[Event "Candidates Tournament"] [Site "Ekaterinburg"] [Date "2020.03.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Alekseenko, Kirill"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2842"] [BlackElo "2698"] [Annotator "Krasenkow,Michal"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2020.03.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [EventCategory "21"] [SourceTitle "CBM 195"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2020.04.30"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.04.30"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 dxe4 7. fxe4 c5 (7... e5 {is played more often in this system.}) 8. d5 exd5 (8... O-O $5 9. Bd3 (9. Nf3 {looks more to the point}) 9... Bd6 10. Bg5 Nbd7 11. Nf3 exd5 12. Nxd5 h6 13. Bh4 Qa5+ 14. Qd2 Qxd2+ 15. Kxd2 Ng4 $11 {1/2 (19) So,W (2763)-Karjakin,S (2748) Riga 2019}) 9. exd5 (9. cxd5 Bd6 {is satisfactory for Black, e.g.} 10. Bb5+ Nbd7 11. Bg5 O-O 12. Nf3 Qc7 13. Bxd7 Nxd7 14. O-O a6 15. a4 b6 16. h3 Re8 $13 {0-1 (51) Tabatabaei,M (2566)-Maghsoodloo,P (2560) Teheran 2017}) 9... O-O 10. Be2 (10. Bf4 Re8 11. Be2 Bg4 12. Qd2 Nh5 13. Be3 $6 Bd6 $1 14. O-O-O Rxe3 15. Bxg4 Rxc3+ 16. Qxc3 Qg5+ $19 {0-1 (32) Volkov,S (2645)-Vitiugov,N (2722) St Petersburg 2017}) (10. Nf3 Bg4 $5 (10... Re8 11. Be2 {- game}) 11. Be2 (11. h3 $5 Bxf3 (11... Bh5 $5) 12. Qxf3 Bd6 13. Be2 Nbd7 14. O-O a6 (14... Be5 $5) 15. g4 h6 16. h4 Qe7 17. g5 $36 {1/2 (45) Braun,A (2574)-Schramm,C (2368) Germany 2017}) 11... Bd6 (11... Bxf3 $5 12. Bxf3 Bd6 13. O-O Nbd7 14. g3 a6 15. Bg2 Re8 16. Bf4 Qb6 $11 {1/2 (82) Smirnov,A (2416)-Ter Sahakyan,S (2623) St Petersburg 2019}) 12. O-O (12. Nb5 $6 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Re8+) 12... Nbd7 (12... Bxf3 13. Rxf3 $5 Nbd7 14. Rh3 Re8 15. Bd3 Be5 $132 {1-0 (94) Polak,T (2527)-Menezes,C (2423) Blansko 2019}) 13. Bg5 (13. Ng5 Bxe2 14. Qxe2 Re8 15. Qc2 h6 16. Nf3 Ne5 17. Nxe5 Bxe5 {1/2 (17) Volkov,S (2547)-Turov,M (2575) Hell 2019}) (13. h3 Bxf3 14. Rxf3 Qe7 15. Bg5 Rae8 16. Qd2 Qe5 17. Bf4 Qe7 18. Bg5 Qe5 19. Bf4 {1/2 (19) Goryachkina,A (2493)-Oparin,G (2607) Moscow 2018}) 13... Re8 14. Qd2 Qb8 15. h3 Bh5 16. Bd3 h6 17. Be3 {0-1 (54) Tsvetkov,A (2350)-Najer,E (2661) Moscow RUS 2019} Bg3 $13) 10... Re8 ({In case of} 10... Bd6 {White gets an additional opportunity:} 11. Nb5 $5 a6 (11... Re8 12. Nf3 Bg4 13. O-O a6 14. Nxd6 Qxd6 15. b3 Nbd7 16. Qd2 Re7 17. Bb2 Ne4 18. Qc2 $14 {1/2 (23) Lashkin,J (2368) -Iordachescu,V (2602) Chisinau MDA 2020}) 12. Nxd6 Qxd6 13. Nf3 Bg4 14. O-O