Games
[Event "IOM Open-Masters 2017"] [Site "Douglas"] [Date "2017.09.22"] [Round "1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2803"] [Annotator "Tiger"] [PlyCount "133"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. Qc2 (6. e3 Bf5 $1 (6... Be7 7. Bd3 {is a clear improvement on the main game (for White) as} h6 8. Bh4 Nbd7 9. Nge2 Nh5 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Qd2 {is more dangerous for Black than it would be had White already committed the queen to c2.} Nb6 12. f3 $14 { Mamedyarov,S (2765)-Adams,M (2750) Sharjah Grand Prix 2017, can be found on the Chessbase homepage with my comments.}) 7. Qf3 Bg6 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Qxf6 gxf6 10. Nf3 Nd7 11. Nh4 Be7 12. Ne2 Nb6 13. Ng3 Bb4+ 14. Kd1 Na4 $2 15. Ngf5 { lead to a nice win for White in Carlsen,M (2851)-Kramnik,V (2801) Stavanger 2016, a game that has been extensively commented on by Mihail Marin in CBM. Is if fair to believe that Kramnik had an improvement prepared here? I believe so. }) 6... h6 7. Bh4 Be7 8. e3 O-O ({I always thought the point of this line is to continue} 8... Nbd7 9. Bd3 Nh5 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 {aiming to meet 0-0-0 with 0-0-0, and after having played h6 it seems a bit dangerous to invite opposite side castling.}) 9. Bd3 Re8 10. Nge2 Nh5 (10... Ne4 $6 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Bxe4 dxe4 13. Ng3 f5 {Horrible but necessary...} 14. O-O {and in Kuzubov,Y - Hayrapetyan,H Al Ain 2015, faced with the threat of f3, Black self-destructed with} Qg5 $6 (14... Na6 {is the better move here, when White has too keep up the pressure in order to gain some advantage:} 15. f3 $1 (15. a3 Nc7 16. f3 exf3 17. Rxf3 Rf8 18. Qf2 Be6 19. Re1 Rad8 20. Nxf5 Bxf5 21. Rxf5 Rxf5 22. Qxf5 Rxd4) 15... Nb4 16. Qd2 exf3 17. Rxf3 Be6 18. Re1 Rf8 19. a3 Nd5 20. Nxd5 cxd5 21. Ne2 g5 22. Nc1 $1 {and with the knight arriving at e5, White can look forward to the somewhat easier game.}) 15. Rae1 h5 {, allowing} 16. Qb3+ Be6 17. Qxb7 {with a winning advantage for White.}) 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. h3 (12. O-O Nd7 13. Rae1 Nf8 14. Nc1 Nf6 15. Nb3 Ne6 16. f3 a5 17. Na4 Qd8 18. Nbc5 Nf8 $1 {Both White's knights strive to occupy c5, so there is no need to exchange one of them.} 19. Qb3 $1 b5 $5 20. Nc3 Ne6 21. Nxe6 Bxe6 22. Qc2 (22. Rc1) 22... Qb6 23. Qf2 a4 24. Rc1 b4 25. Ne2 Ra5 26. h3 c5 $1 {was a high level instruction in how to play this line with Black, although White eventually won, in Nepomniachtchi,I (2750)-Kramnik,V (2810) Zurich Korchnoi CC Blitz 2017.}) 12... a5 {This move and the next is the start of a cat and mouse game, where Black is trying to give away as little information as possible, while discouraging White from castling long, whereas White is trying to set the stage for a good moment to do just that.} 13. a3 (13. g4 Nf6 14. Ng3 c5 $1 { as in Novotny,M (2219)-Konopka,M (2424) Zdar nad Sazavou 2007, showed the downside of evacuating the knight from e2.}) (13. O-O-O $6 b5 14. Kb1 Nf6 { leaves White quite discoordinated and vulnerable to Nb8-a6-b4.}) 13... Nd7 14. Na4 Qh4 15. g3 Qd8 16. g4 Nhf6 17. Ng3 {Black cannot play c5, so the knight can move.} Nf8 18. O-O-O {Ambitious.} b6 {Kramnik is looking for a way to get counterplay without leaving a weak square on c5. I completely symphatize with this.} (18... b5 $5 19. Nc5 N6d7 20. Kb1 Nxc5 21. Qxc5 {looks like a nightmare for Black, as the queenside will be blockaded. But looking at the whole board situation it is far from clear:} Qf6 $1 (21... b4 22. a4) 22. Rh2 b4 23. a4 Ba6 {and Black's counterplay is no slower than than White's.}) 19. Kb1 Bd7 20. Nf5 c5 $6 {This natural move is the right one, but the timing is wrong:} ({The engine suggests} 20... Rb8 {with "a small advantage" and it seems correct. The point is that it is hard to find a good move for White:} 21. Rhg1 (21. Ka1 { is again the engine, but if we accept that this move is the best, then indeed Rb8 must be an improvement.}) (21. Nc3 b5 22. Ne2 b4 23. a4 b3 $1 {With the idea of ...Rb4}) 21... c5 $1 22. dxc5 Bxa4 23. Qxa4 bxc5 {is a crucial attacking-tempo better for Black, compared to the game.}) 21. dxc5 Bxa4 22. Qxa4 bxc5 23. Bb5 (23. h4 c4 $1 24. Bxc4 Re4 25. g5 $1 N8d7 $1 {is messy. After } 26. gxf6 Rxc4 27. Ne7+ Kf8 28. Qb3 Rb8 29. Qd3 Nxf6 30. Nxd5 Rc5 31. Nf4 { the game is still unclear.}) 23... Re6 24. Qc2 Rb6 $5 {This allows Caruana to set the bishop on b5 in a cement foundation, but Black can deal with it.} ({ The only way to avoid this scenario is to play} 24... a4 $1 {and the only reason not to play this move is that one is afraid of} 25. Qxc5 {Perhaps Kramnik calculated that} Rc8 26. Qa7 (26. Qb4 Rb8 $36) 26... Ra8 27. Qc5 { is a draw!?}) 25. a4 $1 Ne6 26. h4 {White's attack hits first.} Nc7 27. Qxc5 $1 {This wins a pawn, but more important; the d4-square for the knight.} Nxb5 28. axb5 Qb8 $6 {This is the first mistake in the game. With the queen behind the rook the threat against b2 is not strong enough to distract White's forces from attacking:} (28... Rab8 $1 29. Ne7+ $1 (29. Nd4 Ne4 30. Qc2 Nd6 31. Ka1 Nxb5 32. Nc6 Qc7 33. Rc1 Re8 34. Rhd1 Re4 $132) 29... Kh8 30. Nc6 Qc8 $1 (30... Qc7 31. Qd4 R8b7 32. Nxa5 Rb8 33. Rc1 Qd7 34. Nc6 R8b7 35. g5 $40) 31. Qd4 R8b7 32. Nxa5 Rb8 33. Rc1 Qxg4 34. Qxg4 Nxg4 35. Nc6 R8b7 (35... Re8 36. f3 Nxe3 37. Rc5) 36. Nd4 Nxf2 37. Rc8+ Kh7 38. Rhc1 $14 {I'm not sure how to evaluate this position with precision. The doubled b-pawn is very dangerous, but Black will have counterplay.}) 29. g5 Rxb5 30. Qc2 Ne4 31. Ne7+ Kh8 32. Rxd5 $1 Rxd5 33. Nxd5 Qe5 34. Rd1 Rd8 35. Rd4 Rxd5 36. Rxe4 Rd1+ $1 37. Ka2 Qd5+ 38. Qc4 hxg5 ( 38... Kh7 {immediately, might have been strong, in order to leave the (weak-er) h4-pawn on the board.}) 39. hxg5 Kh7 40. Qxd5 Rxd5 $16 {I'm not sure about the details in the rest of the endgame, but it seems that Black had a tough job to defend it.} 41. f4 Kg6 42. Rd4 Rb5 43. Ka3 Kf5 44. b3 f6 45. Ka4 Rb7 46. Rc4 Ra7 (46... fxg5 47. Rc5+) 47. Rc5+ Ke4 48. Rxa5 {This looks like the losing move.} Re7 $2 ({Instead} 48... Rf7 49. g6 (49. gxf6 gxf6 50. b4 Kxe3 51. f5 Kd4 52. Rc5 Ra7+ 53. Kb3 Ra1 $11) 49... Rb7 50. f5 Kxe3 51. Rc5 Kd4 52. b4 Rb8 { leads to a position from where I see no way forward for White.} 53. Kb3 (53. Rc7 Ke5 54. Rxg7 Kxf5 55. b5 Kg5 56. Ka5 f5 57. b6 Kf6) 53... Rb7 54. Rc1 Ke5 55. Rf1 Rb8 56. Ka4 Ra8+ 57. Kb5 Rb8+ 58. Kc5 Rc8+) 49. gxf6 gxf6 50. Ra6 Kf5 ( 50... Rf7 51. Re6+ Kf5 52. Re8 Ra7+ 53. Kb4 Rb7+ 54. Kc3 Rc7+ 55. Kb2 Rb7 56. Rc8 Ke4 57. Rc3 {and it seems to me that Black is in a kind of zugzwang (although those with more time at their hands will have to find the truth about that).}) 51. Rd6 $18 Ra7+ 52. Kb5 Rb7+ 53. Kc4 Rc7+ 54. Kd4 Rb7 55. e4+ Kxf4 56. Rxf6+ Kg5 57. Rf5+ Kg4 58. Kc4 Re7 59. Rd5 Kf4 60. e5 $1 Kf5 61. b4 Ke6 62. b5 Ra7 63. b6 Rb7 64. Rb5 Kd7 65. Kd5 Kc8 66. e6 Kd8 67. Kc6 1-0 [Event "IOM Open-Masters 2017"] [Site "Douglas"] [Date "2017.09.22"] [Round "1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Birkisson, Bardur Orn"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2827"] [BlackElo "2164"] [Annotator "Tiger"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. d4 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3 ({This slightly unusual move order looks slighty less flexible than} 5. Bd3 {, but that's all. There is no real downside to it otherwise.}) 5... b6 6. Bd3 Bb7 ({One of the most critical lines against the Rubinstein system is seen after} 6... d5 $1 7. cxd5 exd5 8. O-O Ba6 {This position has been played a lot in the last years. The most ambitious try was seen in Wojtaszek,R -Harikrishna,P Huaian 2016:} 9. Bxa6 Nxa6 10. Bd2 Re8 11. Rc1 Bf8 12. Ne5 $1 c5 13. Be1 Nc7 {with a balanced position.}) 7. O-O d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Ne5 $5 Nbd7 {This natural move seems slightly inexact to me.} ({I prefer} 9... Bd6 {, when} 10. f4 c5 11. Ne2 Nc6 $1 { is a clear improvement on the game (for Black) since the d4-pawn comes under direct attack, thus making it harder for White to continue with Ne2-g3.}) (9... c5 {is similar, when} 10. f4 Nc6 11. Ne2 {, but here Black needs to find a way to deal with the bishops awkward position on b4. In a recent game Black did not deal with it in the best manner:} c4 {(I don't like playing such a move unless Black is able to get a clear grip on e4 in such a way that it is possible to jump in with the knight and take back with a piece.)} 12. Bc2 Ne7 13. Ng3 Nc8 {This is logical and strives to set in motion the kind of idea that I mentioned in the parenthesis above, but it also seems too slow.} 14. Nh5 Be7 15. b3 cxb3 16. axb3 Nd6 17. Nxf6+ Bxf6 18. Ba3 Bc8 $6 19. Qf3 {was cruching, in Caruana,F (2805)-Karjakin,S (2770) Saint Louis Rapid 2017. After Bb7 there is no defence against Qh3/Rf1-f3-g3.}) 10. f4 Ne4 $6 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Bc4 {White's set-up is ideal and it is almost impossible for Black to expel the knight from e5.} Qe7 13. a3 Bd6 14. b4 Nf6 15. Bb2 c6 {Built on the assumption that the d5-square can be used for the knight, but this is easier said than done. Still, it's hard for Black to come up with a decent remedy against Qb3, Rc1, etc.} 16. Qc2 b5 $1 {Black is rightly seeking counterplay and this is what is to be got.} (16... a5 17. bxa5 Rxa5 18. a4 $16) 17. Bb3 a5 $1 18. h3 $6 {Perhaps I'm missing something, but this seems rather too cool.} ( {The direct} 18. bxa5 $1 Rxa5 19. Rfc1 {looks much better. Black has problems with c6, f7 and e4. The best continuation} Nd5 20. Qxe4 Bxa3 21. Rxa3 Rxa3 22. Bxa3 Qxa3 23. Rb1 {,leaves White clearly better, although Black can still fight on with} Bc8 {hoping for} 24. Nxc6 $4 Nc3 $19) 18... axb4 19. axb4 Bxb4 ( {After} 19... Rac8 $1 {the c-pawn is safely defended and it is very unclear how White can build up more pressure.} 20. Ra7 (20. g4 {is quite messy after} Nd5 21. Qxe4 f6 (21... Nxb4 22. Ra7 Rc7 $13) 22. Qf3 Kh8 $1 23. Bxd5 cxd5 24. Nd3 {when} Rfe8 {is terribly ugly for both sides and still balanced.}) 20... Bb8 {is a dead end}) 20. Rxa8 Bxa8 21. Ra1 {White is threatening to take on f7. } Nd5 $2 (21... Bb7 22. Ra7 c5 23. Nc6 Qd7 24. Nxb4 cxb4 25. d5 $16 Nxd5 $2 26. Qxe4 $18) 22. Rxa8 $1 Rxa8 23. Qxc6 Nc7 24. Bxf7+ Kh8 25. Qxe4 Rf8 26. d5 (26. Bb3 {, followed by rolling the pawns, also wins easily.}) 26... Rxf7 27. Nxf7+ Qxf7 28. Qxb4 Nxd5 29. Qxb5 Nxe3 30. Qb8+ Qg8 31. Bxg7+ {A nice final touch.} Kxg7 32. Qe5+ Kf7 33. Qxe3 Qg6 34. Kh2 h5 35. Qb3+ Kf8 36. Qb8+ Kg7 37. Qe5+ 1-0 [Event "Isle of Man Open"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.23"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Vladimir Kramnik"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D36"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2803"] [PlyCount "133"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. Qc2 h6 7. Bh4 Be7 8. e3 {Caruana admitted that he thought Kramnik knew more about the Carlsbad QGD than he did.} O-O 9. Bd3 Re8 10. Nge2 Nh5 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. h3 a5 13. a3 Nd7 14. Na4 {Caruana said he liked this move. "It at least makes it very difficult for him to play. He doesn't want to move his knight [d7] now because Nb6 might come." -- Caruana.} Qh4 {Not expected by Caruana. He said it "basically gives me a free tempo to play g4."} 15. g3 Qd8 {Caruana said that "on the plus side, the queen is actually better on d8 than e7." From here, it guards b6 and allows Black to finish development.} 16. g4 Nhf6 17. Ng3 Nf8 18. O-O-O { Caruana said his play is now clear. He wants to play Rdg1, Nf5, h4 and put pressure on Black's king. "His play on the queenside is, at the moment, pretty obtuse."} b6 19. Kb1 Bd7 20. Nf5 c5 21. dxc5 Bxa4 22. Qxa4 bxc5 {Caruana said, "I'm sure [Kramnik] was optimistic when he saw this position."