fxe6 $19) 25... Qc6 26. Bd4 $16 (26. Rxh5 Ng6 $14)) (24... Nc4 $11 25.
Nxg7 (25. Nxd6 $2 Rxd6 26. Bxd6 Qb6 $17) (25. Rxh5 $2 Nxb2 26. Rdh1 Nc4 $19) (
25. Bxd6 $2 Qb6 26. Bb4 Qf2 $19) 25... Qb6) 25. Bg3 ({White should play} 25.
Bxd6 $14 Qb6 26. Nxg7 (26. Rxh5 Rd8 27. Rh6 Bxc3 28. Rxg6+ Rxg6 29. Ne7+ Kg7
30. Be5+ Bxe5 31. Nf5+ Kg8 32. Ne7+ Kg7 33. Nf5+ Kg8 34. Ne7+ Kg7 $11) 26...
Kxg7 27. Rxh5 Rxc3 28. Rdh1) 25... Qb6 $1 {And now ...Rxc3 would win.} 26. Nxg7
Kxg7 27. Rxh5 Qe3 $36 {Black has good play.} 28. Bxd6 (28. Qxb7 $11 {remains
equal.} Qxe4+ 29. Qxe4 Rxe4 30. Bxd6 (30. Rxd6 Nf4 31. Rh2 Ne2 $11)) 28...
Qxe4+ $17 29. Qxe4 Rxe4 30. Rhh1 Nf4 31. Rdf1 (31. Rh4 $17 {was called for.}
Ng2 32. Rh6) 31... Nh3 $19 (31... g3 $2 32. Rxf4 Rxf4 33. Bxf4 $18) 32. Rf5 Rc6
33. Rd1 Re6 34. Bg3 {White wants to play Rd7.} Kg6 (34... Re3 35. Bb8) 35. Rff1
{intending Rd4.} Re3 (35... Nxg5 36. Rd8 $17) 36. Bb8 Rf3 (36... Nxg5 37. Rd8
Rf6 38. Rg1 $17) 37. Rxf3 (37. a4 $142 Kxg5 38. Rfe1) 37... gxf3 38. Rf1 f2 (
38... Nxg5 39. Bf4 $17) 39. Bg3 Rc5 ({Less strong is} 39... Kxg5 40. Bxf2 Nxf2
41. Rxf2 $17) ({And not} 39... Nxg5 40. Rxf2 (40. Bxf2 $2 Rf6 41. Kc2 Nh3 42.
Rg1+ Nxg1 43. Bxg1 Kf5 $19) 40... f5 41. Be5 $11) 40. Kc2 (40. Bxf2 {might
work better.} Rf5 41. Re1 Nxf2 42. Re7) 40... Rxg5 0-1
[Event "Korchnoi Zurich Chess Challenge"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "4.4"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B92"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2724"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:32:47"]
[BlackClock "0:03:33"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. O-O
O-O 9. Qd3 Be6 10. Bd2 {A clever move which Nepomniachtchi had already used
this year.} ({The most common continuation is} 10. Be3 Nbd7 11. Nd5 Bxd5 12.
exd5 Nc5 13. Nxc5 dxc5 14. c4 {as for example in Rodshtein,M (2682)-Mareco,S
(2582) Caleta 2014. But the Russian GM figured that the bishop is not that
well placed on the e3 square.}) ({Another option is} 10. f4) 10... Nbd7 {
It will be interesting to see what did White prepare in the line that Grischuk
chose against him:} (10... a5 11. a4 Na6 12. Nd5 Bxd5 13. exd5 b6 14. Rfd1 Nc7
15. Bf3 Nd7 16. Bg4 Nf6 17. Bf3 Nd7 18. Bg4 Nf6 19. Bf3 {1/2-1/2 (19)
Nepomniachtchi,I (2749)-Grischuk,A (2742) Sharjah 2017}) 11. Nd5 Bxd5 12. exd5
Nc5 13. Nxc5 dxc5 14. c4 Qc7 $146 {A novelty. In case of} (14... Bd6 {White
would develope in similar way to the game-} 15. Rae1 Ne8 16. Qh3 g6 17. Bc3 Ng7
18. Bd3 {with advantage for White, Oleksienko,M (2543)-Amonatov,F (2626)
Voronezh 2010}) 15. Rae1 Bd6 {At a glance Gelfand's position seems perfectly
fine. He intends to drop the knight back and then advance the f7 pawn. The
white passer on d5 is securely blocked while the back kingside pawns look more
fluid. But this impression is deceptive.} 16. Qh3 $1 {This is major difference
in comparison to the 10.Be3 line. The bishop on d2 is not obstructing the
queen and is ready to help in the coming attack on the long diagonal.} Rfe8 ({
If} 16... e4 17. f4 {and the bishops are ready to take control of the game
after Bd2-c3 and Be2-d1-c2.}) ({While} 16... Nd7 17. Bd3 g6 {can be met even
with a move like} 18. g4 $5) ({I suspect that the lesser evil for Black was
the possible endgame after} 16... Qd7 $5) 17. Bc3 {White's plan is very
straightforward. Bishops on the long diagonals, rooks on the "e" and "f" files,
f2-f4, break open the position and mate the king!} g6 ({Or} 17... Rab8 18. f4
b5 19. Bd3) 18. Bd3 Nh5 {Once more Gelfand decided not to search for queenside
play with:} (18... b5 19. f4 e4 20. Bc2 Nh5 21. f5 {White is better here too.})
19. g3 Re7 20. Re2 {Nepomniachtchi keeps on mounting pressure. In the short
time control this is an extremely fruitful approach. The immediate opening of
the position leads White nowhere after} (20. f4 exf4 21. g4 Rxe1 22. Rxe1 Ng7
23. Qh6 Bf8) 20... Rf8 {Prepares f7-f5 as:} (20... f5 $2 {fails to} 21. Bxf5)
21. Rfe1 f5 22. f3 Nf6 {Now it seemd as White cannot make any progress as both
the pawn advances are ineffective.} (22... e4 $2 23. fxe4 f4 24. e5 $1 {
wins for White.}) 23. Qh4 $1 {The queen is transferred on a working position.
