Games
[Event "6th Norway Chess 2018"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2018.05.28"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C24"] [WhiteElo "2843"] [BlackElo "2822"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "153"] [EventDate "2018.05.28"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 {Carlsen deviates from an earlier game against Caruana, who must have fond memories in this variation. After all, he defeated the world champion with the black pieces en route to his famous 7/7 start at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup.} (6. c3 Bd6 7. Bg5 dxe4 8. dxe4 h6 9. Bh4 Qe7 10. Nbd2 Nbd7 11. Bg3 Bc7 12. O-O Nh5 13. h3 Nxg3 14. fxg3 Nc5 15. Bxf7+ Kxf7 16. Nxe5+ Kg8 17. Ng6 Qg5 18. Rf8+ Kh7 19. Nxh8 Bg4 20. Qf1 Nd3 21. Qxd3 Rxf8 22. hxg4 Qxg4 23. Nf3 Qxg3 24. e5+ Kxh8 25. e6 Bb6+ 26. Kh1 Qg4 27. Qd6 Rd8 28. Qe5 Rd5 29. Qb8+ Kh7 30. e7 Qh5+ 31. Nh2 Rd1+ 32. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 33. Nf1 Qxf1+ 34. Kh2 Qg1+ {0-1 (34) Carlsen,M (2877)-Caruana,F (2801) Saint Louis 2014}) 6... Bxd2+ 7. Nbxd2 a5 {Slightly unusual.} (7... Nbd7 8. O-O O-O 9. Re1 {is typical here.}) 8. c3 (8. a3 a4 9. Ba2 Nbd7 10. O-O O-O 11. Re1 Re8 12. h3 h6 13. Nf1 Qb6 {Adhiban,B (2655)-Ding,L (2777) Riadh 2017}) 8... Nbd7 9. exd5 cxd5 10. O-O O-O 11. Re1 Re8 12. Nf1 b5 $146 (12... Qc7 13. Ne3 Nb6 14. a4 Bg4 15. Nxg4 Nxg4 16. h3 Nf6 17. Rc1 Rad8 {Pirs,M (2552)-Akdag, M (2535) corr. 2011}) (12... b6 13. Ne3 Bb7 14. d4 e4 15. Nd2 {Carlsen. This line looks quite promising for White, who controls the pawn breaks and has no weak pawns or vulnerable squares.} (15. Ne5 {doesn't make as much sense here, since there is no second weakness on b4.} Nxe5 16. dxe5 Rxe5)) 13. a4 b4 14. cxb4 axb4 15. Ne3 Bb7 (15... Nc5 16. d4 exd4 17. Nxd4 Bd7 {doesn't quite equalize, since White retreats} 18. Bc2 {with the intention of playing b3 next. White will maintain permanent pressure on the isolated Black pawns.}) 16. d4 e4 17. Ne5 {A thematic pawn sacrifice, taking advantage of the static structure in the center. Black's extra pawn will be the backwards pawn on d5, whereas White has no exploitable weaknesses.} (17. Nd2 Nf8 (17... Qb6 18. Ndf1 (18. f3 $5) 18... Nf8) 18. Bc2 Bc6 $1 {is an important inclusion. White can't protect the pawn on a4 and play Nb3 at the same time.} (18... Ne6 19. Nb3)) (17. Nh4 g6 18. g3 {Agdestein} Nb8 19. Nhg2 Nc6 20. Nf4 Na5 21. Rc1 {Carlsen}) 17... Nxe5 ( {Carlsen expected} 17... Rxe5 18. dxe5 Nxe5 19. Qd4 Nc6 20. Qd2 d4 {and "wasn't sure about it at all."} 21. Nf5 Ra5 {gives Black clear compensation. White's pieces are very restricted by Black's pawns.}) 18. dxe5 Rxe5 19. Qd4 Re7 (19... Rh5 {would put the rook in a tough spot without a legitimate threat. The d5 pawn is important to defend, of course, but the offside rook has no easy reentrance into the action.} 20. Red1) 20. Rac1 Rd7 21. Red1 h6 22. Rc5 ({ It's too early to release the tension and restore material equality with} 22. Qxb4 $2 d4 23. Nf5 d3) 22... Ra5 23. Rxa5 Qxa5 24. h3 {Here Caruana "suddenly didn't see a move anymore."} Kh7 25. Rc1 Rc7 {"Insane." (Carlsen) "His position is unpleasant but I am really not sure if I can make serious progress. "} (25... Qa6 {and there seems to be no straightforward continuation for White. } 26. Rc5 (26. Rd1 Qa5 27. Rc1 Qa6) (26. Nc2 Qe6 27. Nxb4 Nh5 {and Caruana would quickly become the aggressor.}) 26... Qe2 (26... Qd3 {needs to be evaluated as well, though the ending seems to favor White.} 27. Qxd3 exd3 28. Rb5) 27. Nf5 Qh5 {is level.}) 26. Rxc7 Qxc7 27. Qxb4 Qc1+ 28. Bd1 {"Now he's just much worse. " (Carlsen)} Ba6 29. Qd4 (29. Qc3 Qxc3 30. bxc3 {leaves White in charge with the outside passed pawn, but trading down to this double minor ending gives Black excellent drawing chances.}) 29... Be2 30. Kh2 Bxd1 ({ Starting with} 30... Qc7+ {adds a challenge for White.} 31. g3 (31. Kg1 Qc1 32. b4 Bd3 33. Kh2 Qd2 {and Black has real compensation against the f2 pawn. If the king ventures to g3 (how else to defend the pawn?), it is venturing out into dangerous territory. White's pawns are fast, but in order to make progress it looks necessary to remove the queen from its blockade. White presses forward, but there are many more obstacles with this move order.