} 23. Bb5 { Sensing ...Rb8 and ...c4, Caruana said it was vital he close down the b-file. The bishop becomes the blocker.} Re6 24. Qc2 Rb6 25. a4 Ne6 26. h4 Nc7 27. Qxc5 (27. g5 Nxb5 28. axb5 Rxb5 29. gxf6 Qxf6 {and with ...Rab8 coming, Caruana thought he might be under duress despite the extra piece.}) 27... Nxb5 28. axb5 {"Here at least I thought it's safe," Caruana said. "I'm definitely not going to be worse. I'm not risking much."} Qb8 {Surprised Caruana, but he praised the move, claiming it required him to be accurate with his next.} 29. g5 { "Probably the best move I played in the game. It was tempting to play...} (29. Nd4 Ne4 30. Qxd5 Nxf2) 29... Rxb5 30. Qc2 Ne4 31. Ne7+ (31. Rxd5 $2 Rxb2+ 32. Qxb2 Nc3+ 33. Ka1 Qxb2+ 34. Kxb2 Nxd5 {[Caruana]}) 31... Kh8 32. Rxd5 Rxd5 33. Nxd5 Qe5 34. Rd1 Rd8 35. Rd4 Rxd5 36. Rxe4 Rd1+ 37. Ka2 Qd5+ 38. Qc4 hxg5 39. hxg5 Kh7 40. Qxd5 Rxd5 41. f4 Kg6 42. Rd4 Rb5 {Caruana said he thought the ending was "closer to a win than a draw" but he wasn't sure of the correct result.} (42... Rc5 {was Caruana's preference, to attack his b-pawn in lines like} 43. Kb3 f6 44. gxf6 gxf6 45. Ka4 Rc2) 43. Ka3 Kf5 44. b3 f6 45. Ka4 Rb7 { Caruana said he had to resist every impulse to trade g-pawns. He needed the Black g7-pawn to remain on the board since it was weak.} 46. Rc4 (46. gxf6 gxf6 47. Rc4 Ra7 48. Rc5+ Ke4 49. Rxa5 Rf7 {"And we have the same position as in the game except without the g-pawns. And I have so many more options with the g-pawns."}) 46... Ra7 47. Rc5+ Ke4 48. Rxa5 Re7 {The final mistake according to Caruana.} (48... Rf7 49. g6 Re7 50. f5 Kxe3 51. b4 {And Caruana said it's another position where he's happy the g-pawns are still on the board."}) 49. gxf6 gxf6 50. Ra6 Kf5 51. Rd6 {Caruana said Kramnik missed this move.} Ra7+ ( 51... Rxe3 52. Rd4 {And the Black king is cut off forever. The pure K+P ending won't help him:} Re4 53. Rxe4 Kxe4 54. b4 Kxf4 55. b5 Ke3 56. b6 f5 57. b7 f4 58. b8=Q f3 59. Qb2 f2 60. Qb5 Kd2 61. Qf1 {is one way.}) 52. Kb5 Rb7+ 53. Kc4 Rc7+ 54. Kd4 Rb7 55. e4+ Kxf4 56. Rxf6+ Kg5 57. Rf5+ Kg4 58. Kc4 Re7 59. Rd5 Kf4 60. e5 Kf5 61. b4 Ke6 62. b5 Ra7 63. b6 Rb7 64. Rb5 Kd7 65. Kd5 Kc8 66. e6 Kd8 67. Kc6 1-0 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.23"] [Round "1.28"] [White "Mariano Acosta"] [Black "Jeffery Xiong"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "1988"] [BlackElo "2633"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 Nc6 4. Bb5 Bd7 5. Nf3 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. Bxc6 Bxc6 8. Qe1 Nf6 9. d3 Nd7 10. Bd2 b5 11. a4 b4 12. Nd1 O-O 13. Ra2 e6 14. b3 f5 15. Ng5 Qf6 16. c4 h6 17. Nf3 fxe4 18. dxe4 e5 19. g3 Rae8 20. Nf2 exf4 21. gxf4 Qe6 22. Bc1 Nf6 23. Bb2 Nxe4 24. Nxe4 Qxe4 25. Bxg7 Qxf3 $1 (25... Kxg7 {Also wins, but Black's way is even better.}) 26. Rxf3 Rxe1+ 27. Kf2 Kxg7 0-1 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.23"] [Round "1.20"] [White "Alexandra Kosteniuk"] [Black "Yifan Hou"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B81"] [WhiteElo "2552"] [BlackElo "2670"] [PlyCount "146"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. g4 h6 7. h3 Nc6 8. Be3 Bd7 9. f4 Be7 10. Nf3 d5 $1 {Nine years after Kosteniuk beat Hou in the Women's World Championship Finals, the two reprise their rivalry. Hou signals she's not going to sit around and wait to be attacked.} 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Nxd5 exd5 13. Bg2 (13. Qxd5 Nb4 14. Qb3 Qa5 {is how Black intended compensation. If you put ice water in the veins of both women, you get computer lines like} 15. Bc4 Ba4 $1 16. Bxf7+ Kf8 17. Qe6 Nxc2+ 18. Kf2 Nxe3 $1 (18... Nxa1 19. Ne5) 19. Rae1 $1 (19. Ne5 Qd2+)) 13... d4 {Hou insists!} 14. Nxd4 Bh4+ 15. Bf2 Qe7+ 16. Kf1 (16. Qe2 Bxf2+ 17. Kxf2 Nxd4) 16... Bxf2 17. Kxf2 O-O-O {Black has about the right compensation for the pawn: safer king, connected rooks, and pressure down the d-file. But with no obvious place for the Bd7, White can hold the balance.} 18. Qf3 Qc5 19. Rhd1 h5 20. gxh5 Be6 21. Qc3 (21. c3 {was the way to fight for advantage, but it's understandable that White wants the ladies off the dance floor.}) 21... Qxc3 22. bxc3 Rxh5 23. Nxe6 fxe6 24. Rxd8+ Kxd8 25. Rg1 Ne7 26. Bxb7 Rxh3 27. Bf3 Rh2+ 28. Rg2 Rxg2+ 29. Bxg2 {Now we reach a fascinating ending, which is probably a draw with best play. Despite computers claiming White has a plus, Hou shows that the two c-pawns are really worthless since they just can't get passed the dark square c5.} Kc7 30. Ke3 Kd6 31. Kd4 Nf5+ 32. Ke4 Ng3+ 33. Kf3 Nf5 34. Ke4 Ng3+ 35. Kd3 Nh5 36. Ke3 Nf6 37. c4 Nd7 38. Kd4 Nc5 39. Bf3 Nd7 40. Bh5 Nc5 41. Be8 Nb7 42. a4 Nc5 43. a5 Nb7 44. c5+ Nxc5 45. Kc4 Na6 46. Bh5 Nc7 47. Bf3 Na6 48. Bg2 Nc7 49. Bb7 Ne8 50. Kd4 Nf6 51. Bf3 Nd7 52. Bg2 e5+ 53. fxe5+ Nxe5 54. a6 Nd7 55. Bf1 Nc5 56. Bb5 Ne6+ 57. Ke4 Kc5 58. Ke5 Nc7 59. Bd3 Kb6 60. Kd6 g5 61. Be2 Nb5+ 62. Ke5 Kxa6 63. Kf5 Kb6 64. Kxg5 Kc5 65. Kf4 Nc3 66. Ke3 a5 67. Kd2 Kb4 68. Bh5 a4 69. Kc1 a3 70. Bf7 Kc5 71. Bb3 Kd4 72. Bf7 Ke3 73. Bb3 Kd4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.23"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Neelotpal Das"] [Black "Hikaru Nakamura"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "2448"] [BlackElo "2781"] [PlyCount "130"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. N1c3 a6 7. Na3 Be7 8. Nc4 b5 9. Ne3 Nf6 10. a3 O-O 11. g3 Be6 12. Bg2 Qd7 13. Ncd5 Bd8 14. O-O Bxd5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Qxd5 Bb6 17. c3 Rac8 18. Bd2 Ne7 19. Qb3 Kh8 20. a4 Rc4 21. axb5 axb5 22. Ra6 Rb8 23. Rfa1 Ng8 24. Qc2 Nf6 25. Qd3 h6 26. Qe2 Ra4 27. b4 Rxa1+ 28. Rxa1 Ne8 29. Bf1 Nc7 30. Be3 Qc6 31. Bxb6 Rxb6 32. Qe3 Kg8 33. Ra5 Rb8 34. Be2 Rd8 35. Qd3 g6 36. h4 h5 37. Bf3 Kg7 38. Qe3 Rb8 39. Be2 Ne8 40. Qd3 Nf6 41. Bf3 Rc8 42. Ra3 Qb6 43. Ra1 Rc4 44. Re1 Qa6 45. Re3 Qc6 46. Kh2 Kf8 {Why pickup the action with this innocuous king move? Nakamura is masterful in these types of positions. He knows White can't do anything but "worry" about possibilities like ...d5, a-file invasions, etc. So every king move can be played by Black quickly while White drains his own time.} 47. Kg1 Ke7 48. Kg2 Kf8 49. Kg1 Kg8 50. Kh2 Kh7 {Mission accomplished! Five straight king moves to whither White's hourglass. Now Nakamura takes on active operations.} 51. Qd2 Qa6 52. Be2 Rc7 53. Kg2 Kg7 54. Bf3 Qc6 55. Qd3 Rc8 56. Kh2 Ra8 {Well, eventually!} 57. Qd2 Ra1 58. Kg2 Qc4 59. Qe2 Qb3 60. Rd3 d5 $1 {A good move in its own right, but especially when your opponent has no time.} 61. exd5 e4 $1 { Ensuring White must think more. Otherwise...} (61... Qb1 62. Rd1 Qxd1 63. Qxd1 Rxd1 64. Bxd1 Nxd5 65. Bf3 Nxc3 {And of course Black is for choice, but now White can make many moves quickly and attempt to hold.}) 62. Bxe4 Qb1 63. Kh3 $2 (63. Kf3 Ng4 {was the sad necessity for White, but he's likely lost anyway.} ) 63... Ra2 (63... Qg1 {also works, with ideas like ...Rf1, or ...Nxe4 and ... Qxf2. And don't sleep on the simple ...Ng4 either.}) 64. Rd4 Qg1 $1 65. Qxa2 Nxe4 0-1 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.23"] [Round "1.14"] [White "Zaki Harari"] [Black "Maxim Rodshtein"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B21"] [WhiteElo "2027"] [BlackElo "2695"] [PlyCount "147"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 d3 4. Bxd3 Nc6 5. c4 g6 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. O-O d6 8. h3 Nf6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3 Nd7 11. Rc1 Nde5 12. Be2 b6 13. Qd2 Bb7 14. Rfd1 Rc8 15. b3 Nxf3+ 16. Bxf3 Ne5 17. Be2 Nd7 18. Bh6 Nf6 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Bf3 Qc7 21. h4 Qb8 22. h5 Rc5 23. h6+ Kg8 24. Nd5 Bxd5 25. exd5 Rfc8 26. Re1 R8c7 27. a4 Qf8 28. Qf4 a5 29. Qe3 Kh8 30. g4 Ng8 31. g5 f6 32. gxf6 exf6 33. Qf4 Re7 34. Kf1 Re5 35. Rxe5 dxe5 36. Qd2 Qd6 37. Rd1 Rc7 38. Bg2 g5 39. Bh3 Nxh6 40. Be6 Ng8 41. Qe2 Ne7 42. Qf3 Kg7 43. Qh5 Ng6 44. Bf5 Re7 45. Rd3 Nf8 46. Rh3 Kg8 47. Be4 Rg7 48. Bf5 Re7 49. Be4 Qd7 50. Rf3 Rf7 51. Bf5 Qe7 52. Rd3 Qd6 53. Rh3 Rg7 54. Rf3 Qd8 55. Rh3 Ra7 56. Rd3 Qd6 57. Rh3 Rf7 58. Be4 Qa3 59. Bf5 Re7 60. Qd1 Qd6 61. Qd3 Rg7 62. Rh6 g4 63. Qg3 Rg5 64. Be4 Kg7 65. Qh4 Qe7 66. d6 $1 Qf7 (66... Qxd6 67. Qxg5+) 67. d7 $1 Qe7 (67... Qxd7 68. Rxh7+ Nxh7 69. Qxh7+) 68. Rxh7+ $1 Nxh7 69. Qxh7+ Kf8 70. Qh8+ Rg8 71. Qh6+ Rg7 72. Qh8+ (72. Bd5 {Would have been the end of a great story. This quiet move leaves Black helpless against Qh8+.}) 72... Rg8 73. Qh6+ Rg7 {One more chance to play it!} 74. Qh8+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Douglas (Isle of Man)"] [Site "Douglas (Isle of Man)"] [Date "2017.09.24"] [Round "2.41"] [White "Harsha, Bharathakoti"] [Black "Akobian, Varuzhan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2394"] [BlackElo "2662"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Bb4 5. Qc2 d6 6. Nd5 {A28: English Opening: Four Knights Variation} (6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O Re8 8. d3 a5 9. b3 Bf5 10. Bb2 Ne7 11. Na4 Ng6 12. Rfd1 Bc5 13. Nxc5 dxc5 {0-1 (40) Granda Zuniga,J (2658) -Mareco,S (2655) Buenos Aires 2017}) 6... Bc5 7. a3 a5 8. Be2 {Black is better. } Be6 9. Nc3 h6 $146 ({Predecessor:} 9... O-O 10. O-O Qc8 11. Ng5 Bf5 12. d3 Bg4 13. Nd5 Bxe2 {1-0 (26) Balleer,D (1977)-Oppel,D (1548) GER email 2011}) 10. O-O Qd7 11. d3 O-O 12. Bd2 Rfe8 13. Rfd1 Bf5 14. Nd5 Nxd5 (14... Re6 $15) 15. cxd5 $11 Nb8 16. Bc3 Bb6 17. Nd2 a4 18. Nc4 Na6 19. e4 Bg6 20. Nxb6 cxb6 21. b4 Nc7 22. Rac1 $36 {Black is under pressure.} Nb5 23. Bb2 f5 24. f3 Rac8 ({ Black should try} 24... Rec8 $14 25. Qd2 Nd4) 25. Qd2 (25. Qxa4 $18 {Black must now prevent d4.} Ra8 26. Qb3) 25... Kh7 (25... Nd4 $14) 26. Qe3 $16 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Rc8 28. Rxc8 ({Don't play} 28. Qxb6 $6 Rxc1+ 29. Bxc1 Qc8 $11) 28... Qxc8 29. Bd1 ({But not} 29. Qxb6 $2 Qc2 $19) 29... fxe4 (29... Nd4 $16 { was worth a try.}) 30. dxe4 $18 Qc4 31. Bxa4 Nd4 32. Bxd4 exd4 33. Bb3 Qa6 ( 33... Qxb4 $142 34. axb4 dxe3) 34. Qxd4 Qxa3 35. Bd1 Qc1 36. Kf2 Qf4 37. g3 ({ Weaker is} 37. Qxb6 Qh4+ 38. Kf1 Qxh2 $16) 37... Qc1 38. f4 Qb1 39. e5 Bd3 40. Be2 Be4 41. exd6 Qh1 {White is clearly winning.} 42. d7 Qxh2+ {[#]} 43. Ke1 $1 Qxg3+ 44. Kd1 Qb3+ {[#]} 45. Kd2 $1 Qc2+ 46. Ke3 Bf5 47. d8=Q Qc1+ 48. Kf2 1-0 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.24"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Jonas Lampert"] [Black "Viswanathan Anand"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B18"] [WhiteElo "2514"] [BlackElo "2794"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. c3 Nd7 7. Nf3 e6 8. Bd3 Ngf6 9. O-O Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Bxg6 hxg6 12. Bg5 c5 13. Qe2 cxd4 14. Nxd4 Re8 15. a3 Qb6 16. Rad1 Rac8 17. Nf3 Red8 18. Ne4 Nc5 19. Nxc5 Qxc5 20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 21. Rd1 Rxd1+ 22. Qxd1 a6 23. h3 Ne4 {With the game level, Anand decides to save a few hours energy and "offer" a draw.} 24. Bxe7 (24. Be3 {would have declined the offer, but White can hardly hope to prove much since his queenside majority is not mobile. Against a lower-rated player one might try to prove advantage, but drawing Anand with ease is not a bad day at the office. }) 24... Qxf2+ {The feeling is mutual.} (24... Qxe7 {And now White can at least hope to get his queenside moving.}) 25. Kh2 Qg3+ 26. Kg1 Qf2+ 27. Kh2 ( 27. Kh1 Ng3+ 28. Kh2 Nf1+ {is similarly a draw}) 27... Qg3+ 28. Kg1 Qf2+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.24"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Nikolas Lubbe"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E43"] [WhiteElo "2515"] [BlackElo "2799"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. a3 Bd6 10. b4 Nbd7 11. Qb3 a6 12. a4 Re8 13. Ba3 Qe7 14. b5 c6 15. bxc6 Bxc6 16. Rfc1 g6 17. h3 Bb7 18. Bxd6 Qxd6 19. a5 b5 20. Bxb5 $1 {Lubbe told Chess.com afterward that he was sure Caruana saw this idea, but likely had a different evaluation of the resulting two minors for rook and two pawns imbalance.