The attack on the light squares with:} (23. g4 {would be met with} e4 $1 24.
fxe4 fxg4 {with perfect blockade on the dark square after Nf6-d7.}) (23. f4 {
is not particularly impressive neither after} Nd7) 23... Nd7 24. Qg5 Ref7 (
24... b5 $5 25. b3 b4 {to block the queenside probably made some sense.}) 25.
Qd2 Qd8 26. Kh1 Re8 27. a4 h5 $2 {Only this move can be claimed a definite
mistake. the light squares will no longer be recovered. Black needed to stay
tight and do nothing.} (27... Qc7 28. a5 Qd8 29. Bc2 {although then White can
start play on the queenside too after Bc2-a4 followed by b2-b4 later.}) 28. a5
{That is only possible thanks to the queen! Instead} (28. g4 $1 {was already
working, with the idea} hxg4 29. fxg4 e4 30. gxf5 $1 gxf5 31. Qh6 {and Black
is getting checkmated.}) 28... Kh7 29. Bc2 b5 {A desperate attempt to stop
Bc2-a4 after which the e5 pawn would suffer. But the danger comes from the
other side.} 30. axb6 Nxb6 31. Qd3 Qb8 32. g4 $1 {Blows the position appart.}
Nd7 ({The choice there is not:} 32... hxg4 33. fxg4 e4 34. Qh3+ {is mate.}) ({
While} 32... e4 33. fxe4 fxg4 34. e5 {is a disaster.}) 33. gxf5 gxf5 34. f4 {
The queen returns to h3.} e4 35. Qh3 Kh6 36. Rg2 Bxf4 37. Bd1 {Mate is
inevitable. The white queen was absolutely gorgeous today!} 1-0
[Event "Zurich Korchnoi CC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Kramnik, V."]
[Black "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D05"]
[WhiteElo "2811"]
[BlackElo "2793"]
[PlyCount "126"]
[EventDate "2017.04.13"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 e6 4. Nbd2 c5 5. b3 cxd4 6. exd4 Nc6 7. Bb2 g6 8. Bb5
Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. Re1 Qb6 11. a4 Bd7 12. c4 a6 13. Bxc6 Bxc6 14. c5 Qc7 15. b4
Ne4 16. Ne5 Nxd2 17. Qxd2 b5 18. cxb6 Qxb6 19. Rec1 Rfc8 20. Rc5 Be8 21. Nd3
Rcb8 22. Bc3 Qd8 23. Ra5 Bf8 24. Nc5 Rb6 25. g3 Bd6 26. h4 Bc7 27. b5 axb5 28.
Rxa8 Qxa8 29. axb5 Qc8 30. Ba5 Rxb5 31. Bxc7 Qxc7 32. Qg5 {We pick it up here,
since int he pos mortem the players themselves focused on this point and
future moves only.} (32. Ra8 Qc6 (32... Rb8 33. Na6) (32... Qe7) 33. Rd8 {
is an alternate idea, trying to get the knight to f6}) 32... Rb8 33. h5 Qd8 34.
Qe5 (34. Qg4 g5) 34... gxh5 {Nakamura reasoned this was safer to open the king
than to let the pawn live. He could have also bailed out completely with} (
34... f6 35. Qxe6+ Bf7 {but you might as well defend with the extra pawn than
without!}) 35. Ra7 Rb6 36. Qxh5 Kg7 37. Qg4+ Kf8 38. Qf4 Kg7 39. Qg4+ Kf8 40.
Kg2 h6 41. Qf3 {Kramnik seemed fairly convinced he should have something here,
but Black's position is surprisingly resilient considering his pieces are on
their heels.} Kg7 42. Qa3 Qf6 43. Ra8 Bb5 44. Qa5 (44. Qa7 {is a very long
computer line that necessarily the players didn't find in its entirety. For
completeness, here it is:} Bc6 45. Rc8 Rb2 46. Nd3 Bb7 47. Rb8 Rc2 $1 48. Qa4
$1 (48. Rxb7 Qf5) 48... Rc7 49. Nf4 Qf5 50. Qe8 Bc8 51. Rxc8 Qe4+ 52. Kh2 Rxc8
53. Qxc8 Qxd4 {And White should win, with some more work.}) 44... Bc6 45. Qxb6
Bxa8 {Not only does that bishop survive, it even thrives!} 46. Qc7 (46. Qa6 {
The problem with going after that bishop is that d4 always hangs, of the king
it too loose} Qxd4) 46... h5 47. f3 Qf5 48. Nd7 Bb7 $1 49. Qc5 (49. Qxb7 Qc2+
50. Kh3 Qf5+ {draws since} 51. Kh4 Qxf3 {and the checks continue}) 49... Ba6
50. Kf2 Kh7 51. Ne5 Kg7 (51... Qb1 {even wins!} 52. Nxf7 Qf1+ 53. Ke3 Qd3+ 54.
Kf2 (54. Kf4 Qf5+) 54... Qe2+ 55. Kg1 Qe1+ 56. Kh2 Qf2+ 57. Kh3 Bf1+ 58. Kh4
Qh2+ 59. Kg5 Qxg3+ 60. Kf6 Qxf3+ 61. Ke7 Kg7) 52. Nd7 Bc4 53. Qf8+ Kh7 54. Ne5
Qc2+ 55. Kg1 (55. Ke3 Qe2+ 56. Kf4 Qd2#) 55... Qd1+ 56. Kh2 Qd2+ 57. Kh3 Bf1+
58. Kh4 Qh2+ 59. Kg5 Qxg3+ 60. Ng4 hxg4 61. Qxf7+ Kh8 62. Qf8+ Kh7 63. Qf7+ Kh8
1/2-1/2
[Event "Zurich Korchnoi CC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gelfand, B."]