} 34. Kg3 Qc1 35. Qe5 d4 (35... Bb1 36. Kh2 (36. b5 d4 37. Qxd4 Qc7+ 38. f4 exf3+ 39. Kxf3 Ne4 {is very risky. The king is out in the open.}) 36... Qd2 37. Bg4 (37. Qf5+ Kg8 38. b5 d4 39. Ng4 Qxd1 40. Qc8+ Kh7 41. Nxf6+ gxf6 42. b6 e3 43. b7 exf2 44. b8=Q f1=N+ 45. Kg1 Nd2+) 37... d4 (37... Nxg4+ 38. hxg4 Qxb4) 38. Bf5+ Kh8) 36. Qxd4 Qc7+ 37. f4 exf3+ 38. Kxf3 Bg6) 31... Bxd1 32. Nxd1 (32. Qxd1 $2 Qa7) 32... h5 33. Kg1 Qc1 34. b4 Kg8 35. a5 e3 36. fxe3 Qc7) 31. Nxd1 Qc7+ 32. Kg1 Qc1 33. b4 e3 34. fxe3 Ne4 35. Qxd5 Nd2 {After this, Carlsen's task was not too difficult. He played perfectly and secured the full point.} (35... Qb1 {was a better try. Caruana desperately needed to attack the pawns.} 36. Qd4 ( 36. b5 $2 Nc3 {allows Black to escape.}) (36. Kh2 Qxb4) 36... Qc2 37. b5 h5 { simultaneously covering the g4 square (which the queen is trying to use to protect the d1 knight) and threatening further advancement to set up a mating net.} 38. b6 (38. Qd5 Ng3) 38... Nd2 39. Qa1 Nb3 40. Qe5 Qxd1+ 41. Kh2 g6 42. b7 Nd2 43. Qf4 (43. b8=Q Nf1+ 44. Kg1 Ng3+ 45. Kh2 (45. Kf2 $4 Nh1#)) 43... Nf1+ 44. Qxf1 Qxf1 45. b8=Q {feels like it should be winning, but these queen and pawn endings are very tricky.}) 36. Qf5+ Kh8 37. Qg4 f5 38. Qe2 Ne4 39. Qe1 Qa1 40. a5 Nd6 41. Qd2 Nc4 42. Qd4 Qc1 43. Kf1 Nxe3+ (43... Nd2+ 44. Ke1 Nb3 45. Qd8+ Kh7 46. Qd3) 44. Qxe3 Qxd1+ 45. Kf2 Qc2+ 46. Kg3 g5 47. Qe5+ Kh7 48. Kh2 f4 49. Qd5 Qa4 50. Qf7+ Kh8 51. Qg6 Qxb4 52. Qxh6+ Kg8 53. Qxg5+ Kh7 54. Qh5+ Kg7 55. Qg5+ Kh7 56. h4 Qd6 57. Qh5+ Kg7 58. Qg5+ Kh7 59. h5 f3+ 60. g3 f2 61. Qg6+ Kh8 62. Qxd6 f1=Q 63. Qh6+ Kg8 64. Qe6+ Kh8 65. Qe3 Qb5 66. Qc3+ Kh7 67. g4 Qd5 68. Qc7+ Kg8 69. Kg3 Qe6 70. Qd8+ Kh7 71. Qd3+ Kh8 72. a6 Qe5+ 73. Kh3 Qa1 74. Qd8+ Kh7 75. Qe7+ Kh6 76. Qe3+ Kh7 77. a7 1-0 [Event "6th Norway Chess 2018"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2018.05.28"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A18"] [WhiteElo "2769"] [BlackElo "2791"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2018.05.28"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. e5 Ne4 6. Nf3 Bf5 7. d3 Nxc3 8. bxc3 c5 9. d4 Qa5 (9... c4 10. a4 Nc6 11. Be2 Be7 12. O-O O-O 13. Ne1 Na5 14. Nc2 Nb3 15. Ra2 Qa5 {was Aronian-Nakamura in the blitz yesterday.}) 10. Bd2 Nc6 11. Be2 Be7 12. O-O O-O 13. a4 Rac8 14. Ra2 a6 15. Rb2 c4 16. Ne1 {Nakamura felt that Black's last two moves were "suspect."} b5 {Last two moves suspect said Naka} 17. axb5 axb5 (17... Qa3 18. Qc1 Nxd4 19. cxd4 c3 20. Bxc3 Rxc3 21. Qd2 {Ding}) 18. Bg4 {"This should be better for White." (Nakamura)} Bxg4 19. Qxg4 h5 20. Qxh5 b4 21. Qg4 Rfe8 22. Nf3 (22. Bh6 Bf8 23. Nf3 Qa3) 22... Qa3 23. Rc2 b3 24. Rcc1 Qa2 ({Nakamura expected} 24... b2 25. Rb1 Qb3) 25. Qf5 (25. h4 $5 {Ding}) 25... Ra8 26. Bg5 (26. e6 Nd8 27. exf7+ Nxf7 28. Qxd5 Bf6) 26... Qe2 27. Qd7 Bxg5 28. Nxg5 Ne7 29. e6 f6 30. Nf7 Ng6 31. Nh6+ ({With three minutes on the clock and no increment, it's not easy to see the intermediate move} 31. Rce1 $1 {with which White keeps good winning chances:} Qh5 (31... Qg4 32. h3) 32. Nd6 Red8 (32... Re7 33. Nc8 $1 {is a nice point} Rxc8 34. Qxc8+ Kh7 35. Qa6 Nf4 36. Qd6 Qg4 37. g3) 33. Qf7+ Kh7 (33... Kh8 34. e7) 34. e7 Rxd6 35. e8=Q Rxe8 36. Rxe8 Rb6 {and now the engine continues with} 37. Qg8+ Kh6 38. Re3 b2 39. Rb1 Qf5 40. Rh3+ Kg5 41. f4+ Qxf4 42. Qxd5+ f5 43. Rf3 Qc1+ 44. Rf1 Qe3+ 45. Kh1) 31... gxh6 32. Qf7+ Kh8 33. Qxf6+ Kh7 34. Qf7+ Kh8 35. Qf6+ Kh7 36. Qf7+ Kh8 37. Qf6+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.05.29"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2808"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "AZE"] [WhiteClock "0:13:56"] [BlackClock "0:37:04"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 b6 (8... Nd7 9. O-O-O c6 10. Kb1 d5 11. c4 Nb6 12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. Bc4 Bf5 {Robson,R (2660)-Caruana,F (2804) Saint Louis 2018}) 9. O-O-O Bb7 10. h4 (10. Nd4 Nc6 11. Nf5 Bf6 12. Ng3 Ne7 13. Nh5 Nf5 14. Bf4 Be5 {Caruana,F (2779)-Wang, H (2733) Bucharest 2013}) 10... Nd7 11. Bd3 Re8 12. Kb1 (12. Ng5 h6) 12... Bf6 13. Rh3 (13. Ng5 h6 {Caruana calculated} 14. f4 (14. Bh7+ Kf8 15. Bf5 Ne5 ( 15... Kg8 16. f3 g6) 16. b3 {Mamedyarov}) 14... Nc5 15. Bxc5 bxc5 16. Bc4 d5 17. Qd3 g6 18. Nxf7 Kxf7 19. h5 {upon which Mamedyarov quipped: "You calculate too much!"