[Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.05.31"] [Round "5"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E05"] [WhiteElo "2864"] [BlackElo "2753"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 b5 { A topical line that Carlsen used himself as Black.} 8. a4 Bb7 {Radjabov sacrifices a pawn.} ({The world champion preferred instead} 8... b4 9. Nfd2 Nd5 10. Nxc4 c5 11. dxc5 Ba6 12. Ne3 Nd7 13. Nxd5 exd5 14. c6 Rc8 15. Bf4 Nc5 16. c7 Qd7 17. Nd2 g5 {with a huge mess in Ding,L (2805)-Carlsen,M (2875) Zagreb 2019}) 9. axb5 a6 10. bxa6 Nxa6 11. Qxc4 Bd5 12. Qc3 c5 {Up to here the players were following another top game, until the world champion came with a novelty.} 13. Bf4 $146 ({Nakamura defended convincingly in the predecessor after:} 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Rxa8 Qxa8 15. Be3 Nfe4 16. Qc2 Rc8 17. Nc3 Nxc3 18. bxc3 Ne4 19. Bd4 Nxc3 20. Bxc3 Bf6 21. Rc1 Rxc3 {Vidit,S (2723)-Nakamura,H (2766) Chess.com INT 2022}) 13... Ne4 14. Qc1 cxd4 15. Nxd4 {\"It is very rare that you follow a plan from move one and it just works perfectly. I took a pawn in the opening and defended it in a very, very ugly way, and that passed pawn won me the game.\" (Carlsen)} Nec5 {The world champion felt optimistic after this move as he did not think this was any of the main moves in his preparation file.} ({The computer preferences are} 15... Nac5 16. Rxa8 Qxa8) ({ Or the super-sharp} 15... Nxf2 $5 16. Rxf2 Bxg2 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Kxg2 Nc7 19. Rxa8 Qxa8+ 20. Rf3 Nd5 {with chances to hold on to the draw in both cases.}) 16. Bxd5 Qxd5 17. Be3 {White already liked his position a lot.} Qb7 {The best practical choice according to Carlsen. Now the white queenside knight needs to develop less ambitiously.} ({In case of} 17... Bf6 {White was planning} 18. Nc3 Qd7 (18... Qb7 19. Qb1 {\"intending again Nd4-b5, and these bunched-up knights are potentially really very ugly for Black.\" (Carlsen)}) 19. Ndb5 {As} ({ The Norwegian was also considering} 19. Rd1 Bxd4 20. Bxd4 Nb3 21. Bxg7 Nxc1 22. Rxd7 Nxe2+ 23. Nxe2 Kxg7 {with a healthy extra pawn for White.}) 19... Nb3 20. Qd1) 18. Nd2 ({Not} 18. Nc3 $2 e5) 18... Rac8 19. Qb1 Nb4 20. N4f3 {After some consolidation, White will initiate trades. Radjabov's problem, according to Carlsen, is that he does not have a neat way to force the draw.} Qb5 21. Re1 Rfd8 22. Kf1 {\"It is a really ugly move, but it is the only chance that I saw. \" (Carlsen)} (22. Bxc5 Bxc5 {\"He is just too active.\" (Carlsen)}) 22... h6 23. Rc1 Bf8 {At the end of the day, Radjabov decided to stay put. The problem was that he spent too much time on this move, and his clock was suffering at this moment. Badly.} ({Nothing really changes} 23... Na4 24. Rxc8 Rxc8 25. Bd4) 24. Ne4 Nb3 25. Rxc8 {\"It feels so nice to exchange some pieces.\"(Carlsen)} Rxc8 26. Nc3 Qb7 ({In case of} 26... Qc6 {White was planning} 27. Ra3 $1 ({ Rather than} 27. Ra7 Bc5)) 27. Ra4 $1 {An accurate move.} ({The world champion mentioned the cute trick} 27. Ra7 Nd2+ $3 28. Nxd2 (28. Bxd2 Qxa7) 28... Qh1#) 27... Nd5 {Now it is very straightforward for White.} ({It made sense to try another version of the long-diagonal trick with} 27... Bc5 $1 {Then} 28. Bxc5 $4 {would be horrific due to} ({Therefore White needs to opt for} 28. Qd1 { When Black preserves chances for a fortress with either} Nd5 ({Or} 28... Nc6 $5 ) 29. Nxd5 exd5 30. Bxc5 Rxc5) 28... Nd2+ $1 29. Nxd2 Qh1#) 28. Nxd5 Qxd5 29. Kg2 ({Also excellent for White was Gustafsson's suggestion} 29. Qd3 Qxd3 30. exd3 Rb8 31. Ne5 {with excellent winning chances, as the black knight would be soon cut off the game with d3-d4.}) 29... Qc6 30. Ra7 {All the black pieces are optimally placed according to Radjabov and he does not want to make any moves with them. Therefore} g5 {But this is too much.} ({Or} 30... Qd5 31. h4 ( {And perhaps even better was} 31. Qd3)) 31. Qd3 Nc5 32. Qc4 Qb6 33. Qa2 Qc6 ({ There are no drawing chances after} 33... Qb4 34. Ra8 {(Carlsen)}) 34. b4 Nd7 ( {The last try was} 34... Nb7 {although Black should lose here too.}) 35. b5 Qd6 ({There are no tricks after} 35... Qxb5 36. Nd4 Qe5 37. Rxd7 Qe4+ 38. Kg1 Rb8 39. Nc2 {(Carlsen)}) 36. Qa6 {The passer is unstoppable. PLAY CHESS, NO WAR $1} 1-0