[Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.15"] [Round "1"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2809"] [BlackElo "2872"] [Annotator "Marin,M"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ 5. Qxd2 d5 {This apparently simplistic way of playing used to be a specialty of Ulf Andersson, a completely different kind of player from Carlsen.} 6. Nc3 ({The typical way of meeting any Bogo-Indian setup is based on the kingside fianchetto; Carlsen had some recent experience against it, though.} 6. g3 O-O 7. Bg2 Nbd7 8. O-O c6 9. Rc1 b6 10. cxd5 (10. b4 {Topalov,V (2803)-Carlsen,M (2826)/Nanjing 2010/CBM 139/[Edouard,R] (0-1, 33)}) 10... cxd5 11. Nc3 (11. Na3 {Kramnik,V (2784) -Carlsen,M (2814)/Wijk aan Zee 2011/CBM 141/[Moradiabadi/Karsten Mueller] (0-1, 85)}) 11... Ba6 {Wang Yue (2732)-Carlsen,M (2826)/Nanjing 2010/CBM 139/ [Edouard,R] (1/2, 28)}) 6... O-O 7. e3 {Before moving forward, I find it useful to relate the position to some refefrence points from well settled theory. In the Orthodox lines of the Queen's Gambit, Black frequently aims to exchange the dark-squared bishops, in order to get some space for the queen and release the pressure against the f6-knight. Two classical ways of achieving that are the Capablanca System (...dxc4 followed by ...Nd5) and he Lasker System (...Ne4).. From this point of view, I find some positive aspects in the Bogo setup: Black exchanges the bishops without the need to give up the tension in the centre with ...dxc4 or moving for the second time with an already developed knight.} Qe7 {The perfect square for the queen in many Bogo-Indian lines.} 8. Rc1 Rd8 {This way of putting pressure on the white centre is reminsicent to some extent of one of the plans in the Lasker System.} 9. Qc2 ({Deviating from an earlier Carlsen game:} 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Nc6 { An useful preparation for ...Ne4.} (10... Ne4 11. Qc2 $14) 11. Bb5 (11. O-O Ne4 12. Qe2 Bg4) (11. a3 {is too slow: after having taken the e5-square under control, Black can develop his initiative with} Bg4) 11... Rd6 {Somewhat similar to one of the Lasker System variations, successfully used by Yusupov during his candidates match against Karpov, ages ago.} 12. Bxc6 Rxc6 13. Ne5 Re6 14. f3 b6 15. O-O Bb7 16. Rfe1 h6 17. Ne2 c5 18. Nf4 Rd6 19. dxc5 bxc5 20. Ned3 c4 21. Nb4 Rad8 22. Nc2 Nd7 23. Nd4 Ne5 $132 {Bacrot,E (2713)-Carlsen,M (2837)/Biel 2012/CBM 150 (1/2, 56)}) 9... a6 $5 {Resorting to a basic idea from other Queen's Gambit setups than those mentioned above. Black prepares the queenside expansion with ...b5 and ...c5, waiting with ...dxc4 until White has spent a tempo on developing his bishop.} (9... Nbd7 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Bd3 Nf8 12. O-O {The position is typical for the Karlsbad/Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit. The previous exchange of the bishops ensures Black some freedom of action for his major pieces. It is interesting to follow the harmonious regrouping of two great modern/classic players of completely different style.} Ng6 (12... c6 13. a3 Ng6 14. h3 Rd6 15. Rfe1 Bd7 16. Nd2 Re8 $11 {Van der Sterren,P (2470)-Andersson,U (2605)/Wijk aan Zee 1988/CBM 005 (0-1, 40)}) 13. Ne2 c6 14. Ng3 Re8 15. Qc5 Qd8 16. Nd2 Nh4 17. b4 a6 18. a4 Bd7 19. Rb1 Ng4 20. Qc2 g6 21. b5 axb5 22. axb5 h5 23. bxc6 bxc6 24. Rfe1 Qf6 { One can feel the kingside pressure already.} 25. Ndf1 {Ironically, this knight does not only fail to defend the king, but it also takes away an important square from the king and bishop.} (25. Nb3 Nxg2 $1 26. Kxg2 h4 27. Nc5 Bc8 { Retreating with the knight leads to disaster after ...h3!+, but} 28. Qe2 Kg7 { /\...Rh8 does not spare White problems, either. Once again, stepping back is bad:} 29. Nf1 h3+ 30. Kg1 Ra2 $1 31. Nd2 Qd6 $19) 25... Ra3 26. Re2 c5 $1 { Excellent! White cannot defend both wings properly.} 27. dxc5 Ne5 28. Bb5 $2 Qf3 $3 {0-1 Andruet,G (2450)-Spassky,B (2565)/Germany 1988/GER-chT} 29. gxf3 Nexf3+ 30. Kh1 Bh3 $1 {/\...Bg2# What a shock! The f1-knight is Black's best friend. One move earlier, it prevented Kf1, now it does not allow the defence Bf1.}) ({In practice, White has failed to prove anything convincing after the simplistic} 9... dxc4 10. Bxc4 c5 {, but the general feeling is that Black has not equalised completely at this stage.} 11. O-O Nc6 (11... cxd4 12. Nxd4 Bd7 13. Rfd1 Nc6 14. Bb5 Rac8 15. Nxc6 Bxc6 16. Bxc6 Rxc6 17. Rxd8+ Qxd8 18. Rd1 { 1/2 Andersson,U (2640)-Spassky,B (2605)/Tilburg 1983/MCD} Qb8 19. Qd3 Rc8 20. h3 {1/2 Chernin,A (2565)-Spassky,B (2620)/Reggio Emilia 1986/CBM 004}) (11... Nbd7 12. Rfd1 cxd4 13. Rxd4 Nb6 14. Rxd8+ Qxd8 15. Bb5 Bd7 $11 {Akobian,V (2622)-Ghaem Maghami,E (2572)/Al Ain 2012/CBM 152 (1/2, 30)}) 12. dxc5 Qxc5 13. Ne4 Qe7 14. a3 Bd7 15. Bd3 (15. Rfd1 Be8 {1/2 Vaganian,R (2630)-Karpov,A (2700) /London 1984/MCL}) 15... h6 16. b4 Rac8 {Nikolic,P (2540)-Andersson,U (2640)/ Niksic 1983/MCD (0-1, 39)}) 10. a3 (10. cxd5 exd5 11. Bd3 {can again be met with} Nc6 $5 12. Be2 Bg4 (12... g6 $5) 13. O-O Ne4 14. h3 Bh5 15. Ne5 Nb4 16. Qd1 Bxe2 17. Qxe2 f6 18. Nf3 Rd7 19. a3 Nc6 20. b4 Nxc3 21. Rxc3 Na7 22. Rc5 Nc8 23. Rfc1 c6 24. a4 Nd6 {Akobian,V (2621)-Krush,I (2461)/Philadelphia 2012/ CBM 147 Extra (1/2, 44). After the knight has reached d6, only Black can be better. Compare with the famous Portisch-Kasparov Skelleftea 1989 and Bobotsov-Petrosian Lugano (ol) 1968 games.}) 10... Nbd7 11. Be2 $6 $146 { This does not make any effort to cross Black's plans.} (11. h3 {is only a little bit better, because h2-h3 does not change anything essentially.} dxc4 12. Bxc4 c5 13. O-O b5 14. Ba2 (14. Be2 {would almost transpose to the main game.}) 14... Bb7 15. Qe2 cxd4 16. exd4 Nb6 $11 {Mukhaev,A (2315)-Kholmov,R (2465)/Moscow 1997/EXT 2000 (1/2, 50)}) ({Probably this is a good moment to exchange on d5, since the insertion of ...a6 and a3 may favour White strategically.} 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Na4 $5 (12. Bd3 c5 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. O-O Bg4 15. Nd4 Rac8 {may offer Black some dynamic compensation for the isolani with a supposedly bad bishop.}) 12... c6 13. Bd3 Ne4 14. O-O Re8 15. b4 {[%csl Rb6] [%CAl Ga4c5,Gf3d2]}) 11... dxc4 12. Bxc4 c5 13. Be2 b5 14. dxc5 Qxc5 15. b4 Qe7 16. O-O Bb7 {Black has equalised completely; in fact, White's position has somewhat lost flexibility, which explains why Aronian decides to force drawish exchanges.} 17. a4 $11 (17. Rfd1 Rac8 18. Qb3 Bxf3 19. Bxf3 Ne5 {[%csl Gc4] is the typical neutral course which could favour only Black.}) 17... Qxb4 18. axb5 axb5 19. Qb1 Qxb1 20. Rxb1 Bxf3 21. Bxf3 Rab8 22. Nxb5 Ne5 23. Nd4 Nxf3+ 24. Nxf3 Rxb1 25. Rxb1 h6 26. h3 g5 27. g4 Kg7 28. Kg2 Rd7 29. Rb2 Rc7 30. Nd4 Nd5 31. Rc2 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.16"] [Round "2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A33"] [WhiteElo "2872"] [BlackElo "2810"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Bf4 d5 7. e3 (7. Ndb5 { transposes to a line that used to be fashionable a few decades ago; in recent years we had Nakamura,H (2775)-Kramnik,V (2801)/Moscow 2012/CBM 149/[Marin,M] (1/2, 40)}) 7... Bb4 8. Be2 dxc4 $146 (8... O-O {Zhigalko,A (2589)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2711)/Warsaw 2012/ (0-1, 69)}) 9. Nxc6 Qxd1+ 10. Rxd1 bxc6 11. Bxc4 Nd5 12. O-O Nxf4 13. exf4 Bxc3 14. bxc3 Ke7 15. Rb1 Bd7 16. Rb7 Rhb8 17. Rfb1 Rxb7 18. Rxb7 a5 19. Bd3 h6 20. h4 Kd8 21. Kf1 Kc8 22. Rb1 Rb8 23. Rxb8+ Kxb8 24. Ke2 Kc7 25. Ke3 Kd6 26. Kd4 c5+ 27. Ke3 Bc6 28. g3 f6 29. a3 e5 30. fxe5+ Kxe5 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.17"] [Round "3"] [White "Gelfand, Boris"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D52"] [WhiteElo "2740"] [BlackElo "2872"] [Annotator "Postny,E"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Qa5 7. cxd5 (7. Nd2 { used to be the main line, but recently Black has been doing well after} Bb4 8. Qc2 O-O 9. Be2 c5) 7... Nxd5 (7... exd5 {leads to Carlsbad structure where the queen on a5 is doing nothing.}) 8. Rc1 {This move is relatively rare.} (8. Qd2 {is the main continuation.} Bb4 9. Rc1 h6 10. Bh4 {This position has been defended mainly by grandmasters Alexei Shirov and Alexey Dreev. Here is one recent example:} b6 11. a3 Bxc3 12. bxc3 c5 13. c4 Qxd2+ 14. Nxd2 Ne7 15. f3 Ba6 16. Be2 cxd4 17. exd4 Rc8 18. O-O Nf5 19. Bf2 O-O 20. Rfd1 Rfd8 21. g4 Ne7 $11 {1/2-1/2 (31) Potkin,V (2663)-Dreev,A (2677) Eilat 2012}) 8... Nxc3 9. bxc3 Ba3 (9... Qxa2 10. Bd3 Bd6 11. O-O Qa5 ({Black must be careful:} 11... O-O $2 12. Ra1 Qb2 13. Bxh7+ $1 Kxh7 14. Qd3+ Kg8 15. Rfb1 $18 {[%csl Rb2]}) 12. c4 { with good compensation for the pawn.}) 10. Rc2 b6 {Preparing the favourable exchange of the light-squared bishops.} 11. Bd3 Ba6 12. O-O Bxd3 13. Qxd3 O-O ( 13... h6 14. Bh4 O-O 15. c4 Rfe8 16. e4 (16. Rd1 $5) 16... e5 17. d5 Nc5 18. Qe2 Qa4 $11 {1/2-1/2 (38) Malakhatko,V (2548)-Michiels,B (2489) Antwerp 2011}) 14. e4 {I think the plan adopted by Boris is not the best.} (14. c4 h6 15. Bf4 (15. Bh4 Rfe8 16. Rd1 {is another option. Then White can put his bishop on g3, preventing the advance e6-e5.}) 15... Rad8 16. Rb1 Rfe8 17. Bc7 (17. c5 $2 e5) 17... Rc8 18. Bg3 Rcd8 19. c5 $1 Nxc5 20. Qc3 Ne4 21. Qxa5 bxa5 22. Rxc6 $14) 14... Rfe8 15. e5 $6 {This is a committal decision. White doesn't really have chances for an attack on the kingside. Meanwhile, the move in the text weakens the light squares.} ({In the event of} 15. c4 $6 e5 16. d5 Nc5 {Black will get a nice square for his knight.}) (15. Bf4 {would be preferable.}) 15... h6 16. Bh4 c5 17. Nd2 cxd4 18. cxd4 Rac8 $1 {The structure is now favourable for Black. So, it's up to White to prove something.} 19. Nc4 Qb5 {Black doesn't lose a piece.} ({Of course, not} 19... Qa6 $4 20. Qxa3 $18 {[%csl Ra6]}) 20. f4 Rc7 21. Qxa3 {White has to release the pressure before Black doubles the rooks along the c-file.} (21. f5 Rec8 22. fxe6 fxe6 23. Qxa3 Rxc4 24. Rxc4 Qxc4 $15) 21... Rxc4 22. Rxc4 Qxc4 23. Bf2 {[%csl Ra7]} Qc7 {Black has to spend a move on protecting the Pa7, so White seizes the c-file.} 24. Rc1 Qb7 25. Qd6 { White's position looks very active, but he has no objects to attack.} ({ From the practical point of view it was preferable to swap queens:} 25. Qf3 $5 Qxf3 26. gxf3 {White's pawn structure has been spoiled, but the rook is going to penetrate to c7. The position is balanced. For instance:} Nf8 27. Rc7 Ng6 28. f5 exf5 29. Rxa7) 25... Nf8 26. g3 ({After} 26. Qc7 Qa6 {the black queen becomes active.