}) 13... Nc5 14. Bxc5 bxc5 (14... dxc5 15. Qf4 (15. Qc1 $5) 15... Qe7 (15... Re4 16. Qc1) 16. Ng5 $6 h6 17. Re3 Bxg5 18. hxg5 Qxg5 {Caruana}) 15. g4 c4 (15... Rb8 16. g5 Qc8 $2 17. gxf6 Qxh3 18. Qg5) (15... Qd7 16. Bf5 Qb5 17. g5 Re2 18. Qc1 Bxc3 19. Bd3 Qd7 20. Ng1 {Caruana}) 16. Bxc4 Re4 17. Qd3 (17. Bd5 Bxd5 18. Qxd5 Rxg4 19. Rg3) ({Mamedyarov showed that after} 17. Ng5 Rxc4 18. Qd3 Bxg5 19. hxg5 {Black's only way of continuing is} Re4 $1 20. f3 Re6 $1 21. Qxh7+ Kf8 {and now} 22. f4 {is still not clear.}) 17... d5 ({Probably} 17... Rxg4 {was better as} 18. Ng5 Bxg5 19. hxg5 Be4 20. Qe2 {might actually be possible because Black has} Bf5 ({not} 20... Qxg5 21. f3) 21. Bd3 Rxg5 22. f4 Bxh3 23. fxg5 {but Mamedyarov didn't like this.}) 18. Bxd5 Qxd5 19. Qxd5 Bxd5 20. Rxd5 Rxg4 21. Ra5 $2 ({Caruana's first intention was} 21. h5 Rg2 ( 21... Re8 22. a3) 22. Rh2 {but then he thought this move was more clever.}) 21... Rg2 $1 ({Caruana's idea was} 21... Re8 22. a4) 22. a4 ({Now} 22. Rh2 { fails to} Rxh2 23. Nxh2 Bxh4) 22... Rxf2 23. h5 Rf1+ 24. Ka2 Rf2 25. Kb1 Rf1+ 26. Ka2 Rf2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.05.29"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2791"] [BlackElo "2789"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "China"] [BlackTeam "France"] [WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"] [BlackTeamCountry "FRA"] [WhiteClock "1:19:18"] [BlackClock "1:09:34"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Be2 d6 6. Nc3 Bf5 (6... Nc6 7. d5 Nb4 8. a3 Na6 9. Nd4 e5 10. dxe6 fxe6 11. O-O e5 12. Nb3 c6 {Caruana,F (2784) -Carlsen,M (2843) Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden 2018}) 7. O-O a5 8. d5 $146 (8. Nh4 Bd7 9. f4 e5 {Ding}) (8. Nd2 e5 9. d5 Na6 10. e4 Bd7 {MVL}) 8... Na6 9. Nd4 Bd7 10. e4 Nc5 11. f3 e5 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. Be3 {"Here I need to do something because otherwise after 14.Ndb5 I will just be worse." (MVL)} Nh5 14. g3 e5 15. Ndb5 Bh3 16. Rf2 Rf7 17. Qd2 $1 (17. Bf1 Bxf1 18. Rxf1 Qf8) 17... Qf8 18. Bf1 Bxf1 { Black needs space and the e6-square for his knight.} (18... Be6 19. Rd1 { and Nd5 at some point is good for White.}) 19. Raxf1 Rd8 20. Ne2 c6 21. Nbc3 Nf6 22. Rd1 Rfd7 23. b3 Qf7 24. Rff1 Bf8 25. Kg2 (25. Qc2 $5 {Ding} d5 26. cxd5 cxd5 27. exd5 (27. Nxd5 Nxd5 28. Bxc5 Rc8 (28... Bxc5+ 29. Qxc5 Nf4 30. Rxd7 Nxe2+ 31. Kf2 Qxd7 32. Qc4+) 29. exd5 Rxd5) 27... Nxd5 28. Nxd5 Rxd5 29. Rxd5 Qxd5 {MVL}) 25... d5 26. cxd5 cxd5 27. Nxd5 Nxd5 28. exd5 Rxd5 29. Qc2 Rxd1 30. Rxd1 e4 $1 31. fxe4 (31. Rxd8 Qxf3+ 32. Kg1 (32. Kh3) 32... Qxe3+ 33. Kf1 Qf3+ 34. Ke1 Nd3+ 35. Kd2 Kg7 {is dangerous although still equal according to the engine.}) 31... Rxd1 32. Qxd1 Nxe4 33. Qd3 Nc5 34. Bxc5 Bxc5 35. Nf4 a4 36. h4 axb3 37. axb3 b6 38. h5 gxh5 39. Qd8+ Kg7 40. Qg5+ Kf8 41. Qd8+ Kg7 42. Qg5+ Kf8 43. Qd8+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.05.29"] [Round "2.5"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2769"] [BlackElo "2760"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] [WhiteClock "0:22:20"] [BlackClock "0:22:19"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. cxd5 exd5 6. h3 $5 {"This move confused me a lot. I simply wasn't sure which setup I should go for." (Anand)} (6. Qc2 c6 7. h3 g6 8. Bh6 Bf5 9. Qc1 Nbd7 10. e3 Bf8 {Khismatullin,D (2632) -Howell,D (2676) Riadh 2017}) 6... O-O 7. Bf4 (7. Bg5 c6 8. Qc2 g6 9. e3 Bf5 { Anand}) 7... c5 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. e3 Nc6 {Here the game has transposed to a normal Bf4 QGD with the move h3 instead of moves like a3, Rc1 or Be2.} 10. Be2 d4 11. exd4 Bxd4 $146 (11... Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Qxd4 13. Qxd4 Bxd4 14. O-O (14. Nb5 Bxb2 15. Rb1 a6) 14... Bxc3 15. bxc3 Nd5 16. Bd2 Be6 {Sarwer,J (2344) -Pihlajasalo,A (2442) Finland 2016}) 12. O-O (12. Nxd4 Nxd4 (12... Qxd4) 13. Be5 Nc6 14. Qxd8 Rxd8 15. Bxf6 gxf6 {is just equal (Anand).