[Black "Anand, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A37"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2786"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2017.04.13"]
1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 e6 6. d4 $5 {A known gambit but
without a very strong pedigree.} Nxd4 7. Bf4 $6 {Incredibly rare!} (7. Nxd4
cxd4 8. Nb5 {or} (8. Ne4 {are both more standard})) 7... Ne7 (7... d6 {was the
2015 game Harutyunian-Hovhannisyan} 8. Nxd4 cxd4 9. Qa4+ Bd7 10. Nb5 Qb6 11.
Bxd6 a6 12. Qa3 {and White won}) 8. Nxd4 cxd4 9. Nb5 {The game is now quite
simple to summarize. The check on d6 and Black's inability to castle is not
worth the huge center and extra pawn.} e5 10. Nd6+ Kf8 11. Bd2 (11. Qb3 {
was the last chance to stay in the game, although if you are relying on these
hard-to-find moves, you can get in trouble.} Nf5 (11... exf4 $2 12. c5 {
and Black is basically mated by two pieces} Qa5+ 13. Kf1 Nd5 14. Qxd5 Ke7 15.
Qxf7+ Kd8 16. Qxg7 {is too horrific to consider})) 11... Qb6 12. Nxc8 Rxc8 13.
Qb3 f5 14. Bxb7 Rc7 15. Bg2 e4 {You don't often see Super-GMs get this kind of
center as Black on move 15!} 16. O-O Kf7 17. Rfc1 Rhc8 18. Bf4 Qxb3 19. axb3
Rb7 20. Bd6 Ke6 21. c5 Rxb3 22. Rxa7 Nc6 23. Ra2 Be5 24. Bxe5 Kxe5 25. f3 d3
26. exd3 Nb4 27. d4+ Kxd4 28. Ra7 d5 29. fxe4 fxe4 30. Rd1+ Rd3 31. Rda1 Rxc5
32. Bf1 Rd2 33. Rxh7 Nd3 34. b4 Rcc2 35. b5 Ne5 36. Ra4+ Kc5 0-1
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Oparin, Grigoryi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2786"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 {The Classical Spanish! About 9 years ago, when I was a teenager, I
remember how Indian IM Venkatchalam Saravanan remarked that 'If Vishy is
playing white and it's a Spanish, then it's 1-0.'} Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7
12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 g6 15. a4 c5 (15... Bg7 16. Bd3 c6 {is an
alternative and an altogether different way of handling this system.}) 16. d5
c4 17. Bg5 h6 {It's hard to criticise a move that has been played so often.
However, Pavel Eljanov suggests 17...Be7 in his Breyer DVD, and personally, I
don't feel comfortable about creating a kingside weakness like this.} (17...
Bg7 18. Qd2 Rb8 19. Nh2 Bc8 20. Ng4 Nc5 21. Nh6+ Bxh6 22. Bxh6 $14 {Anand,V
(2804)-Carlsen,M (2876) Norway Chess 3rd 2015 (4) 1-0 okay, remember what IM
Saravanan said? I guess even Magnus isn't an exception.}) (17... Nc5 18. Qd2
Be7 19. Bh6 Nfd7 20. a5 Bc8 21. Ra3 Nb7 22. Rea1 Ndc5 $11 {Mista,A (2616)-Giri,
A (2776) Qatar Masters op 2014 (2) 0-1 I think is a model game for Black in
the line. Also, I think it's always wise to trust and follow Anish when you're
in doubt in openings.}) 18. Be3 Nc5 19. Qd2 h5 20. Kh1 (20. Bxc5 $5 {is
another possibility which as far as I remember, was considered problematic for
Black.} dxc5 21. Reb1 Nd7 22. b3 Nb6 23. Qe2 cxb3 24. Bxb3 c4 25. Bd1 $14 {
Adams,M (2743)-Baramidze,D (2616) Dortmund SuperGM 42nd 2014 (7) 1-0}) 20...
Qc7 21. Ng5 Bg7 22. Nf1 bxa4 $6 {I think it is still a little premature to
release the tension.} (22... Nfd7 $142 23. Qe2 Nb6 24. a5 Nbd7 {is a typical
operation in Breyer, provoking a5 and closing White's queenside possibilities.
I think it wiser to show more restraint.}) 23. Qe2 a5 24. Nd2 Ba6 {The c4 is
well defended, but White has a little operation that allows him to plant his
bishop in a prickly spot.} 25. Bxc5 Qxc5 26. Bxa4 Reb8 27. Bc6 Ra7 28. Ra2 {[#]
} Bh6 29. Ngf3 Nd7 $2 {The decisive mistake. Black's position begins to fall
apart from here.} (29... a4 $142 $1 {Black threatens a3.} 30. Rea1 {preventing
a3, which leaves the queen on e2 hanging...} (30. Bxa4 Bb5 31. Rea1 Rba8 $19)
30... Bb5 31. Bxb5 Qxb5 {And now c4 can't be taken because, e2/e4 is hanging.}
32. Kg1 {Threatening to take Qc4 Qc4 Nc4 Ne4 Re1} (32. Qxc4 Qxc4 33. Nxc4 Nxe4
$11) (32. Nxc4 Rc8 33. b3 axb3 34. Rxa7 Qxc4 35. Qxc4 Rxc4 36. Rb7 Nxe4 $44)
32... a3 $1 33. Rb1 $14 (33. Rxa3 Rxa3 34. bxa3 Rc8 $11)) 30. Bxd7 Rxd7 31.