}) 26... Rc8 27. Rxc8 Qxc8 28. d5 {White should get rid of this pawn.} exd5 29. Qxd5 g6 30. Kg2 Ne6 {The position is very close to equality, but White is the one who has to play accurately. The well-known duo queen + knight might cause the white king some troubles.} 31. Qf3 Kg7 32. a3 h5 33. h4 $1 {Seemingly illogical, placing the pawns on the same colour as the bishop, but preventing the possibility of h5-h4 which could weaken the Pf4.} Qc2 34. Qb7 Qa4 35. Qf3 b5 {Sooner or later Black is going to organise a passed pawn on the queenside.} 36. f5 {With must hurry up with his counterplay against the black monarch.} gxf5 37. Qxf5 Qxa3 38. Qxh5 a5 39. Qg4+ Kf8 40. h5 $2 {The decisive mistake.} (40. Qh5 Qc3 41. Qh8+ Ke7 42. Qf6+ Ke8 43. Qh8+ Kd7 { Otherwise it's a perpetual check.} 44. Qf6 Qc6+ 45. Kg1 Nd8 46. e6+ $1 Qxe6 47. Qg5 {[%csl Gh4] White is not worse as his h-pawn is also very dangerous.}) 40... Qc1 $1 {Preventing the further advance of White's h-pawn.} 41. Qe4 b4 42. Be3 Qc7 (42... Qc8 {was also strong} 43. h6 b3 $19 {[%CAl Gc8c2]}) 43. Qa8+ Kg7 44. h6+ Kh7 45. Qe4+ Kg8 46. Qa8+ Qd8 {No perpetual check.} 47. Qxd8+ (47. Qf3 Qd3 48. Qg4+ Kh7 {is also hopeless for White.}) 47... Nxd8 48. Kf3 a4 49. Ke4 Nc6 50. Bc1 Na5 $1 51. Bd2 b3 52. Kd3 Nc4 $1 {The knight assists the passed pawns very effectively.} 53. Bc3 a3 54. g4 Kh7 55. g5 Kg6 56. Bd4 b2 57. Kc2 Nd2 {White has to give up a piece, so he resigned.} 0-1 [Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.19"] [Round "4"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2872"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Annotator "Postny,E"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 {Avoiding the "Berlin endgame".} Bc5 5. c3 {A few months ago Carlsen tried 5.Nc3, but achieved nothing against the world champion.} (5. Nc3 d6 6. Na4 Bb6 7. Nxb6 axb6 8. c3 Bd7 9. Ba4 Ne7 10. Bc2 Ng6 11. h3 O-O 12. O-O h6 13. Re1 Re8 14. d4 Bc6 15. dxe5 dxe5 16. Qxd8 Rexd8 $11 { 1/2-1/2 (61) Carlsen,M (2848)-Anand,V (2775) London 2012}) 5... O-O 6. O-O d6 7. h3 a6 {This is more a challenging continuation, inviting White to spoil the pawn structure, but to give up a good bishop. The solid alternative is to transfer the knight to g6.} (7... Ne7 8. d4 Bb6 9. Re1 Ng6 10. Bd3 Re8 11. Qc2 c6 12. Be3 d5 (12... Nh5 $5 $11 {[%CAl Gh5f4]}) 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Rxe5 15. Bxb6 axb6 16. f4 Rh5 17. e5 Nd7 18. Qe2 Rh4 19. e6 Nc5 20. exf7+ Kxf7 21. Nd2 Nxd3 22. Qxd3 Rxf4 23. Qxh7 Bf5 24. Qh5+ Bg6 25. Qe5 Rf6 26. Nf3 Kg8 $11 { 1/2-1/2 (43) Adams,M (2725)-Anand,V (2780) Baden-Baden 2013}) 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Re1 {Magnus decided not to hurry up with d3-d4 advance, but to complete the development at first.} (9. d4 Bb6 10. Re1 h6 11. Qc2 (11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Qa4 $5 {[%CAl Gb1d2,Gd2c4] is worth being checked in practice.}) 11... Re8 12. Nbd2 exd4 13. cxd4 c5 $11 {1-0 (55) Karjakin,S (2786)-Grischuk,A (2764) Moscow 2013} ) 9... Re8 10. Nbd2 d5 $6 $146 {This is strategically risky, as Black's pawn structure will be permanently damaged.} (10... Bb6 11. Nf1 h6 12. Ng3 Be6 13. Be3 Bxe3 (13... c5 14. d4 cxd4 15. cxd4 exd4 16. Bxd4 Rb8 {is playable for Black.}) 14. Rxe3 c5 15. Qc2 Nd7 16. d4 cxd4 17. cxd4 exd4 18. Nxd4 $14 { 1-0 (55) Svidler,P (2741)-Navara,D (2706) Prague 2012}) 11. exd5 ({An immediate counterstrike in the centre was also an option to consider:} 11. d4 dxe4 12. Nxe5 Qd5 13. Ndc4 (13. Qc2 Bd6 14. Ndc4 (14. Nxe4 $4 Nxe4 15. Qxe4 Qxe4 16. Rxe4 f6 $19) 14... c5 $132) 13... Bf8 14. Bg5 Nd7 {Black has sufficient counterplay which compensates for his structural defects. His pair of bishops is also a factor.}) 11... Qxd5 12. Nb3 Bf8 (12... Ba7 13. Be3 c5 { is the engine suggestion, but it looks pretty ugly to close in the Ba7.}) 13. c4 Qd6 14. Be3 Nd7 15. d4 e4 16. Nfd2 a5 17. a4 {Preventing any further advance of Black's a-pawn and fixing it as a target.} f5 {From the strategic point of view Black's position is very bad, but he has counterchances on the kingside.} 18. c5 Qg6 $2 {This logical move is a serious mistake. It was necessary to retreat to e6, covering the c4-square against the knight move.} ( 18... Qe6 $1 19. Bf4 (19. Qc1 Nf6 20. Nc4 Nd5 $132) 19... Nf6 $1 {Black shouldn't spend time on protecting the weak pawn.} 20. Bxc7 Nd5 (20... Qf7 21. Be5 Be7 $44 {[%CAl Gc8e6]}) 21. Be5 Qg6 (21... Nb4 22. f3 Nd3 23. fxe4 $1 Nxe1 24. Qxe1 fxe4 25. Qxe4 $14) 22. Nc4 f4 23. Kh2 f3 (23... Nb4 24. Nbd2 Nd3 25. Nxe4 Nxe1 26. Qxe1 f3 27. gxf3 Bxh3 28. Kxh3 Qe6+ 29. Kg2 Qxc4 30. Qc3 $14) 24. Rg1 Qh6 25. Qd2 Qh4 26. g4 Nf6 27. Ne3 g6 $44 {[%CAl Gf8h6] An engine is not really bothered by Black's kingside initiative, but a human player would easily get frightened here as White.}) 19. Nc4 {[%csl Ra5]} (19. Bf4 Nf6 20. Nc4 {leads to the same position as in our game.}) 19... Nf6 20. Bf4 (20. Ne5 $2 {would fall into a nasty exchange sacrifice:} Rxe5 $1 21. dxe5 Nd5 22. Qd2 Rb8 23. Nd4 f4 24. Bxf4 Bxc5 {All Black's pieces are very active, he gets the material back.} 25. Rad1 Bb4 26. Qc1 Bxe1 27. Rxe1 Bxh3 28. Bg3 Bd7 $11) 20... Nd5 21. Qd2 Be6 (21... Qf6 22. Nbxa5 Nxf4 23. Qxf4 Qxd4 24. b4 Be6 25. Rac1 $16 ) 22. Nbxa5 Reb8 23. Ne5 Qf6 24. Bh2 ({It was possible to grab another pawn, but probably after} 24. Naxc6 Nxf4 25. Qxf4 Rxb2 {Magnus was concerned about the idea Be6-d5 trapping the Nc6.} {The engine finds the way to keep the position winning by a subtle piece of tactics:} 26. Qc1 $1 Rb7 27. a5 Bd5 28. Rb1 Rxb1 29. Qxb1 {and the knight is taboo in view of Qb3+.}) 24... Rxa5 { A desperate tactical effort, but insufficient.} 25. Qxa5 Rxb2 26. Rab1 Ra2 27. Qa6 {This way the queen can help in the defence. White just needs to consolidate, his material advantage is enough for a win.} e3 (27... Nc3 28. Rbc1 $18) 28. fxe3 Qg5 29. Re2 Nxe3 (29... Rxe2 30. Qxe2 Nc3 31. Qd3 Nxb1 32. Nf3 Qh6 33. Bf4 Qh5 34. Qxb1 $18) 30. Nf3 Qg6 31. Rxa2 Bxa2 32. Rb2 Bc4 33. Qa5 Bd5 34. Qe1 $1 {Magnus is precise and merciless as usual, when it comes to the technical part of the game.} f4 35. Bxf4 Nc2 36. Qf2 Bxf3 37. Rxc2 1-0 [Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.20"] [Round "5"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D93"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2872"] [Annotator "Stohl,I"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 ({Easily the most sensational try to dent the Grünfeld in London was} 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. h4 $5 {by Grischuk. Morozevich played this flank sortie in blitz last year, but Carlsen could have hardly expected it and reacted cautiously with} c6 ({In a later game Black already played the more active and straightforward} 5... c5 6. dxc5 Na6 $5 $146 7. h5 O-O 8. hxg6 fxg6 9. Bh6 Bxh6 10. Rxh6 dxc4 11. Rh4 Nxc5 12. Rxc4 b6 13. b4 Qxd1+ 14. Rxd1 Ba6 15. e3 Ncd7 16. Rcd4 Bxf1 17. Kxf1 Rfc8 18. Ne2 Nf8 19. Nf4 Rc2 20. a4 Rac8 21. b5 Ra2 $11 {Morozevich,A (2758)-Mamedyarov,S (2766)/Zug/ 2013/}) 6. Bg5 O-O 7. Bxf6 Bxf6 8. h5 Bf5 9. e3 e6 10. hxg6 Bxg6 11. Bd3 Nd7 12. Qe2 e5 13. Bxg6 hxg6 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. cxd5 cxd5 16. Rd1 Qa5 17. Kf1 Rad8 18. Nd4 Qc5 19. Nb3 Qc6 20. Na5 Qc7 21. Nb3 Qc6 22. Na5 $11 {1/2, Grischuk,A (2764)-Carlsen,M (2872)/London Candidates/2013/}) 4... Bg7 5. Nf3 ({Carlsen would undoubtedly welcome a repetition of his previous Grünfeld encounter with Ivanchuk, when Black easily solved his opening problems and even got a slight edge after} 5. e3 c5 6. dxc5 Qa5 7. Qb3 Na6 $5 8. cxd5 Nxc5 9. Qb5+ Qxb5 10. Bxb5+ Bd7 11. Rd1 Nh5 12. Bxd7+ Kxd7 13. Bg3 b5 14. d6 e6 15. Nf3 b4 16. Nb5 Nxg3 17. hxg3 Rab8 18. Nbd4 h5 19. Rh4 f5 20. Ne2 e5 21. Rc4 Rhc8 22. Kf1 Ne4 23. Rc7+ Rxc7 24. dxc7+ Kxc7 25. Nd2 Nxd2+ 26. Rxd2 a5 $11 {/=/+, Ivanchuk,V (2775)-Carlsen,M (2826)/Moscow/2011/ For more details see the notes to this game in CBM 146 by Ramirez Alvarez.}) 5... O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Qa5 {The text move is the main continuation.} ({In round 11 we had the less usual} 7... Ne4 8. Rc1 {with the recent twist} Nd7 $5 ({The older move is} 8... Nxc3) 9. cxd5 Qa5 10. Nd4 Nxc3 $5 (10... Ndxc5 11. Bc4 (11. Qc2 Bf5 $5 12. Nxf5 gxf5 $44) 11... Nxc3 12. bxc3 e5 13. dxe6 Bxe6 14. Bxe6 Nxe6 15. Nxe6 Bxc3+ 16. Kf1 fxe6 17. Qb3 Qa6+ 18. Kg1 Bf6 19. h3 Rad8 20. Kh2 Rd2 21. Rc2 Rxc2 22. Qxc2 Qc6 23. Qxc6 bxc6 24. Rc1 Rc8 25. Bd6 Kf7 $11 {/+/=, Gustafsson,J (2633)-Safarli,E (2630)/Porto Carras/2011/ The endgame is somewhat unpleasant for Black due to his split pawns, but he managed to hold it rather easily.}) 11. bxc3 Qxa2 12. c6 (12. Qb3 Qxb3 13. Nxb3 a5 14. c6 Nf6 15. d6 bxc6 16. dxe7 Re8 17. Nd4 Bd7 18. Bd6 Ne4 19. Ba3 c5 20. Bd3 Rxe7 21. Bxe4 Rxe4 22. Bxc5 Rc8 23. Ba3 f5 $44 { Fridman,D (2655)-Kramnik,V (2799)/Dortmund/2012/ Black drew with ease, his bishops give him full compensation.}) 12... Nc5 13. Be2 (13. c4 $6 {Somogyi,I (2290)-Kun,S (2295)/HUN-chT/1992/} e5 $1 14. dxe6 fxe6 $32 {|^} (14... Qa5+ $5 $40)) 13... Qxd5 14. Bf3 Qc4 15. Be2 Qd5 (15... Qa2 $5 $13 {is an interesting attempt to avoid an immediate draw}) 16. Bf3 Qc4 17. Be2 Qd5 {1/2, Ivanchuk,V (2757)-Gelfand,B (2740)/London Candidates/2013/}) 8. Rc1 Rd8 {Carlsen chooses a rare line, spoiling for a fight. Possibly he wanted to surprise his opponent, who had problems with time management in London. However, Black will soon come under pressure.} ({There has been some recent development in another sideline} 8... Ne4 {Perhaps more testing is} 9. cxd5 (9. Be5 Bxe5 (9... Nxc3 $143 $6 10. Bxc3 Bxc3+ 11. Rxc3 $16 Qxa2 12. Qc1 Qa5 13. cxd5 Nd7 14. Nd2 Rd8 15. Be2 f5 16. f3 Nf6 17. e4 fxe4 18. fxe4 $18 {Korotylev,A (2574)-Tilicheev,V (2366)/ Moscow/2012/}) 10. Nxe5 Nc6 $1 ({This is the new twist.