} axb5 21. Nxb5 Qe7 22. Nc7 Ba6 23. Nxe8 Qxe8 {Time to take stock. At the moment, neither of Black's knights can move to useful squares. One is guarding the d-pawn and the other would like to jump straight to e4 but can't. Other Black pieces are tied down to the dangerous a-pawn. White is the one "pushing" it seems.} 24. Rc6 Kg7 25. Qa4 Qb8 26. Rcc1 Ra7 27. Rab1 Qe8 28. Ra1 Qe7 29. Qc6 {The last few moves highlight the struggle -- it's not clear if White can break through, but it is clear that he can poke and prod for a while since Black can't formulate much of his own.} h6 30. Nd2 Bb7 31. Qb5 Ba6 32. Qc6 h5 33. Nb3 Bc4 34. Nd2 Bd3 35. Qc8 Ne4 36. Nxe4 Bxe4 37. f3 Bd3 38. Kf2 ( 38. Qc3 {is a funny idea. White offers the e-pawn just to get the queens off the board [in general exchanges favor White since the rooks will have more opportunities to break through and Black will have fewer pieces to defend the a-file.} Qxe3+ 39. Kh1 {and Black doesn't have a lot of ways to get out of the pin, so} Qe2 40. Re1 Qc2 41. Qxc2 Bxc2 {and White has some chances to invade.}) 38... Bc4 39. Rcb1 h4 40. Qc6 Ra6 41. Qc7 Re6 42. Rb7 Ba6 43. Rb3 (43. Ra7 { would have been more fighting.}) 43... Kh7 44. Rab1 Kg7 {Lubbe admitted that he would have kept playing if his particular opponent wasn't his opponent!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Douglas"] [Site "Douglas"] [Date "2017.06.20"] [Round "2"] [White "Perelshteyn, Eugene"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B06"] [Annotator "Tiger Hillarp"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "IOM"] 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 {I actually think that the Modern is looking better than ever and it is great to see Magnus apply it at a level that I can only dream of.} 3. Nc3 d6 4. Be3 {This move is clearly the most flexible and possibly the strongest.} a6 5. Nf3 ({The set-ups involving} 5. h4 {are very popular and clearly dangerous for Black. However, playing the Black side as a higher rated player, you cannot ask for more. Mikhail Gurevich's celebrated words: "I've got complications..." comes to mind.}) 5... b5 6. Bd3 ({Playing} 6. a3 { is a move that would make most GMs cringe. Later White will almost always play a4, so playing a3 first is terrible.}) 6... Nd7 $1 (6... Bb7 7. a4 b4 8. Ne2 { and here it is more important to have played Nd7 in order to have support for} c5 {, which is no good here due to} 9. dxc5 $1) 7. e5 $5 {This is one of the most aggressive moves against Black's set-up, but I have always welcomed this kind of development. What is not to be liked about an extra pawn (soon to come) and complications?} Bb7 $1 (7... dxe5 $6 8. Be4 Rb8 9. dxe5 $16 {when Black is paralysed.}) ({When instructing on how to play the Modern I spend almost all my time on telling folks never, NEVER, to play} 7... e6 {unless it is the last option. I still agree with myself on this subject.}) (7... Nb6 $5 {is possible since White has already played Be3 (otherwise it would be just bad) , but I still have my doubts about it.}) 8. e6 $1 {This is the only way to make sense of 7.e5.} fxe6 9. Ng5 Nf8 10. O-O (10. h4 $2 Bxg2 $1 11. Rh2 Bb7 12. h5 Qd7 $1 {and White is out of steam.}) 10... Qd7 ({For those interested in the reasons why I don't like} 10... Nh6 {I recommed reading my book. It's nice though to see that Magnus and his team agree with me.}) (10... Nf6 11. Re1 h6 $6 12. Bxg6+ Nxg6 13. Nxe6 Qd7 14. Nxg7+ Kf7 15. Nh5 b4 16. Nxf6 exf6 17. Ne2 Rae8 { left me with some, but not enough, compensation, in Ernst,T-Hillarp Persson,T Västgöta-OPEN 2002.}) 11. Re1 $1 Nf6 12. a4 ({In "the Modern Tiger" I give the game Levin,F-Rausis,I Hamburg 2001 as the model game:} 12. Bd2 h6 13. Nf3 g5 $5 {Black is intending to take some space on the kingside, exchange Nf6 and put the bishop on f6.} (13... Kf7 {looks logical, but there is a neat trick here:} 14. a4 b4 15. Ne4 {and now} a5 16. Nc5 $1 {makes Black unhappy.}) 14. a4 $6 (14. b4 $5) (14. Qe2 $6 g4 $1 15. Nh4 h5 {is promising for Black.}) 14... b4 15. Ne4 Nxe4 $6 {was not too great for Black, but instead} (15... g4 $1 16. Nh4 Bxe4 17. Bxe4 Nxe4 18. Rxe4 h5 {would have been very interesting, for both sides.})) 12... b4 13. Na2 $1 ({White should avoid} 13. Nce4 $6 h6 14. Nxf6+ exf6 15. Nf3 g5 {when the engines still like White after} 16. Bd2 {, but I wouldn't mind playing Black's position.}) 13... Qxa4 $1 ({This is clearly better than} 13... a5 14. c3 h6 15. Nf3 bxc3 16. Nxc3 Kf7 17. Bd2 g5 18. h3 { , when Black is struggling to find coordination.}) 14. Qe2 h6 $5 ({Black could actually play} 14... c5 {here, intending} 15. dxc5 Qc6 16. f3 dxc5 {Black has two extra pawns here and the knight is awkward on a2. Still, White has compensation. Black's doubled e-pawns are not a happy sight. A possible continuation is} 17. c4 a5 18. Bf2 a4 19. Nc1 Qb6 {, but here I'm starting to doubt whether White really has enough. This needs to be tested.}) 15. Nf3 Kf7 ( {Magnus is trying to avoid} 15... g5 {, which seems to be wrong here. Black needs to keep some stability on the kingside in order to not have to deal with weaknesses on both sides of the board.}) 16. Bd2 $1 b3 17. Nc3 $6 (17. Nb4 $5 { is more critical. I would chose this approach since it keeps White's pawn structure more intact:} Qd7 18. c3 a5 (18... g5 19. Ra5) 19. Bb5 c6 20. Nd3 Nd5 (20... cxb5 21. Nde5+ dxe5 22. Nxe5+ Kg8 23. Nxd7 N6xd7 24. Qxb5 $18) 21. Ba4 $16 {This scenario is clearly worse than the one that happened in the game.}) 17... Qd7 18. cxb3 {White is clearly better here, but it is not as easy as the engines indicate. For one thing White's pawn structure has been compromised and even if he wins a pawn, it will be hard to use the b-pawns and the d-pawn for anything special.} Rb8 $1 {White can win the a6-pawn but Black will make use of the b-file.} 19. Ra3 Nd5 20. Ne4 Kg8 21. h4 $1 {Discouraging Kh7 (h4-h5) .} Qe8 $5 {Magnus is starting to rearrange his pieces towards more harmonious positions. The queen is well placed on f7.} 22. Bxa6 Bxa6 23. Qxa6 Bf6 24. Qc4 Nd7 25. Nc3 N7b6 26. Qe2 Qf7 27. Ne4 Rf8 28. Nxf6+ $2 ({White should use the fact that Black is out of good moves and play} 28. b4 {, intending b4-b5, followed by attacking the c7-pawn. Magnust would have been forced to create some real magic then.}) 28... exf6 29. Qxe6 Qxe6 30. Rxe6 Kf7 {Suddenly position looks about equal, but it is equal in a way that is rather more comfortable for Black. Partly because of that wonderful knight on d5, partly because White's pawns are easier to attack and finally, since it is easier for Black to be active on the kingside.} 31. Re1 Rb8 32. Rc1 Nc8 $1 33. Ne1 Nce7 34. Nd3 g5 35. hxg5 hxg5 36. b4 $6 (36. g3 Rh5 37. Kg2 Rbh8 38. Kf3 Ke6 { and Black has many ways to improve his position, whereas White is lost in a dark square nightmare. Still, perhaps White can defend this.}) 36... Rh4 37. Bc3 {I'm not sure White should cry about the loss of such a pawn. The queenside looks like a game of checkers, with the knight giving additional support to the dark squares.} Rbh8 38. g3 Rh1+ 39. Kg2 R8h2+ 40. Kf3 g4+ $1 41. Kxg4 Rxc1 42. Nxc1 Rxf2 {Awkward just got worse. Now White's king can get into trouble.} 43. Be1 f5+ 44. Kh3 Rxb2 45. Nd3 Rc2 (45... Rb1 {will allow Black to win a pawn soon, but should Black really aim to win a pawn here? I doubt that. The king seems like a better target.}) 46. b5 Nf6 47. Rb3 Re2 48. b6 $4 { This loses on the spot.} (48. Ba5 Ned5 49. Nf4 Nxf4+ 50. gxf4 Nd5 51. Kg3 Ke7 52. b6 cxb6 53. Bxb6 Ra2 54. Rb5 Ra3+ 55. Kf2 Ke6 {and when the f4-pawn falls, it should be a question of technique for Black to win.}) 48... cxb6 49. Rxb6 ( 49. Rb2 Re3 50. Rb3 Ned5 51. Bf2 Nf4+ {wins an piece and}) (49. Bf2 Ne4 50. Kg2 Rd2 51. Kg1 Nd5 52. Ra3 Rd1+ 53. Kg2 b5 54. Rb3 b4 {, with complete domination, is also hopeless, so although White's move loses immediately, it does not matter anymore.}) 49... Ne4 {After 50.Rb2 Ng5+ 51.Kh4 Nf3+, followed by Rxb2 and Nxe1, Black wins a piece once more.} 0-1 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.24"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Hikaru Nakamura"] [Black "Helgi Olafsson"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "2781"] [BlackElo "2512"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 c5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. c4 d6 7. O-O e5 8. Nc3 O-O 9. e3 Re8 10. d3 Rb8 11. Ne1 a6 12. Nc2 Bg4 13. Qd2 Qd7 14. Nd5 Bh3 15. Nb6 Qe6 16. f4 exf4 17. gxf4 Ne4 $1 {Not winning, but it does dispel any ideas of White's.} 18. dxe4 (18. Bxe4 $2 Bxb2 {and both rooks hang.}) 18... Bxg2 19. Qxg2 Bxb2 20. Rad1 Bg7 21. f5 {White forces the issue before Black gets a chance to guard d6 and then wi the e4-pawn for free.} Qxe4 22. fxg6 hxg6 23. Rxd6 Qxg2+ 24. Kxg2 Rbd8 25. Rfd1 Rxd6 26. Rxd6 Rd8 27. Rd7 f5 $2 {Unnecessary weakening. White was hardly going to play e4 himself and weaken d4.} 28. Ne1 $1 {Out of nowhere, White regroups his worst piece and heads for the new weakness on g5, or he can call an audible and jump to d3 to hit c5.} Bh6 29. Kf2 f4 30. e4 Re8 31. Nd5 Bg7 (31... Rxe4 32. Nf6+ {is obvious, but added here as foreshadowing}) 32. Rxb7 Rxe4 33. Nf3 {Black has weak pawns and an even weaker king, but he ended his own misery with} Nd4 $2 34. Rb8+ {and resigns since any king move results in 35. Ng5+ forks and 34...Bf8 leads to the 35. Nf6+ fork.} 1-0 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.24"] [Round "2.5"] [White "Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa"] [Black "Michael Adams"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2500"] [BlackElo "2738"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. h3 d6 7. c3 Ne7 8. Re1 Ng6 9. Nbd2 Bb6 10. Bb3 c6 11. d4 Re8 12. Bc2 Be6 13. Nf1 exd4 14. cxd4 d5 15. e5 Ne4 16. N1d2 f5 17. exf6 Nxd2 18. Bxd2 Qxf6 19. Bg5 Qf7 20. Qd3 Rf8 21. Nh4 $1 {"Double Anand" has his pieces in the "Grandelius" formation, but it didn't work out quite as well as in that game a few boards down.} Rae8 (21... Qxf2+ $2 22. Kh1 {And every white square is weak for Black, and that's not even mentioning ideas of Rf1 to trap the queen.}) 22. Nxg6 $2 {This leads to exchanges that end the pressure and favor Black. Any building up move, like 22. f4, was preferable.} Qxg6 23. Qxg6 hxg6 24. Bxg6 Bxd4 {this rejoinder is the problem} 25. Bxe8 Bxf2+ 26. Kh2 Bxe1 27. Rxe1 Rxe8 {And now the veteran puts on a simple clinic with basic precepts: 1) Advance the unopposed pawns 2) Put them on the opposite color as your bishop 3) Centralize the king. Easy!} 28. b4 b6 29. Re3 c5 30. bxc5 bxc5 31. Ra3 d4 32. Rxa7 c4 33. Re7 Rxe7 34. Bxe7 c3 35. Bb4 Kf7 36. Kg3 Bd5 37. Kf4 Ke6 38. g4 Bc6 39. h4 Kd5 40. h5 Kc4 41. Bf8 d3 42. Bxg7 c2 0-1 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.24"] [Round "2.15"] [White "Nils Grandelius"] [Black "Anna Zatonskih"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2653"] [BlackElo "2424"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Bg4 8. c4 Nf6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. h3 Be6 12. Re1 O-O 13. a3 Re8 14. Bc2 { Why the bishop instead of the queen? "There might be some mate instead of some weaknesses!" Grandelius said.} (14. Qc2 h6) 14... h6 {And now Grandelius's instinct will be proven right. This move is losing according to him.} 15. Qd3 { The problem is clear: now Black cannot play ...g6 to blunt the diagonal since h6 is loose.} Nf6 16. Bxh6 $1 gxh6 17. Rxe6 $3 Qd7 (17... fxe6 18. Qg6+ Kf8 19. Qxh6+ Kg8 20. Qg6+ Kf8 (20... Kh8 21. Ng5 {still works since mate is threatened on f7 and if} Rf8 22. Qh6+ Kg8 23. Bh7+ Kh8 24. Bf5+ Kg8 25. Bxe6+) 21. Ng5 {the twin mates on e6 and f7 aren't even needed -- there's not even a useful way to guard f7.