Rea1 {Now, Black loses a pawn by force.} Rb5 32. Qxc4 Qxf2 {Black equalizes,
but only temporarily.} 33. Qc6 Ra7 34. b4 $1 Bxd2 35. Nxd2 Qe3 36. Nc4 Qxe4 37.
Nxd6 Qxd5 38. Qxd5 Rxd5 39. Ne4 Kg7 40. Rxa5 {After a series of fantastic
tactical moves, White wins material by force.} Bd3 41. Rxa7 Bxe4 42. Re1 1-0
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2786"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 e6 6. d4 Nxd4 7. Bf4 {A
completely unheard of move. Over the board inspiration?} ({Popular theory goes:
} 7. Nxd4 cxd4 8. Nb5 (8. Ne4 d5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Qa4+ Kf8) 8... Qb6 9. e3 Ne7)
7... Ne7 8. Nxd4 cxd4 9. Nb5 e5 10. Nd6+ Kf8 11. Bd2 $2 (11. Qb3 $142 $1 {
was absolutely necessary} Nf5 $8 12. Nxf5 gxf5 13. Bd2 d6 14. e3 {And now,
White has compensation as Black's center isn't menacing and his pawn structure
is compromised.}) 11... Qb6 {pretty accurate response by Vishy. Black is a
pawn up, and has a strong center.The king's position isn't really a big factor
as Black manages to just play f5,Kf7 and develop the rook.} 12. Nxc8 {When
you're forced to exchange a piece that has already moved 3 times to an
undeveloped piece, it is logical that the position develops problems.} Rxc8 13.
Qb3 f5 $1 (13... Rc7 14. e3 f5 15. exd4 {breaks Black's center.}) 14. Bxb7 Rc7
15. Bg2 e4 {Black has a brilliant center, and White's g2 bishops is just shut
out.} 16. O-O Kf7 17. Rfc1 Rhc8 18. Bf4 Qxb3 19. axb3 Rb7 {[#] Black's active
pieces against White's passive pieces pretty much paint the story.} 20. Bd6 Ke6
21. c5 Rxb3 22. Rxa7 Nc6 23. Ra2 Be5 {exchanging White's best and only active
piece.} 24. Bxe5 Kxe5 25. f3 d3 26. exd3 Nb4 27. d4+ Kxd4 28. Ra7 d5 $1 {
each of Black's pieces, including the king is empowered. White's troops are
woefully uncoordinated.} 29. fxe4 fxe4 30. Rd1+ Rd3 31. Rda1 Rxc5 32. Bf1 Rd2
33. Rxh7 Nd3 34. b4 Rcc2 35. b5 Ne5 36. Ra4+ Kc5 {perfect, flawless game.} 0-1
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2724"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. O-O
O-O 9. Qd3 Be6 10. Bd2 $5 {A different way of operating a well kwell-knowna.
Nepo had played this against Grischuk a couple of months ago.} (10. Nd5 Bxd5
11. exd5 Nbd7 12. Be3 {is the mainline tabiya here.}) 10... Nbd7 {The
traditional way of operating in this structure, played after a 5 minute
thought. I am not sure about this, as it seems to me that 10.Bd2 is
specifically aimed against Black's traditional way of playing here. I am
curious as to what was Boris's preparation in this variation.} (10... a5 11. a4
(11. Be3 a4 12. Nd2 a3 $11) 11... Na6 12. Nd5 Bxd5 13. exd5 b6 14. Rfd1 (14. c3
Nc7 15. c4 Nd7 16. Qh3 Na6 17. Bd3 g6 18. f4 $132) 14... Nc7 15. Bf3 Nd7 16.
Bg4 Nf6 17. Bf3 Nd7 18. Bg4 Nf6 19. Bf3 {Nepomniachtchi,I (2749)-Grischuk,A
(2742) Sharjah FIDE GP 2017 (4) 1/2-1/2}) 11. Nd5 Bxd5 12. exd5 Nc5 $2 (12...
Ne8 13. c4 (13. Bg4 Nef6 14. Bh3 Re8 15. c4 Bf8 16. Na5 Qc7 17. b4 e4 18. Qd4
Ne5 $132 {Wang,Y (2718)-Dominguez Perez,L (2732) China Elite Mind blitz 2016
(15) 0-1}) 13... Bg5 14. Bxg5 Qxg5 $11 {Li,C (2755)-Giri,A (2790) Norway
Masters blitz 4th 2016 (4) 0-1}) 13. Nxc5 dxc5 14. c4 {White's plan is pretty
simple here. To prevent Black from advancing his central pawns by controlling
e5 and e4.} Qc7 15. Rae1 Bd6 16. Qh3 Rfe8 17. Bc3 g6 18. Bd3 Nh5 19. g3 Re7 20.