} 10... Nxc3 $2 { is hopeless:} 11. Rxc3 Qxa2 12. Qc1 {[%CAl Rc3a3]} Qa4 13. b3 Qa5 14. cxd5 Nd7 15. Nxd7 Bxd7 16. f3 Rfc8 17. Kf2 Qb4 18. Be2 $16 {Novikov,I (2490)-Epishin,V (2350)/Minsk/1986/}) 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. cxd5 {is critical:} (12. a3 Rb8 13. Qa4 Qxc5 14. b4 Nxc3 (14... Qd6 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Be2 c5 17. O-O cxb4 18. c5 Qe5 19. axb4 Qb2 20. Rfe1 Rxb4 {Simantsev,M (2549)-Misailovic,N (2301)/Kraljevo/ 2011/} 21. Qa5 $1 $36 {[%csl Gc5]}) 15. Rxc3 Qb6 16. c5 $6 (16. cxd5 cxd5 17. Rc6 Qb7 18. Ba6 Qa8 19. Rc7 d4 $132) 16... Qc7 17. Bd3 Qe5 18. Rc1 d4 19. O-O dxe3 $15 {Docx,S (2426)-Kanep,M (2512)/Caleta/2013/}) 12... Nxc3 13. Qd2 { , but Black has} Rb8 $1 14. Qxc3 (14. Rxc3 Rd8 15. d6 (15. Bc4 cxd5 16. Bb3 Ba6 $44) 15... Qxa2 16. dxe7 Re8 $44) 14... Qxa2 (14... Qxc3+ 15. bxc3 cxd5 16. c4 Be6 $11) 15. Bc4 Qxb2 16. Qxb2 Rxb2 17. dxc6 Be6 $11) 9... Nxc3 10. Qd2 Qxa2 11. bxc3 (11. Rxc3 $5 Bxc3 12. Qxc3 Nd7 $5 $13) 11... Qa5 $13 {, but even this position is not quite clear.}) ({Definitely the main alternative is} 8... dxc4 {but this has a drawish reputation after} 9. Bxc4 Qxc5 10. Bb3 Nc6 11. O-O Qa5 12. h3 Bf5 13. Qe2 Ne4 {After} 14. Nd5 (14. Nxe4 Bxe4 15. Rfd1 h6 $5 (15... Qh5 {Aronian,L (2802)-Svidler,P (2755)/Moscow/2011/ For more details about the whole line see my notes to this game in CBM 146}) 16. Rd7 Rac8 17. Rcd1 Qb4 18. R7d2 (18. Nd2 Bf5 19. Rd5 Rfd8 20. a3 Qb6 $36 21. Rxf5 gxf5 22. Qh5 {Bulatov,R (2208)-Nevostrujev,V (2449)/Pavlodar/2012/} e6 23. Bxh6 Ne5 $17) 18... a6 19. Bc2 Bxc2 20. Rxc2 e5 21. Bg3 Rcd8 (21... e4 $5) 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Nd2 f5 24. f3 Qd6 25. a3 Kh7 26. Be1 h5 27. Nc4 Qe6 28. Na5 $11 {Shimanov,A (2599) -Areshchenko,A (2710)/St Petersburg/2012/}) 14... e5 {White has lately tried} 15. Bg5 (15. Bh2 Be6 16. Rfd1 Rfd8 17. Qc4 Nf6 18. e4 Rac8 19. Ng5 Nd4 $11 { is a more or less forced draw}) 15... Nxg5 16. Nxg5 Qd8 17. h4 $5 (17. Nf3 e4 18. Nh2 Ne5 19. Rfd1 Nd3 20. Rc2 a5 $36 {Dzagnidze,N (2559)-Lahno,K (2546)/ Gaziantep rpd/2012/}) {, but even here the excitement peters out into perpetuals after} 17... h6 18. g4 Bd7 19. Ne4 Qxh4 20. f3 Kh8 21. Rf2 f5 22. Rh2 Qd8 23. Rxh6+ $1 Bxh6 24. Qh2 Kg7 25. Rxc6 $1 fxe4 (25... Bxc6 26. Qxe5+ Kh7 27. Ndf6+ Rxf6 28. Nxf6+ Kh8 29. Ng8+ Kh7 30. Nf6+ Kh8 31. Ng8+ {1/2, Cmilyte,V (2503)-Lahno,K (2557)/Tbilisi rpd/2012/}) 26. Qxe5+ Kh7 27. Nf6+ Rxf6 28. Rxf6 Be8 29. g5 Rc8 (29... Qd2 30. gxh6 Qxe3+ 31. Kf1 Kxh6 32. Qh2+ Kg7 33. Rxg6+ Kxg6 34. Qd6+ Kh7 35. Qe7+ Kg6 36. Qd6+ Kh7 37. Qe7+ Kg6 38. Qd6+ { 1/2, Jobava,B (2734)-Areshchenko,A (2702)/Burgas/2012/}) 30. Bd5 $2 (30. fxe4 Bxg5 31. Qxg5 Kg7 32. Rf5 $11) 30... Bxg5 $2 (30... Rc1+ 31. Kg2 Qc8 $1 $19) 31. Qxg5 Kg7 32. Rf5 exf3 33. Qg3 Qe7 34. Rxf3 $11 {Nielsen,P (2687)-Nyback,T (2627)/Bundesliga/2012/}) 9. Qa4 {The best way to fight for an advantage. After other moves Black has more than one way to achieve a satisfactory position:} (9. Nd2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nc6 (10... Na6 $5 11. a3 Qxc5 12. b4 Qh5 13. Qxh5 Nxh5 14. Bg5 Nf6 15. Ke2 Nc7 16. Rhd1 Be6 17. Bxe6 Nxe6 18. Bh4 {1/2, Vallifuoco,G (2285)-Stone,R (2305)/Dubai olm/1986/}) 11. Bb3 $6 (11. Qb3 $142 $5 $14) 11... Bf5 12. O-O Nb4 13. Bc4 Nd3 14. Bxd3 Bxd3 15. Nb3 {Bykhovsky,A (2405)-Manor,I (2510)/Tel Aviv/1996/} Qa6 16. Re1 Ne4 $17) (9. Qb3 Na6 (9... Ne4 10. cxd5 Nd7 11. Nd4 Ndxc5 12. Qb5 Qxb5 13. Ncxb5 e5 14. dxe6 Nxe6 15. Nxe6 (15. Nc7 $5 $14) 15... Bxe6 16. f3 Nd2 $6 (16... Nf6 $44) 17. b3 a5 18. Nc7 Rac8 19. Bb5 g5 20. Bxg5 $6 (20. Bg3 $1 $16) 20... Rd5 21. Bf4 Nxb3 22. Rb1 Rxc7 23. Bxc7 Rxb5 24. axb3 a4 $36 {Farago,I (2475)-Rajna,G (2405)/HUN-ch/1974/ }) (9... Qxc5 10. Be2 (10. Rd1 Qa5 11. Be2 Na6 (11... Ne4 $1 $11 {/=/+}) 12. O-O Nc5 13. Qb5 Qxb5 14. Nxb5 Bf5 15. Nfd4 dxc4 16. Nxf5 gxf5 17. Bxc4 Nfe4 18. b4 {Tukmakov,V-Dueball,J/Kiev/1970/} Na4 $132) 10... Nc6 11. O-O dxc4 12. Qxc4 (12. Bxc4 $142 $1 {/\} Na5 13. Bxf7+ Kf8 14. Qa4 {[%CAl Rb2b4]}) 12... Qb6 13. Qb5 Qxb5 14. Bxb5 Bd7 15. h3 a6 16. Be2 Bf5 17. Rcd1 Ne4 18. Rxd8+ Rxd8 19. Na4 e5 20. Bh2 Be6 21. b3 Nb4 $36 {De Greif,B-Uhlmann,W/Havana/1963/}) 10. Qb5 Qxb5 11. Nxb5 Bd7 12. Nc7 $6 (12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. Be5 f6 $11) 12... Nxc7 13. Bxc7 Rdc8 14. Be5 Rxc5 15. b4 Rcc8 16. c5 a5 17. b5 Ne4 18. Bd4 f6 19. Nd2 Nxd2 20. Kxd2 e5 21. Bb2 Bf8 22. Ba3 b6 $17 {Portisch,F (2425)-Sax,G (2530)/Budapest/1976/}) 9... Qxc5 {Natural enough.} ({However, White also has to reckon with} 9... Qxa4 10. Nxa4 Nc6 11. Ne5 $5 (11. Nc3 Ne4 $1 12. Be2 $6 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 dxc4 14. Bxc4 Nxc5 15. O-O Be6 16. Bxe6 Nxe6 17. Bg3 Rac8 18. Nd4 Nc5 19. Rfd1 f6 $15 { Portisch,L (2600)-Adorjan,A (2490)/Frankfurt rpd/1998/}) (11. Bc7 $5 Rd7 12. Bg3) 11... Be6 (11... Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Be6 13. cxd5 Bxd5 14. Nc3 a5 $44) 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Bc7 Rd7 14. Be5 (14. Ba5 $5 d4 15. exd4 Rxd4 16. b3 $14) 14... Rad8 15. Be2 dxc4 16. O-O Ne4 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 19. Rxd1 {1-0 Mac Kenzie, G-Mondaca,O (2160)/Buenos Aires 1993/EXT 1999 (30)} Rb8 $1 {[%CAl Rb8b4]} 20. Rd4 c3 $36) 10. b4 (10. Qb5 Qxb5 (10... Na6 $5) 11. Nxb5 Na6 12. Nc7 Nxc7 13. Bxc7 Re8 14. Be5 Bd7 15. Be2 Bc6 16. O-O Nd7 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. cxd5 Bxd5 19. Bb5 Red8 20. Rc7 Nb6 21. Rfc1 Kf6 22. h4 Rd6 23. b3 a6 24. Bc4 Bc6 25. Nd4 Nd5 {Orndahl,M (2170)-Li,C (2529)/Taby/2007/} 26. Bxd5 $11) 10... Qc6 11. Qa3 $1 $146 {[%CAl Yb4b5,Ga3e7][%mdl 8] An interesting novelty, judging by the consumption of time Ivanchuk invented it over the board.} (11. Qb3 Ne4 $1 ( 11... a5 12. b5 Qc5 13. a3 a4 14. Nxa4 Qa7 15. Bc7 $1 Rd7 16. Bb6 Qxa4 17. Qxa4 Rxa4 18. cxd5 $18 {[%csl Rc8] Farago,I (2500)-Vadasz,L (2495)/Budapest/1977/}) 12. Be5 (12. Nb5 Na6 13. Bd3 Nac5 (13... dxc4 $1 14. Bxc4 Be6 $15) 14. bxc5 Nxc5 15. Qa3 $4 (15. Qc2 Nxd3+ 16. Qxd3 Bf5 17. Qb3 $14) 15... Bb2 {0-1, Mikhalchishin,A-Vaganian,R/Valencia/1974/}) 12... Bxe5 13. Nxe5 Qf6 (13... Qd6 $2 14. Nxf7 Kxf7 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. c5+ Be6 17. cxd6 Bxb3 18. dxe7 Kxe7 19. axb3 Nd7 20. Bb5 $14 {Urday Caceres,H (2470)-Yermolinsky,A (2590)/Moscow olm/1994/}) 14. Nf3 Nxc3 15. Qxc3 Qxc3+ 16. Rxc3 Nc6 17. b5 Na5 18. cxd5 Rxd5 19. Bd3 Bd7 20. e4 Rd6 21. Ke2 Rd8 22. Ke3 Be6 $11 {Karsa,L (2200)-Sax,G (2530)/Budapest/ 1976/}) ({It's not so simple for Black even after other moves:} 11. b5 Qc5 12. Qb3 (12. Be5 Nbd7 (12... Ne4 13. Bd4 Nxc3 14. Rxc3 {Roeder,M (2365)-Pusch,H/ Porz/1989/} Nd7 15. Be2 $5 $14) 13. Bd4 Qc7 14. cxd5 Nxd5 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Qa3 Nxc3 17. Rxc3 Qd6 18. Qxd6 exd6 19. Be2 Nc5 20. O-O a6 21. bxa6 Nxa6 22. Nd4 Nc5 $11 {Laux,T-Wild,H/Porz/1989/}) 12... Bg4 13. Na4 (13. Ne5 $5 Be6 14. Na4 Qc8 15. Qa3 d4 16. Be2 $14) 13... Qc8 {Here White would have profited from having his queen already on a3!} 14. Be2 (14. Qa3 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Qf5 16. Nb6 e5 $36) 14... Ne4 15. Rc2 Nd7 (15... e5 16. cxd5 Qf5 17. Bg3 Nxg3 18. hxg3 e4 19. Nd4 Bxd4 20. Bxg4 Qxg4 21. exd4 Nd7 {Lukacs,P (2450)-Sax,G (2565)/Budapest/ 1977/} 22. Rh4 $1 Qg5 23. d6 $16) 16. cxd5 Ndc5 17. Nxc5 Nxc5 18. Qb4 (18. Qa3 $5 b6 19. e4 $14) 18... b6 19. O-O Qf5 20. Rc4 Qxd5 21. h3 Bf5 $11 {Farago,I (2500)-Gulko,B (2585)/Polanica Zdroj/1977/}) (11. Qxc6 bxc6 (11... Nxc6 12. b5 Nb4 $2 (12... d4 $1 13. Nd1 e5 $13) 13. a3 Ne4 14. Be5 Nxc3 15. Rxc3 a5 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 {Petrov,I (2190)-Petkov,V (2375)/Sofia/2004/} 17. Rc1 $1 $16 { [%csl Rb4]}) 12. cxd5 (12. Nd4 Ne4 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. Bxb8 Bxd4 15. Bc7 Bb2 16. Rc2 Rd7 17. Rxb2 Rxc7 18. Be2 a5 19. bxa5 Be6 20. O-O Rxa5 21. Rc1 Rca7 22. Rcc2 Kg7 $15 {Urday Caceres,H (2480)-Olafsson,H (2525)/Manila olm/1992/}) (12. Bc7 Rd7 (12... Re8 $5) 13. Ba5 Rb7 (13... Ne4 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Ng5 c5 16. Nxe4 cxb4 17. Bxb4 Na6 18. Bc3 Bb7 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Nc3 Rad8 $44 {Kortschnoj, V-Stein,L/Moscow/1964/}) 14. cxd5 Bd7 {Sorensen,T (2480)-Loeffler,B (2340)/ corr/1991/} 15. Na4 $5 $36) 12... Nxd5 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. Bc7 Re8 15. Nd4 e5 16. Nb5 Na6 17. Ba5 Bf8 {1/2, Ruchlin,V (2304)-Stern,W (2551)/corr/1980/} 18. a3 $14) 11... dxc4 {Carlsen senses the danger and resolves the tension.} (11... Be6 12. Nd4 Qe8 (12... Qd7 13. Na4 $36) 13. Ncb5 Na6 14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. Be2 $36) (11... Bf5 12. b5 (12. Nd4 Qd7 13. b5 $14 {[%csl Rb8]}) 12... Qe8 13. cxd5 {/\} Nxd5 (13... Nbd7 $142 $5 $14) 14. Nxd5 Rxd5 15. Bc4 Rd7 (15... Rd8 16. Ng5 e6 17. e4 Bg4 18. h3 h6 19. hxg4 hxg5 20. Bxg5 Rd4 21. Qh3 Rxe4+ 22. Kf1 Nd7 23. Qh7+ Kf8 24. Bh6 Bxh6 25. Qxh6+ Ke7 26. Qg5+ $18) 16. Ne5 Bxe5 17. Bxe5 $40) 12. b5 Qb6 (12... Qe8 $2 13. Bc7 $1 Nd5 (13... Rd7 14. Bxb8 $18) 14. Nxd5 Rxd5 15. Bxc4 Rh5 16. O-O $32 {[%csl Ra8,Rb8,Rc8,Rh5]}) 13. Bxc4 (13. Qxe7 $6 Bf8 14. Qc7 Ba3 $132) (13. Ne5 Qd6 $5 (13... Nbd7 14. Bxc4 Nxe5 15. Bxe5 Bf5 (15... Be6 $2 16. Na4 Qa5+ 17. Bc3 Qc7 18. Bxe6 $18) 16. O-O $14) 14. Qb2 Qb6 15. Nxc4 (15. Bxc4 Be6 16. Qb3 Nbd7 $11) 15... Qc5 16. Be5 Be6 17. Na4 Qd5 $13) 13... Be6 $1 (13... e6 14. O-O $16 {is ideal for White, he has a lead in development, while Black's can't get his queenside pieces out.}) 14. Bxe6 (14. Be2 Nbd7 15. Nd4 Qc5 $11 (15... Bxa2 $5 16. Qxa2 e5 $11)) 14... Qxe6 15. O-O (15. Ng5 Qc4 $1 16. Nce4 Qxb5 17. Qxe7 Qa5+ 18. Kf1 Qb5+ 19. Kg1 Qd7 $1 $11 {/\} 20. Nxf6+ Bxf6 21. Qxf6 $4 Qd1+ 22. Rxd1 Rxd1#) 15... Nbd7 {Black decides to sacrifice a pawn just to get out his forces and swap a few pieces.} ({The resulting endgame will be admittedly difficult to win, but} 15... Bf8 $5 {seems to be objectively better. White must still prove he has anything tangible, in other words Black has chances to gradually neutralise the pressure:} 16. Ng5 (16. Ne2 Nbd7 17. Rfd1 Rdc8 $5 18. Bc7 (18. Rxc8 $6 Rxc8 19. Qxa7 Qc4 20. Ned4 Qd5 { [%CAl Re7e5]}) 18... Nd5 $11) (16. e4 Nbd7 (16... Nxe4 17. Rfe1 Qf5 18. Rxe4 e5 19. Qa4 exf4 20. Rxf4 $40 {[%csl Rf7]}) 17. Rfd1 Nb6 $1 $132) 16... Qf5 $5 ( 16... Qc4 17. e4 $5 {[%CAl Rc3d5]} (17. Qb2 Nbd7 $11) 17... e6 18. Qb2 Qb4 $8 19. Qxb4 Bxb4 20. e5 Bxc3 21. exf6 Bxf6 22. Ne4 Be7 23. Rc7 Nd7 24. Rxb7 Nc5 $14) 17. Qb3 e6 18. f3 {[%csl Rf5]} Nbd7 19. g4 Qc5 20. Nge4 Qa3 $11) 16. Ng5 ( 16. Nd4 Qb6 $11 17. Qxe7 $4 Bf8) 16... Qf5 17. Qxe7 Nh5 18. Rfd1 (18. Qe4 Nxf4 19. exf4 h6 20. Qxf5 gxf5 21. Nf3 Nc5 22. Nd1 $5 $14) 18... Nxf4 19. exf4 Bf8 20. Qe4 (20. Qe3 Nc5 $14 {/<=>}) 20... Qxe4 21. Ncxe4 Nb6 $14 {[%mdl 4352] This is the endgame position Carlsen was aiming for. White has an extra pawn, but it's doubled and his queenside is vulnerable. Converting the small advantage requires superlative technique and maybe even some extra luck, Black proceeds to defend tenaciously and finally saves the game.