}) 12... Bxc3 13. bxc3 h6 14. Qb3 Ne4 15. Qc2 Re8 16. Bd3 Nc5 ({Anand calculated} 16... Qf6 $6 17. Bxh6 $1 Qxc3 18. Be3 (18. Qxc3 Nxc3 19. Bd2 Rd8) 18... Nb4 (18... Qxc2 19. Bxc2) 19. Qa4 (19. Qxc3 Nxc3) 19... Bd7 20. Qxd7 Nxd3 21. Qxb7 {and White is better.}) 17. Bh7+ Kh8 18. Be3 (18. Rad1 Qf6 $1 ({Anand's} 18... Qa5 19. Rd5 Be6 20. Rh5 Qa4 {fails to} 21. Qc1 $1 Kxh7 22. Bxh6 $1 {with a winning attack.} ) 19. Bd6 Na4 $1 {Nakamura} (19... b6 20. Bxc5 bxc5 21. Be4)) 18... Qa5 19. Nd2 {"I started to get optimistic here although obviously it's nothing special." (Nakamura)} Na4 $1 20. Nc4 Qxc3 21. Nd6 (21. Qxa4 Kxh7 22. Nb6 Rxe3 $1 (22... Rb8 23. Bf4) 23. Nxa8 Re7) 21... Re7 22. Qxa4 Kxh7 23. Rac1 Qf6 24. Nxc8 (24. Bc5 Re5) (24. Rfd1 Qg6) 24... Rxc8 25. Bxa7 Nxa7 26. Rxc8 Nxc8 27. Qc2+ Qg6 28. Qxc8 Re2 29. Qxb7 Rxa2 30. Qb1 Qxb1 31. Rxb1 h5 32. h4 g6 33. g3 Ra3 34. Kg2 Ra2 35. Rb7 Kg7 36. Rc7 Kf6 37. Rb7 Kg7 38. Rc7 Kf6 39. Rb7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.05.30"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2843"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Norway"] [BlackTeam "Armenia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"] [BlackTeamCountry "ARM"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O (4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Qe2 Qe7 7. Nbd2 Bg4 8. h3 Bh5 9. a3 Nd7 10. b4 Bb6 11. Nc4 a5 12. Rb1 axb4 13. axb4 Ra2 { was how the game between Carlsen and Aronian began in the Norway Blitz, played just days before this classical match. Carlsen eventually lost because of a blunder, but Aronian had no strategic issues throughout.}) 4... Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 (7. Bd3 {is another variation, played a handful of times by Leinier Dominguez. In fact, Carlsen likely trusted Aronian's deep preparation in this line after seeing the following game:} Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. Nc3 Bf6 10. Re1 b6 11. Nd5 Bb7 12. Qf3 Kh8 13. Qh3 h6 14. Nxf6 Qxf6 15. Qxd7 c5 16. Re3 Rfe8 17. Bf1 Rad8 18. Qc7 Rxe3 19. dxe3 Be4 20. f3 Bxc2 21. Qc6 c4 22. Qd5 b5 23. Qd2 Bd3 24. Bxd3 Nf5 25. Qc3 Qxc3 26. bxc3 cxd3 {1/2-1/2 (69) Dominguez Perez,L (2729)-Aronian,L (2770) Tsaghkadzor 2015}) 7... Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Nf5 11. d5 Re8 12. Rxe8+ (12. Bd3 Rxe1+ 13. Qxe1 Qe7 14. Qxe7 Nxe7 15. d6 cxd6 16. Na3 d5 17. Nb5 d6 18. Nxd6 Nc6 19. Bf4 Be6 {Caruana,F (2784) -Aronian,L (2794) Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden 2018}) 12... Qxe8 13. Qd3 {Carlsen develops his queen with tempo, aiming to bring his knight toward the kingside.} d6 14. Nd2 $146 (14. Nc3 Bd7 15. Bd2 Qe5 16. Rb1 Qd4 17. Ne4 Be7 18. c4 Qxd3 19. Bxd3 Re8 {Nichols,S (2253)-Larwinski,P (2167) corr. 2013}) 14... Bg5 $6 { "Terrible," Carlsen said to Chess.com. Yasser Seirawan also frowned upon it during the Chessbrahs live show.} (14... c6 {is a thematic break in these positions. The space obtained by the pawn on d5 is a greater advantage than a position with an isolated pawn on d6.} 15. Ne4 Be5 16. c3 {aims to trap the bishop on e5, but Black is in time, tactically, to spring the bishop free.} Bd7 {since} 17. f4 {fails to} cxd5 18. Qxd5 Bc6 {when the knight is lost, thanks to Bd4+ ideas.}) 15. Nf3 Bxc1 16. Rxc1 {Perhaps Aronian felt that this position was not an issue to hold due to there existing just one open file and no immediate pawn breaks. Yet, Black has absolutely no space and can fall victim to a kingside attack.} Bd7 17. Re1 Qd8 (17... Qf8 {is a bit sad, but it does keep the option of the rook eventually coming to e8 alive. However, with the undefended pawns on the queenside, that offer of a rook trade is not happening anytime soon.} 18. Qb3 (18. Qc4 c5 19. dxc6 bxc6 20. Bd3 {leaves Black quite loose.}) 18... Rb8 19. Bd3 {and White's initiative quickly gains steam, with absolutely no counterplay for Black.}) 18. Qc4 g6 (18... c5 19. Qf4 {Carlsen}) 19. h3 Ng7 (19... c5 20. Qf4 {Carlsen}) (19... c6 20. Bd3 (20. Qb4 { looks like an interesting inclusion here.} Qb6 21. Qf4 (21. Qxb6 axb6 22. g4 Ng7 23. Re7 Rd8 24. Ng5 {seems straightforward and strong, but Black has the saving} h6 $1 25. Nxf7 Kf8 26. Nxd8 Kxe7 {when only Black can be better.