Re2 Rf8 21. Rfe1 f5 22. f3 {[#] White has effectively carried out measures
against e4. Now he can freely improve his position while Black struggles to
find a plan.} Nf6 (22... f4 23. g4 Nf6 {is just pointless.}) 23. Qh4 {
improving the queen, preventing e4.} Nd7 24. Qg5 Ref7 25. Qd2 {Nepo was so
well prepared in this position that he had 40 minutes remaining in this
position.} Qd8 (25... b5 $5 26. b3 b4 27. Bb2 a5 {was a possibility,
preventing White from seizing space on the queenside.}) 26. Kh1 Re8 27. a4 h5
28. a5 Kh7 29. Bc2 b5 30. axb6 Nxb6 31. Qd3 {White prepares the missile
launcher to nuke the Black king.} Qb8 32. g4 {lock and load.} Nd7 33. gxf5 (33.
gxh5 g5 {is perhaps a little less accurate.}) 33... gxf5 34. f4 e4 35. Qh3 Kh6
36. Rg2 Bxf4 37. Bd1 {simple and powerful. I believe Black got a worse
position from the opening, and instead 10...a5 played by Grischuk is probably
better.} 1-0
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2793"]
[BlackElo "2751"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. c4 O-O 5. Be2 b6 6. O-O Bb7 7. Nc3 d5 8. cxd5
Nxd5 9. Bd2 Nd7 10. Nxd5 Bxd5 11. Bc3 c5 12. Rc1 e6 13. Qa4 a6 14. Qa3 Qb8 $6 {
This move allows White to create a pawn structure where Black has three
islands, as Black is forced to take back on c5 with the pawn.} (14... Re8 15.
dxc5 Bxc3 16. Qxc3 Rc8 $11) 15. dxc5 Bxc3 16. Qxc3 {[#]} bxc5 $2 (16... Nxc5
17. Ne5 $14 {creates some unpleasant threats to Black based on the holes on f6,
h6, the long diagonal, and the fork on d7.}) (16... Rc8 $142 $1 17. b4 bxc5 18.
bxc5 Rxc5 19. Qd4 Rxc1 20. Rxc1 Qb7 $11) 17. Nd2 {Now, White has a very
pleasant structural advantage. Nakamura said that this was prophylaxis against
Bxf3.} a5 18. a4 Qb7 19. e4 Bc6 20. b3 {White has a huge strategic superiority,
and the rest was just a matter of technique.} Rfb8 21. Qe3 Qc7 22. Rfd1 Rb4 23.
Nc4 Rab8 24. Rc3 Nf6 25. f3 Nd7 26. Qd2 Nb6 27. Qg5 Nxc4 28. Bxc4 e5 29. h4 Kg7
30. h5 h6 31. Qe3 Rd8 32. Rxd8 Qxd8 33. hxg6 fxg6 34. Qxc5 Qb6 35. Bb5 1-0
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Oparin, Grigoriy"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2604"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h4 {wait, whaaat? Chess
is finite, but for all human intents and purposes, it's endless...} e5 7. Nb3
Be6 $6 {I think this move loses flexibility. The c8 bishop can develop to b7/
e6, the knight to d7/c6, whereas, the f8 bishop's optimal square is e7.
Therefore I think this is the move to be played first.} (7... Be7 $142) 8. f4
g6 9. Be2 Nbd7 10. g4 h5 11. g5 Ng4 12. Rf1 exf4 13. Bxf4 Nde5 {Prima facie,
it seems that White is better here, as his kingside attack is already through,
while's Black's counterplay hasn't even begun However, it's not as simple as
it looks. White's pawns are blockaded for the moment, and Black's pieces are
excellently placed in the centre.} 14. Qd2 Qc7 15. O-O-O Rd8 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17.
Qxd5 $6 (17. exd5 Rc8 (17... Bg7 18. Qa5 Rc8 19. Qxc7 Rxc7 20. Nd2 {would've
been a simple, yet solid strategic advantage I think.}) 18. Bxg4 $1 hxg4 (18...
Nxg4 19. Nd4 Bg7 20. Rfe1+ Ne5 21. Nf3 O-O 22. Nxe5 dxe5 23. d6 Qc4 24. Bxe5
Qxa2 25. c3 $18 {The d-pawn is bound to queen.}) 19. Bxe5 dxe5 20. c3 $16)
17... Bg7 18. Nd4 O-O 19. Kb1 Rfe8 20. c3 Rc8 21. Bxg4 hxg4 (21... Nxg4 22.
Bxd6 Qc4 {was also possible, as the e4 pawn isn't too strong. But of course,
pawn is a pawn.}) 22. h5 gxh5 23. Nf5 $2 (23. g6 $142 $5 {would've been more
energetic.}) 23... Re6 $1 {possibly missed/underestimated.} 24. Rh1 {[#]} Ng6
$2 {A complicated position with mutual time scramble.} (24... Nc4 $142 $5 {
would've been an interesting pawn sac.} 25. Bc1 Na3+ 26. bxa3 Re5 27. Qd3 Rb5+
28. Kc2 Qxc3+ 29. Qxc3 Rxc3+ 30. Kd2 Be5 $44) 25. Bg3 $2 (25. Bxd6 $142 Qc6 (
25... Qb6 26. Rdf1 $14) 26. Bg3 $14) 25... Qb6 26. Nxg7 $6 {The knight
actually controls a lot of important squares, and the exchange doesn't feel
right.} (26. Rxh5 $142 Rxc3 27. Rh2) 26... Kxg7 27. Rxh5 Qe3 28. Bxd6 $2 {
The decisive mistake.} (28. Qxb7 Qxe4+ 29. Qxe4 Rxe4 30. Bxd6 $132 {would've
made the difference of one important pawn.}) 28... Qxe4+ 29. Qxe4 Rxe4 30. Rhh1
{Now, Black is better due to the g4 pawn, who is a soldier way above his peers.
