[Event "PRO League Prelim"] [Site "Chess.com INT"] [Date "2023.03.17"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2780"] [BlackElo "2745"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {Chessplayers who play 1. d4 usually are cool minded, strategist and plays solid defense. They prefer slow yet, the purpose is to control the center and not allow black to immediately attack. In this game, black is tempted to take free pawns not thinking about the loss of tempo with regards to development.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 {Here, GM Anish Giri plays the "The Catalan System versus black's Queen's Gambit.} dxc4 {This is normal take when accepting free pawn in the opening.} 5. Bg2 {White is not bothered by being pawn down.} c6 {Black wants to connect queenside pawns obviously.} 6. O-O b5 { Black became greedy here due to the delayed kingside development. I have a strong feeling that white will soon use the spatial advantage in the center.} 7. b3 {This is it, part of white's strategy to give more pawns to delay black from castling.} cxb3 8. Qxb3 Bb7 9. Rd1 Nbd7 10. Nc3 a6 11. Ne5 {First strike, white begins to pressure the center since the royal couple is still sitting pretty.} Qc8 {Yes, the black queen, side steps to connect with the bishop at b7 but still black's position is not good.} 12. Bf4 {Here, white is fully developed, ready to strike black's delayed king from castling.} c5 13. Nxd7 Nxd7 {Only move.} ({IF} 13... Qxd7 14. dxc5) 14. d5 {Best move, white must hit the center, take advantage of the inaction of the lazy black king.} c4 15. Qc2 {Simply Qc2...} Nc5 16. Rab1 {Preparing to play a4 soonest.} Be7 17. a4 exd5 18. axb5 axb5 {KINDLY ANALYSE THIS POSITION, WHICH PAWN YOU THINK IS BEST TO TAKE AND WHY?} 19. Nxb5 {Of course, because the knight at b5 has a move going to c7.} O-O 20. Nd6 {But GM Anish Giri prefers this Nd6 move instead.} Bxd6 21. Bxd6 Ne4 ({IF} 21... Rd8 22. Bxc5 Qxc5 23. Rxb7) 22. Bxf8 {Black now is quality down.} Kxf8 23. Qb2 c3 24. Qb4+ Kg8 25. Rdc1 c2 26. Rb2 Ra1 27. Rxa1 c1=Q+ 28. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 29. Bf1 Nc5 30. Rb1 {Pretty easy for white in dictating the game after black's 7...cb3 move. What we learned from this game is the consequences of delaying development and not castling at the right time. GM Anish Giri simply made smooth moves to beat Super GM Alexander Grischuk.} 1-0