}) 21... Re8 (21... cxd5 22. g4 Ng7 23. Re7 Be6 24. Qh6 {is decisive - fianchettoed knights tend to be awful defenders.} Kf8 25. Rxe6 fxe6 26. Qxh7 Re8 27. b3 $1 {and White's attack plays itself out with Ng5, Qxg6 ideas.}) 22. Rxe8+ Bxe8 23. g4 {is an uphill defensive battle for Black.}) 20... cxd5 21. Qf4 {Carlsen. The world champion makes no concessions, instead finding a direct way to launch an aggressive campaign on the kingside while shattering Aronian's pawn structure.}) 20. Re3 {Taking advantage of the knight retreat and allowing the rook the full scope of an important rank. At any moment, it can apply pressure on a7, b7, c7, or f7.} a5 {If a rook lift was not part of the plan, I'm not especially fond of this move.} (20... c6 {feels right, chipping at this really annoying pawn. A criticial point is that d6 is actually protected for the time being through tactics: the fork with Nf5.} 21. Qb4 cxd5 22. Qxb7 (22. Qxd6 $2 Nf5) 22... Rb8 23. Qxa7 Rxb2 {leaves Black with an ugly pawn structure, but activity can be essential in a position like this. White has just one passed pawn that is isolated and hard to get moving. Meanwhile, Black can improve his knight via e6.}) 21. a4 Ne8 (21... Ra6 { is awkward, as there's no real future for the rook along the b-file. At the very least, White can swing the rook with} 22. Rb3 {and Black is either forced to be passive or ruin his pawn structure after} Rb6 23. Rxb6 cxb6 {with a clear, lasting advantage for White.}) 22. Qd4 Ng7 23. g4 $1 {Carlsen thought Aronian might have underestimated this, feeling White was asking too much of the position. "It feels natural to me." (Carlsen)} c6 24. c4 {"To some extent the battle is already much in my favor here because he has such an unpleasant position." (Carlsen)} (24. Bc4 {was another possibility to reinforce the d5 pawn. The issue here is not that the a4 pawn is hanging (it's not), but that when White recaptures on d5 with a piece Black's minors are no longer so restricted.} Rc8 {with cxd5 coming next move.} (24... c5 25. Qf4 Bxa4 26. Bd3 Be8 27. Ng5 {with Ne4 to follow, at a minimum wins White his pawn back. The position is hugely favorable.})) 24... Ne8 25. Qf4 Kg7 26. Rb3 Rb8 27. Ng5 Nf6 {A fatal error in a bad position.} (27... f6 {would be praying to stop the passed e-pawn.} 28. Ne6+ Bxe6 29. dxe6 Nc7 30. Qe3 {and White dominates, because Black can't go after the e-pawn and keep the queenside defended.} Na6 ( 30... Qe7 31. Qa7) 31. e7 Qd7 32. Qa7 Qxe7 33. Rb6 {and Black loses the knight on a6.}) (27... Qf6 {kept the game going, but the position is still miserable.} 28. Qd2 {Threatening Rf3.} h6 29. Ne4 Qe7 {and now Carlsen would be able to pick his flavor: either keep the clamp or win material.} 30. Qd4+ (30. Re3 Nf6 31. Nxf6 Qxf6 32. Qxa5 {is a clean extra pawn.}) 30... Kg8 31. Re3) (27... Qe7 28. Rf3 {is crushing:} (28. Re3 $2 Qf6 {and Black forces a queen trade and survives!}) 28... f6 29. Re3 Qf8 30. Ne6+ Bxe6 31. Rxe6) 28. Rf3 h6 (28... Qe7 29. Re3 Qf8 30. Qd4 {and the pin ends matters.}) 29. Ne4 Nxe4 30. Qxf7+ Kh8 31. Qxg6 {Aronian tips his king, as his options are either give back the knight and be down two pawns with an exposed king or move the knight and get mated immediately. Ultimately, Carlsen cruised in this game, nursing a nagging edge and allowing Aronian to make an imprecision that he could not come back from.} 1-0 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.05.30"] [Round "3.3"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2808"] [BlackElo "2782"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] [WhiteClock "1:06:36"] [BlackClock "1:15:23"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 (5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3 Bg4 {Mamedyarov,S (2772)-Karjakin,S (2783) Shamkir AZE 2017}) 5... d6 (5... O-O 6. O-O d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. a4 Bf5 9. Re1 Nb6 10. Bb5 Ne7 11. a5 c6 12. axb6 cxb5 13. Be3 axb6 {Mamedyarov,S (2804) -Kramnik,V (2787) Wijk aan Zee NED 2018}) 6. O-O h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 a5 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Bb5 ({Karjakin plays this line with both colors and he prepared it for both colors for the Candidates' in Berlin.