...} Nf4 31. Rdf1 (31. Bxf4 Rxf4 32. Rd5 Rf3 33. Kc2 g3 $19) 31... Nh3 32. Rf5
Rc6 33. Rd1 Re6 34. Bg3 Kg6 35. Rff1 Re3 36. Bb8 Rf3 37. Rxf3 gxf3 38. Rf1 f2
39. Bg3 Rc5 40. Kc2 Rxg5 0-1
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.16"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Pelletier, Yannick"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2541"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 e6 4. Nf3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7 7. Re1 d6 8. d4 $5
(8. e4 a6 9. d4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Qc7 11. Be3 (11. b3 Nbd7 12. Bb2 O-O 13. f4 Rfe8
14. Qf3 Bf8 15. Rad1 Rac8 16. Re2 Qb8 17. g4 h6 18. h4 g6) 11... Nbd7 12. Rc1 {
Marin,M (2553)-Kovacevic,S (2417) Benasque op 28th 2008 (6) 1/2-1/2 is the
mainline. Marin:A very aggressive setup, which, about 10 years ago, was
supposed to refute the English Hedgehog. White has excellent development and
can combine the threats f5, g4 and, sometimes, e5 in order to obtain a strong
initiative. However, if Black manages to find adequate answers against all
these threats, White's position may easily lose flexibility, leaving him
overextended and exposed to Black's counter-blows ...e5, ...d5 or ...b5.}) 8...
cxd4 (8... Ne4 $5 {is worth considering, exploiting the drawback of not
playing e4.} 9. d5 (9. Bd2 Nxd2 10. Qxd2 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Bxg2 12. Kxg2 Qc8 13. b3
O-O {with a tiny edge for White.}) 9... Nxc3 10. bxc3 O-O 11. Nd2 Qc7 12. e4
Nd7 {appears more pleasant for White, but Black seems alright as well.}) 9.
Nxd4 Bxg2 10. Kxg2 O-O (10... Qc8 {the old approach is met concretely with} 11.
e4 {and Black can't play} Qxc4 {because} 12. Bg5 Nc6 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14. Ndb5 $36
{And Black gets into a very unpleasant position}) 11. e4 a6 12. b3 Qc7 13. Bb2
Nbd7 $2 (13... Nc6 $142 {appears better to me, exchanging pieces in a position
with less space.} 14. f3 (14. Nde2 Nd7) (14. Nc2 Qb7 15. Qe2 Rab8) 14... Nxd4
15. Qxd4 Rfd8 16. a4 $132 {And Black can try for d5/b5.}) 14. f4 Rfe8 15. Qf3
Bf8 16. Rad1 Rac8 (16... e5 17. Nf5 b5 18. Ba3 $14) 17. Re2 Qb8 18. g4 e5 (
18... g6 {is the traditional way to respond in the usual position with light
square bishop. However, here it isn't possible due to} 19. e5 dxe5 20. fxe5 $18
) (18... h6 19. h4 g6 20. h5 $1 $16 (20. e5 dxe5 21. fxe5 Nxe5 22. Qxf6 Nxg4
$44)) 19. Nf5 g6 20. Ng3 exf4 21. Qxf4 Re6 22. g5 Ne8 23. Nd5 {[#] White just
has a crushing position. Black is doomed because there is simply no way he can
defend the f7 pawn.} Ne5 24. Rf2 Rc7 (24... Qb7 25. Rdf1 b5 26. Qh4 {And f7
falls by force.}) 25. Nxc7 Qxc7 26. Ne2 {Even after sacrificing an exchange,
Black has no respite. White's pieces continue to be more dominant and he also
has superior force now.} Bg7 27. Nc3 Qb7 28. Nd5 Nc7 29. Ba3 Qb8 30. Ne3 Ne8
31. Ng4 Re7 32. Nh6+ Bxh6 33. gxh6 Re6 34. Bb2 f6 35. Rd5 Nf7 36. Qg4 Nc7 37.
Rd3 Qe8 38. Rxf6 Nxh6 39. Rxe6 Nxe6 40. Qh4 Nf7 41. Qf6 Qd7 42. Kg1 Kf8 43. e5
1-0
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.16"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2793"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. a3
Nc6 9. Be2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Qxd1+ 11. Rxd1 a6 12. Bd6 Bxd6 13. Rxd6 Rd8 14. Rxd8+
Nxd8 15. Bd3 Bd7 16. Ke2 Kf8 17. Rd1 Ke7 18. Ne5 Nc6 19. Nxd7 Nxd7 20. Ne4 Rc8
21. Rc1 Nd4+ 22. Kd1 Rxc1+ 23. Kxc1 Nc6 24. Kc2 f5 25. Nd2 g5 26. b4 a5 27.
bxa5 Nxa5 28. Be2 Nf6 29. Kc3 Nd5+ 30. Kc2 Nf6 31. Kc3 {Boris had 8 minutes,
Hikaru on the other hand, 32. Play on.} Kd7 32. h3 Kd6 33. Nc4+ Nxc4 34. Kxc4
b6 35. Kb5 (35. g4 {wouldn't allow Black to press the way he did.} Ne4 (35...
