[Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"]
[Site "Douglas"]
[Date "2019.10.20"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2876"]
[BlackElo "2716"]
[Annotator "Nielsen,Peter Heie"]
[PlyCount "159"]
[EventDate "2019.10.10"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IOM"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 193"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.12.31"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.12.31"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
{[%evp 0,113,40,28,28,26,24,-21,6,6,31,23,47,-27,-18,-18,-2,-13,-9,-52,-11,-12,
27,-60,-6,-7,-14,-26,-18,-34,-20,-23,-12,-32,-30,-34,-3,-46,-40,-40,-43,-67,
-85,-52,-44,-70,-75,-75,-73,-102,-72,-79,-77,-82,-73,-78,-79,-114,-23,-90,-77,
-66,-15,-15,-14,0,8,-26,1,0,64,20,36,55,131,75,39,52,110,93,100,85,107,108,97,
90,110,110,140,125,125,125,151,149,145,163,174,169,196,188,214,217,208,228,238,
215,215,233,238,230,227,227,237,225,213,198]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. c4 e6 4.
Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 {[%mdl 2048]} dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. h4 {I
seconded Vishy Anand in the 2007 World Championship in Mexico where the
Anti-Moscow gambit was the huge rage. Yet White would then either push h4 a
bit later or not at all, but Alphazero adds its own flavour...} g4 10. Ne5 Nbd7
11. Be2 Bb7 ({In the Alphazero-Stockfish game a different move order appeared:
} 11... Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Rg8 13. O-O Bb7 14. Re1 a6 15. g3 {What was striking in
the Alphazero game was the absolute calmness in the style of play, believing
that the long-term compensation is sufficient and thus gradually improving the
position like there is absolutely no hurry at all, proving that White's
initiative compensates for the investment.} h5 16. Qc2 Nd7 17. Bf4 Rg6 18. b3
b4 19. Na4 c3 {Black gets a protected passed pawn, but that also seems not to
worry Alphazero the slighest as it instead gets access to the b1-h7 diagonal
for its bishop and thus can keep slowly improving its position.} 20. e5 Qc7 21.
Bd3 Rg8 22. Bh7 Rh8 23. Be4 a5 24. a3 Be7 25. Bg2 Rd8 26. axb4 axb4 27. Qe4 Rb8
28. Red1 $1 {A strategic gem has materialized.} Rd8 ({Black is basically
committed to passively awaiting White's trying to break through, as} 28... c5 {
now strongly is met by} 29. d5 Bxd5 30. Rxd5 exd5 31. Qxd5 {when the exchange
sac turns White's long-term prospects into an immediate tactical win.}) 29. Kh2
Ra8 30. Be3 Nb6 31. Nxb6 Rxa1 32. Rxa1 Qxb6 33. Qf4 Qc7 34. Be4 Qd8 35. f3 $1 {
Breaking Black's "fortress"} Rg8 36. Qh6 Kd7 37. Qxh5 Qe8 38. Qh6 Qb8 39. Qf4
f5 40. exf6 Qxf4 41. Bxf4 Bxf6 42. fxg4 Kc8 43. Ra4 Bxh4 44. Rxb4 Bf6 45. Rc4
Kd8 46. Rxc3 Rxg4 47. Rc4 Rg7 48. Bxc6 Ba6 49. Rb4 Bc8 50. Kg2 Ra7 51. Kf3 Ke7
52. Be5 Bxe5 53. dxe5 Rc7 54. Be4 Rc3+ 55. Kf4 Rc1 56. Rc4 Rf1+ 57. Kg5) 12.
Nxd7 Qxd7 13. Be5 Qe7 {Had Matlakov retreated to d8, then after 13...Qd8 14
0-0 Rg8 it would have been a straight transposition to the Alphazero game!} 14.
b3 $5 {Magnus immediately pokes the queenside, inviting Black to get his
protected passed pawn on c3.} Rg8 {Matlakov's idea is that 15.bxc4 b4 now
allows a black 16...Nxe4 trading his queenside pawn for a central pawn. That
would also lead to interesting complications, but Magnus stays loyal to the
Alphazero concept and protects his e4 pawn.} 15. Qc2 b4 16. Na4 c3 17. a3 {
The inclusion of a3/a5 is generally favourable for White, not only due to the
potential of opening the a-line, but also access to the b6 square. As 17...a5?