} 22. g3 (22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. g3 Kg7 $14 {is similar to the game.}) 22... Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Be7 24. Nf3 (24. Rc1 $5 Rd8 25. Kg2 $14) 24... Rc8 25. Ne5 Rc7 ({Safe, but engines indicate the direct} 25... f5 $1 26. Ng5 (26. Nd2 Rd8 $11) 26... Rc5 27. Ne6 Rxb5 28. Rc1 Bd6 $11) 26. Kg2 f6 27. Nf3 Kf7 28. h4 Rc2 29. a4 (29. Rd2 Rxd2 30. Nfxd2 Ke6 $132) 29... Ra2 30. Nc3 Ra3 31. Rc1 Nxa4 {Here Carlsen got too optimistic and even declined a draw, later criticising his decision. There was no need to hurry with this capture, now White retains winning chances.} (31... a5 $142 $5 32. bxa6 bxa6 $11) (31... h5 32. Rc2 Ke8 33. Ne2 (33. f5 gxf5 34. Ne2 Rxa4 {/\} 35. Rc7 Kd8 36. Rxb7 $6 Nd7 {[%csl Rb7]} 37. Nfd4 Kc8 38. Rxa7 Rxa7 39. Nc6 Ra2 40. Nxe7+ Kd8 $15) 33... Bd6 34. f5 $5 Kf7 $132 (34... gxf5 35. Ned4 f4 36. Nf5 $14)) 32. Ne4 Rd3 33. Rc7 Ke6 (33... Ke8 $5 34. Rxb7 Rd7 35. Rb8+ Rd8 36. Rxd8+ Bxd8 (36... Kxd8 37. Nd4 {[%CAl Rd4c6,Yf4f5]}) 37. g4 $14 (37. h5 $5 $14)) 34. Rxb7 (34. g4 $142 $1 Nb6 35. f5+ gxf5 36. gxf5+ Kf7 37. Rxb7 Rd7 38. Rxd7 Nxd7 39. Nd4 $36 {gives White more winning chances.}) 34... Rd7 35. Rb8 Rd8 36. Rb7 Rd7 37. Rxd7 Kxd7 {Contrary to the line above, Black has forced a rook swap, while his king remains active.} 38. Nd4 f5 $1 39. Ng5 (39. Nd2 $6 Nc3 {[%csl Rb5][%CAl Ye7c5,Yd7d5]}) 39... Bxg5 (39... h6 $2 40. Nf7 {[%csl Rg6][%CAl Yf7e5]}) (39... h5 $2 40. Nc6 $16 {[%CAl Yc6a7,Yc6e5]}) 40. fxg5 Nc3 41. h5 (41. f4 Kd6 42. h5 gxh5 43. Nxf5+ Kc5 $132) 41... gxh5 $1 ( 41... Kd6 $6 42. Nxf5+ $1 {/\} gxf5 $2 43. g6 hxg6 44. h6 $18) 42. Kh3 Kd6 43. Kh4 Kd5 {Black will use his king to mount a counter-attack on White's pawns.} ( {However, supporting his own passed pawn seems to hold as well after} 43... Kc5 44. Nxf5 Kxb5 45. Ne3 a5 46. f4 a4 47. f5 Ne4 48. f6 (48. g6 hxg6 49. fxg6 a3 50. g7 Nf6 51. Kg5 Ng8 52. Nc2 a2 53. Kxh5 Kc4 54. Kg6 Kc3 55. Na1 Kb2 56. Kf7 Nh6+ 57. Kg6 Ng8 $11) 48... Nd6 49. Nc2 Kc4 50. Kxh5 Kb3 $11) 44. Nxf5 Nxb5 45. Kxh5 Ke4 46. Ne3 (46. Ne7 a5 47. Kh6 a4 48. Nc6 a3 49. Nb4 Kf5 50. f4 Nc3 51. Kxh7 Ne4 52. g6 Nxg3 53. g7 Nh5 $11) 46... Nd6 $1 (46... a5 $2 47. Kh6 a4 48. Nc4 $18) 47. Kh6 Nf7+ {The defence finally triumphs, now the draw is unavoidable.} 48. Kxh7 (48. Kh5 Kf3 49. g6 hxg6+ 50. Kxg6 Kxf2 $11) 48... Nxg5+ 49. Kg6 Nh3 50. Nd1 Kf3 (50... a5 51. f4 Nxf4+ $11) ({Even} 50... Nxf2 $6 51. Nxf2+ Kd4 $1 {[]} (51... Kf3 $2 52. g4 Kxf2 53. Kf5 $1 a5 54. Ke4 Ke2 55. g5 a4 56. g6 $5 a3 57. g7 a2 58. g8=Q a1=Q 59. Qg2+ $18) 52. g4 (52. Nd1 a5 53. Nb2 Kc3 54. Na4+ Kb4 $11) 52... a5 53. g5 a4 $11 {is still a draw.}) 51. Kf5 Nxf2 52. Nxf2 Kxg3 53. Nd1 a5 54. Ke4 a4 55. Kd4 a3 56. Nc3 a2 57. Nxa2 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.21"] [Round "6"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2872"] [Annotator "Szabo,Kr"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 {A very popular move nowadays. White would like to avoid some critical lines.} b5 (6... d6 {is another main move.}) 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 b4 ({The other possibilities are} 8... Rb8 ) ({and} 8... Bd7) 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. a5 Be6 11. Nc4 Rb8 {Both players are following theory. The upcoming positions are considered to be nicely playable for both sides. All the pieces are on the board, which ensures a complicated game where the stronger player might try to outplay his opponent with either colour.} 12. c3 {Svidler had already two games for this. White wants to play d4 at a good moment, but of course, this requires long preparation.} (12. h3 { and}) (12. Re1 {was also tried.}) 12... bxc3 13. bxc3 h6 {Typical prophylaxis against N or Bg5.} (13... Na7 {looks a little weird and could have been met effectively by} 14. Ng5 $1 Bg4 15. f3 Bh5 (15... Bd7 {would have been met with} 16. f4 $1 $36 {which gives a strong initiative for White.}) 16. Qc2 Nd7 17. Nh3 $1 {Black has managed to avoid the f4 idea, but his bishop on h5 is out of play, while the knight on h3 is just temporarily misplaced, as it will soon be improved through f2.} Kh8 18. Ne3 $14 {Svidler-Sargissian, Ningbo 2011}) 14. Re1 {From the 12th move, White prepares for d4. This time he protects the e4 P. } Qc8 {Also a usual move, preparing for Rd8.} 15. Bc2 $146 {The first novelty of the game, White would like to go back with his knight to e3 and then, d4 finally becomes possible.} (15. Ba3 {is the most common move.}) (15. Ba4 { was played recently in a top game:} Bxc4 16. Bxc6 (16. dxc4 Nxa5 {This is the difference. That is why Svidler went to c2 with his bishop.}) 16... Bb5 17. Bxb5 Rxb5 {and Black's position is completely solid. Leko-Adams, London 2012}) 15... Rd8 {This is the standard setup and the idea of the previous Qc8 move. Black would like to play Bf8 and be ready to push d5 at a good moment.} (15... Bxc4 {was also interesting. Black gives up his strong B to destroy White's P structure. It is difficult to judge which factor has bigger importance.} 16. dxc4 Qe6 17. c5 $5 {probably Svidler wanted to play this P sacrifice and play on the light squares. Black is really missing his bishop here, but on the other hand, he is a pawn up.} (17. Qe2 Nd7 $1 {and Black drives his N to c5 and it looks nicely placed.}) 17... dxc5 18. Qe2 Rb5 19. Ba4 (19. Bd3 Rxa5 20. Rxa5 $6 Nxa5 21. Bxa6 $2 c4 22. Bb5 c6 23. Ba4 Nb3 {is forces the take on b3 and Black gains a very unpleasant advanced P.}) 19... Rxa5 20. Nd2 {now the R can be trapped.} c4 21. Nxc4 Rc5 22. Bb3 Rb8 {and Black has no problem.}) 16. Qe2 ({In the event of} 16. Ne3 {Black can play immeditely} d5 $1 {with a promising position.}) 16... Bf8 (16... Bxc4 17. dxc4 Nd7 {was an option again, but Carlsen preferred to keep his B pair.}) 17. Ne3 $6 {This seems like an inaccuracy. The last preparation for d4, but this allows Black's strong reply.} ({Immediately} 17. d4 {would have still been too early. Black can play} exd4 18. cxd4 d5 $1 $15 {with a slight advantage.}) ({Probably} 17. h3 {was the best waiting move, because Black also has difficulties finding a useful move.} Bxc4 18. dxc4 Nd7 {similar to the previous line.} 19. Ba4 Ne7 20. Be3 Ng6 { with a double-edged fight.}) 17... d5 $1 {Excellent timing by Carlsen. White's last N move left the pressure from the important e5 P, so Black can immediately start the action.} 18. exd5 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 Rxd5 {Black keeps the e5 pawn protected and, at the same time, attacks the pawn on a5.} ({Maybe} 19... Bxd5 {was slightly better, as the e5 pawn is not really hanging.} 20. Nxe5 Nxe5 21. Qxe5 Re8 $5 ({Black can also force a draw by} 21... Bxg2 22. Kxg2 Re8 23. Qxe8 Qg4+ 24. Kf1 Qh3+ 25. Kg1 Qg4+ $11) 22. Qxe8 Qg4 $1 {White has to sacrifice his Q with} 23. Qe4 $1 (23. Re4 $2 Rxe8 $19) (23. f3 $2 Bxf3 $1 $19) 23... Bxe4 24. Rxe4 {Only Black can be better.}) 20. h3 $2 {This typical move is a mistake. White would like to open the back rank and avoid the pin after Bg4. The initiative passes to Black and Carlsen does not let it slip away anymore.} (20. d4 $6 {is not so good, because} exd4 21. Qe4 g6 {and Black has avoided everything, White cannot continue the attack. For example:} 22. cxd4 Qd8 23. Ra4 Bb4 $15) (20. Ba4 Rxa5 ({after} 20... Nxa5 21. Nxe5 Nb3 22. Bxb3 Rxb3 23. c4 Rd8 {Black is also OK here.}) 21. Bd2 (21. Bxh6 $6 {White would like to protect the a1 R and threaten Bxc6, but after} Rxa4 $1 22. Rxa4 gxh6 23. Nxe5 Nxe5 24. Qxe5 Bg7 $17 {Black is much better.}) 21... Rc5 22. Bxc6 Rxc6 23. Nxe5 Rcb6 $15 {Thanks to the pair of Bs and passed P, Black looks very nicely placed.}) (20. c4 Rxa5 21. Rxa5 Nxa5 22. Nxe5 Nb3 23. Bb2 c5 $132 { and the N goes to d4.}) (20. Qe4 {is an interesting alternative. White would like to provoke a weakness on the kingside with the threat of d4.} g6 ({On} 20... f5 {White simply answers} 21. Qe2 {and the e5 P become vulnerable.}) 21. Ba4 $1 Nxa5 22. Nxe5 Bg7 23. Bf4 $14 {Now the exchange of the a5 pawn for the e5 one favours White. White seems to have an edge here.}) 20... Bf5 $1 { A very strong move! Black prevents d4 and can exert pressure on the d3 weakness and soon, the a5 P will be hanging as well.} 21. Rd1 Qe6 22. Bb1 { Svidler tries to activate his B from a2.} Qd7 $1 {Keeping the pressure on the d3 P.} (22... Rxa5 {allows some counterplay for White.} 23. Rxa5 Nxa5 24. Ba2 { getting back the e5 P.}) 23. Be3 e4 $1 (23... Rxb1 {not the best, because} 24. Raxb1 Bxd3 {and White has} 25. Qa2 $1 {to attack the d5 R.} Rxa5 26. Qxa5 $1 Nxa5 27. Nxe5 Qf5 28. Nxd3 {The two R will give unpleasant counterchanches for White.}) 24. Nd4 Nxd4 25. Bxd4 $2 {This allowed a tactical blow, which actually Carlsen judged too risky.} (25. cxd4 {also led to Black's advantage after} exd3 26. Bxd3 Bxd3 27. Qxd3 Rbb5 $1 $15 {White has serious problems with the a5 P. Black is clearly better.}) 25... exd3 ({The computer immeditely finds the strong} 25... Bxh3 $1 26. dxe4 (26. gxh3 {is not possible.} Qxh3 27. Be3 Bd6 $1 $19) 26... Rg5 27. g3 {This was the critical position where I think Carlsen missed a winning combination or just did not want to risk a miscalculation. Black wins after a fantastic tactical blow:} Bg4 $1 28. f3 Rb2 $3 29. Qxb2 Bxf3 {and Black has too many threats. Rxg3, Qh3 and the simple Bxd1.} 30. Qf2 (30. Rd3 Rxg3+ 31. Kf2 Rg2+ $19) 30... Bxd1 $19 {with an extra P and a strong attack.}) 26. Bxd3 Bxd3 27. Rxd3 c5 28. Be5 $1 {This was Svidler's plan, when he took back with the B on d4, but unfortunately for him, it does not solve the problems.} Rxd3 29. Bxb8 c4 $1 {A great positional move! Black protects the d3 R, fixes c3 and frees the c5 square for his B, where it puts very strong pressure on f2. The additional weaknesses on c3 and a5 are too much for White to hold the position.} 30. Be5 (30. Qe1 {was slightly better } Bc5 31. Kh2 {followed by Bg3.}) 30... Bc5 31. Rb1 Qd5 $1 {Carlsen activates his pieces.} (31... Rd2 {was too early} 32. Qxc4 {and Bxf2 is only a check. There is no reason for Black to hurry with this plan.}) 32. Rb8+ Kh7 33. Qh5 { Svidler tried the last trap with the threat of Rh8 Kxh8 Qxh6 and mate on g7, but of course, this doesn't work on this level.