} 10. b3 Ba7 11. Nf1 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Bd2 Qf6 14. N1h2 Rad8 {Karjakin,S (2778) -Ding,L (2778) Shamkir 2018}) 10... Qb8 11. Nf1 Qa7 12. Re2 a4 13. Ng3 Qa5 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Nh4 Rfe8 $146 ( 15... Kh7 16. Nhf5 Ng8 17. d4 Bb6 18. Qd3 g6 19. Ne3 Qb5 20. c4 Qa6 {Salomon,J (2503)-Aleksandrov,A (2618) Moscow 2018}) 16. Re1 Kh7 17. Qf3 d5 18. exd5 Bxd5 19. Qf5+ g6 20. Nxg6 $5 {Karjakin said he remembered this should lead to a forced draw.} (20. Qxf6 Be7 21. Qxe5 Bxh4 22. Qxe8 Rxe8 23. Rxe8 a3 {Karjakin}) 20... fxg6 21. Qxf6 Rf8 22. Qh4 g5 23. Bxg5 Rxf2 24. Qxh6+ Kg8 25. Qg6+ Kh8 26. Qh6+ (26. Qh5+ Kg8 27. Ne4 $2 {is wrong because of} Bf7 $3 {as pointed out by Karjakin.}) 26... Kg8 27. Qg6+ Kh8 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.05.30"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [BlackElo "2822"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "France"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "FRA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "1:26:55"] [BlackClock "1:06:27"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 Bf5 12. Ng5 (12. Re1 Nd7 13. Bg5 Qa5 14. Qb3 b5 15. Bf1 Rfe8 16. c4 Be6 {Anand,V (2783)-Caruana,F (2807) Saint Louis 2017}) 12... h6 13. Qf3 Bg6 14. Ne4 (14. Nh3 Nd7 15. Nf4 Bh7 16. Nh5 Qh4 17. Bf4 Bxf4 18. Nxf4 Rae8 {Wang,H (2733)-Nisipeanu,L (2674) Bucharest 2013}) 14... Bxh2+ 15. Kxh2 Qh4+ 16. Qh3 Qxh3+ (16... Qxe4 17. Ba3 Rd8 {and now very strong is} 18. f4) 17. gxh3 Bxe4 18. Rg1 Re8 19. Bxh6 g6 20. Rge1 (20. a3 b5 21. Bb3 Nd7 22. Rae1 Bd5 23. Bc2 a5 24. h4 a4 {Lam Choong Wai,E (1919) -Cronje,H (2076) corr. 2016}) 20... Nd7 21. Bf1 Bf5 22. c4 Nf6 23. a4 Rad8 24. Bg5 Kg7 25. Rxe8 Rxe8 26. a5 {"I was under some pressure around here." (Caruana)} Rd8 (26... a6 27. Bf4 {Caruana}) 27. Be3 ({Inserting} 27. a6 b6 {was better. MVL had seen it, but because he hadn't seen the ...Ng8 idea he didn't think it was important.} 28. Bg2 (28. Be3)) 27... a6 28. Ra4 Ng8 {MVL hadn't seen this one coming. The knight will go to f5, where White will have to take it.} (28... Rd7 {allows} 29. d5 cxd5 30. c5 Rc7 31. Bd4 Bd7 32. Ra3 {and the pin is really annoying.}) 29. Rb4 Rd7 30. Bg2 Ne7 31. h4 Be6 32. Be4 Nf5 33. d5 cxd5 34. cxd5 Bxd5 35. Bxf5 gxf5 36. Rd4 Bc6 37. Rxd7 Bxd7 38. h5 Kh7 39. Kg3 Be6 40. Kf4 Bd7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.05.30"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2791"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "China"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "CHN"] [WhiteClock "1:14:55"] [BlackClock "1:07:36"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 O-O 9. Nc3 Bg4 10. Be3 Nd4 11. Bxd4 exd4 12. Nd5 c5 13. a4 Be6 14. Nxf6+ Bxf6 15. Bxe6 fxe6 16. Re1 $146 ({Anand said this was an improvement over} 16. Qe2 Qd7 ({Ding said he was planning} 16... e5 {this time}) 17. b3 (17. e5 dxe5 18. Nxe5 Bxe5 19. Qxe5 bxa4) 17... e5 18. Ra2 b4 19. Nd2 Rae8 20. Raa1 Bd8 21. g3 g5 22. Nc4 Re6 23. a5 Ref6 {Karjakin,S (2763)-Ding,L (2769) Berlin 2018}) 16... Qc7 ({With 16.Re1 White prevented} 16... Qd7 {because of} 17. e5 {with a slight edge.}) 17. e5 dxe5 (17... Bxe5 18. Qe2) 18. Nd2 c4 19. Qg4 ({Anand said he had misplayed it somehow. Maybe it was here:} 19. b3 c3 20. Nf3 b4 21. Re4 {and White still has something to play for.}) 19... Qc6 20. axb5 ({Or else it was here:} 20. b3 cxd3 21. cxd3 Qd5 22. Rec1 {and Black cannot hold the a- and c-files. "I could actually be better." (Anand)}) 20... axb5 21. Ne4 Be7 22. g3 b4 23. Qe2 c3 24. Rxa8 Rxa8 25. b3 Ra2 26. Rc1 Qe8 27. Qg4 Qf7 28. Qd1 g6 29. Kg2 Bf8 30. h3 h5 31. Ra1 Ra3 32. Rb1 Ra2 33. Ra1 Ra3 34. Rb1 Ra2 35. Ra1 Ra3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.05.30"] [Round "3.5"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2769"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "1:36:15"] [BlackClock "0:47:22"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Rc1 c6 10. g4 (10. Bd3 Nxc3 11. Rxc3 Nd7 12. O-O dxc4 13. Bxc4 b6 14. Bd3 c5 {Ipatov,A (2665)-Zherebukh,Y (2633) Saint Louis 2018}) 10... Rd8 11. Qc2 (11. Rg1 c5 12. cxd5 Nxc3 13. Rxc3 cxd4 14. Nxd4 exd5 15. g5 hxg5 16. Qh5 g4 { Ragger,M (2651)-Alekseev,E (2659) Khanty-Mansiysk 2011}) 11... Nd7 12. Nxe4 ( 12. h4) 12... dxe4 13. Qxe4 Qb4+ 14. Ke2 {Wow! Nakamura was also suprised by this move.