Nd5 36. gxf5 exf5 37. Bd3 Ke5 38. Bxf5 Nxe3+ 39. fxe3 Kxf5 40. Kd5 h5 41. e4+
Kf6 42. Kd6 Kf7 43. Kd7 Kf6 $11) 36. f3 Nf2 37. Kb5 Kc7 38. Bc4 Nxh3 39. Bxe6
f4 40. exf4 Nxf4 41. Bb3 $11) 35... Kc7 36. Kc4 (36. g4 Ne4) 36... h5 37. Bf3
h4 38. Ba8 Nd7 39. f4 g4 40. Kd4 $4 {The decisive mistake, made with 1 minute
remaining.} (40. Kb5 Nf6 41. Kc4 {would be a draw as the knight would've no
way to 'enter'}) 40... b5 {Once the knight enters and starts preying on
White's pawns, it'll be similar to the effect of water entering into a ship.}
41. hxg4 fxg4 42. Be4 Nf6 43. Bd3 g3 44. Bf1 Ng4 0-1
[Event "Kortchnoi ZCC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich"]
[Date "2017.04.16"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2786"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Qe2 {'Vishy:
I kind of decided to try something new'} a6 8. O-O-O Qc7 9. g4 b5 10. g5 Nd7
11. h4 Bb7 12. a3 {With the queen on d2, White always has Nce2 against b4, so
this would probably not be necessary. But now this is a necessary prophylaxis.
However, this is usually done after Black plays Bb7 as he isn't fast with Rb8,
b4 now.} (12. Rh3 b4 13. Na4 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 e5) 12... Rc8 13. Bh3 b4 14. axb4
Nxb4 15. Nxe6 (15. Bxe6 fxe6 16. Nxe6 {wouldn't work because of} Qa5 17. Kb1
Rxc3 18. bxc3 Qa2+ 19. Kc1 Nc6 $17) 15... fxe6 16. Bxe6 {[#] The bishop on e6
is an amazing multipurpose piece. Apart from holding Black's king in the
center, it also ensures that the White king never gets mated on a2.} Qa5 17.
Kb1 (17. Bd4 {doesn't work due to} Qa1+ 18. Kd2 Qxb2 $19) 17... Rxc3 18. bxc3
Nc6 (18... d5 {doesn't work due to the brilliant} 19. Bxd7+ Kxd7 20. Qc4 $3 {
[#]} Ke6 21. cxb4 $18) 19. Rh3 Be7 20. Bd4 Nc5 21. Bxc5 (21. Bxg7 Nxe6 22. Qh5+
(22. Bxh8 {runs into} Nf4) 22... Kd8 23. Bxh8 Nf4 24. Qf3 Nxh3 25. Qxh3 Ne5
$132) 21... Qxc5 22. f4 {White has so much space and his pieces are dominating
Black's. Black is enormous pressure.} Kd8 23. Qe3 Qxe3 24. Rxe3 h6 25. c4 {
In the post game, Vishy said that this was what Svidler had missed.} hxg5 (
25... Kc7 26. c5 dxc5 27. Rd7+ Kb8 28. Rb3 $18) 26. hxg5 Rf8 $2 (26... Bc8 $142
$1 {was necessary. It is only logical to exchange off the monster that was
causing Black so much grief.} 27. Bd5 (27. Bxc8 Kxc8 {And White has lost his
main asset.}) (27. Bf5 Rh4 28. Rf3 Kc7 $11) 27... Nb4 28. Rg1 Bd7 29. f5 Ba4
$132) 27. f5 Ne5 28. Rg1 {the pressure tells.} d5 $2 {Black's position just
collapses now.} 29. Rb3 (29. cxd5 Bc5 30. Rb3 Bxg1 31. Rxb7 {also wins!}) 29...
Kc7 30. cxd5 Rh8 31. f6 Bf8 32. d6+ 1-0
[Event "Zurich Korchnoi CC 2017"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2017.04.16"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Anand, V."]
[Black "Svidler, P."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B45"]
[WhiteElo "2786"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2017.04.13"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Qe2 a6 8.
O-O-O Qc7 9. g4 b5 10. g5 Nd7 11. h4 Bb7 (11... b4 {The computer demands this
move and says Black is ok.} 12. Nd5 $1 {but this sac is quite promising.
Further analysis needed :)}) 12. a3 Rc8 13. Bh3 b4 14. axb4 Nxb4 15. Nxe6 $1 {
An extremely typical Sicilian sacrifice. Mate isn't all that likely, but
Black's king needs constant tending, and Black struggles to develop the
h8-rook.} fxe6 16. Bxe6 Qa5 {Of course, Black will not need the h8-rook if
Black gives mate.} 17. Kb1 {Very calm and confident. Everything is covered.}
Rxc3 $5 {The classic sacrifice is valid here, but White remains better.} 18.
bxc3 Nc6 19. Rh3 Be7 20. Bd4 Nc5 21. Bxc5 Qxc5 {Svidler has made considerable
progress. Rh3 may not have been the best. Direct play in the center with a
plan of f4 and Rhe1 was possible.} 22. f4 Kd8 {After ...Kc7, Svidler's king
will be quite safe, and it may soon be Anand's who is in need of aid.} 23. Qe3
$1 {So Anand offers a trade of queens, taking king safety out of the equation.
Suddenly, the most important factor may be White's advanced pawns.} Qxe3 (23...
Qb5+ {It was possible to retain the queens.}) 24. Rxe3 h6 25. c4 hxg5 26. hxg5
Rf8 $6 {This move doesn't make sense in light of White's next.} (26... Rh4 $5 {
gets some counterplay.}) (26... Bc8 $5 {gives room to breathe.}) 27. f5 {
Now f6! followed by g6! is an idea.} Ne5 28. Rg1 d5 $2 {In a difficult
position, Svidler flinches while trying to set up the threa of ...Bc5.} 29. Rb3
$1 {The loose bishop on b7 is hit so Anand can grab d5 safely next move.} Kc7
30. cxd5 Rh8 31. f6 $1 Bf8 (31... gxf6 32. g6 {will promote or win a piece for
the pawn.}) 32. d6+ $1 {The bishop on f8 and the king on c7 are overwhelmed
trying to defend g7 and b7.} 1-0
[Event "Zurich SUI"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2017.04.16"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Gelfand, B."]