} (33. Re8 {was the best chance, although Black has various ways to remain better here as well.} Qd7 (33... f5 { is also good to prevent Qe4.}) 34. Ra8 Qe6 {The following line is forced:} 35. Qe4+ f5 36. Rh8+ $1 Kg6 $1 ({Of course not} 36... Kxh8 $2 37. Bxg7+ $1 $18) 37. Qf4 Rd1+ 38. Kh2 Bxf2 $1 $17 {and Black is better.}) 33... Qe4 $1 {A cool defence against the Rh8 and it also creates some threats of destroying White's position.} 34. Rb2 (34. Rh8+ Kxh8 35. Qxh6+ Qh7 $1 $19) 34... Rd5 $1 {White cannot avoid losing a piece.} 35. Re2 Qb1+ 36. Kh2 f6 0-1 [Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.23"] [Round "7"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2872"] [BlackElo "2793"] [Annotator "Marin,M"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. b3 {The Anand setup, not easy to handle with White and maybe too complex for the style of Carlsen, who rarely embarks such early battles of principle.} d6 (5... e5 6. Nxe5 Qe7 7. Bb2 (7. d4 d6 {Anand,V (2791)-Gelfand,B (2727)/Moscow 2012/CBM 149/[Stohl,I] (1-0, 77)}) 7... d6 8. Nc4 d5 {Anand,V (2791)-Gelfand,B (2727)/Moscow 2012/CBM 149/[Kritz, L] (1/2, 25)}) 6. O-O ({Radjabov must have felt confident about this position, since he had had it twice recently:} 6. e5 dxe5 7. Nxe5 Qd5 8. Nf3 Qe4+ 9. Kf1 Qf5 10. Nc3 (10. Na3 Nf6 {Grischuk,A (2761)-Radjabov,T (2784)/Moscow 2012/CBM 149/[Kritz,L] (1/2, 41)}) 10... Nf6 11. d3 {McShane,L (2706)-Radjabov,T (2784)/ Moscow 2012/CBM 149/[Radjabov] (0-1, 48)}) 6... Ne7 ({It is instructive to followe how a living legend fought for the control on the dark squares by somewhat extravagant means.} 6... e5 7. Re1 g5 8. d3 h6 9. c3 Bg7 10. Na3 Ne7 11. Nc4 O-O 12. Ne3 f5 {This youthful way of playing, with ...f5 and ...g5, yielded Korchnoi many impressive wins throughout his career; the latest remarkable example is his win against Caruana in Gibraltar 2011.} 13. b4 f4 $36 {Boehnisch,M (2374)-Kortschnoj,V (2552)/Velden 2009/CBM 129 Extra (0-1, 40)}) 7. e5 {This is the modern treatment of the problem of the dark squares in the centre. There are other ways, though:} (7. d4 cxd4 8. Qxd4 e5 9. Qe3 f6 10. c4 d5 $132 {Dolmatov,S (2550)-Whitehead,J (2325)/Chicago 1983/EXT 99 (1/2, 43)}) ( 7. c3 Ng6 8. d4 {Becerra Rivero,J (2480)-Blanco Fernandez,A (2345)/Havana 1994/ EXT 97 (1/2, 61)} cxd4 9. cxd4 Ba6 10. Qc2 Rc8 11. Rd1 Be7 12. Nc3 Qa5 $132) 7... Ng6 8. exd6 Bxd6 (8... e5 {may define the central structure too soon:} 9. Na3 Bxd6 10. Nc4 $14) 9. Nc3 {Maybe this move is not bad, but in the game Carlsen will not manage to justify this way of developing the knight. So, I do not know whether to attach the question mark to the last move or simply to the whole of the following sequence.} (9. d4 {remains an alternative:} cxd4 $140 10. Qxd4 O-O 11. Ba3) ({but} 9. Na3 O-O 10. Nc4 {looks more flexible. True, without a pawn on e5, Black can play} Be7 {keeping c5 well defended and followed by ...f6 and ...e5 later.}) 9... e5 10. Re1 O-O 11. d3 f5 $1 {The start of a courageous plan; Black does not fear any ghosts. Black has two relatively weak pawns, on c5 and e5, but he can defend them well enough. White seems to have comfortable play, but soon he will end up short of constructive plans.} 12. Ba3 Be6 13. Na4 Qe7 14. c4 Rad8 15. Qe2 Bc8 {Black has completed his superb regrouping plan and is ready to launch the attack. It looks as if the colours have been switched, since it is Black who dictates the events after the opening. Having been outplayed, White needs some tactical inventiveness to stay in the game, but he will fail here, too.} 16. Qe3 { Not a good square and area for the queen, that goes without saying.} (16. Rad1 Nf4 (16... e4 17. dxe4 fxe4 18. Qxe4 Qxe4 19. Rxe4 Bxh2+ 20. Kxh2 Rxd1 21. Bxc5 $44) 17. Qc2 Rde8 $36) 16... f4 $5 {[%CAl Gc8g4] Not the only possible plan.} ( 16... Nf4 17. Bb2 (17. Bxc5 Nxd3 18. Qxd3 Bxc5 19. Qc3 e4 20. Ne5 Bd6 21. Nxc6 Qc7 22. Nxd8 Bxh2+ 23. Kf1 Be5) (17. Nxe5 Nxg2 18. Kxg2 f4 19. Qe4 Bxe5 20. Qxe5 Qh4 21. Bb2 Qh3+ 22. Kg1 Rf6 $19) 17... e4 18. dxe4 fxe4 19. Qxe4 Nh3+ 20. Kf1 Qg5 $5 21. Re2 (21. Nxg5 Rxf2#) (21. Re3 Nxf2 22. Kxf2 Bxh2 $40) 21... Rxf3 22. Qxf3 Bg4 $40) 17. Qe4 $6 {Playing with fire again. This square is supposed to be left available for the knight.} (17. Qe2 Bg4 18. h3 Bh5 19. Qe4 {At least now there is some stability for the queen in the centre.}) 17... Kh8 { Unnecessarily cautious, but good enough. The attack is very much on still.} ( 17... Rf5 $5 18. Rad1 Nh4 (18... Rh5 19. d4 cxd4 20. Nxd4) 19. h3 Rh5 20. Nxh4 Qxh4 21. Qf3 Rg5 22. Kf1 Rf8 $40 {/\...Rf6, /\...Rg3, /\...Rxg2!?}) 18. Rad1 Bg4 19. Rd2 Bxf3 {The problem with this plan is that White has chances to consolidate on the light squares if he does not get killed by the attack.} 20. Qxf3 Nh4 21. Qe4 $2 {But this loses at once, or should have done so...} ({ He should have defended the h3-c8 diagonal with} 21. Qg4 {, although the position reemains dangerous after} Rf5 $40 {/\...Rdf8, ...h5}) 21... f3 22. g3 Ng2 $19 23. Nc3 (23. Red1 Qe6 $19 {[%CAl Ge6h3]}) 23... Qe6 $2 {Offering White an unexpected chance to stay in the game.} (23... Nxe1 24. Qxe1 Bc7 {[%CAl Gc7a5]} 25. d4 Qf7 $19 {Black is an exchange up and keeps mating threats. I doubt that even a player with Carlsen's survival skills would have continued playing on in this position.}) 24. Re3 $3 $17 {[%csl Gf3]} Nxe3 25. fxe3 { Suddenly, White has got some space and stability on the light squares. He should lose, of course, but Black still needs to find a constructive plan for breaking open the fortress.} f2+ $2 $15 {Hallucinating. There is no attack after this and White is more or less OK with one pawn for the exchange.} 26. Rxf2 Rxf2 27. Kxf2 Rf8+ 28. Ke2 Qh3 29. Qh1 Be7 30. Ne4 Qg4+ 31. Kd2 Qh3 32. Ke2 h5 33. Bb2 Qg4+ 34. Kd2 Qh3 35. Ke2 Qg4+ 36. Kd2 Qh3 37. Ke2 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.24"] [Round "8"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E05"] [WhiteElo "2872"] [BlackElo "2809"] [Annotator "Marin,M"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. d4 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Bd6 11. a3 {Since Black's last move (quite fashionable nowadays) does not contribute to the development directly, White thinks he can afford to play some pawn moves before making up his mind with respect to the b1-knight.} Nbd7 12. b4 (12. Ba5 {Cheparinov,I (2689)-Atalik,S (2603)/Burgas 2012/CBM 151/[Atalik,S] (1-0, 44)}) 12... Ra7 {Preparing a typical regrouping with ...Qa8, aimed at putting pressure on the long diagonal and the a-file at the same time.} (12... Nb6 13. Nc3 Nbd5 (13... Nc4 14. e4 $5) 14. Na2 Nb6 15. Nc3 Nbd5 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 $2 (16... Bxd5 {may be slightly worse, but entirely playable.}) 17. Qe4 $2 {Too modest.} (17. Ng5 $1 g6 18. Ne4 $16 {[%csl Gc5,Gf6, Gh6]}) 17... h6 18. Ne5 Rb8 19. Qc2 Bxe5 20. dxe5 Qe7 21. e4 Nb6 22. Be3 $14 { Leko,P (2735)-Karjakin,S (2780)/Wijk aan Zee 2013/CBM 153 (1/2, 38)}) (12... Be4 13. Qb2 Bd5 14. Bg5 Qb8 15. Bxf6 Nxf6 16. Nc3 a5 {Quite ambitious, but not really necessary.} (16... Bb7 17. Nd2 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 a5 19. Nde4 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 axb4 21. axb4 Ra4 $132 {Black's play along the a-file compensates for the backward c-pawn.}) 17. Nxd5 exd5 18. Ne5 axb4 19. axb4 Ra4 20. Nc6 {Quite a good square for the knight, but White still needs to stabilise the position and create some targets.} Qa8 $6 ({A more harmonious and effective regrouping would have been} 20... Qb7 21. Rfc1 Rfa8 $11) 21. Rfc1 Rxa1 22. Qxa1 Qa4 23. Qc3 $14 {Laznicka,V (2701)-Bruzon Batista,L (2682)/Poikovsky 2011/CBM 145 (1-0, 43)}) 13. Nc3 (13. a4 {gains some space but also helps Black get rid of a potential queenside weakening.} bxa4 14. Rxa4 Qa8 15. Na3 Ne4 16. Rb1 Nxd2 17. Qxd2 Rb8 18. Nc4 Nb6 19. Nxb6 cxb6 20. Rba1 Rc8 21. Ne1 {1/2 Gelfand,B (2756) -Granda Zuniga,J (2644)/Lugo 2009/CBM 133}) 13... Qa8 14. Nh4 Bxg2 15. Nxg2 c6 $146 {Once the bishops have been exchanged, this is quite logical. Black focuses on ...a5.} (15... e5 {does not quite solve all the problems, since the queenside pieces remain slightly strangely placed:} 16. Be3 Rb7 17. Rfd1 $14 { Cheparinov,I (2710)-Harikrishna,P (2692)/Leon 2012/EXT 2013 (1/2, 33)}) 16. Rac1 $6 {This does not cross Black's plans in either way.} (16. Ne4 $5 Nxe4 17. Qxe4 Rc8 18. Rfc1 {[%CAl Gg2f4,Gf4d3,Gg2e1,Ge1d3] would allow White to keep the queenside immobile, with chances to get an advantage in the long run. With the a3-pawn defended,} a5 $6 {may cause Black some problems after} 19. bxa5 $1) 16... a5 17. Ne4 Nxe4 18. Qxe4 Rc8 19. Nf4 axb4 20. Bxb4 ({White could still keep the queenside blocked, but this would allow Black active play along the a-file:} 20. axb4 Nf6 21. Qb1 Ra3 22. Nd3 Qa7 23. e3 Ne4 24. Rfd1 {[%CAl Gd2e1] }) 20... c5 21. Qxa8 Raxa8 22. dxc5 Bxc5 $11 {The position is plain equal now. The game will end up in the same way as the first encounter between the same players: a knight ending with equal pawns and symmetrical structure! Good fighting spirit, but not really thrilling.} 23. Nd3 Bf8 24. Rxc8 Rxc8 25. Rb1 Ra8 26. Bxf8 Kxf8 27. Rxb5 Rxa3 28. g4 h6 29. h4 Ra2 30. Kf1 Ra1+ 31. Kg2 Ra2 32. Kf3 Ra3 33. Kg3 Ra2 34. e3 Rd2 35. Nf4 g6 36. g5 hxg5 37. hxg5 Ke7 38. e4 Rc2 39. f3 Rc5 40. Rxc5 Nxc5 41. Ng2 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.25"] [Round "9"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E05"] [WhiteElo "2810"] [BlackElo "2872"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Ne5 Nc6 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Nxc6 Qe8 10. Nxe7+ Qxe7 11. Qc2 e5 12. Rd1 Rb8 13. Nc3 h6 14. dxe5 Qxe5 15. Bf4 Qe7 16. Rd4 Be6 17. Rad1 Rb6 18. Qd2 Kh7 19. f3 Rfb8 20. Qe3 Rxb2 21. Rxc4 R2b7 22. Ra4 Re8 23. Rxa7 Rxa7 24. Qxa7 Qb4 25. Be5 $2 (25. Qd4 $14) 25... Nd5 26. Nxd5 Bxd5 27. Qxc7 Qc4 28. a3 f6 29. Qxc4 Bxc4 30. Bc3 Rxe2 31. Rd4 Bb5 32. Bb4 Re3 33. Kf2 Re2+ 34. Kg1 Re3 35. f4 Re2 36. Rd6 Rc2 37. g4 Bc6 38. Bd2 Bf3 39. h3 Ra2 40. Bb4 Rg2+ 41. Kf1 Rh2 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.27"] [Round "10"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Gelfand, Boris"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2872"] [BlackElo "2740"] [Annotator "Nielsen,PH"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] {Magnus Carlsen: "My game against Gelfand in round 10, annotated by Peter Heine Nielsen below, represents the level of chess I aspired to play at in the Candidates. Although I did not succeed in every game, I take great comfort in having reached the main objective which was to qualify for the World Championship match against V. Anand. I would like to express my gratitude to Peter Heine and the other seconds for their valuable help in reaching this goal."} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {Openingwise the players are basically 2 opposites. While Carlsen moves around a lot, Gelfand, both in the WC-match with Anand and in this Candidates tournaments stayed completely loyal to the Grünfeld against 1.d4 and the Sveshnikov against 1.e4.} 3. Bb5 $5 {Sveshnikov was right! At least judged by the current trends, White players seems to concede that the actual Sveshnikov Sicilian is fine for Black, and that 3.Bb5 is the way to fight for the advantage. As Sveshnikov claimed years back. Anand did well with Bb5 in the match, and later both Caruana and Ponomariov posed Gelfand some problems.} e6 4. O-O ({In round 7 Magnus played} 4. Bxc6 {against Radjabov, and after} bxc6 5. b3 d6 6. O-O $5 {tried this idea, deviating from 6.e5 which was both played by McShane and Grischuk against Radjabov. The idea is that after 6...e5 we have a position known from 3...d6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.0-0 only with the white pawn on b3 instead of b2. Not a huge difference, but definitely leading to a playble position for White. Here Radjabov played} Ne7 $5 {and in a complex position, Magnus hallucinated, and was suddenly lost, but saved the game after inaccurate play by Radjabov.}) 4... Nge7 5. Re1 a6 $5 {In the Tashkent Grand Prix against Caruana and Ponomariov, Gelfand chose 5...Nd4, but part of the reason behind being able to succesfully repeat his openings, is having small surprises within them, and for this candidates he had prepared 5.. .a6, and employed it already succesfully with Grischuk in round 6.} 6. Bf1 d5 7. exd5 $5 {I was seconding Magnus in London, but also got help from other seconds online. They suggested this line, thinking it leads to a moderately pleasant position, with a long game ahead, which should suit Magnus style excellently.} ({Grischuk played} 7. d3 {and we saw an unusually sharp fight for pawn structure with big decisions early on:} d4 $5 8. e5 $5 Nd5 9. c4 $5 dxc3 10. bxc3 Rb8 11. Bb2 b5 $5 {and after a tactical error by Grischuk Gelfand got a winning position, although the game ended in a draw.}) 7... Nxd5 8. d4 Nf6 9. Be3 cxd4 (9... Be7 {might be slightly more accurate as after} 10. c4 O-O 11. Nc3 cxd4 12. Nxd4 {instead of 12...Bd7 also 12...Qc7 indenting ... Rd8 is possible.}) 10. Nxd4 Bd7 11. c4 {This is the concept. White has a bit more space and a queenside majority. Black of course a healthy and solid position though.} Nxd4 (11... Be7 12. Nc3 O-O 13. Nf3 $5 {White has been quite succesful with, and this is an argument for Gelfand's choice, securing relieving exchanges before it is too late.}) (11... Bb4 $5 {is a principled choice, but after} 12. Nc3 Bxc3 13. bxc3 O-O 14. Bf4 {White's activity more than compensates for the structural weaknesses. After} Nxd4 $5 15. cxd4 Bc6 { surprisingly suddenly we have the typically Nimzo pawn structure, very similar to game 11 in the Anand-Gelfand match, where Gelfand had a pleasant position with the 2 bishops, before that game was drawn.}) 12. Bxd4 Bc6 13. Nc3 Be7 14. a3 $5 {Magnus was happy with this decision, as he thought the interpolation of a3/a5 is probably favouring White.} (14. Qd3 O-O 15. Rad1 {This was played in the stem game Kinmark (that's actually an anagram of Kramnik as my Swedish friends have pointed out!) -Paoli 1975, also being slightly more pleasant for White.}) 14... a5 $5 {The principled approach, and what one would expect from Gelfand.} (14... O-O 15. b4 {is what White wants, but as usual only a slight edge.}) 15. Qd3 O-O (15... a4 $6 {is an ambitious attempt, but after} 16. Rad1 O-O 17. Qg3 {White's initiative becomes too strong.}) 16. Rad1 Qc7 17. Be5 Qb6 18. Qg3 Rfd8 (18... Nh5 $5 19. Qh3 Nf6 {would be an interesting way to defend, as now Bc7 no longer annoys Black, and Black is threatening ...Rfd8.} 20. Bd3 h6 21. Bd4 Qc7 22. b4 $1 {and White still keeps an edge though.}) 19. Rxd8+ ( 19. Nd5 {Magnus said at the press-conference that he had wasted quite some time on this move, which fails due to a small tactic:} exd5 20. Bd4 Bc5 21. Bxf6 Bxf2+ $1 {leading to a drawish ending.}) 19... Qxd8 20. Rd1 Qb6 (20... Qf8 $5 {Speelman mentioned this move at the press conference, to which Gelfand quite rightly replied that from a practical perspective it has no huge relevance. Gelfand's plan was hampering Black's queenside play in an ambitious manner, but this more defensive move does have some bite, as the following tactic:} 21. b4 $5 axb4 22. axb4 Nh5 $1 23. Qg4 Bxb4 24. Qxh5 f6 $1 25. Bd3 g6 $1 {amazingly holds up for Black, as after} 26. Bxg6 $2 (26. Qg4 $1 fxe5 27. Qxe6+ Qf7 28. Qxe5 Ra5 {and Black has enough compensation to draw here}) 26... hxg6 27. Qxg6+ Qg7 {and due to the mate on g2, White can't take on f6 with the queen, and thus suddenly ends up a piece short! Instead of 21.b4, probably 21. Bd3!? is stronger, and White remains comfortably placed.}) 21. Bd4 Qb3 22. Rd3 (22. Rd2 {is more modest, but White still has a pleasant game after eg.} a4 23. Qc7 Nd7 24. Be3 Bd8 25. Qg3 {But the game puts much more direct pressure on Black.}) 22... Qc2 23. b4 $1 axb4 24. axb4 Nh5 25. Qe5 (25. Qe3 $5 {This computer move also keeps an edge, the main point being} Bxb4 26. Qg5 g6 (26... f6 $1 {a much better fighting chance} 27. Qxh5 e5 28. Qf5 Rf8 $1 {() and although White is better, Black keeps definite figthing chances}) 27. Ne4 $1 Bxe4 28. Qe5 $1 {and Black's position suddenly collapses.}) 25... Bf6 {The toughest defence.} ({Both players saw} 25... Ra1 26. Nd1 $1 Rxd1 27. Rxd1 Qxd1 28. Qb8+ Bf8 29. Bc5 h6 30. Qxf8+ Kh7 {and now} 31. Qd6 $1 {is the key bringing back the queen for defence, and the ensuing endings will just be winning for White due to the queenside majority and the pair of bishops.} (31. Qxf7 $2 Be4 $1 {however would completely reverse the situation, as ...Bd3 can't be stopped.})) 26. Qxh5 Bxd4 27. Rxd4 Qxc3 28. Qa5 $1 {The point behind 23.b4, without this, White wouldn't even be better. But now with this intermezzo, White just manages to coordinate in time, and thus his queenside majority secures a huge edge.} Rf8 29. Qb6 e5 {The only way to fight.} 30. Rd1 (30. Rd8 $5 g6 31. b5 Be4 32. Rd7 {transposes to the line below.}) 30... g6 31. b5 Be4 32. Qf6 $6 (32. h4 $5) (32. Rd7 {This seems almost winning, the idea being Qd6 next, and if now ...Bf5, then Rxb7.} Qe1 33. Qd6 $16) 32... h5 $6 ( 32... Bf5 $1 {A very good fighting chance,} 33. Rd5 Be6 34. Qxe5 Qxe5 35. Rxe5 Rc8 {as this could be easily drawn for Black, White should probably not liquidate into this ending. An important line is} 36. c5 Kf8 37. Bd3 Bd7 $1 { followed by ...f6 winning back the pawn.}) 33. h4 Bf5 34. Rd5 Qc1 $5 (34... Be6 35. Qxe5 Qxe5 36. Rxe5 Rc8 37. c5 Kf8 38. Bd3 Bd7 {is now different, as ...f6 would weaken the g6-pawn, and thus h4/h5 greatly favours White.}) 35. Qxe5 Be6 36. Rd4 Ra8 37. Qe2 {Gelfand has reasonable activity for the pawn, but in time pressure commits a few inaccuracies, which Magnus punished mercilessly.} Kh7 $6 (37... Qa1 38. Qd1 Kg7 {eg. was a much tougher defence} 39. c5 $2 Qc3 $1 { being one resource.}) 38. Rd1 Qc3 39. Qe4 Ra1 $2 {But ...Ra7 as the computer thinks, fights on. But it is impossible for a human to play.} 40. Rxa1 Qxa1 41. c5 $1 {The time control has been reached, but now White is completely winning, as nothing stops his pawns marching forward.} Qc3 42. Qxb7 (42. b6 {would indeed be safer, but Magnus missed Gelfand's reply to his next move.}) 42... Qe1 $5 (42... Qxc5 43. b6 {followed by Qa6, and the pawn just queens.}) 43. b6 {Magnus said at the press conference that he quite quickly recovered from the shock, and that despite losing the bishop on f1, it doesn't really change much, as what matters is that the white pawns are queening.} Bc4 44. Qf3 $1 Qxf1+ 45. Kh2 Qb1 46. b7 Qb5 47. c6 Bd5 48. Qg3 $1 {Controlling g2, and h4, eliminating even any small attempts at counterplay, and simultaneously queening the b-pawn made Gelfand resign. Probably Magnus' best game in London. He achieved only a small edge in the opening, but with some precise tactics managed to enlarge it, and then increased it to decisive proportions in Gelfand's time trouble. This gave Carlsen the sole lead, but much more was still to happen...} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.28"] [Round "11"] [White "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D90"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2872"] [Annotator "Marin,M"] [PlyCount "46"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. h4 $5 {This extravagant move has some abstract justification. Black's position in the centre is not too stable, quite typically for the Grünfeld, so he might be not that well prepared against the brutal advance of the h-pawn.} c6 {Adding some stability to the centre, so as to parry h4-h5, at least for the time being.} ({If} 5... h5 6. Bg5 {the insertion of the moves h4 and ...h5 ensures that the g5-bishop is defended, rendering the typical ...Nf6-e4 ineffective.} c6 7. e3 $14 {Kadas,G (2224)-Bakos,B (2234)/Hungary 2006/EXT 2009 (0-1, 39)}) 6. Bg5 ({In the few games played with this line,} 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Bf4 {In principle, the move h2-h4 does not seem to fit into what would otherwise be a marginally better position for White. Still, in the long run the threat h4-h5 may become real and if Black prevents it with ...h7-h5, things would already look coherent from White's point of view.} Nc6 8. e3 O-O 9. Ne5 (9. Be2 Bg4 10. O-O e6 11. Rc1 Rc8 {Melkumyan,H (2649)-Erdos,V (2637)/Germany 2013/CBM 153 (1/2, 58)}) 9... Qb6 (9... Be6 10. Nd3 b6 11. Be2 h5 12. Rc1 Bg4 13. f3 Bd7 14. b4 e6 15. Qb3 $14 {Nenezic,M (2400)-Maric,D (2207)/Belgrade 2013/CBM 152 Extra (1-0, 36)} ) 10. Qb3 Qxb3 (10... Bf5 11. Be2 h5 {Sadorra,J (2431)-Gopal,G (2548)/Beijing 2008/CBM 126 Extra (1-0, 29)} 12. Qxb6 axb6 13. f3 $14) 11. axb3 Nb4 12. Kd2 h5 13. Nd3 Nc6 (13... Nxd3 14. Bxd3 {[%CAl Gc3b5]} Bd7 15. Ra5 $14) 14. f3 Bf5 15. Ne5 $14 {Morozevich,A (2748)-Giri,A (2720)/Beijing 2012/ (1-0, 49). In all these games, White's better control in the centre and the king's centralisation make his position more pleasant.