[Event "World Championship"] [Site "Dubai"] [Date "2021.11.30"] [Round "4"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2855"] [BlackElo "2782"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2021.11.27"] [EventCountry "UAE"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Re1 Bf5 10. Qb3 Qd7 (10... Na6 {used to be the main move here, but it has been supplanted in contemporary chess by the text.}) 11. Nc3 (11. c5 { is rarer, but was tried in a high-level game as recently as last week.} Bc7 12. Nbd2 Be6 13. Nf1) 11... Nxc3 12. Bxf5 Qxf5 13. bxc3 (13. Qxb7 Qd7 14. Qxd7 Nxd7 15. c5 (15. bxc3 dxc4 $11) 15... Bxh2+ 16. Nxh2 Ne4 {has been drawish in practice.}) 13... b6 14. cxd5 {Otherwise, Black is probably okay after ...dxc4 followed by ...b5.} cxd5 15. Qb5 {Essentially forcing a queen trade, as Black will otherwise find it difficult to develop his queenside.} Qd7 (15... Nd7 $4 16. Qc6 $18 {is a nice illustration of why Black goes for the queen trade. Here, Black loses a piece.}) 16. a4 (16. Rb1 {is an important alternative that was tested in a game between Vachier-Lagrave and Caruana. (A tournament game, not yesterday's blitz match.)}) 16... Qxb5 17. axb5 a5 {This seems to solve all of Black's problems. If White trades, Black's knight is free; if he doesn't, Black has been gifted with a protected passed pawn. Of course, Carlsen has something clever prepared.} 18. Nh4 $146 {Carlsen is again the first player to bring something new to the game, but once again Nepomniachtchi's reactions are excellent, and it's likely that his team had prepared for this. The immediate threat is Nf5, and once it's stopped White will play g3 and Ng2, swinging the knight to e3 (or f4, after a bishop swap) to pressure White's d-pawn.} (18. bxa6 Nxa6 19. Ba3 Bxa3 20. Rxa3 {hasn't posed any real difficulties to Black.} Nc7 21. Rb3 (21. Rea1 Rxa3 22. Rxa3 Ra8 23. Rxa8+ {1/2-1/2 (23) Senzacqua,F (1980)-Del Lungo,P (2249) ICCF email 2019}) 21... b5 22. g3 f6 (22... Rfe8 {also seems fine.}) 23. Nh4 g6 24. Ng2 Kf7 25. Nf4 g5 26. Nd3 h5 27. Kg2 Rfe8 28. Rh1 Ra2 29. Nb4 Rd2 30. Ra3 Ree2 31. Rf1 Ke6 32. Raa1 Re3 33. Rfe1 Rxe1 34. Rxe1+ Kd6 35. Rb1 Re2 {1/2-1/2 (35) Vriens,H (2060)-Sifre Calafat,F (2039) ICCF email 2017}) 18... g6 19. g4 {Not to stop .. .f5, but generally to kick a Black knight off of f6 so it can't defend the d-pawn.} Nd7 20. Ng2 {Another knight on g2 - recall game 1, when the players had knights on g2 and g7.} Rfc8 {Keeping the rook on a8 to support the a-pawn, while clearing f8 for any of several pieces (note 24...Nf8 in the game, which is the only most that doesn't lose).} (20... Nf6 $1 {is best, according to the computer, but more difficult to work out over the board.} 21. Bh6 $1 {and here Black can choose between three playable options of varying complexity:} (21. f3 $6 Rfe8 $15 {already favors Black.}) 21... Rfc8 (21... Bxh2+ {, and}) (21... Rfe8 {.})) 21. Bf4 {Swapping Black's bishop helps both the White knight and his rook, which wants to reach e7.} ({Passive play like} 21. Bd2 $6 {is a very bad idea. Black is better after} Nf6 22. f3 Ne8 $15 {followed by ...Nc7, when Black's d-pawn is safe while White's b-pawn will require permanent defensive attention.}) 21... Bxf4 22. Nxf4 Rxc3 23. Nxd5 Rd3 (23... Rb3 {is also possible.}) 24. Re7 Nf8 $8 {Without this move - made possible by Black's using the f-rook to reach c8 - Black would be lost.} (24... Rd8 $4 25. Rxd7 Rxd7 26. Nf6+ $18) 25. Nf6+ {Not forced, but the alternatives didn't provide any advantage either.} (25. Nxb6 Rb8 26. Nd5 Ne6 27. Rxa5 Rxd4 28. Ne3 Kf8 29. Raa7 Nd8 30. Rad7 Rxd7 31. Rxd7 Ne6 32. Rd5 Nc7 33. Rd7 Nxb5 $11) (25. Ra4 Ne6 26. Nxb6 Nf4 27. h4 (27. Nxa8 $4 Rd1+ 28. Re1 Rxe1#) 27... Rb8 28. Nd7 Rxb5 $11) 25... Kg7 26. Ne8+ Kg8 27. d5 a4 $1 {Black needs to create counterplay before White's second rook starts to create mating threats (after Rc1-c7 or Ra4-f4) in conjunction with the problems posed by White's passed d-pawn.} 28. Nf6+ (28. d6 a3 29. Nf6+ Kg7 30. g5 Ne6 (30... Rxd6 $4 31. Ne8+ $18) 31. d7 Rd8 32. h4 h6 33. f4 hxg5 (33... Nxf4 {is also possible.}) 34. fxg5 Nc5 35. Re8 R3xd7 36. Rxd8 Rxd8 37. Rxa3 Ne6 38. Ra6 Rh8 39. Rxb6 Rxh4 $11) ({Just for fun:} 28. Rc1 a3 29. Nf6+ Kg7 30. g5 a2 31. Rxf7+ Kxf7 32. Rc7+ {Almost mate!} Nd7 33. Rxd7+ Kf8 34. Nxh7+ Ke8 35. Nf6+ Kf8 36. Nh7+ $11 {Of course, White is playing for a win, so this wouldn't be played.}) 28... Kg7 29. g5 a3 30. Ne8+ {After 34 minutes.} ({Among White's alternatives there's} 30. d6 Ne6 (30... Rxd6 $2 31. Ne8+ Rxe8 32. Rxe8 $18) 31. d7 {, but Black can handle the d-pawn.} Rd8 32. h4 h6 33. f4 hxg5 34. fxg5 Kf8 35. Re8+ Kg7 36. Rxd8 (36. Re7 Kf8 $11) (36. Kf2 R3xd7 37. Rxa3 (37. Rxe6 fxe6 38. Nxd7 Rxd7 39. Rxa3 Rd5 $11) 37... Rxe8 38. Nxe8+ Kf8 39. Ra8 Ke7 40. Nf6 Rd4 $11) 36... Nxd8 $11) 30... Kg8 31. Nf6+ Kg7 32. Ne8+ {Carlsen took another 14 minutes here, and pulled the plug.} Kg8 33. Nf6+ 1/2-1/2