} ({He had looked at} 14. Nd2 {a while ago.} e5) 14... e5 ({More thematic than the greedy} 14... Qxb2+ 15. Rc2 Qb4 16. g5 hxg5 17. Nxg5 Nf6 18. Qe5) 15. Qc2 (15. Rc2 {was also interesting:} exd4 16. Qxd4 Qe7 17. Rd2) 15... exd4 16. Nxd4 Ne5 17. h3 c5 18. Nf5 Bxf5 ({Black had quite a choice here. For starters,} 18... b5 {was possible:} 19. a3 (19. Bg2) 19... Qxc4+ 20. Qxc4 Nxc4 21. Ne7+ Kf8 22. Bg2 Rd2+ 23. Ke1 Kxe7 24. Bxa8 Rxb2 {and Black is OK.}) ({ Inserting} 18... Be6 19. b3 {first and then} b5 {is also natural:} 20. Bg2 (20. f4 Nd3 21. Ne7+ Kf8 (21... Kh8 22. Nc6 Qa3 23. Rd1 Nb4 24. Nxb4 Rxd1 25. Qxd1 cxb4 26. f5) 22. Nc6 Qa3 23. Bg2 Nxc1+ 24. Rxc1 {is still unclear.}) 20... bxc4 21. Qc3 {might be an option too.}) 19. gxf5 b5 20. Qc3 Nxc4 21. Qxb4 cxb4 22. b3 Nb6 23. e4 Rac8 24. Rxc8 Rxc8 25. Kd2 a6 26. Bd3 Kf8 27. f4 f6 28. Rc1 Rxc1 29. Kxc1 {The players were fascinated by this ending and kept on analysing it in the press conference.} Ke7 30. Kd2 Kd6 31. Be2 Kc5 32. Kd3 ({The players were looking at} 32. Ke3 Nc8 33. Bh5 Ne7 34. Be8 Nc8 35. Bd7 Ne7 36. h4 Kd6 37. Be6 Kc5 38. e5 a5 39. Bd7 Nd5+ 40. Kf3 Nc3 41. Kg4 {and here Black should play} a4 ({and not} 41... Kd5 42. Kh5 fxe5 43. fxe5 Kxe5 44. Kg6) 42. Kh5 Nxa2 43. Kg6 Nc3 44. Kxg7 Nd5 45. exf6 Nxf6 46. Kxf6 a3 47. Ke7 a2 48. f6 a1=Q 49. f7 Qe1+ 50. Be6 Qxh4+ 51. Ke8 Qh5 52. Ke7 Qh4+ 53. Ke8) 32... Nc8 33. Bh5 Ne7 34. Be8 Nc8 35. Bd7 Ne7 36. h4 Kd6 37. Be8 Kc5 38. Ke3 Nc8 39. Bd7 Ne7 40. Kd3 Kd6 41. Be6 g6 42. Ke3 a5 43. Kd4 Nc6+ 44. Kd3 Ne7 45. Kd4 Nc6+ 46. Ke3 Ne7 47. Kd4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.01"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2778"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "0:56:22"] [BlackClock "0:53:09"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8. d3 O-O 9. Be3 Be6 10. Rc1 Nd5 (10... f5 11. a3 Kh8 12. b4 a6 13. Re1 Qe8 14. Qd2 Bd6 15. Bxb6 cxb6 16. d4 exd4 17. Nxd4 Rd8 {Aronian,L (2809)-Harikrishna,P (2737) Geneva 2017}) 11. Nxd5 Bxd5 12. Qc2 Re8 13. a3 a5 14. Qa4 Bd6 15. Ng5 $146 (15. Nd2 Ne7 16. Bxd5 Nxd5 17. Qb5 Bf8 18. Bc5 b6 19. Bxf8 Kxf8 20. e4 Nf6 {Matlakov,M (2701)-Swiercz,D (2645) Moscow 2017}) 15... Bxg2 16. Qc4 Qe7 17. Kxg2 Nd4 18. Ne4 (18. Bxd4 Qxg5 19. Bc5 {So} Bxc5 20. Qxc5 c6 21. Rc4 Qe7 { Anand}) 18... Ne6 19. Qd5 f5 20. Nxd6 Qxd6 (20... cxd6 21. Rc4 {Anand}) 21. Qxb7 Rab8 22. Qf3 (22. Qc6 Qxc6+ 23. Rxc6 Rxb2 {is equal.}) 22... f4 23. Bd2 Nd4 (23... Rxb2 24. Bc3 {Anand}) 24. Qe4 Rxb2 25. Bxf4 Nxe2 26. Rc6 (26. Rce1 Nxf4+ 27. gxf4 Qxa3) 26... Nxf4+ 27. gxf4 Qd7 28. Qc4+ (28. fxe5 Rxe5 29. Qc4+ Qd5+ {Anand}) 28... Kh8 29. fxe5 Rc2 30. Qxc2 Qg4+ 31. Kh1 Qf3+ 32. Kg1 Rxe5 { Just for a bit of fun.} 33. Rc5 Qg4+ 34. Kh1 Qf3+ ({Black could have added one more little joke with} 34... Qh3 35. Rb1 Qf3+ 36. Kg1 Qg4+ 37. Kf1 Qh3+) 35. Kg1 Qg4+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.01"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2808"] [PlyCount "139"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Armenia"] [BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"] [BlackTeamCountry "AZE"] [WhiteClock "0:43:12"] [BlackClock "1:03:48"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. Be3 Na5 11. Bd3 b6 12. Rc1 {"Typical Levon. He thinks it's new when it's long forgotten!" (Carlsen)} e5 13. dxc5 (13. Qa4 Bd7 14. Qa3 Be6 15. d5 Bd7 16. f4 Nb7 17. c4 Nd6 {Sasikiran,K (2694)-Kamsky,G (2729) Dresden 2008}) 13... Be6 14. c4 bxc5 15. Bxc5 Bh6 16. Rc3 Re8 17. Qc2 Qc7 18. Ba3 Rab8 19. h3 $146 (19. c5 Red8 20. c6 Rb6 21. Rb1 Rxc6 22. Rxc6 Nxc6 23. Bc1 Bxc1 24. Rxc1 Qd6 {Van Wely,L (2677)-Shirov,A (2740) Foros 2008}) 19... Red8 20. Bc1 Bf8 21. Bg5 Rd7 {Both Carlsen and Nakamura thought that Black is fine here, but maybe they underestimated things for White a bit.