}) 18. Rae1 {The only move Grandelius criticized of his own. He was so caught up in offering the rook that he forgot that just} (18. Ree1 {would allow him to have all the same attack without being down anything! "I simply couldn't stop myself and I went Rae1!"}) (18. d5 {is the sadistic computer's choice}) 18... fxe6 19. Qg6+ Kf8 20. Qxh6+ Kg8 21. Ne5 (21. Qg6+ { throwing this in first is a little faster since Black can't defend on the 7th rank like in the game, but nothing is spoiled} Kf8 22. Ne5) 21... Nxe5 22. dxe5 Bf8 23. Qxf6 Bg7 24. Qg6 {The attack is merely regrouping. White is still getting a knight to f6 and possibly a rook lift. Black can't stop these ideas.} Qd2 25. Re3 Re7 26. Ne4 Qc1+ 27. Kh2 Qxb2 28. Nf6+ Kf8 29. Nd7+ Rxd7 30. Rf3+ 1-0 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.25"] [Round "3.28"] [White "James Tarjan"] [Black "Vladimir Kramnik"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A12"] [WhiteElo "2412"] [BlackElo "2803"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 c6 3. Nf3 d5 4. b3 Bg4 5. Bg2 e6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Bb2 Bd6 8. d3 O-O 9. Nbd2 Re8 10. h3 Bh5 11. Re1 a5 12. a3 e5 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. Nh4 Nc5 15. Qc2 Ne6 16. Rac1 Nd4 17. Qd1 Nb5 18. Nb1 {"Nb1 and later Be1, they wer not such terrible moves," Tarjan said.} Qd7 19. Kh2 Ra6 {Tarjan said the idea was to bring the rook to h6 and mate him. "It didn't quite work, and [so] I'm in the game."} 20. Nf3 {Tarjan didn't offer many of his own ideas. He just kept saying that his goal was to avoid getting checkmated!} e4 21. dxe4 Nxe4 (21... dxe4 22. Nh4 {was Tarjan's plan. Yes, the knight goes back to h4! And now if} e3 23. f4 {"It looks like I'm getting killed. Am I getting killed?" -- Tarjan.} ) 22. Rf1 Bb8 (22... Bc5 23. a4 {"He can take on f2 with either piece and it's a big mess." -- Tarjan.}) 23. Nc3 Nbxc3 24. Bxc3 Rae6 25. Be1 {The other retreat Tarjan was proud of.} h6 26. Rc2 Ba7 27. Qc1 Bb6 28. e3 Qb5 29. Nd4 Bxd4 30. exd4 {Basically any small improvement is good here (...b6 comes to mind) but Kramnik goes for an immediate structural win.} Bf3 $2 {Kramnik tries to trade light-squared bishops, all but ensuring a dominant knight against a feeble bishop. But he forget about a rejoinder.} 31. Bxf3 $1 {It's never fun to see your opponent play the move that was the "point" of the trick!} Nxg3 { Tarjan said he didn't see this idea, but got "lucky" he has a good reply.} ( 31... Qxf1 {paradoxically might be the best move, even though that was Tarjan's trick!} 32. Be2 Nxg3 33. Bxf1 Nxf1+ 34. Kg2 Rxe1 35. Qf4 {and Tarjan said that while material is equal, the fact that Black's knight is stuck means he prefers his chances.}) 32. fxg3 Qxf1 33. Bf2 {The move saves both bishops. Now White is winning, and Tarjan finishes without any drama.} Qd3 34. Rc3 Qf5 35. Kg2 Rf6 36. Qc2 Qd7 37. g4 Rc6 38. Rc5 Rd8 39. Qf5 Rxc5 40. Qxd7 Rxd7 41. dxc5 d4 42. Kf1 d3 43. Ke1 d2+ 44. Kd1 Kf8 45. Bg3 Ke7 46. Bd6+ Ke6 47. Kxd2 b6 48. Ke3 bxc5 49. Bxc5 Rd8 50. b4 axb4 51. axb4 f5 52. b5 fxg4 53. hxg4 g6 54. b6 h5 55. g5 Kd7 56. b7 1-0 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.25"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Jeffery Xiong"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A04"] [WhiteElo "2827"] [BlackElo "2633"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. d4 e6 4. Bg5 d5 5. e3 h6 6. Bh4 Nc6 7. Nbd2 a6 8. Bd3 Be7 9. O-O Nd7 10. Bxe7 Nxe7 11. Ne5 cxd4 12. exd4 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Bd7 14. Re1 Rc8 15. Nf3 b5 16. h4 a5 17. a3 Qb6 18. Qd2 b4 19. cxb4 axb4 20. a4 Ra8 21. b3 O-O 22. Rac1 Rfc8 23. h5 Kf8 24. g4 (24. Bb5 {Is a weird idea. Trading off Black's "bad" bishop, but more importantly, weakening the b4-pawn.} Bxb5 25. Qxb4 {is the point.} Rab8 (25... Rcb8 26. axb5 Qxb5 27. Rc8+) 26. axb5 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Qxb5 28. Rc8+ $1 {is still the point!}) 24... Rc3 $1 25. g5 {Carlsen smiled when asked if he had this worked out, or if it was partially based on Xiong's low time.} (25. Rxc3 bxc3 26. Qxc3 Rc8 {and now you can't guard the b3 pawn since} 27. Qb2 Bxa4) 25... hxg5 26. Rxc3 bxc3 27. Qxg5 Nf5 28. Bxf5 exf5 29. e6 Bxe6 30. h6 gxh6 31. Qf6 {Carlsen has tossed everything at his younger opponent, but now Black must find a very important "only" move.} Kg8 $2 (31... Qd8 {was the only way, when} 32. Rxe6 {does not win a piece since} (32. Qxh6+ Ke7 33. Qh4+ Kd7 34. Ne5+ Kc7 {certainly looks scary, but is survivable.}) 32... Qxf6 33. Rxf6 Rc8 34. Nd4 c2 35. Nxc2 Rxc2 36. Rxf5 d4 37. Rd5 Rb2 38. Rxd4 Rxb3 {is drawn easily.}) 32. Qxh6 {Now Black's king is stuck, and White need only shuffle his king out of the way of the g-file.} Qb4 33. Kh1 1-0 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.25"] [Round "3.22"] [White "Nino Batsiashvili"] [Black "Yifan Hou"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2472"] [BlackElo "2670"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. e3 Ne4 6. Qc2 Bb7 7. Bd3 f5 8. O-O Bxc3 9. bxc3 O-O 10. c5 bxc5 11. Rb1 Qc8 12. Ba3 d6 13. Rfc1 Nd7 14. Nd2 Nxd2 15. Qxd2 Be4 16. dxc5 Ne5 17. Bxe4 fxe4 18. cxd6 Qa6 19. Rb3 c5 (19... Nd3 20. dxc7 Nxc1 {was a better option for Black. It's similar to the game, but now White's pawns aren't connected after the exchange sac.}) 20. c4 Rab8 21. Bxc5 Rxb3 22. axb3 Nd3 23. b4 Nxc1 24. Qxc1 {One of the problems in this position is that only White has ideas. Black has to stop them all just to hold.} Qa2 25. Qf1 Rd8 26. h3 Rd7 $2 {White's only chance to organize a pawn advance is to get in b5 to retreat the bishops and free the c-pawn, so} (26... a6 {was necessary.}) 27. b5 $1 Qa4 28. Qc1 Qb3 29. Ba3 Rf7 30. c5 {The pawns are mobile, and so the game is over.} Qa2 31. Qb2 Qd5 32. c6 Rf8 33. d7 Qd1+ 34. Kh2 1-0 [Event "Isle of Man, England"] [Site "Isle of Man, England"] [Date "2017.09.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Bok, Benjamin"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujarathi"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "GM Elshan Moradiabadi"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 {Vidit chooses the Spanish Defense against the Dutch talent. He is capable of playing several other openings including the Caro-Kann defense!} 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Bb7 {Known as the Zaitsev variation, it is named after the 12th world champion's coach, Igor Zaitsev. This fighting line has been a source of debate for more than 27 years after Karpov (unsuccessfully) employed it against Kasparov in their last match in 1990.} 10. d4 Re8 11. Ng5 Rf8 12. Nf3 Re8 { Both players are gentlemen and enter the fight without repetition.} 13. Nbd2 ( 13. Ng5 Rf8 14. Nf3 {is definitely a way to make a draw!}) 13... Bf8 14. a3 { There are a number of other equally interesting moves here.} (14. d5) (14. a4) (14. Bc2) (14. Ng5) 14... g6 15. d5 (15. Ba2 Bg7 16. b4 exd4 17. cxd4 a5 18. Qb3 Qd7 19. Bb2 {is the mainline.}) 15... Nb8 16. Nf1 Nbd7 17. Ba2 Nc5 $1 { Something does not make sense to me: White seems to be many tempi down and his center is about to be invaded by Black's well-placed pieces. I do not know whether it was Bok's preperation or something else, but whatever the case White's position does not appeal to me at all!} 18. Ng3 c6 19. Bg5 (19. b4 Na4 20. dxc6 Bxc6 21. Qb3 Qe7 22. Bg5 Rec8 {is slightly better for Black.}) 19... cxd5 20. Bxf6 Qxf6 21. Bxd5 Bxd5 22. Qxd5 Na4 (22... Qe6 {could be an equally good or even better choice.} 23. Rad1 Qxd5 24. Rxd5 Reb8 25. b4 Na4 26. Ne2 Be7 {with a great endgame for Black.}) 23. Qd2 Rad8 24. Nf1 $2 {A big mistake. White does not sense the dynamics of the position and falls for a deadly positional pseudo-sacrifice} d5 $1 25. exd5 e4 26. N3h2 Qd6 27. Rad1 f5 { d5 will fall soon. The question is what is White going to do about it.} 28. g4 $2 {This only adds to White's problems.} (28. f3 Nc5 29. Re2 {and White should sit tight and pray hard!}) 28... Nc5 29. gxf5 gxf5 30. Ng3 Nd3 31. Nxf5 Qg6+ 32. Ng3 Bc5 $1 {Black's pieces dominate the board. They are so much better that Vidit was probably thinking: "Should I really exchange them with any of White's pieces?".} 33. Re3 Bxe3 34. Qxe3 Rxd5 35. Ng4 h5 36. Nxe4 {The last try but this wouldn't even work in a rapid game against Vidit!} hxg4 37. Nf6+ Qxf6 38. Qxe8+ Kg7 39. Qe3 gxh3 40. Kh2 Qd6+ {A clean and nice finish by Vidit who joined the pack of players in the lead.} 0-1 [Event "Isle of Man Open"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.26"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Rustam Kasimdzhanov"] [Black "Magnus Carlsen"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "2676"] [BlackElo "2827"] [PlyCount "144"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 Nc6 $1 2. Nf3 {Like Rapport's opponent yesterday (Deimante Cornette), Kasimdzhanov "declines" the option to take the center fully.} d6 $1 {No Spanish!} (2... e5 {Would be back to "normal."}) 3. d4 Nf6 (3... Bg4 4. d5 Ne5 5. Nxe5 Bxd1 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 {is a famous trap that GM Simon Williams pointed out. Although, there is less chance of Carlsen playing this than Hou Yifan playing all women!} Qa5+ {is the only "try" but after} 8. Nc3 {there isn't really any saving Black.}) 4. d5 Nb8 {It feels like a game of Progressive Chess -- White's made several more moves than Black. That must mean it's Black's turn and he gets four moves :-)} 5. Bd3 g6 {And now crazily it seems Carlsen is back to playing the Modern again!} 6. O-O Bg7 7. c4 O-O 8. Nc3 {The most apt description would be a King's Indian Defense, Petrosian Variation, but as Kasimdzhanov pointed out, Black hasn't committed to either .. .e5 or ...c5, and indeed, never really plays either, so it's an original game!} Bg4 9. Be2 Nfd7 10. Bg5 a5 {This would be a typical move in the Petrosian, to slow down a queenside expansion and to secure c5 for the knight (of course, it's usually the queen's knight landing there!).} 11. Nd2 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 c6 13. Kh1 a4 14. a3 Nc5 15. f4 Nbd7 16. Nf3 Qc7 ({The computer thinks} 16... Bxc3 { is fully playable. The computer must really love having a permanent knight on c5 to offer those dark-square kingside weaknesses. In any case, it's a pretty ugly move to make when you don't have to.}) 17. Rad1 Rae8 18. f5 Qa5 19. Na2 Nf6 20. Nd2 Ncd7 21. Nf3 Nc5 22. Nd2 Ncd7 23. Nf3 Rc8 {Carlsen, a draw in a dynamic position? Yeah, we didn't think so either.} 24. Nb4 Rfe8 25. Bd2 (25. e5 $1 dxe5 26. dxc6 bxc6 27. Bxf6 Nxf6 28. Nxe5) 25... Qc7 26. dxc6 bxc6 27. Bc3 e5 28. Nd2 Nc5 29. Rf3 Nh5 30. g3 Bh6 31. Rdf1 Qe7 32. Nd3 Nxd3 33. Rxd3 Nf6 34. Rdf3 Rf8 35. c5 d5 36. exd5 cxd5 37. fxg6 fxg6 38. Qxe5 Qxe5 39. Bxe5 Nd7 40. Rxf8+ Bxf8 41. Bd4 Nxc5 42. Rc1 Bh6 43. Bxc5 Bxd2 44. Rd1 Rxc5 45. Rxd2 Kf7 46. Rd4 Ke6 47. Rxa4 Rc2 48. Kg1 Rxb2 49. Rh4 Rb7 50. Kf2 Kd6 51. Ke3 Kc5 52. Kd3 Rb3+ 53. Kc2 Rxa3 54. Rxh7 Kc4 55. Rc7+ Kd4 56. Rc6 Ra2+ 57. Kb3 Rxh2 58. Rxg6 Kd3 59. g4 d4 60. g5 Rg2 61. Rh6 Ke2 62. Rh1 Rg3+ 63. Kb2 Rxg5 64. Rh2+ Kd3 65. Rh3+ Kc4 66. Kc2 Rg2+ 67. Kd1 Rb2 68. Rg3 Rh2 69. Rf3 Rh1+ 70. Kd2 Rh2+ 71. Kd1 Rh1+ 72. Kd2 Rh2+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.26"] [Round "4.5"] [White "Hikaru Nakamura"] [Black "Sethuraman P Sethuraman"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D52"] [WhiteElo "2781"] [BlackElo "2617"] [PlyCount "187"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. Nd2 Bb4 8. Bf4 $1 {Not a novelty but a very rare guest. The simple 8. Qc2 is more normal. Nakamura essentially speculates pawn for quick development and the dark squares.} Bxc3 9. bxc3 Qxc3 10. Rc1 Qa5 11. Bd3 dxc4 12. Rxc4 {The problem, as Nakamura explained later, is that Black's moves are too easy to find.} e5 ( 12... Qxa2 {"feels" like too much. The Indian would have found it highly plausible that Nakamura would have something prepared against the pawn grab.