}) 6... O-O $146 {This flexible developing move invites White to display his cards.} (6... Ne4 7. cxd5 (7. e3 $5 $14) 7... cxd5 8. Qb3 Nxc3 {1/2 Wocke,R-Chandler,P/Wiesbaden 1988/GER}) 7. Bxf6 ({One possible problem is that the natural} 7. e3 {cuts off the bishop's retreat, allowing} Nh5 $5 {[%CAl Gh7h6]}) 7... Bxf6 (7... exf6 $5 {might also be playable.} 8. cxd5 cxd5 9. e3 Nc6 {[%CAl Gf6f5] There is no clear plan of attacking the d5-pawn, while Black enjoys free development.}) 8. h5 Bf5 { The bishop hurries to the defence of the kingside.} (8... dxc4 9. e4 b5 ({If} 9... Be6 {then White gains time to cut the dark-squared bishop out of the play completely:} 10. e5 Bg7 11. h6 Bh8 12. Ng5 Bd5 13. Qg4 Qb6 14. O-O-O Na6 15. f4 {Black will have to play the rest of the game with his bishop immobile on h8. Besides, his king is under constant pressure. Would the extra pawn and activity of the remaining pieces compensate for these important drawbacks? With Black, I would be afraid they would not.}) 10. e5 Bg7 {Now, the same plan is more difficult to carry out; Black would react with ...f6 if needed. White may play} 11. a4 $44 {, hoping that the queenside diversion would create favourable circumstances on the opposite wing.}) 9. e3 (9. Qb3 $5 dxc4 10. Qxb7 Qb6 11. Qxb6 (11. Qxa8 Qxb2 $19) 11... axb6 12. e4 Be6 13. e5 Bg7 (13... Bh8 { anticipates the white plan, but the bishop does not stand nicely on h8.}) 14. h6 $5 Bh8 15. Ng5 Bd5 16. f4 {The h8-bishop has been cut off play mechanically. On the other hand, Black has an advantage on the queenside and in some cases he could free his bishop with a knight sacrifice on e5 (following to ... f7-f6xe5). The final evaluation is not clear to me, since the computers do not always understand the notion of a trapped piece.}) 9... e6 10. hxg6 Bxg6 $1 ( 10... hxg6 11. Ne5 {exposes the bishop to the threat g2-g4 and forces Black to make some concession.} c5 (11... Bxe5 12. dxe5 Qg5 13. Qd4 Nd7 14. cxd5 exd5 15. O-O-O $36) 12. g4 cxd4 13. exd4 Be4 14. f3 Bh4+ 15. Ke2 f6 16. Nd7 $5 Qxd7 17. Rxh4 g5 18. Rh1 Bg6 19. cxd5 exd5 20. Kf2 $14) 11. Bd3 Nd7 12. Qe2 (12. cxd5 cxd5 {[%CAl Ge6e5] does not change things essentially.}) 12... e5 $132 { Black clears the path for his Grünfeld bishop, which will compensate for the relative weakness of the Isolani.} 13. Bxg6 hxg6 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. cxd5 cxd5 16. Rd1 Qa5 17. Kf1 {Grischuk keeps his rook on h1, in order to inhibit ... Bxc3.} (17. O-O Nxf3+ 18. Qxf3 Bxc3 19. Rxd5 Qxa2 20. bxc3 a5 $11) (17. Rxd5 Nxf3+ 18. Kf1 {looks trickier, but Black has some tricks as well:} Nd2+ $3 ( 18... Qc7 19. Qxf3 Bxc3 20. bxc3 Qxc3 21. Qh3 $36) 19. Qxd2 (19. Rxd2 Bxc3 20. bxc3 Qxc3 $11) 19... Rad8 $1 $44) 17... Rad8 18. Nd4 Qc5 $11 (18... Rfe8 $2 19. Nb3 $16 {wins the d5-pawn.}) 19. Nb3 {White has no advantage at all and, fearing the pressure of the enemy minor pieces, immediately started peace negotiations. In view of the weakness of his central pawn, Black cannot avoid the repetition.} Qc6 20. Na5 Qc7 21. Nb3 Qc6 22. Na5 Qc7 23. Nb3 Qc6 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.29"] [Round "12"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2872"] [BlackElo "2757"] [Annotator "Kritz,L"] [PlyCount "180"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 {Mueller,Ka} c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e6 ({Wenn Schwarz ganz prinzipiell spielen will, kann er mit} 3... e5 {fortfahren:} 4. Bc4 d6 5. d3 Be7 {mit vielen theoretischen Varianten.}) 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qd2 { Das ist die populärste und wohl auch die stärkste Fortsetzung gegen das Paulsen-System.} (7. Bd3 Nf6 8. O-O Nxd4 $1 {Ich finde das Nehmen sehr gut für Schwarz.} 9. Bxd4 Bc5 10. Bxc5 (10. Bxf6 $2 gxf6 11. Qg4 Kf8 12. Kh1 h5 13. Qh4 Be7 14. f4 b5 $132) 10... Qxc5 11. Kh1 d6 12. f4 e5 $132) (7. Be2 Nf6 8. O-O Bb4 9. Na4 Be7 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Nb6 Rb8 12. Nxc8 Qxc8 13. Bd4 c5 14. Be5 Rb6 $132 {Auch hier hat Schwarz gute Aussichten.}) 7... Nf6 8. O-O-O Bb4 9. f3 Ne7 $5 {Diese Variante war und bleibt eine der größten Fragen, die Weiß noch zu beantworten hat.} (9... b5 10. Bf4 Ne5 11. Nc6 $3 {Dank dieses Tricks bekommt Weiß eine sehr angenehme Stellung.} Nd3+ (11... Qxc6 12. Bxe5 Bb7 13. Qg5 $16) (11... Bxc3 12. bxc3 $1 Qxc6 13. Bxe5 $16) (11... dxc6 12. Bxe5 $16) 12. cxd3 Qxc6 13. Kb1 O-O 14. Rc1 $14) (9... Ne5 {Die Hauptvariante!} 10. Nb3 b5 11. Qe1 {Nun droht Nxb5.} Be7 12. f4 Ng6 13. e5 Ng4 14. Ne4 $132 {Beide Seiten haben ihre Chancen.}) 10. Nb3 $2 {Dieser Zug wird selten gespielt und das zurecht. Besser ist 10.Nde2.} (10. Nde2 d5 (10... b5 11. Bf4 e5 12. Bg5 Bb7 13. Kb1 $14) 11. Bg5 dxe4 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Qd4 exf3 14. Qxb4 fxe2 15. Bxe2 f5 $13 {Es sieht so aus, als ob Weiß genug Kompensation für den Bauern hat, aber etwas Konkretes gibt er auch wieder nicht. Es hat noch niemand einen eindeutigen Weg zum Vorteil in dieser Stellung gezeigt.}) 10... d5 11. e5 {Weiß steht schon schlechter. Nach dem Partiezug bekommt er keine einzige Chance zum Spielen.} ( 11. Kb1 Bxc3 12. bxc3 O-O 13. e5 Nd7 14. f4 a5 15. Nd4 Nc5 16. Nb5 Qc6 17. Bxc5 Qxc5 18. Qd4 b6 19. Qxc5 bxc5 $15 {0-1 Cernousek,L (2417)-Chloupek,S (2317)/ Czechia 2009/EXT 2011 (40)}) 11... Nd7 $15 {Es ist sehr komisch, dass Carlsen diese Variante gewählt hat. Ich vermute, dass er etwas verwechselt hat, weil Weiß hier einfach eine schlechte Bauernstruktur bekommt, ohne jegliche Kompensation.} 12. f4 b6 13. Bd4 {Etwas stärker war doch a3, dann behält man zumindest den schwarzfeldrigen Läufer.} (13. a3 Bxc3 14. Qxc3 Qxc3 15. bxc3 Bb7 16. Kd2 Kd8 17. Be2 Kc7 $15 {1-0 Piorun,K (2445)-Vovk,Y (2549)/Warsaw 2008/CBM 125 Extra (44)}) 13... Nc5 {Jetzt ist die Stellung von Weiß schon kritisch.} 14. a3 $2 {Und wieder nicht die beste Entscheidung! Offensichtlich hat Carlsen einfach einen schlechten Tag erwischt.} (14. Bxc5 $1 Bxc5 (14... bxc5 15. a3 Bxc3 16. Qxc3 c4 17. Nd4 $132) 15. Kb1 O-O (15... Bb4 $2 16. Nb5 $1 $16) 16. Bd3 Bd7 $15) 14... Ne4 15. Qe1 Nxc3 16. Bxc3 (16. axb4 Nxd1 $19) 16... Bxc3 17. Qxc3 Qxc3 18. bxc3 $17 {Nach nur 18 Zügen hat Weiß alle Chancen auf aktives Spiel verloren und muss nun ums Remis kämpfen. Gegen einen Spieler von solcher Klasse wie Ivanchuk kann man solche Stellungen kaum halten.} a5 $6 {Als erstes kommt der "schlechte" Läufer raus, wobei das auch einen Nachteil hat - das Feld b5 wird geschwächt.} 19. Nd4 (19. c4 $5 O-O 20. cxd5 Nxd5 21. g3 a4 22. Nd4 Ne3 23. Re1 Bb7 $17) 19... Ba6 20. Bd3 $1 {Wenn Schwarz auf d3 nimmt, wird die weiße Bauernstruktur sofort verbessert.} (20. Nb5 $6 Kd7 21. Bd3 Bxb5 $1 22. Bxb5+ Kc7 $17 {Dieses Materialverhältnis ist das schlechteste für Weiß.}) 20... Kd7 (20... Bxd3 $4 21. cxd3 $14) 21. Kd2 Nc6 $1 {Ivanchuk spielt sehr genau. Man muss alle starken Figuren von Weiß abtauschen, um dann gegen die Schwächen spielen zu können.} 22. Rb1 (22. Nb5 f6 $1 23. exf6 gxf6 $17 { Schwarz wird bald zu ...e5 kommen.}) (22. Bb5 Bxb5 23. Nxb5 g5 $1 {Typischer Zug für diese Bauernstruktur.} 24. g3 Rag8 $17) 22... Bxd3 $1 {Jetzt kann Schwarz auf d3 nehmen, weil Weiß nicht mit dem Bauern zurückschlagen kann.} 23. Kxd3 (23. cxd3 Nxd4 24. cxd4 Kc6 25. Rb2 Kb7 26. Rhb1 Ra6 $15 {Demnächst kommt Rc8-Rc6 und dann wird sich der Turm a6 befreien können.}) (23. Nxc6 Bxc2 24. Kxc2 (24. Rxb6 Be4 25. Nd4 Rhb8 $19) 24... Kxc6 $19) 23... Rab8 {Weiß kann die Stellung wahrscheinlich halten, wenn er die Türme auf der b-Linie verdoppelt.} 24. Nb5 $2 (24. Rb2 f6 25. Nxc6 Kxc6 26. Re1 Rhf8 27. g3 $15) 24... g5 $1 { Jetzt kommt Schwarz auch noch von der anderen Seite.} 25. g3 Rhg8 26. c4 (26. Nd6 gxf4 27. gxf4 f6 $19) (26. Rhg1 Ne7 $17) 26... gxf4 {Das Nehmen auf c4 war gut genug.} (26... dxc4+ 27. Kxc4 gxf4 28. gxf4 Rg4 $19 {Beide Bauern e5 und f4 hängen.}) 27. gxf4 Ne7 $2 {Ivanchuk macht ebenfalls einen Fehler. Nach 27... .dxc4 könnte Weiß aufgeben.} (27... dxc4+ 28. Kxc4 (28. Kc3 Ne7 $19) 28... Rg4 29. Rhf1 Nxe5+ $19) 28. Rhg1 {Nun hat Schwarz das Feld g4 nicht mehr zur Verfügung.} dxc4+ 29. Kxc4 Nd5 (29... Rbc8+ 30. Kb3 Nd5 31. Rxg8 Rxg8 32. Rd1 Kc6 33. c4 Nxf4 34. Rd6+ Kb7 (34... Kc5 $4 35. Nc3 $18) 35. Rd7+ $14) 30. Nd6 Kc6 31. Nxf7 Nxf4 {Auch nach 31....Rgf8 steht Schwarz besser.} (31... Rgf8 32. Ng5 Rxf4+ 33. Kb3 Re8 34. Rbe1 h6 35. Ne4 Rh4 $15) 32. Kb3 {Vermutlich waren beide Spieler schon in Zeitnot.} (32. Rbd1 $1 Rxg1 (32... Nd5 33. Kd4 $11) 33. Rxg1 b5+ 34. Kb3 Kc5 35. Rf1 Ne2 36. c3 b4 37. cxb4+ axb4 38. Ng5 $1 (38. axb4+ Rxb4+ 39. Kc2 Rf4 40. Rxf4 Nxf4 41. Ng5 h6 42. Nf7 h5 43. Kd2 Kd4 $19) 38... Nd4+ 39. Kb2 bxa3+ 40. Kxa3 $15 {Schwarz steht besser, aber Weiß hat gute Chancen, um Remis zu halten.}) 32... Kc5 (32... Rgf8 $5 33. Ng5 Rf5 34. Rbf1 Rg8 35. Nxh7 Rxg1 36. Rxg1 Rxe5 $15) 33. Ng5 h6 34. Ne4+ Kd4 35. Nf6 Rxg1 36. Rxg1 Rc8 $1 {Genau gespielt! Schwarz muss seinen Turm aktivieren.} (36... Kxe5 $4 37. Nd7+ $18) 37. Re1 (37. Rd1+ Kxe5 38. Ng4+ Ke4 39. Nxh6 Ne2 $17) 37... Rc3+ 38. Kb2 Rf3 (38... Rh3 $4 39. Re4+ $18) 39. Re4+ Kc5 40. Nd7+ Kd5 41. Nf6+ Kc5 42. Nd7+ Kc6 $1 {Schwarz will natürlich weiter spielen, seine Stellung ist viel besser, weil sein König sehr stark ist.} 43. Nf6 (43. Rd4 Nd5 44. c4 Rf2+ 45. Kb3 a4+ $1 46. Kxa4 b5+ 47. cxb5+ (47. Ka5 bxc4 48. Nb8+ Kc5 $19) 47... Kxd7 48. Rh4 Re2 $17) 43... Ng6 {Nun droht einfach Nxe5.} 44. Rc4+ Kb5 45. Re4 $2 {Mueller,Ka: 'The passive solution makes life difficult for Carlsen.'} ({ The active} 45. Rc8 $1 {Mueller,Ka draws easier, e.g.} Nxe5 46. Ne4 Re3 47. Nd6+ Ka4 48. Rf8 b5 (48... Rf3 49. Rxf3 Nxf3 50. c4 Nd2 51. Ka2 Nb3 52. Ne4 Nc1+ 53. Kb2 Nd3+ $11) 49. Rf4+ b4 50. axb4 axb4 51. Rf8 Ka5 52. Rb8 Re2 53. Kb3 $11) 45... Rf5 $17 {Schwarz hat wieder sehr großen Vorteil. Weiß kann den Bauern nicht halten.} 46. Ne8 $6 ({The computer suggestion} 46. a4+ {Mueller,Ka } Kc5 47. Kb3 Nxe5 48. c3 {is better.}) 46... Kc5 47. Nc7 $6 ({Again the computer solution} 47. Kb3 {Mueller,Ka} Rxe5 48. Rc4+ Kd5 {is objectivly better, but White's house already looks very shaky.