[Black "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2793"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2017.04.13"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. a3
Nc6 9. Be2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Qxd1+ 11. Rxd1 a6 12. Bd6 Bxd6 13. Rxd6 Rd8 14. Rxd8+
Nxd8 15. Bd3 Bd7 16. Ke2 Kf8 17. Rd1 Ke7 18. Ne5 Nc6 {It is difficult to
believe that Gelfand could lose this. For once, the computer's evaluation of 0.
00 seems entirely rational.} 19. Nxd7 Nxd7 20. Ne4 Rc8 21. Rc1 Nd4+ 22. Kd1
Rxc1+ 23. Kxc1 Nc6 24. Kc2 f5 {Nakamura starts to sieze space and restrict
Gelfand's pieces.} 25. Nd2 g5 26. b4 a5 27. bxa5 Nxa5 28. Be2 Nf6 29. Kc3 Nd5+
30. Kc2 Nf6 31. Kc3 Kd7 {Nakamura declines a repetition, indicating (if ...f5
and ...g5 hadn't already) that he is playing for a win.} 32. h3 Kd6 33. Nc4+
Nxc4 34. Kxc4 b6 35. Kb5 Kc7 36. Kc4 h5 37. Bf3 h4 38. Ba8 Nd7 39. f4 g4 40.
Kd4 $2 {This is the key error on the famous 40th move. Of course here the move
number should not matter as there is no second time control.} (40. Kb5 {
After this or other natural moves, the position remains drawn although
Nakamura seems to be the one pressing.}) 40... b5 $1 {The bishop is about to
be trapped by ...Nb6!} 41. hxg4 (41. e4 Nb6 42. exf5 {Sacing the bishop to try
liquidate the remain pawns just doesn't work.} Nxa8 43. fxe6 gxh3 44. gxh3 Kd6
45. f5 Nb6 {The black knight can go to c4 or f4 in the right circumstances and
win a white pawn and soon queen a black one.}) 41... fxg4 42. Be4 Nf6 43. Bd3
g3 {h3, fxg3, g2 is immediately threatened.} 44. Bf1 Ng4 {Gelfand resigned in
light of ...Nh2 when the bishop on f1 is hit and ...h3! will breakt hrough.
Gelfand can rush his king back to d3 and e2, but then he is short on moves and
Nakamura can improve the king.} 0-1
[Event "Zurich SUI"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2017.04.16"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Pelletier, Y."]
[Black "Gelfand, B."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2541"]
[BlackElo "2724"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[EventDate "2017.04.13"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Be2
b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Bb2 Qe7 11. Rad1 Rad8 12. Rfe1 Rfe8 13. Bf1 e5 14. cxd5 e4
15. Nh4 $2 (15. dxc6 Bxc6 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Bxe5 {is roughly equal.}) 15...
Bxh2+ $1 {Uh-oh. Pelletier must have seen this but thought he could survive
with the knig on h3.} 16. Kxh2 Ng4+ 17. Kh3 (17. Kg3 $2 Ndf6 {...Qd6+ or ...
Qc7+ are too hard to meet.}) (17. Kg1 $4 Qxh4 {is a huge attack and material
to boot.}) 17... Ndf6 {...Bc8 is a huge threat.} 18. g3 {Pelletier wants to
hide the king on g2.} g5 19. f3 gxh4 20. Nxe4 $4 {This is the losing mistake.}
(20. fxg4 {Pelletier had to continue greedily.} Nxg4 $1 {Gelfand's attack is
still potent.} 21. Kxg4 $4 Bc8+ 22. Kh5 h6 {mate in 3.}) 20... Nxe4 21. fxg4
Qd6 22. Qg2 hxg3 {intending ...Qh6#} 23. Qg1 g2 {...Qg3# and ...Qh6# force
White to relinquish scads of material.} 0-1
[Event "Zurich SUI"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2017.04.16"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Oparin, G."]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, I."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2604"]
[BlackElo "2751"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2017.04.13"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Qd3 {What hasn't been
tried against the Najdorf these days?} Nbd7 7. Be2 g6 8. Bg5 Bg7 9. O-O-O h6
10. Bh4 O-O 11. Kb1 Qc7 12. Qe3 b5 13. g4 Bb7 (13... e5 $1 {The chess coach in
me hates to see this played in conjunction with a bishop on g7, but it is good
surprisingly often. Black can expand rapidly after this move.} 14. Nb3 b4 15.
Nd5 Nxd5 16. Rxd5 Bb7 17. Rd2 g5 18. Bg3 a5) 14. g5 hxg5 15. Bxg5 b4 16. Nd5 (
16. Bh6 $1 {Nepomniachtchi "blundered" this move. It seems to be Oparin's best
chance. After missing this tricky move, Oparin doesn't seem to get much of a
chance.} bxc3 $4 (16... Bh8 $1 {Black is still much better.}) 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 $4
18. Nf5+ $1 gxf5 19. Rdg1+ Ng4 20. Qg5+ Kh7 21. Qxf5+ Kh6 22. Qxg4) 16... Bxd5
17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Qe4 N7f6 19. Bxf6 Nxf6 20. Qg2 Rfc8 21. h4 e5 22. h5 exd4 23.
Bd3 Nxh5 24. Rxh5 gxh5 25. Rg1 f5 26. Bc4+ d5 27. Qxd5+ Kh8 28. Bb3 d3 0-1