}) 13. Bg3 O-O 14. O-O Re8 15. Qc2 exd4 16. Nb3 Qb6 17. Rxd4 Ne5 18. Be2 Qc7 19. Rfd1 Qe7 20. h3 b6 21. Bxe5 Qxe5 22. Qxc6 Bf5 23. g4 Rec8 24. Qd6 Qxd6 25. Rxd6 Bc2 26. R1d4 Ne4 27. Rd7 Bxb3 28. Rxe4 Bxa2 29. Ra4 Be6 30. Rdxa7 Rxa7 31. Rxa7 h5 32. gxh5 Bxh3 33. Rb7 Rc6 34. Rb8+ Kh7 35. Bd3+ Kh6 36. Rh8+ Kg5 37. Rh7 Be6 38. Rxg7+ Kxh5 39. Rg8 Rc8 40. Rg7 Kh6 41. Rh7+ Kg5 42. f4+ Kf6 43. Kf2 Ke7 44. Rh6 Rd8 45. Bf1 Rd6 46. e4 Bd7 47. Rh5 Rd4 48. Ke3 Rb4 49. Bd3 Rb3 50. Kd4 Rb4+ 51. Kc3 Ra4 52. Rh6 Ra3+ 53. Kd4 Ra4+ 54. Ke3 b5 55. f5 Ra3 56. Kd4 f6 57. Rh7+ Ke8 58. Be2 Ra2 59. Bh5+ Kd8 60. Bf7 Ra4+ 61. Kd5 b4 62. Kd6 Ra6+ 63. Kc5 Ra5+ 64. Kd4 Bc6 65. Bc4 Re5 66. Bd3 b3 67. Rh2 Ra5 68. Kc3 Re5 69. Rh4 Ke7 70. Kxb3 Kd6 71. Kc3 Kc5 72. Bc2 Re7 73. Kd3 Ra7 74. Ke3 Kd6 75. Kf4 Ra1 76. Rh6 Rf1+ 77. Ke3 Ke5 78. Rh7 Re1+ 79. Kf3 Rf1+ 80. Ke2 Rc1 81. Bd3 Kd4 82. Rh8 Ra1 83. Rd8+ Ke5 84. Rc8 Kd6 85. Kf3 Ra3 86. Rd8+ Ke5 87. Kg4 Ra8 88. Rxa8 Bxa8 89. Kf3 Bc6 90. Ke3 Bb7 91. Bc2 Bc6 92. Bd3 Bb7 93. Bc2 Bc6 94. Bd3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.26"] [Round "4.30"] [White "Niclas Huschenbeth"] [Black "James Tarjan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C58"] [WhiteElo "2596"] [BlackElo "2412"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 Nd5 9. h4 Qc7 10. Be4 h6 11. Nf3 Bd6 12. O-O O-O 13. d4 Bg4 14. Bxd5 cxd5 15. dxe5 Bxe5 16. Qxd5 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Qxc2 18. Nc3 Nc4 19. Re1 Rad8 20. Qe4 Qd3 21. Rb1 Na3 22. Qxd3 Rxd3 23. bxa3 Bxc3 24. Rf1 Rfd8 25. g3 h5 26. Rb7 a5 27. Bg5 Re8 28. Rc1 Bd4 29. Kg2 f6 30. Bf4 Re2 {Black activity is far more important than White's extra a-pawn. But White's idea for counterplay should have failed.} 31. Bh6 $2 Rxf2+ (31... gxh6 $2 32. Rc8+ Re8 33. Rxe8#) 32. Kh3 Kh7 $2 (32... f5 $3 {Was the difficult to find antidote. Black guards g7 whilst still hitting both a-pawn, and preparing moves like Rff3.} 33. Rcc7 { is answered by the calm} Be5) 33. Bxg7 Kg6 {Black is still better here, but it's not quite as easy.} 34. Bf8 Rdd2 35. Rh1 Be5 36. Rg7+ Kf5 37. Bc5 Rg2 ( 37... Rf3 {so sayeth the machine.}) 38. Bb6 a4 39. Bc7 Rxa2 40. Bxe5 Kxe5 { Black really shouldn't lose this, but amazingly his own king ends up in more peril than White's.} 41. Rh7 f5 42. Rxh5 Rgf2 43. Rg5 Kf6 44. Rg8 Kf7 45. Ra8 Rxa3 46. Ra7+ Kg6 47. Rb1 f4 48. h5+ $1 Kf6 (48... Kxh5 49. Rb5+ Kg6 50. Ra6+ Kf7 51. Rb7+ Ke8 52. Ra8#) 49. Rb6+ Ke5 50. Ra5+ Kd4 51. Rb4+ Ke3 52. Raxa4 Rxa4 53. Rxa4 f3 54. Ra3+ Ke4 55. Kg4 Rf1 56. h6 Rh1 57. Rxf3 Rxh6 58. Rf8 Rg6+ 59. Kh4 Ke5 60. g4 Ra6 61. g5 Ra1 62. Kh5 {The bridge will be built in due time.} 1-0 [Event "Douglas"] [Site "Douglas"] [Date "2017.09.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2633"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 O-O 11. Bc4 {[#] In my opinion, Jeffery made a bad choice of opening against a stronger opponent.} b6 ({The old method is} 11... Nc6 12. O-O b6 13. Rad1 Na5 14. Bd3 Bb7 15. Rfe1 Rc8 (15... Qe7 {was played by Jussupow on a couple of occasions. Objectively speaking, Black is just worse, but he's still in the game.}) 16. d5 exd5 17. e5 {was the famous game Polugaevsky-Tal, 1969.}) (11... Nd7 12. O-O b6 {is what Kramnik has been playing with some degree of success, but even the mighty Vlad had a hard time defending against Carlsen (twice in 2016) and Aronian (earlier this year).}) 12. d5 $1 {Even stronger than the usual} (12. O-O Bb7 {which gives Black a chance to transpose.}) 12... Ba6 13. Bxa6 Nxa6 14. d6 Nc5 15. e5 {[#] Who wants to play this position with Black?} Qd7 ({I don't know if Mecking got this far by design or accident, but he survived against Korchnoi in Hastings 1971 by playing} 15... f6 16. O-O Rf7 17. Rad1 Rc8 18. Qe3 Rd7 {mainly because Victor went for a kill with} 19. exf6 gxf6 20. Nd4 {perhaps a bit too soon.}) 16. O-O Rad8 17. Rad1 Qa4 18. Rfe1 f6 {Without this attempt to break out Black is simply devoid of any prospects. His Q-side pawns must stay put in order to support his only good piece, Nc5.} 19. Qe2 fxe5 20. Nxe5 Rf4 (20... Nd7 { seemed more logical, although Black is getting nowhere after} 21. Rd2 Nxe5 ( 21... Rf5 22. Nf3 Re8 23. h4) 22. Qxe5 Qd7 23. h4 Rf6 24. Re3 {White will continue with his build-up with no worry in the world.}) 21. d7 $1 h6 22. g3 Rf5 23. Rd6 Rxe5 {On top of everything else, Xiong was running out of time.} ( 23... Kh7 24. Red1 Ne4 25. R6d4 Nc3 26. Qg4 {wouldn't be much of an improvement.}) 24. Qxe5 Rxd7 25. Rxd7 Qxd7 26. Qe2 Qd4 27. Rd1 Qf6 28. h4 Kh8 29. h5 Qg5 30. Qf3 Kh7 31. Rd4 Qe5 32. Rd8 {Another horrendously passive game from the young American star, on par with his effort against Carlsen a couple of days ago.} 1-0 [Event "IOM Open-Masters 2017"] [Site "Douglas"] [Date "2017.09.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Sokolov, Ivan"] [Black "Rodshtein, Maxim"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2603"] [BlackElo "2695"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 ({Current fashion is all about} 7. Nc3 {which may transpose to the game should Black choose to answer it with} d5 (7... O-O 8. Bg2 c6 9. e4 d5 10. exd5 cxd5 11. Ne5 {proved to be troublesome for Black. Great battles between Aronian and Karjakin in 2013-14 shed some light on this complex setup.})) 7... O-O (7... c6 8. Bc3 d5 {is a more solid line, championed by Karpov, Kramnik and Anand in the past, and Karjakin (but only until 2016!).}) 8. O-O d5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Nc3 Re8 {This is a new twist on the decades old pawn structure prepared by Sergey Karjakin for the 2016 Candidates.} 11. Rc1 {Old hand Sokolov wisely waits for Black to commit his Nb8.} ({The point of Re8 is to prepare a knight transfer to e6,} 11. Ne5 Bb7 12. Qc2 Nbd7 13. Bf4 Nf8 14. Nb5 Ne6 {as in Nakamura-Karjakin, 2017.}) 11... Bb7 12. Bf4 Na6 (12... c6 13. Ne5 Nbd7 { is more in the line with Karjakin's approach. Black defends successfully in case of} 14. e4 Nf8 {as in recent games of Zhigalko.}) 13. Ne5 c6 14. h4 Ba3 ({ Problem is, now} 14... Nc7 {[#] gets a rude welcome in} 15. Nxc6 $3 Bxc6 16. Bxc7 Qxc7 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Bxd5 {and even} Bc5 $5 {won't save Black:} 19. dxc5 Bxd5 20. Qxd5 Rad8 21. Qf3 bxc5 22. Rfd1 $18) (14... Nh5 $5 {One way to play this position is to attack Bf4.}) 15. Rc2 Bd6 16. e3 $1 {No more h5-sqaure for your knight, friend.} Rc8 17. Rd2 Nc7 18. g4 $6 {[#] True to his ambitious style, Ivan unfolds a grandiose concept of advancing his K-side pawns.} ({ A meek} 18. Nd3 {was rejected on sight.}) 18... Bb4 ({There was a refutation to it, but Maxim had to act energetically.} 18... c5 $1 19. g5 cxd4 20. exd4 Ne6 $1 {suddenly hitting Nc3.}) 19. Rc2 Ne6 $6 {Stopping half-way on his path.} ({I thought the idea was} 19... Bxc3 20. Rxc3 Ne4) 20. Bg3 Nd7 ({Last call for } 20... c5 $1) 21. Nd3 Bf8 22. f4 $3 {Sokolov leaves his pawn back on e3 to facilitate his plans.} Ba6 $2 ({Still, no} 22... c5 {How come?}) 23. Re1 Bd6 24. Nf2 Qe7 25. Rc1 Ba3 $2 {Black's meandering leaves an impression Rodshtein simply didn't know what to do.} 26. f5 $1 {An important step forward.} Nef8 27. Rc2 Bd6 28. Qf3 h6 {[#]} 29. e4 $1 {This thematic break and the rest of the game emphasize the power of centralization. White's pieces are simply better placed for action as a unit than Black's scattered army of confused individuals.} Bxg3 30. Qxg3 Qb4 31. Rd1 dxe4 (31... Bb7 32. e5 c5 33. g5 hxg5 34. Nxd5 Bxd5 35. Bxd5 cxd4 36. Rxc8 Rxc8 37. f6 {with powerful attack.}) 32. Ncxe4 c5 33. Rcd2 $1 ({It was unnecessary to allow} 33. Nd6 Re1+) 33... c4 34. g5 $1 hxg5 35. hxg5 Nh7 36. Nd6 c3 37. g6 $1 Ng5 38. gxf7+ Nxf7 39. Bd5 cxd2 40. Bxf7+ Kf8 41. Bxe8 Rc1 42. Bxd7 {Time control has been made and it's game over.} Qxd4 43. Kh2 Rxd1 44. Nxd1 Be2 45. Ne3 d1=Q 46. Nxd1 Bxd1 47. Bc6 Bc2 48. Bg2 a6 49. Ne4 Bxe4 50. Qb8+ Kf7 51. Qf4 Qb2 52. Qxe4 Qxa2 53. Qe6+ Kf8 54. Qxb6 Qe2 55. Qd6+ Kf7 56. Qe6+ 1-0 [Event "Isle of Man Open"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.27"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Julio Ernesto Granda Zuniga"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2827"] [BlackElo "2653"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 Nf6 9. Nc3 Nc6 10. cxd5 Nb4 11. Re1 Nbxd5 12. h3 c6 13. a3 Re8 14. Qc2 (14. Bc2 {and Qd3 was Carlsen's idea for improvement after the game, which is a standard setup anyway.}) 14... h6 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Ne5 Bd6 17. Bh7+ Kf8 18. Bd2 Be6 19. Re2 Nf6 $2 {"I think he just picked the wrong piece to put on f6. If he puts the queen he's not doing too badly." -- Carlsen.} (19... Qf6) (19... g5 {and ...Kg7 is also playable according to Carlsen. "It's not clear if I really achieved much with this whole operation."}) 20. Rae1 Qc7 {"Just losing a pawn." -- Carlsen} 21. Ng6+ fxg6 22. Rxe6 Nxh7 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Rxe8+ Kxe8 25. Qxg6+ Kd8 (25... Kf8 {Carlsen said that at least Black here has "some drawing chances}) 26. Qxh7 Qe7 27. g3 Kc7 28. Qg6 {It might look like Black can grovel, but Carlsen said that the win is "very easy and systematical." One issue is that Black's queenside pawns are quite weak with his king on the wrong side to protect them.} 1-0 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.27"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Pavel Eljanov"] [Black "Rustam Kasimdzhanov"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B04"] [WhiteElo "2734"] [BlackElo "2676"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5 5. Nxe5 c6 6. Be2 Nd7 7. c4 Nc7 8. Nf3 g6 9. Nc3 Bg7 10. O-O O-O 11. Bf4 Nf6 12. h3 Bf5 13. Be5 Ne4 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Re1 Nf6 16. Qd2 Qd6 17. Rad1 Rad8 18. Qe3 Rfe8 19. Ne5 {White controls much more usable space, and even} (19. g4 Bc8 {is possible here. No, it's not necessarily a kingside attack. It's just a slow overtaking of the board.}) 19... Qb4 {Black doesn't want to wait to be overrun, and figures he should at least get a pawn for his troubles. Understandable, but it doesn't work out.} 20. a3 $1 Qxb2 21. Na4 Qc2 (21... Qa2 22. Rd2 Bc2 23. Bd1) 22. Nc5 Qb2 (22... b6) 23. Rd2 Qb6 24. Qc3 {With the idea of Rb2, trapping the queen.} Ne4 25. Nxe4 Bxe4 26. d5 {The Black queen won't be trapped, but she will prove misplaced as White's pawn start advancing. This is the first pawn advance that comes with a threat, a discovered attack. Let's count them up as we go along.} f6 27. c5 {[%eval 32764,0]} Nb5 28. Bxb5 Qxb5 29. a4 {[%eval 32762,0]} Qa6 30. d6 $1 {[%eval 32760,0]} (30. Rxe4 cxd5 31. Rf4 fxe5 32. Qxe5+ {was also good.}) 30... Bf5 31. g4 {[%eval 32758,0]} exd6 32. Rxd6 Rxd6 33. cxd6 Rxe5 {Black resigned since after swapping rooks and White capturing the bishop, the d-pawn decides.} 1-0 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.27"] [Round "5.6"] [White "Gabriel Sargissian"] [Black "Hikaru Nakamura"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2652"] [BlackElo "2781"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] {Notes based on Nakamura's analysis.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Bb4+ 11. Nd2 {Nakamura noted that he had this position twice at the Sinquefield Cup, only scoring 0.5/2. So it was time to shake things up.} d4 (11... Nc6 {featured in both of those recent games in St. Louis, a loss to Nepomniachtchi and a draw to Carlsen "from a pretty terrible position."}) 12. e4 Na6 13. O-O Nc5 14. Nf3 Bg4 15. a3 Ba5 16. b4 Ne6 17. Bg3 Bc7 18. e5 {Nakamura said the position was "completely normal" but this was the first move that he didn't expect.} Ng5 19. h4 {"This h4 move completely took me off guard." -- Nakamura.} (19. Be2 Ne4 20. Qxd4 Nxg3 21. hxg3 Qxd4 22. Nxd4 Bxe5 {"And go home early, make the quick draw. "}) 19... Nxf3+ 20. gxf3 Be6 21. Re1 Qd7 {Nakamura called the position "balanced" until White's next move.