Nbd7 15. Nh4 (15. b3 $5 {deserves attention here, too}) 15... Bxe2 16. Qxe2 Rae8 17. Qf3 {1-0 (30) Matlakov,M (2710)-Predke,A (2650) Izhevsk 2019} Qe5 $132 ) 11. Nf3 Bg4 12. O-O Nbd7 (12... Bd6 13. Nb5 $5 {- see 10...Bd6} (13. h3 Bh5 ( 13... Bxf3 $5) 14. Bg5 Nbd7 15. Qc2 a6 16. Bd3 Qc7 17. Nh4 Bg6 18. Nf5 Bxf5 19. Bxf5 Be5 $11 {1/2 (27) Costachi,M (2484)-Haug,J (2391) Porto Carras 2018})) 13. d6 {An aggressive continuation, preventing the blockading move ...Be7-d6 once and for all.} (13. Bg5 h6 14. Bh4 Bd6 15. Qc2 Qb8 16. h3 (16. Kh1 Bh5 17. Nb5 $2 {0-1 (55) Lombaers,P (2383)-Schoppen,C (2489) Leiden NED 2020} Bxh2 $17) 16... Bh5 17. Bd3 {0-1 (45) Ragnarsson,J (1968)-Gower,S (2069) Akureyri 2019} Bg3 {looks satisfactory for Black}) 13... Bf8 14. h3 Bh5 15. Nb5 Re6 $6 { Not the most useful move.} ({Chesspro.ru recommends} 15... Qb6 $5 16. Nc7 Bxd6 17. Nxa8 Rxa8 $44) ({or} 15... Rb8 $5 16. Nc7 (16. Nxa7 $6 Bxd6 17. Qxd6 Rxe2) (16. Bf4 a6 17. Nc7 Re4 {is more favourable for Black than the game.}) 16... Re4 17. Bd3 Bxd6 18. Bxe4 Qxc7 $44) 16. Bf4 a6 (16... Re4 17. Qd2 Nb6 18. Rad1 $1 Nxc4 19. Bxc4 Rxc4 20. Be5 $36) 17. Nc7 Re4 18. Bh2 (18. Qd2 $142 $5 { [%CAl Ya1d1]}) 18... Rc8 19. g4 {This move, provoking a piece sacrifice, leads to an absolutely crazy position.} (19. Bd3 Bxf3 20. Qxf3 Ne5 $1) (19. Qc2 Ne5 $1 (19... Bxd6 20. Bxd6 Rxc7 21. Bxc7 Qxc7 22. Bd3 $16) 20. Bxe5 Bxf3 21. Bxf6 Rxe2 22. Qxe2 Bxe2 23. Bxd8 Rxd8 24. Rf4 $1 Bxd6 25. Re4 {was probably the best way for White to keep winning chances. If} Bxc4 {then} 26. Rd1 $1 Be6 27. Nxe6 fxe6 28. Rf1 $14) 19... Bxg4 {[%mdl 512]} (19... Nxg4 20. hxg4 Rxg4+ 21. Kh1 Rg6 22. Rf2 $1 {, and White should successfully consolidate his position, although the practical result is highly uncertain.}) 20. hxg4 Nxg4 (20... Rxg4+ $5 21. Kh1 Ne4) 21. Bd3 $1 Nxh2 22. Bxe4 Nxf1 23. Qxf1 Bxd6 (23... Nf6 $1 $14 { [%CAl Rf6e4,Yd8d6] was much stronger.} 24. Bxb7 $2 {is bad in that case as after} Rb8 25. Bd5 Qxd6 {White loses a piece.}) 24. Nd5 g6 25. Qh3 $16 { [%mdl 128] Black has 3 pawns for a knight but White gets a strong attack on the kingside.} Kg7 26. Kh1 Ne5 27. Nh4 $1 {White avoids exchanges, of course.} h5 $2 {A strange move, further weakening Black's position.} (27... Nxc4 28. Nf5+ $1 Kh8 29. Rf1 $18 {[%CAl Rf5h6]}) ({Something like} 27... Rc6 28. Rg1 Bf8 $16 {was relatively better.}) 28. Rg1 $18 {->} Bf8 29. Nf4 (29. Nxg6 $5 fxg6 30. Nf4 Ng4 31. Nxh5+) 29... Ng4 30. Nxh5+ $1 gxh5 31. Bf5 Be7 32. Bxg4 hxg4 33. Qxg4+ Bg5 34. Qh5 1-0