18 Nb6! is very favourable for White, Matlakov has to make a couple of
intermidiate moves first, before protecting the b4-pawn.} Nd7 (17... a5 $2 18.
Nb6 $1) 18. Bg3 Bg7 19. Rd1 {A neccessary precaution as} (19. e5 c5 $1 {
would be grim for White as his centre then crumbles.}) 19... a5 20. O-O Bf6 $5
(20... e5 21. Bxg4 Rd8 $5 {would also be interesting, trying to undermine the
centre hoping to withstand the direct attacking possibilities White would get
in the process.}) {But Matlakov's move is obviously critical, trying to simply
pick up the h4-pawn, and thus forcing Magnus to show his hand:} 21. Nc5 $6 {
The right mindset, but the wrong execution!} ({White indeed has to give up
more pawns, but the incredible} 21. Bc7 $3 {was the way when} Bxh4 (21... Rc8 {
would be logical, but the a3/a5 inclusion means that} 22. Bxa5 $1 {is possible!
}) 22. e5 {gives White a huge initiative for the 2 sacrificed pawns.}) 21...
Nxc5 22. dxc5 e5 23. Rd6 {Magnus' play does look like the original 10
Alphazero games, with initiative being the more important factor than the
number of pawns. Even so, objectively speaking Black is fine, but short of
time the practical task of Matlakov indeed is difficult.} Bxh4 24. Bc4 Bg5 25.
Qd3 Rg6 26. f4 exf4 $2 {This logical move ruins Black's position.} (26... gxf3
27. Qxf3 Rg7 {holds, but does depend on finding} 28. Bxe5 Qxe5 29. Bxf7+ Kf8 $5
30. Bc4+ Bf4 $1 {when in the ensuing ending Black's passed pawn on c3 finally
will show its relevance.}) 27. Bxf4 $2 ({In the postgame Magnus said he
actually intended the crushing} 27. e5 $1 {but then somehow forgot!}) 27...
Bxf4 28. Rxf4 c2 29. Qxc2 Rxd6 30. cxd6 Qxd6 31. e5 $1 Qc5+ 32. Kh1 Qe3 33. Qf5
{Black's king is caught in the centre, and while Magnus could have won quicker,
the result never was in doubt.} Kd8 34. Qxf7 Kc8 35. axb4 Qxe5 36. Qf8+ Kc7 37.
Rf7+ Kb6 38. bxa5+ Qxa5 39. Qe7 Qh5+ 40. Kg1 Ra1+ 41. Bf1 Qxf7 42. Qxf7 Ba6 43.
Qf2+ Kb7 44. Qd4 Rxf1+ 45. Kh2 h5 46. Qc5 Rb1 47. Qxh5 Kb6 48. Qxg4 Rxb3 49.
Qg8 Rd3 50. g4 Rd5 51. g5 Bd3 52. g6 Bxg6 53. Qxg6 Kc7 54. Qf7+ Kb8 55. Kg3
Rg5+ 56. Kf4 Rd5 57. Qf8+ Kb7 58. Qb4+ Kc7 59. Ke4 Kc8 60. Qb6 Kd7 61. Qb7+ Kd6
62. Qc8 Kc5 63. Qb8 Rh5 64. Kf4 Rd5 65. Kg4 Kc4 66. Qb6 Rd4+ 67. Kf5 c5 68. Qa5
Rd5+ 69. Ke6 Rd4 70. Qa4+ Kc3 71. Qa3+ Kc4 72. Qa5 Rd3 73. Qa4+ Kc3 74. Qa3+
Kc4 75. Qc1+ Kb4 76. Qb2+ Kc4 77. Qc2+ Kd4 78. Kd6 c4 79. Qf2+ Re3 80. Qd2+ 1-0