} 22. f4 {A pawn/bishop structure that has not worked well in this tournament! Note the three pawns walling in White's Bg3, and how in the previous news report we noted that it didn't turn out well for Xiong or Dronavalli, either!} Bb6 23. Qh5 (23. Qf3 {and Rac1, Be4 "should be completely reasonable."}) 23... g6 24. Qh6 Bf5 {"Very important because there are now no real attacking chances without the light-squared bishop involved."} 25. Bxf5 Qxf5 26. h5 $2 {"The critical blunder."} (26. Qg5) 26... Qh3 27. f5 d3 28. Qg5 {Now Nakamura used 30 minutes of his 40-minute time advantage.} h6 (28... d2 {Was the move he was trying to make work. "It looks so good!"} 29. Red1 Rad8 30. Bf4 Qf3 31. Be3 {But Nakamura said this still might be simpler than what he did in the game. "I just couldn't make ...c2 work."}) 29. Qh4 Qxf5 30. Kg2 {Overlooked by Nakamura.} Rad8 31. Re4 {"A very good move" that was also missed by Nakamura.} (31. Rad1 Rd4 {"Should just be winning for Black."}) 31... d2 32. Rd1 g5 33. Qg4 Qxg4 34. Rxg4 Rfe8 35. Kf1 ( 35. Rc4 f5 $1 36. exf6 Re1) (35. f4 f5 $1 {again!} 36. exf6 Re4 {With ideas of ...Rc4 and ...Rc1 or even ...Nf7 [Nakamura]}) 35... Bc7 36. e6 Bxg3 37. exf7+ Kxf7 38. Rxg3 Re5 {Nakamura said that here he wasn't sure if Black was winning, but as he played through some options for White afterward, he became more convinced White can't defend.} 39. Rc3 g4 40. Rc7+ Kf6 41. Rxb7 Rxh5 42. Kg2 Re5 43. Kf1 h5 44. b5 Re7 45. Rxe7 Kxe7 46. a4 Rd5 47. Ke2 h4 48. a5 Kd7 49. b6 axb6 50. axb6 h3 0-1 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.27"] [Round "5.32"] [White "Lawrence Trent"] [Black "Vladimir Kramnik"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2427"] [BlackElo "2803"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nbd2 { Trent's preparation.} (7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 {usually offers White nothing; it's all been played many times before long ago.}) (7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Bxc3 9. d5 Bf6 10. Re1 Ne7 11. Rxe4 d6 12. Bg5 Bxg5 13. Nxg5 h6 14. Qe2 hxg5 15. Re1 Be6 16. dxe6 f6 {is one of the main lines of the Moller Attack, and although the innovation} 17. Re3 $1 {with idea of Rh3 revitalized the line a few decades ago, Black has since found more than adequate ways to defend. "I trust Vlad knows what he's doing there," Trent said.}) 7... d5 (7... Nxe4 8. d5 Ne7 9. O-O Nxd2 10. Bxd2 Bxd2 11. d6 $1 (11. Qxd2 d6) 11... cxd6 12. Qxd2 d5 { "It just ends up fizzling out." But Trent knew Kramnik would not go for this equal game, and thus had to play 7...d5, the "only other reasonable move."}) 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. O-O O-O 10. a3 Bxd2 11. Bxd2 Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13. g4 Bg6 {"Things aren't so easy for Black. White's got the two bishops and Black is a couple moves from consolidating." -- Trent.} 14. Re1 Qd6 (14... Nb6 15. Bb3 Nxd4 16. Nxd4 Qxd4 17. Bb4 {and Trent liked the endgame for White because of the rook invasions.}) 15. Qb3 Rad8 16. Rac1 {Still in Trent's preparation until Black's next, which caused him to think for 45 minutes.} h5 {"This position you basically just have to calculate until the end, or you just lose with White."} 17. Bxd5 Qxd5 18. Qxb7 (18. Qxd5 Rxd5 19. Bb4 Rfd8 {and Trent couldn't find anything substantive here.}) 18... Qxf3 (18... Nxd4 19. Qxd5 Rxd5 20. Nxd4 Rxd4 21. Be3 {"I'm never losing this position." -- Trent.}) 19. Rc3 $1 (19. Qxc6 Qxh3 20. Qg2 Qxg2+ 21. Kxg2 Rxd4 {And Trent didn't like all the pawns he was ceding.}) 19... Qd5 (19... Be4 {Is a fantastic idea that both players saw!} 20. Rxf3 Bxf3 21. Re3 Bd5 22. Qxc7 Nxd4 23. Bc3 Nf3+ 24. Rxf3 Bxf3 25. gxh5 { And Trent liked White since ...Bxh5 cannot be played due to the fork Qe5.}) ( 19... Bd3 20. Qxc6 Qxh3 21. Qg2 Qxg2+ 22. Kxg2 Rxd4 23. gxh5 Be4+ 24. Kg3 Rxd2 25. Rxe4 Rxb2 26. Rxc7 {And both players agreed afterward that White is fine. "This isn't actually pleasant for Black at all with my rook on the seventh." -- Trent.}) 20. Qxc6 hxg4 21. Qxd5 Rxd5 22. Rxc7 gxh3 23. Be3 Re8 {With ideas of ...Rxd4.} 24. Rec1 Re4 (24... h2+ 25. Kxh2 Rh5+ 26. Kg3 Re4 27. Kf3 { and White gets away to e2 and d2.}) 25. Kh2 {played now to prevent any line-clearance pawn sacs than begin ...h2+.} Rg4 26. Rc8+ Kh7 27. R8c5 Be4 ( 27... Rd6 28. Kxh3 f5 29. f3) 28. Rxd5 Bxd5 29. Kxh3 {"I can breath slightly," Trent said.} f5 30. Rc5 Bg2+ 31. Kh2 Kg6 32. Rc1 Bd5 33. Rg1 Kh5 34. Rxg4 Kxg4 35. Bd2 f4 36. Bb4 Kf3 37. Kg1 g5 38. Be7 g4 39. b4 Ke2 40. Bh4 {Avoiding one last trap that Trent would never live down if he allowed...} (40. Bd6 g3 41. fxg3 f3 $1 {and oops, White's bishop is impotent.}) 40... Bc6 41. d5 Bxd5 42. Be7 Bc6 43. Bc5 a6 44. Bd6 Kf3 45. Bc7 Bb5 46. Bb8 Bc6 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.09.28"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "2734"] [BlackElo "2827"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:05:16"] [BlackClock "0:43:12"] 1. Nf3 {Carlse:"I have prepared for 1.d4 and then he played 1.Nf3. Then I thought this is the best place to go for"} b6 {None is guessing Carlsen's openings so far. The Owen defense might have come as surprise for Eljanov too. Creative players like Miles and Larsen have used it in the past, as well as players who regularly play the English defense after 1.d4.} 2. e4 Bb7 {Against 1.Nf3 the Owen is a better choice than against 1.e4. The point is that one of the best (if not the best)systems for White runs after 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3. White laster avoids the pin of his queenside knight and brings his pieces like that- Ng1-f3, Qd1-e2 and c2-c3. The queenside knight can maneuver via d2 to g3. } 3. Nc3 e6 4. d4 Bb4 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. Qe2 ({Instead a future world champion played} 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. O-O Bxc3 9. bxc3 {and got some initiative after} d5 ({However} 9... d6 {seemed safer and good for Black.}) 10. exd5 Bxd5 11. Ne5 O-O 12. Qh5 {Kramnik,V (2725)-Ehlvest,J (2600) Moscow 1994}) 6... d5 7. exd5 ({Black was more than happy with the opening outcome after} 7. e5 Ne4 8. Bd2 Bxc3 9. bxc3 c5 10. dxc5 Nxc5 11. h4 Nbd7 12. Rh3 Qc7 13. Kf1 Ne4 {in Bachmann,A (2646)-Donchenko,A (2563) Chartres 2017}) 7... Qxd5 8. O-O Bxc3 9. bxc3 Nbd7 ({White managed to convert his bishop pair after} 9... O-O 10. Re1 Nbd7 11. a4 Qh5 12. Nd2 Qxe2 13. Bxe2 Ne4 14. Nxe4 Bxe4 15. Bd1 {although at this stage of the game Black did not have much to worry about, Zhang,Z (2619) -Zvjaginsev,V (2660) Berlin 2015}) 10. c4 Qh5 11. Bf4 Rc8 $146 ({The only predecessor saw only one move} 11... c5 {and in the game Vukovic-Velimirovic the players split the point evenly.}) ({Despite the ugly pawn structure} 11... Bxf3 12. gxf3 Rc8 13. Kh1 {White has active play along the half-open files and the dagonals.}) 12. a4 a5 {"Very abmitious move. I am hoping that the a4 pawn will become a weakness." (Carlsen)} 13. Rab1 {White wants to make something out of the position of the black queen.} ({"At any moment here White can do"} 13. Nd2 Qxe2 14. Bxe2 {"and White is slightly better, but nothing special." (Carlsen)}) 13... O-O 14. Rb5 (14. Rfe1 {makes sense too.}) 14... c5 15. dxc5 ( {After} 15. c3 Bc6 16. Rb2 Bxa4 {Black wins a pawn.}) ({Carlsen believed that} 15. Bd6 Bc6 $5 {was critical. Then after} 16. Bxf8 {he was not sure what should he choose} Bxb5 ({Or} 16... Kxf8 {with a good compensation for the exchange.})) 15... Rxc5 16. Bd6 Rxb5 17. cxb5 $6 {"I think he horribly misjudged the arising position. His bishop on d3 is quite bad and there are weaknesses on a4 and c2." (Carlsen)} ({Indeed,} 17. axb5 {looks better, when after a possible} Rc8 18. Ne5 Qxe2 19. Bxe2 Nxe5 20. Bxe5 Nd7 21. Bd6 {the white pawns are more dangerous than in the game.}) 17... Rc8 ({Once again Carlsen avoids} 17... Bxf3 18. gxf3 Rc8 19. c4 {although Black is better here as well.}) 18. c4 Nc5 19. Bc2 Nce4 {It should have felt good to dominate on the light squares like that!} 20. Bf4 $6 {Probably missing something.} ({ Relatively best was} 20. Be5 Ng5 21. Nd4 Qxe2 22. Nxe2 Rxc4 {although Black is a solid pawn up here as well.}) 20... Nc3 21. Qd3 ({Or} 21. Qe3 Qg4 (21... Rxc4 22. Qxb6 {"is not that clear" (Carlsen)}) 22. Qxc3 Nd5 23. h3 {And now the simple} ({On} 23. Ne5 {the world champion was planning the neat} Qxg2+ 24. Kxg2 Nxf4+ 25. Kg3 Ne2+) 23... Nxc3 ({Carlsen also mentioned} 23... Qxf4 24. Qd3 Rxc4 25. Qxh7+ Kf8) 24. hxg4 Ne2+ 25. Kh2 Nxf4 {should be great for Black as the weaknesses on the queenside are quite painful.}) 21... Qg4 ({Black could have finally taken on f3} 21... Bxf3 22. gxf3 Qg6+ 23. Qxg6 hxg6 24. Bd3 Rd8 { as there is no} 25. Bc2 Ne2+) 22. Be5 ({One more line given by the world champion runs} 22. Qxc3 Qxf4 23. Ne5 ({Or} 23. Nd2 Qg5 24. f3) 23... Ng4 24. Nxg4 Qxg4 {with big advantage for Black. In all these lines White is left with the useless bishop.}) 22... Qxc4 23. Qxc4 Rxc4 24. Bd3 Rc8 25. Ra1 Nfd5 { Carlsen won a pawn and kept his pieces optimally placed. The rest is easy} 26. Nd2 f6 27. Bd6 Nb4 28. Bc4 Bd5 29. Bf1 Nba2 0-1 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.28"] [Round "6.5"] [White "Harsha Bharathakoti"] [Black "Vidit Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A28"] [WhiteElo "2394"] [BlackElo "2702"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Qc2 d6 6. d3 O-O 7. Be2 e4 $1 { Black is not really in danger of being down a pawn for too long, so wrecking White's structure is certainly worth it.} 8. dxe4 (8. Nd2 {was an interesting way to "decline" the offer.}) 8... Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 (9. Qxc3 Nxe4 10. Qc2 Bf5 { and there's no time for} 11. Bd3 {because of} Nb4 12. Qd2 Nxd3+ 13. Qxd3 Ng3) 9... Bg4 10. Nd4 Bxe2 11. Nxe2 Ne5 {It takes a while, but Black targets and pounces on these weak pawns for the remainder of the game.} 12. O-O Nxc4 13. Rd1 Re8 14. Ng3 Qd7 15. f3 Rad8 16. Qf2 Qe6 17. Ne2 d5 $1 {Essentially crashing through and deciding the game.} 18. exd5 (18. Nf4 {May have been a better try.}) 18... Nxe3 19. Bxe3 Qxe3 20. Qxe3 Rxe3 21. Kf2 Rde8 22. Rd2 Nxd5 23. Rxd5 Rxe2+ 24. Kg3 Rc2 25. Rd3 h6 26. a4 Re6 27. Kh3 Rg6 28. g4 Rc6 29. Ra3 a5 30. Kg3 g6 31. h4 b6 32. Kh3 g5 33. Kg3 Kg7 34. Re3 Rd6 35. hxg5 hxg5 36. f4 gxf4+ 37. Kxf4 Rg2 38. Kf3 Rdd2 39. Re7 Rdf2+ 40. Ke3 Re2+ 41. Kf3 Rxe7 42. Kxg2 Re4 0-1 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.28"] [Round "6.6"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Sethuraman, S.P."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C82"] [WhiteElo "2794"] [BlackElo "2617"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] {"I guess it's just a game but it hasn't happened for so long." - Anand on playing a compatriot.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 ({Anand said he had seen the two games Sethuraman played before with the Open Spanish.} 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3 Be7 11. Bc2 d4 12. Nb3 (12. cxd4 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Qxd4 14. Nf3 Qxd1 15. Rxd1 O-O {Vachier Lagrave,M (2785)-Sethuraman,S (2639) Gibraltar 2016}) 12... d3 13. Nxc5 dxc2 14. Qxd8+ Rxd8 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. Be3 Rd5 {Bacrot,E (2697)-Sethuraman,S (2639) Gibraltar 2016}) 9... Bc5 10. Qd3 O-O 11. Nbd2 f5 12. Bc2 Qd7 13. Nb3 Be7 { "Clever," said Anand about Black's last two moves. White has a theoretical position with the extra move Qd3, and "he's challenging me to do something useful with that move."} (13... Ba7 14. Be3 Bxe3 15. Qxe3 Nd8 16. Nc5 Qe7 17. Nxe6 Nxe6 18. Rad1 c6 19. Qb6 Qd7 20. Nd4 Nxd4 21. Qxd4 Ng5 22. Qh4 h6 23. f4 Ne4 {½-½ Pilnik,H-Euwe,M Buenos Aires 1947}) 14. Nbd4 Nxd4 15. cxd4 f4 (15... c5 16. dxc5 Bxc5 17. Be3 {"and my extra move actually means something."