}) 47... Nxe5 $1 48. Rh4 Kd6 49. Nb5+ Kd7 50. a4 h5 51. Nd4 Rg5 52. Re4 Nc4+ 53. Kc3 Re5 $1 54. Rh4 $6 { Mueller,Ka: 'The rook is a bit misplaced here.'} (54. Re2 $5 {Mueller,Ka is called for.}) 54... Nd6 55. Kd3 Rd5 56. c4 Rg5 57. Nf3 Rc5 58. Nd2 Rf5 59. Nb3 Nb7 60. Rh3 Kd6 61. Kc3 Nc5 $1 62. Nxc5 Kxc5 63. Re3 (63. Rh4 {Mueller,Ka} e5 64. Kd3 Kb4 $19) 63... e5 $2 {Mueller,Ka: 'Until now Ivanchuk has played his initiative forcefully. But now he loses control for a short moment.'} (63... h4 $1 {Mueller,Ka wins, e.g.} 64. Rxe6 (64. Kd3 e5 65. Ke4 (65. Kc3 e4 66. Rxe4 Rf3+ 67. Kc2 Rh3 $19) 65... Rf4+ 66. Kxe5 Rxc4 67. Ra3 Kb4 68. Ra1 Rc2 $19) 64... Rf3+ 65. Kb2 (65. Kd2 Rh3 $19) 65... Rh3 66. Re5+ Kb4 67. Rb5+ (67. Re2 Kxa4 $19) 67... Kxc4 68. Rxb6 Rxh2+ 69. Ka3 Rh3+ 70. Kb2 Rd3 71. Rb5 Rd5 $19) 64. h4 Kd6 65. Rd3+ Ke6 (65... Kc6 {Mueller,Ka} 66. Rd5 Rf3+ 67. Kc2 Rh3 68. Rxe5 Rxh4 69. Kc3 Rh1 70. Re6+ Kc5 71. Re5+ Kd6 72. Rb5 Kc6 73. Kd4 h4 74. Rh5 h3 75. Rh6+ Kd7 76. Kd5 h2 77. Rh7+ Ke8 78. Kc6 Kf8 79. Rh3 Kg7 80. Kb7 $11) 66. Rg3 (66. Rd5 $2 {Mueller,Ka} Rf3+ (66... e4 $2 67. Kd4 Rxd5+ 68. cxd5+ Kf5 69. d6 Ke6 70. Kxe4 Kxd6 71. Kd4 Kc7 72. Kc3 $11) 67. Kc2 Rf4 68. Kc3 Rxh4 69. Rb5 Rh3+ 70. Kd2 (70. Kb2 e4 71. Rxb6+ Ke5 72. c5 Kd4 73. Re6 Rc3 $19) 70... e4 71. Rxb6+ Ke5 72. c5 Rd3+ 73. Ke2 Rc3 74. Rb5 h4 75. Rxa5 (75. c6+ Kd4 $19) 75... h3 76. c6+ Kd6 77. Rh5 h2 78. Rh6+ Kc7 79. Kd2 Ra3 80. a5 Ra1 $19) 66... Kf6 67. Rd3 Rf4 68. Rd6+ Kf5 69. Rxb6 Rxh4 70. c5 Rxa4 (70... Ke4 {Mueller,Ka} 71. c6 (71. Kc4 $11) 71... Kd5 72. Rb5+ Kxc6 73. Rxe5 $11) 71. Rh6 $2 {Mueller, Ka: 'The large drawish tendency of rook endings still saves White, but over the board it is next to impossible to defend this position.'} (71. c6 {Mueller, Ka} Ke6 (71... Ra1 $6 {is met by} 72. Kb2 {when} Ra4 {is the only move to draw for Black.}) 72. Rb5 Kd6 73. c7 Kxc7 74. Rxe5 {is a tablebase draw, e.g.} h4 75. Rh5 Kb6 76. Rh6+ Kc5 77. Rh5+ Kd6 78. Kb3 Rd4 79. Rxa5 Rd5 80. Ra6+ Ke5 81. Rh6 Rd4 82. Kc3 Ra4 83. Kd2 Kf5 84. Ke2 Kg5 85. Rh8 $11) 71... Ke4 $1 {Mueller, Ka: 'Ivanchuk's king crosses over to deal with the passed c-pawn himself.'} 72. Rd6 (72. Rxh5 {Mueller,Ka} Kd5 73. c6 Rc4+ 74. Kd3 Rxc6 $19) (72. c6 {Mueller, Ka} Kd5 73. Kd3 Rd4+ 74. Ke3 Rc4 $19) 72... Rd4 $1 73. Ra6 (73. Rxd4+ {Mueller, Ka} exd4+ 74. Kc4 d3 75. c6 (75. Kc3 Kd5 76. Kxd3 Kxc5 $19) 75... d2 76. c7 d1=Q 77. c8=Q Qc2+ $19) 73... Kd5 74. Rxa5 (74. c6 {Mueller,Ka} Rc4+ 75. Kd3 Rxc6 76. Rxa5+ Ke6 $19) (74. Rh6 {Mueller,Ka} Kxc5 75. Rxh5 Kd5 $19) 74... Rc4+ 75. Kd3 Rxc5 76. Ra4 Rc7 ({The computer move} 76... e4+ {Mueller,Ka wins quicker as} 77. Rxe4 $6 {runs into} Rc3+ 78. Kxc3 Kxe4 79. Kd2 Kf3 80. Ke1 Kg2 $19 {[%csl Gg1,Gg2]}) 77. Rh4 Rh7 78. Ke3 Ke6 79. Ke4 Rh8 80. Ke3 Kf5 81. Ke2 Kg5 82. Re4 Re8 83. Ke3 h4 84. Ke2 h3 85. Kf2 h2 86. Kg2 h1=Q+ 87. Kxh1 Kf5 88. Re1 Rg8 $1 {Mueller,Ka: 'The cut off decides.'} 89. Kh2 (89. Rg1 {Mueller,Ka} Rxg1+ 90. Kxg1 Ke4 91. Kf2 Kd3 $19 {[%csl Gd3,Ge3,Gf3]}) 89... Kf4 90. Rf1+ Ke3 0-1 [Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.31"] [Round "13"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E32"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2872"] [Annotator "Krasenkow,M"] [PlyCount "178"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. g3 {A rare plan in the 4.Qc2 system.} O-O 7. Bg2 e5 8. O-O (8. dxe5 Nxe5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. O-O c6 11. Rd1 Qe7 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Ne4 Qe7 15. c5 Bf5 16. Rd6 Bxe4 17. Bxe4 Rfd8 18. Rad1 $14 {1-0 (59) Rajlich,I (2399)-Lomineishvili,M (2437) St Petersburg 2009}) 8... c6 (8... exd4 9. Nxd4 c6 10. a3 Bc5 11. Rd1 Ne5 12. Na4 Qe7 13. Nxc5 dxc5 {1/2 (46) Foisor,O (2495)-Hergott,D (2320) Saint John 1988} 14. Nf3 $14) 9. Rd1 Re8 (9... Qe7 $5 {is probably more accurate} 10. dxe5 $140 Nxe5) 10. dxe5 $1 {Otherwise 10...e4.} (10. Bg5 Bxc3 11. Qxc3 e4 12. Ne1 h6 13. Bf4 Nf8 14. Nc2 Ng6 15. Be3 d5 16. b3 Be6 17. h3 Qd7 18. Kh2 h5 $36 {0-1 (43) Vitiugov,N (2594)-Tomashevsky,E (2646) Moscow 2007}) 10... dxe5 11. a3 (11. Ng5 h6 12. Nge4 {is positionally wrong: White should not trade knights as Black's minor pieces get in each other's way.} Qc7 13. a3 Bf8 14. b4 Nxe4 15. Nxe4 f5 16. Nd2 Nf6 17. e4 a5 18. Rb1 axb4 19. axb4 Qf7 $132 {0-1 (46) Paulsen,D (2240) -Kuzmin,G (2545) Dortmund 1981}) 11... Bxc3 (11... Bf8 {deprives Black's d7-knight of a comfortable square.} 12. b4 a5 13. Rb1 $14) 12. Qxc3 Qe7 13. b4 {A courageous move, active but weakening the c4-pawn (square).} Nb6 14. Be3 $6 (14. a4 $5 e4 $140 15. Ng5 h6 16. a5 Nbd7 17. Nh3 $14) 14... Ng4 15. Nd2 ({ It is hard to say whether White missed} 15. Bc5 $2 Na4 $1 {or simply made a mistake in evaluation but after the exchange of his important dark-squared bishop the position roughly equalises.}) 15... f5 16. h3 Nxe3 17. Qxe3 e4 ( 17... Qf7 $5 18. Rac1 Be6) 18. Rac1 $6 (18. c5 Nd5 19. Qd4 {[%CAl Yd2c4,Yc4d6]} b5 $5 {leads to complex play. After the passive text move Black seizes the initiative.}) 18... Be6 19. Qc3 (19. c5 Nd5 20. Qd4 Rad8 21. Qe5 Nc7 $1 { , and White's knight can't get to c4 anymore.}) (19. f3 exf3 20. exf3 {(S. Zagrebelny) is hardly enough: after} Qf6 21. Bf1 Bf7 22. Qf2 Na4 {White's position is very unpleasant.}) 19... Rad8 20. Bf1 (20. c5 Nd5 21. Qe5 {was relatively better after all.}) 20... c5 $6 {Black fails to demonstrate prophylactic thinking (how to anticipate White's idea 21.e3 ?) and misses a strong resource:} (20... Bf7 $1 21. e3 {(what else?)} Bh5 22. Re1 Nd7 $17 { [%CAl Yd7e5] (indicated by S.Zagrebelny and other commentators)}) 21. bxc5 Na4 22. Qb4 Nxc5 23. Nb3 {After this the position nearly equalises.} Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Na6 (24... Nxb3 25. Qxb3 Rc8 26. e3 {is hardly enough, too.}) 25. Qxe7 Rxe7 26. e3 Kf7 27. Be2 b6 28. Rd8 Nc5 29. Nd4 (29. Nxc5 bxc5 30. Rb8 {was good enough. But after the text move White obtains a strong outpost on d4, compensating for Black's c5 stronghold.}) 29... Kf6 30. Kf1 Rd7 31. Rf8+ Bf7 32. Ke1 g6 33. h4 h6 34. Rc8 Be6 35. Rf8+ Rf7 36. Rh8 Rc7 37. Nb5 Rd7 38. Nd4 h5 {Otherwise h4-h5 could be an issue.} 39. Rf8+ Bf7 40. Rc8 Ke5 41. Ra8 a6 42. Rc8 Rd6 43. Nc6+ Kf6 44. Nd4 Be6 45. Rf8+ Ke7 46. Ra8 Rd7 47. Rb8 (47. Kd2 {was simpler.}) 47... Rb7 48. Rxb7+ {Why? White's rook was more active, and Black couldn't make any progress. The minor piece endgame should also be drawn but it requires accuracy from White as Black has ways to improve his position.} Nxb7 { [%mdl 4096]} 49. Kd2 Kd6 50. Kc3 Bf7 51. Nb3 Ke5 52. Bf1 a5 53. Be2 Be6 54. Bf1 Bd7 55. Be2 Ba4 56. Nd4 Nc5 57. Kb2 Be8 58. Kc3 Bf7 59. Nc6+ Kd6 60. Nd4 Nd7 { Black finds a plan: ...Ke5, Nc5 and ...a4 with a semblance of zugzwang.} 61. Nb5+ Kc5 62. Nd4 Ne5 63. Nb3+ Kc6 64. a4 $6 {A move, which amazed spectators and commentators. In normal circumstances a strong GM would never make such a move (creating a new serious weakness in his camp) even at gunpoint. GM Teimour Radjabov was probably in extremely bad shape. Meanwhile, the zugzwang was just an illusion; White simply needs to realise that he can play f2-f3 at some point:} (64. Nd4+ Kd6 65. Nb3 a4 66. Nd2 Kc5 {Zugzwang?} 67. f3 $1 (67. Bd1 Ng4 68. Bxa4 Nxf2 {is indeed risky}) 67... exf3 68. Nxf3 Nxf3 (68... Nxc4 69. Bxc4 Bxc4 70. Ne5) 69. Bxf3 Bxc4 {- White loses a pawn but after} 70. e4 Be6 71. exf5 Bxf5 72. Bg2 {Black can never break through.}) (64. Kd4 Kd6 65. Nd2 Nc6+ 66. Kc3 {[%CAl Yf2f3] was possible, too.}) 64... Kd7 65. Nd4 Kd6 66. Nb5+ Kc5 67. Nd4 Be8 68. Nb3+ (68. Kb3 Bd7 {This is indeed zugzwang!} 69. f3 ( 69. Bf1 Ng4) (69. Nc2 Nd3) 69... exf3 70. Nxf3 Ng4 $19 {is now a completely different story!}) 68... Kd6 69. c5+ Kc7 $1 (69... bxc5 70. Nxa5 Bxa4 71. Nc4+ {is a draw.}) 70. Kd4 Nc6+ 71. Kc3 Ne7 $1 72. cxb6+ Kxb6 73. Nd2 Bxa4 74. Nc4+ Ka6 $1 75. Na3+ Kb7 76. Nc4 Ka6 77. Na3+ Ka7 $1 {Black holds his extra pawn and gets fair winning chances.} 78. Kd4 (78. Nc4 Bb5) 78... Nc6+ 79. Kc5 Ne5 ( 79... Nb4 $5 80. Nb5+ Kb7 81. Nc3 Bb3) 80. Nc4 $2 {Probably the decisive mistake.} (80. Kd4 $1 {was the right way although even after} Nd3 { (recommended by Alexey Dreev during a live broadcast)} (80... Nc6+ 81. Kc5 Nb4 {is possible, too}) 81. Bxd3 exd3 82. Kxd3 Bb3 {we can't assume it is a clear draw.}) 80... Nd3+ 81. Kd4 ({Now} 81. Bxd3 exd3 82. Kd4 Bc2 83. Kc3 a4 { is hardly enough for a draw - both White's pieces are paralysed, and Black's king goes forward.}) 81... Nc1 $1 ({White probably expected something like} 81... Nxf2 82. Nxa5 Nh1 83. Ke5 Nxg3 84. Bc4 Kb6 85. Nb3 {with good chances to recapture one of Black's pawns and survive}) 82. Bf1 Bb5 83. Nxa5 $2 { Desperation under time pressure.} (83. Kc3 a4 84. Kb2 Nd3+ (84... Nb3 $5) 85. Bxd3 exd3 86. Nd2 Kb6 {leads to a setup mentioned in the comment to White's 81st move.}) 83... Bxf1 84. Nc6+ Kb6 85. Ne7 Nd3 86. Nxg6 Kc7 87. Ne7 Bh3 88. Nd5+ Kd6 89. Nf6 Bg4 0-1 [Event "FIDE Candidates"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.04.01"] [Round "14"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C77"] [WhiteElo "2872"] [BlackElo "2747"] [Annotator "Marin,M"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2013.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 O-O 9. Nc3 Bb7 10. Bd2 Qd7 11. a4 $146 (11. Ne2 Nd8 12. Ng3 Ne6 13. Nf5 c5 14. N3h4 Bd8 15. Qf3 d5 {Mickiewicz,P (2271)-Malaniuk,V (2522)/Koszalin 2007/CBM 119 ext (0-1, 43)}) 11... Nd8 12. axb5 axb5 13. Rxa8 Bxa8 14. Ne2 Ne6 15. Ng3 c5 16. Nf5 Bd8 17. c4 $5 {This way of fighting for the light squares justifies (at least partly) the loss of a tempo with a3-a4.} bxc4 18. Bxc4 Bc7 19. Re1 Re8 20. Qc1 Nh5 21. g3 g6 22. Nh6+ Kg7 23. Ng5 Nxg5 24. Bxg5 d5 25. exd5 Bxd5 26. Ng4 Bf3 27. Bf6+ Kg8 28. Nh6+ Kf8 29. Qe3 Bb7 30. Bh4 Qh3 31. f3 $2 (31. Bd5 $1 {This is not that difficult to spot, but evaluating the consequences requires some effort.} Bxd5 32. Qxc5+ Kg7 33. Qxd5 Kxh6 34. Qxf7 Ba5 35. Qxe8 Bxe1 36. Qxe5 {Threatening mate with Bg5#} Bxf2+ $1 (36... Bd2 37. Qe2 Bc1 38. Be7 {allows White to maintain the initiative in conditions of material equality.}) 37. Kxf2 Qxh2+ {with a probable draw. If White interposes his queen to one of the checks, Black can exchange and win the bishop with ...g5.}) 31... Nf4 $36 32. gxf4 Qxh4 33. Nxf7 Bxf3 34. Qf2 Qg4+ 35. Qg3 exf4 36. Rxe8+ Kxe8 37. Qxg4 Bxg4 38. Ng5 h6 39. Nf7 h5 40. Nh6 Bd1 41. Kf2 f3 42. h3 Bf4 43. Nf7 g5 44. Ke1 g4 45. hxg4 hxg4 46. Kxd1 g3 47. Ke1 g2 48. Kf2 Bh2 0-1