}) 16. Bd2 {"I think for the moment I am anticipating his threats." Anand said that Black is very comfortable here.} Bf5 17. Qb3 ({No need for} 17. Bxf4 Ng3 18. hxg3 Bxd3 19. Bxd3 {(Anand)}) 17... Be6 (17... Bg4 $2 18. Bxe4) (17... g5 18. Bb4 Bxb4 19. Qxb4 g4 20. Nh4 {Anand}) 18. Bb4 Bxb4 19. Qxb4 Bg4 20. Qb3 Kh8 21. Rfe1 Be6 {"It's quite sophisticated what he's doing but at the same time it gives a strange impression what he's doing with his bishop." (Anand)} 22. Rad1 c6 23. Bd3 Bg4 24. Bxe4 dxe4 25. Rxe4 Be6 26. Qc3 Qd5 ({Anand thought that after} 26... Bd5 27. Ree1 Rae8 {Black has full compensation.}) 27. Ree1 Qxa2 28. Qxc6 {Now "it's getting really challenging for him."} Bd5 29. Qd7 Rad8 30. Qh3 Rde8 31. Ng5 h6 32. Ne4 ({Anand started calculating} 32. e6 {but didn't see what to do after} Re7) 32... Qxb2 33. Nf6 Be6 34. Qh5 Bf7 35. Qh4 ({ Anand saw} 35. Qg4 gxf6 36. exf6 Rg8 37. Rxe8 Bxe8 38. Qxf4 {and he thought "game over" until he saw} Qc2) ({He also felt} 35. Qxf7 Rxf7 36. Nxe8 {might be winning.}) 35... Rd8 36. e6 Rxd4 37. Rb1 {Missed by Sethuraman, who was down to four minutes vs 10 for Anand.} Qa2 38. Ra1 Qb3 39. exf7 Qxf7 40. Ng4 ( 40. Ne4 {and 41.f3 is also good (Anand).}) 40... Qg6 41. Ne5 ({More accurate was} 41. Qe7 {(Anand)}) 41... Qd6 42. Nf3 {Because the clock doesn't give additional time Anand made not one but two extra moves to be sure he wasn't flagging here!} Rd5 43. Qe7 Qxe7 44. Rxe7 Rf6 45. h4 b4 46. Rb7 a5 47. Re1 Rf8 48. Ree7 {White's rook on b7 nicely controls both black pawns on the queenside. } Rg8 49. Kh2 Rdd8 50. Ne5 Kh7 51. Nd7 1-0 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.28"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Emil Sutovsky"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B18"] [WhiteElo "2683"] [BlackElo "2799"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 e6 8. Ne5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nd7 11. Bf4 Qa5+ 12. c3 Ngf6 13. O-O Be7 14. Nc4 Qd5 15. Ne3 Qb5 16. c4 Qa5 17. b4 $1 {Typical Sutovsky aggression!} Qd8 (17... Qxb4 18. Rfb1) (17... Bxb4 18. c5 $1 {and the Black pieces are bottled up, but the compensation is still very unclear.}) 18. d5 $1 Nf8 (18... cxd5 19. cxd5 Nf8 { is not a better version since White will use the c-file first.} 20. Rac1 exd5 21. Bc7 $1 Qd7 22. Be5 {and White will get his d-pawn back favorably.}) 19. h5 exd5 20. Nef5 Ne6 21. Be5 O-O 22. Nxh6+ $5 (22. Rad1 {slower buildup was also possible.}) 22... gxh6 23. Nf5 Ng7 (23... dxc4 $1 24. Nxh6+ Kg7 25. Nf5+ Kh7 { Naturally, the computer has no fear of walking onto the diagonal.} 26. Qb1 Qd3 {gives the piece back, but with advantage after} 27. Nxe7 Qxb1 28. Raxb1 Nd5) 24. Nxh6+ Kh8 25. Nf5 dxc4 26. Qf3 Qd3 27. Qxd3 cxd3 28. Nxe7 Nfxh5 29. g4 Rfe8 30. Rae1 Kh7 31. Bxg7 Kxg7 32. gxh5 Kf6 33. Re3 Rxe7 34. Rxd3 Re5 35. Rf3+ Ke6 36. Rh3 Rh8 37. h6 Rg5+ 38. Kh2 Rg6 39. Re1+ Kd7 40. Rd1+ Kc7 41. h7 Rg7 42. Rdd3 b5 43. Rdf3 Rgxh7 44. Rxh7 Rxh7+ 45. Kg3 Kb6 46. Rf6 Rh1 47. Rxf7 Rg1+ 48. Kh4 Ra1 49. f4 Rxa2 50. f5 a5 51. bxa5+ Rxa5 52. Rf8 b4 53. Kg4 Kc7 54. f6 Kd7 55. Rc8 Ke6 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.09.29"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Jones, Gawain C B"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2668"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:44:17"] [BlackClock "0:12:23"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 {"I noticed that Gawain started to play this recently and decided to check my old notes." (Caruana) However, the Archangelsk might not have been such a wise choice as Caruana has played it successfully as both colors.} 7. c3 d6 8. a4 Rb8 9. d4 Bb6 10. a5 ({Here is a recent example of Jones's play} 10. axb5 axb5 11. Qd3 Bd7 12. Be3 h6 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 dxe5 15. Nd2 O-O 16. Rfe1 {1/2-1/2 (16) McShane,L (2644)-Jones,G (2660) Llandudno 2017}) 10... Ba7 11. h3 O-O ({ White won a very one-sided game after} 11... h6 12. Be3 Ra8 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 dxe5 15. Qxd8+ Kxd8 16. Bxa7 Rxa7 17. Bxf7 Nxe4 18. Bg6 {Caruana,F (2827) -Lagno,K (2530) Caleta 2017}) 12. Be3 Ra8 13. Re1 h6 14. Nbd2 exd4 ({Here a successful holding example for Black-} 14... Re8 15. Nf1 exd4 16. cxd4 Rxe4 17. Ng3 Re7 18. Qd2 Qf8 19. Rec1 Bd7 {and the game later ended in a draw, Karjakin, S (2786)-Caruana,F (2772) Loo 2013}) 15. cxd4 Nb4 16. e5 $146 {Strictly speaking, a novelty. However, the American GM was well prepared for it. "Peter (Svidler) made a video on this line, but missed an important detail. I was very happy that he entered this line as it is extremely sharp." (Caruana)} ({ Caruana has checked this very recent game as well:} 16. d5 Bxe3 17. Rxe3 c5 18. dxc6 Nxc6 19. e5 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 dxe5 21. Rxe5 Ra7 {and Black had no problems at all, Grandelius,N (2644)-Jones,G (2660) Linares 2017}) 16... Nfd5 ({Weaker is: } 16... dxe5 17. dxe5 Nfd5 (17... Bxe3 18. exf6 Ba7 19. fxg7 {leaves the black king badly exposed.}) 18. Bxa7 Rxa7 {When the rook on a7 is concern. For example:} 19. Ne4 Nf4 20. Qc1 $1 Nbd3 ({Or} 20... Nfd3 21. Qe3 $1 Nxe1 22. Rxe1 Ra8 23. Nf6+ $1 {with decisive attack after} gxf6 24. Qxh6) 21. Qe3 Nxe1 22. Nxe1 $1 {hitting both the rook on a7 and the knight.}) 17. Ne4 Nxe3 ({Maybe} 17... Bb7 {at once is better, although White can re-think and save his bishop} 18. Bd2) 18. Rxe3 Bb7 19. e6 $1 (19. Rc1 Rc8 20. e6 {is Svidler's move order.}) 19... Nd5 {More or less forced.} ({White's attacking possibilities are demonstrated after} 19... fxe6 20. Nfg5 $1 hxg5 ({Or} 20... Bd5 21. Nxe6 Bxe6 22. Bxe6+ {with strong attack on the light squares.}) 21. Bxe6+ Rf7 (21... Kh7 22. Qh5#) 22. Qh5 {and White wins.}) ({On} 19... Bd5 {the same} 20. Neg5 $1 { is excellent for White, for example} Qf6 (20... hxg5 21. e7) 21. Bxd5 Nxd5 22. exf7+ Rxf7 23. Re6 Qf5 24. g4 Qf4 25. Re4 Qf6 26. Nxf7 {and wins.}) 20. exf7+ { "When I saw him hesitating I felt I might get my analysis at work. I understood that Black is trying to get into Svidler's analysis." (Caruana)} Kh8 21. Re1 Rxf7 22. Rc1 Rc8 ({Perhaps the lesser evil was} 22... Rf8 {although after} 23. g3 {with the idea Nf3-h4 White has strong attack on the light squares (Caruana)}) 23. Nfg5 $1 {Practically closing the line.} Rf5 $2 { "From here I was playing on my own."(Caruana) Not a bad place to start a game.. .} (23... hxg5 {is mate after} 24. Qh5+ Kg8 25. Nxg5 Qf6 26. Qh7+ Kf8 27. Qh8#) ({Svidler's recommendation ran} 23... Re7 24. Qg4 {And Caruana did not bluff. He had it all in his notebook. Now} Qd7 {is spectacularly refuted by} ({ Caruana also revealed why he entered the whole thing. Svidler missed that} 24... Qe8 {pinning the rook, can be refuted by prophylactical-attacking} 25. Kh2 $3 {with the main point being} Bxd4 ({If} 25... Rd8 {the nice maneuver} 26. Qf5 g6 27. Qg4 $1 {lead to decisive attack as to} hxg5 {both} 28. Bxd5 $1 ({Or } 28. Qxg5 $1 {should win for White.}) 28... Bxd5 29. Nf6 {leave the black king naked. You already noticed that in this line Black cannot capture on e1 with a check.}) 26. Bxd5 Bxd5 27. Nxd6 {and White wins as there is no Re7xe1+}) 25. Qxd7 Rxd7 26. Nxd6 $1 {winning at least the exchange-} Rxd6 (26... cxd6 27. Rxc8+ Bxc8 28. Re8#) 27. Nf7+ Kh7 28. Nxd6 cxd6 29. Rxc8 Bxc8 30. Bxd5 { and winning the game too.}) 24. Ne6 {It is a forced win, the black pieces are too vulnerable.} Qd7 ({The winning motifs occur over and over again-} 24... Qh4 25. Qg4 Qxg4 26. hxg4 Rf7 27. Bxd5 Bxd5 28. Nxd6 {(Caruana)}) 25. Qg4 Qf7 ({Or } 25... Qxe6 26. Ng3) 26. Rxc7 $1 ({Also good was} 26. Nxc7 $1 Rxc7 27. Rxc7 Qxc7 28. Qxf5) 26... Rxc7 27. Nxd6 {Again it is this squre, this knight and slightly different fork.} (27. Nxc7 {wins as well.}) 27... Rxf2 {Here White spent some time and came up with deeply calculated line to wrap the game up.} ( {If} 27... Qf6 28. Nxf5) 28. Nxc7 {Refusing to take the queen with a check!} ({ Caruana was afraid of the alternative kngiht fork after} 28. Nxf7+ Rcxf7 29. Nd8 (29. Qg3 {is what he considered, but apparently the game continuation is neater.}) 29... Rf1+ 30. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 31. Kxf1 Ne3+ {Still, White wins after} 32. Ke2 Nxg4 33. Nxb7 Nf6 34. Nc5) 28... Qf6 ({Or} 28... Qxc7 29. Re8+ Kh7 30. Qe4+ g6 31. Kxf2) 29. Nxd5 Qxd4 ({If} 29... Bxd5 30. Bxd5 Rf1+ 31. Rxf1 Bxd4+ 32. Kh2 Be5+ 33. g3 {"is the only winning move, but good enough" (Caruana)}) 30. Qxd4 Bxd4 31. Re4 Ba7 32. Nb6 (32. Nb6 {Black resigned as he will be down a whole piece after} Bxe4 33. Kxf2) 1-0 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.29"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Dennis Wagner"] [Black "Hikaru Nakamura"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2564"] [BlackElo "2781"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. Bg2 c6 4. c4 e6 5. O-O Nd7 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Nc3 Ngf6 8. d3 Bc5 9. h3 Bh5 10. e4 dxe4 11. dxe4 O-O 12. Qe2 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Ne5 14. Rd1 Qb6 15. Bg2 Bd4 16. Bd2 Rfd8 17. Be1 Nc6 18. Kh2 e5 19. f4 Re8 20. Nb5 exf4 21. gxf4 Be3 $1 {Obstructing the queen's protection of e4.} 22. Bd2 Nd5 $1 23. Nd6 (23. exd5 Bg1+ 24. Rxg1 Rxe2 25. dxc6 Rxd2 26. cxb7 Qxb7) 23... Bxf4+ 24. Bxf4 Nxf4 25. Qf3 g5 $1 {Nakamura had to envision this idea a few moves back. He reasoned that the strong Nf4 and extra pawn counterbalanced the exchange sac, and he seems justified.} 26. Nxe8 Rxe8 {It's clear once the other knight hops to e5 that it is superior to either rook. The White bishop on g2 doesn't make much of an impression either.} 27. Qg3 h6 28. Rd2 Ne5 29. Rad1 Nc4 30. Rd7 Qxb2 31. Rf1 Ne5 32. Rd6 Neg6 33. Rf2 Qe5 34. Rd7 Rc8 35. Rxb7 h5 (35... Rc3 { was another way. The queen cannot move due to discovered checks, so...} 36. Rb5 Qd4 {and now she can't move due to the loose rook on f2!} 37. Rb8+ Kg7 38. Rd8 {White tries the same idea from 90 degrees difference} Qe5 39. Rd5 (39. Re8 Qc7 {and now the jig is up since} 40. Rc8 (40. Re7 Nxe7) 40... Qxc8) 39... Rxg3 40. Rxe5 Rxg2+ 41. Rxg2 Nxe5 {wins easily. White may win a7 but by the time that happens, the knights, pawns and king will overrun the kingside.}) 36. Kh1 Rc3 37. Rf3 Rc2 38. Rf2 Rc3 39. Rf3 h4 40. Qe1 Rc2 {There's no defense since 41. Rf2 fails to 41...Nd3 and 41. Bf1 goes down to the same, this time mating on h2.} 0-1 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.29"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2827"] [BlackElo "2702"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] {"There were no big mistakes. I think it was pretty accurate, the game." (Vidit)} 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O e5 5. d3 Ne7 6. e4 {"I was out of my book here." (Vidit)} O-O 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 Nc6 9. Nc3 ({Vidit expected } 9. Nbd2) 9... Nde7 ({After} 9... Nxc3 10. bxc3 {Vidit said he might be struggling to develop Bc8.}) 10. Rb1 a5 11. b3 $5 {Another surprise for Vidit.} (11. a3 Nf5 (11... a4 $5 12. Re4 f5 13. Rxa4 Rxa4 14. Nxa4 f4 {Carlsen}) (11... Re8 {Vidit}) 12. b4 axb4 13. axb4 Nfd4 14. Nd2 Be6 15. b5 Na5 {Ding,L (2760) -Hammer,J (2628) Sharjah 2017}) 11... Re8 $146 (11... Nf5 12. Bb2 Nfd4 13. Nxd4 exd4 14. Nd5 Be6 15. Nf4 Bf5 16. Ba3 Re8 {Romm,M (2450)-Krzyzanowski,W (2411) corr. 2014}) 12. Bb2 Nf5 13. Nb5 (13. a4 $5 Nfd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Nb5 {Carlsen } c6 {Vidit}) 13... a4 $1 {Otherwise Black will be worse (Vidit).} 14. c4 (14. d4 Ra5 $5 (14... e4 15. Ne5 e3 $5 {Carlsen}) 15. c4 e4 {Vidit}) 14... axb3 15. axb3 Nd6 $1 {"Black is fine." (Vidit)} 16. Ra1 (16. Nc3 Bf5 17. c5 $6 Nc8 { Vidit}) 16... Rxa1 17. Bxa1 (17. Qxa1 Nxb5 18. cxb5 Nb4 {Vidit}) 17... Nxb5 18. cxb5 Nd4 19. Bxd4 exd4 {Carlsen thought Black is slightly better here.} 20. Rxe8+ Qxe8 21. Qc1 Bd7 22. Qxc7 Bxb5 23. Bf1 Bc6 24. Qf4 ({Vidit expected} 24. Bg2) 24... Bxf3 (24... Qd8 $1 25. Bg2 $6 Qd5 26. Ne1 Qe6 $1 {Carlsen}) 25. Qxf3 Qc6 26. Qd1 b6 27. Bg2 Qe6 28. Bb7 Bf8 29. Qf3 Kg7 30. Qf4 Qf6 31. Qxf6+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.29"] [Round "7.7"] [White "Anna Zatonskih"] [Black "Emil Sutovsky"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "2424"] [BlackElo "2683"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 g6 2. d4 d6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. c3 Nc6 5. Bb5 a6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Re1 O-O 9. Nbd2 a5 10. b3 a4 11. Ba3 Nh5 12. Nf1 c5 13. e5 cxd4 14. cxd4 Nf4 15. Ne3 Bb7 16. Nc4 Qd7 17. h3 axb3 18. axb3 Qf5 19. Re3 Bh6 20. Ne1 dxe5 21. Rxe5 Nxh3+ $1 {Compare this to his game 24 hours ago against Caruana. He simply flipped the colors!} 22. gxh3 Qxh3 {There's one major difference of course. Black is winning this time. The bishops are too strong.} 23. d5 Bf4 24. Nf3 (24. Qf3 Qh2+ 25. Kf1 Bxe5) 24... Rfd8 {If the d5-pawn falls, the Bb7 plays, and that's all she wrote.} 25. Bxe7 Rxa1 26. Qxa1 Rxd5 27. Rxd5 Bxd5 28. Qa4 {Now Black's attack is fearsome, but it must come with check.} Bh2+ { And White resigned since taking the knight means mate on g2, or 29. Kh1 leads to the 29...Bxf3#.} (28... Bxf3 $2 29. Qe8+ Kg7 30. Qf8#) 0-1 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.29"] [Round "7.9"] [White "Richard Rapport"] [Black "Sunil Dhopade Swapnil"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A04"] [WhiteElo "2675"] [BlackElo "2532"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 c6 4. e3 Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. d3 Nbd7 7. Nbd2 e6 8. Qe2 Bd6 9. g4 Bg6 10. Nh4 e5 11. Bg2 Qe7 12. a3 a5 13. g5 Nh5 14. Qg4 O-O 15. Bf3 e4 16. dxe4 Be5 17. c3 Nc5 18. Nf5 Bxf5 19. exf5 Nf4 $1 (19... Ng3 20. fxg3 Nd3+ {was yet another way to "trade" pieces.}) 20. exf4 Bxc3+ 21. Kf1 Bxb2 22. Ra2 Bc3 23. f6 {Caruana, analyzing in the commentary room, said he'd never seen a 5-on-3 majority like this before.} Qd6 24. fxg7 Kxg7 (24... Rfe8 { The anti-bughouse move, keeps the Black king safer.}) 25. f5 (25. Nb1 {is a wrinkle that wins a tempo since} Bd4 26. f5 {now hits the bishop} Be5 27. f6+ Kh8 28. Bd1 $3 {And yes, h7 is that weak. Black will have to offer material to repulse the attack, but with White's pieces somewhat uncoordinated, that might well be OK!}) 25... Bxd2 26. f6+ Kh8 27. Rxd2 Nxb3 28. Rd1 Nc5 29. Rg1 Rae8 30. Rd4 Qe5 31. Qh4 {And with everything ramping up and the action rising...it ends! The two agreed to a draw. Caruana gave the line} Ne4 (31... Ne6 {is Senor silicon's choice}) 32. Bxe4 dxe4 33. g6 fxg6 34. Rd7 Qh5 {and Black survives, but White seems to be fine after.} 35. Qxh5 gxh5 36. Rgg7 Rxf6 37. Rxh7+ Kg8 38. Rdg7+ Kf8 39. Rxb7 Rg6 40. Rxh5 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.09.30"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2827"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 {A psychological challenge. Carlsen repeats the line that gave Caruana a full point without fight yesterday!} 7. c3 d6 8. a4 Rb8 9. d4 Bb6 10. a5 Ba7 11. h3 O-O 12. Be3 Ra8 13. Re1 h6 14. Nbd2 {This is what I wrote: "Here a successful holding example for Black"-} Re8 {"What I did was safer than what he (Gawain Jones yesterday) did." (Carlsen)} ({In case you forgot it, this is what happened yesterday:} 14... exd4 15. cxd4 Nb4 {[#]} 16. e5 $146 Nfd5 17. Ne4 Nxe3 18. Rxe3 Bb7 19. e6 $1 Nd5 20. exf7+ Kh8 21. Re1 Rxf7 22. Rc1 Rc8 23. Nfg5 $1 Rf5 $2 24. Ne6 {and White soon won, Caruana,F (2799)-Jones,G (2668) Chess.com Isle of Man International 2017 [Bojkov, Dejan]}) 15. g4 $146 {A novelty! "But still I did not feel safe after what he did...It is extremely dangerous (for Black)" (Carlsen)} ({The predecessor's game was the one of...Caruana, yes! It saw:} 15. Nf1 exd4 16. cxd4 Rxe4 17. Ng3 Re7 18. Qd2 Qf8 19. Rec1 Bd7 {and the game later ended in a draw, Karjakin, S (2786)-Caruana,F (2772) Loo 2013}) 15... Qe7 ({Caruana's intentions are revealed after say normal development with} 15... Bb7 16. g5 $1 hxg5 17. Nxg5 Re7 18. Ndf3 {followed by Nf3-h4-f5(g6) and then goal, match, game...}) 16. Nf1 ({Here} 16. g5 {will be met with} hxg5 17. Nxg5 Nd8 {(this is the primary reason why the queen moved.)}) 16... Nd8 {Regrouping for the defense and the counter-attack.} 17. Ng3 c5 {Strking in the center. Or else the flank attack might become fearsome.} ({Say something passive like} 17... c6 18. Qd2 Bd7 19. Bxh6 $5 gxh6 20. Qxh6 Nh7 21. Rad1 {and have fun analyzing this!}) 18. Qd2 ({The computer suggests to prevent Black's next with } 18. Bd5 $5 Nxd5 19. exd5 {with a pull, for example} cxd4 20. cxd4 e4 21. Bf4 {It is not about the pawn that White wins, but about how cramped black pieces are which secures him the advantage.}) 18... c4 {Carlsen felt good afte this move.} 19. Bc2 Nh7 {Caruana went into the thinking tank (more than 38 minutes). "Good thing rarely come form such lenghty thought" (Carlsen)} 20. b4 {Caruana decided to either close the queenside or bring the bishop back in busyness. He had a bunch of alternatives.} (20. Rad1 {does not impress after} Nc6) (20. Red1 $5 {to play in the center himself. For example} Qf6 21. Kg2 Ne6 22. Nf5 { and White seems somewhat better.}) ({From the above-mentioned line we see that } 20. Kg2 {could be quite useful, so that} Qf6 {does not come with tempo. Then} 21. b3 cxb3 22. Bxb3 Be6 23. dxe5 dxe5 24. Bd5 {looks good for White.}) 20... cxb3 {Of course. Otherwise White will have a pleasant one-sided-(kingside) play.} 21. Bxb3 Be6 22. Bc2 {Black's next moves are logical and obvious. "He must have missed a lot of things." (Carlsen)} ({Indeed. Both} 22. Nf5 Bxf5 23. gxf5 Rc8 24. Kh2) ({And} 22. Bd5 {were better alternatives which would have kept some edge for White.} Rc8 23. dxe5 dxe5 24. Nxe5 Bxe3 25. Rxe3) 22... Rc8 23. Bd3 Nb7 $1 {Usually this is quite a bad square in the Ruy Lopez but in the concrete example it hits the weak pawn on a5.} 24. Rec1 {Too passive.} ({ Perhaps White should have defended with} 24. Nf5 Qc7 25. Ra3 {with the idea} Nxa5 ({And if} 25... Bxf5 26. gxf5 Nxa5 27. Qa2) 26. Nxd6) 24... Qd8 25. Qb2 ({ Here} 25. Nf5 {is not as effective as in the line from above due to} Bxf5 26. gxf5 Nxa5 27. Qa2 exd4 ({Or} 27... Bb6) 28. cxd4 Rxc1+ 29. Bxc1 Nc6 {and Black takes over the initiative. But maybe this was the lesser evil for Caruana.}) 25... Nxa5 {Carlsen won a pawn and the frustrated Caruana quickly loses.} 26. Nd2 d5 $1 {The white pieces had left the center and the central break is still a great opportunity.} (26... Ng5 $1 {was not bad neither.}) 27. Re1 (27. dxe5 Bxe3 28. fxe3 {is a nightmare of course.}) ({As well as} 27. exd5 Bxd5) 27... Bb8 28. exd5 Bxd5 29. Bf5 Rc6 {Black does not need to force anything.} (29... exd4 {was also good with the nice tactical line} 30. Bxd4 Rxe1+ 31. Rxe1 Ng5 32. Bxc8 Nc4 33. Nxc4 Nf3+ 34. Kf1 Bxc4+) 30. Qa3 Nb7 31. Rad1 exd4 32. Bxd4 Ng5 {Ironically, it is Black who mates on the kingside.} 33. c4 ({Or} 33. Rxe8+ Qxe8 34. Kh2 Qe2 $1) ({If} 33. Kh2 Bf4) 33... Rxe1+ 34. Rxe1 Be6 35. Qe3 { Allows a trick, but White's position was hopeless anyway.} Bf4 {The knigth forks win the queen.} (35... Bf4 36. Qc3 (36. Qxf4 Nxh3+) 36... Bxd2 37. Qxd2 Nf3+) 0-1 [Event "Douglas (Isle of Man)"] [Site "Douglas (Isle of Man)"] [Date "2017.09.30"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Sutovsky, Emil"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D20"] [WhiteElo "2781"] [BlackElo "2683"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:23:54"] [BlackClock "0:09:28"] 1. d4 d5 {Surprising Nakamura from the start; normally Sutovsky plays the Gruenfeld.} 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. Bxc4 Bf5 (5... Nb6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Ne2 Bg4 8. f3 Bh5 9. Nbc3 e6 10. Be4 Bg6 11. O-O Be7 {Le,Q (2739)-Caruana,F (2807) Saint Louis 2017}) 6. Ne2 e6 7. O-O Nb6 $146 (7... Be7 8. Nbc3 c6 9. Ng3 Bg6 10. f4 Qd7 11. f5 exf5 12. Qf3 Na6 {Belous,V (2554)-Huschenbeth,N (2575) Greensboro 2017}) 8. Bb3 c5 $6 {"Interesting but probably too aggressive." (Nakamura)} (8... Nc6 9. Be3 Qd7 10. Nbc3 O-O-O {would be normal.}) 9. Be3 c4 $6 10. Bxc4 Nxc4 11. Qa4+ Nd7 12. Qxc4 Rc8 13. Qa4 Bc2 14. Qxa7 Bd3 15. Nbc3 Ba6 16. d5 Nxe5 (16... Nc5 17. d6) ({Sutovsky's play might seem strange but it was all based on the line} 16... Bc5 17. Bxc5 Ra8 {but here White has the nice move} 18. Be7 $1 {as Nakamura pointed out.}) 17. Rfd1 Nd3 18. dxe6 Bd6 19. exf7+ Kxf7 20. Qd4 Re8 21. Qd5+ Kf8 22. Qf5+ Kg8 23. Bg5 Qc7 24. Qd5+ Kh8 25. Rxd3 Bxh2+ 26. Kh1 Bc4 27. Qd7 h6 28. g3 hxg5 29. Qxc7 Rxc7 30. Rd2 Rf7 31. Nd4 1-0 [Event "Douglas ENG"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2017.09.30"] [Round "8.10"] [White "Varuzhan Akobian"] [Black "Aleksandr Lenderman"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E32"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. Nf3 dxc4 8. Qxc4 b6 9. h4 {Kasparov's new idea from St. Louis last month. Akobian said he was "very excited to play this move...There are only like three games actually. " Kasparov played all of them!} Ba6 {Not analyzed by Akobian at home. "This is not the main idea," he said.} (9... Bb7) (9... c5) 10. Qc2 Qd5 11. h5 Rc8 ( 11... h6 12. Rh4 Bb7 13. e4 Nxe4 14. Bc4 Qf5 (14... Qc6 15. Ne5) 15. Bd3) 12. h6 g6 (12... c5 13. hxg7 cxd4 14. Qd2 e5 15. Qh6 Nbd7 16. Ng5 {"Usually you don't get this...usually it's stopped by h6." -- Akobian.}) 13. b4 {Trying to stop ...c5.} Ne4 (13... c5 14. dxc5 bxc5 15. b5 Bxb5 (15... Bb7 16. Bb2 { and Rd1. "I'm going to mate him." -- Akobian.}) 16. Qb2) 14. Rh4 f5 15. Ng5 Nd6 (15... Qxd4 16. Nxe4 $1 Qxa1 17. Nc3 {And Akobian didn't see how the queen escapes to the simple plan of f3, Kf2, and Bb2. This is not the first trap of the queen you'll see!}) 16. Bf4 Bc4 17. f3 Nd7 (17... Qxd4 18. Rd1) 18. e4 (18. Qb2 {Akobian liked better afterward, unless he saw the winning move over the board, which he did not.}) 18... Qxd4 (18... fxe4 19. fxe4 Qxd4 20. Rd1 Qg1 21. Qxc4 {Is an improved version of the game, since now the Rh4 plays on the f-file. Watch the game continuation to see why that matters.}) 19. Rd1 Qg1 20. Qxc4 (20. Rd3 $3 {Unseen by both players. Now Be3 trapping the queen is inevitable.} fxe4 21. Qxc4 Nxc4 22. Rxd7) 20... Nxc4 21. Rxd7 Ne3 (21... Nd6 22. Rg7+ Kf8 23. Nxh7+ Ke8 24. Nf6+ Kf8 25. Nd7+ Ke8 26. Bg5) 22. Rg7+ Kf8 23. Nxh7+ Ke8 24. Nf6+ Kf8 25. Nd7+ Ke8 26. Nf6+ (26. h7 Qxf1+ 27. Kd2 Qf2+ (27... Nc4+ {is the correct way for Black}) 28. Kd3 Qxh4 29. Bg5 $3) 26... Kf8 27. Nd7+ Ke8 28. Nf6+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "2017 Chess.com Isle of Man International"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "9"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [PlyCount "36"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. a3 Nc6 9. Qc2 Qa5 10. Rd1 Re8 11. Nd2 e5 12. Bg5 Nd4 13. Qc1 Bf5 {This is the problem for Nakamura. All all moves are clearly inferior, but this move requires a draw to be forced.} 14. Bxf6 Nc2+ (14... gxf6 15. b4) 15. Ke2 Nd4+ 16. Ke1 Nc2+ 17. Ke2 Nd4+ 18. Ke1 Nc2+ {One humorous point about the ending. Draws by agreement are not allowed in the first 30 moves, but draw by repetitions are allowed. This is not actually the third repetition of this position, since in its first iteration, after move 14, White was legally allowed to castle. By rule, this is considered a different position than in the two subsequent iterations, on move 16 and 18. Chess.com noted this to Carlsen before the interview and he agreed and was aware. However, since Carlsen could write down and "announce" his intention to play 19. Ke2, that would be the third repetition. Chess.com observed the scoresheets of both players, and neither wrote down 19. Ke2, but suffice to say the arbiters did not make them return to the board for this pedantic measure!} 0-1