} ({Aronian said Black had to play} 21... Rdc8 22. Qd2 Bb4 (22... h6 23. Bxh6 Bb4 24. Qg5 Kh7 25. Qh4) 23. Bf6) 22. c5 h6 ({The immediate} 22... Nc6 23. Bc4 {is also better for White.}) 23. Be3 Nc6 24. Bc4 Nd4 (24... Bxc4 25. Rxc4 Nb4 26. Qa4 Nd3 27. c6 {Aronian}) 25. Bxd4 exd4 26. Bxe6 dxc3 (26... fxe6 27. Rb3) 27. Bxd7 Qxd7 28. Nxc3 Qd4 29. c6 Qc4 30. Rc1 Qxc6 31. Nd5 Qxc2 32. Rxc2 Rb1+ 33. Kh2 Kg7 34. f4 ({Aronian wasn't sure about} 34. Kg3 Bd6+ 35. Kf3 a5) 34... Re1 35. e5 g5 ( 35... a5 36. Kg3 (36. Rc7 a4 37. Nf6 a3) 36... a4 37. Kf3 a3 38. g3 Rb1 39. Rc7 {Aronian}) 36. g3 Rd1 37. Ne3 Rd3 38. Ng4 Be7 39. f5 Bd8 40. f6+ Kh7 41. e6 { The best practical chance.} fxe6 42. Rf2 Bc7 (42... Ra3 43. f7 (43. Ne5) 43... Be7 44. f8=Q Bxf8 45. Rxf8 Rxa2+ 46. Kg1 {Aronian}) 43. f7 Bxg3+ 44. Kg2 Bd6 45. f8=Q Bxf8 46. Rxf8 {"I thought this was almost a draw but some chances." (Aronian)} Ra3 47. Rf2 Kg6 48. Re2 Kh5 49. Nf6+ Kg6 50. Ne4 e5 51. Rc2 (51. Nd6 Ra4) 51... Kf5 52. Ng3+ (52. Nd6+ Ke6 53. Nc4 Ra4 54. Kf3 h5 55. Ke4 g4 56. h4 Rb4) 52... Ke6 53. Rf2 Kd5 54. Nf5 Ra6 55. Kf3 Ra3+ 56. Kg4 h5+ 57. Kxh5 Rxh3+ 58. Kxg5 e4 59. Kg4 Ra3 60. Re2 Ke5 61. Ng3 Ra4 62. Kh3 Kf4 63. Kg2 e3 64. Rb2 Ra3 65. Ne2+ Ke4 66. Kf1 Kd3 ({The best defense was} 66... Ra6 67. Ke1 Rb6 { as suggested by Caruana, who was watching the commentary by Simen Agdestein and Anna Rudolf for a while together with MVL and Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Caruana thought it was still a draw.}) 67. Ke1 Ra6 68. Kd1 Rh6 69. Rb3+ Ke4 70. Rb4+ ( 70. Rb4+ Kf3 (70... Kd3 71. Rd4#) 71. Rf4+ Kg2 72. Kc2 Ra6 73. a4 {and White will pick up the e-pawn.}) 1-0 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.01"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D87"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Russia"] [BlackTeam "France"] [WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"] [BlackTeamCountry "FRA"] [WhiteClock "1:09:51"] [BlackClock "0:37:56"] {This game was one of the more impressive ones I've seen from Karjakin. From start to finish he played with the initiative, keeping MVL on his back foot throughout the game. Apparently, the first two dozen moves were preparation. Herein I offer some interesting lines, but I can't pretend to compete with the thorough analysis of a player like Karjakin.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O b6 { A renowned Grunfeld player, MVL has had this position on a number of occasions. He's battled well with the Black pieces and has even defeated Gelfand with White in this variation.} 11. dxc5 (11. Rc1 Bb7 12. Qd2 e6 13. Rfd1 Qd7 14. h4 Rac8 15. h5 Na5 16. Bd3 f5 {Salem,A (2656)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2804) Doha 2016}) 11... Qc7 12. Nd4 Ne5 13. Nb5 Qb8 14. Be2 bxc5 15. Rb1 ({MVL fended off Wesley So extremely well after:} 15. f4 Ng4 16. Bxc5 a6 17. Na3 Qc7 18. Bd4 e5 19. fxe5 Nxe5 {1/2-1/2 (43) So,W (2762)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2757) Wijk aan Zee 2015} ) 15... a6 16. Na3 $146 (16. Nd4 Qc7 17. Nb3 Rd8 18. Qc2 {½-½ Roubaud,D (2559)-Dothan,Y (2575) corr. 2016}) 16... Qc7 17. f4 Rd8 18. Qc2 Ng4 (18... Bh6 {may pin the pawn, but does little to solve Black's issues. White can continue with} 19. Bc1 {White evades the sole purpose of Black's previous move and Black is running short of kingside protectors in the event f4-f5 comes with force.} (19. Nc4 Nxc4 20. Bxc4 {is also perfectly strong. Black lacks both coordination and space, whereas White's pieces are in prime position to launch an attack. Of course f4-f5 is always an idea, but so is heading to h4 via Qf2 (attacking c5).})) (18... Nd7 19. Nc4 Bb7 {is cramped but stable for Black. White stands better, but there is no exact path to turn the advantage into something more concrete.}) 19. Bxg4 Bxg4 {Black has the two bishops, which aren't such an advantage considering} 20. f5 $1 {The typically reserved Karjakin strikes when the position calls for it. All other moves are far inferior. Importantly, he restricts the light-squared bishop and forces a concession from his opponent: compromise your kingside pawn structure lest your bishop get trapped.} gxf5 ({Normally} 20... Qe5 {is a powerful reaction, hopping into an important central square and applying pressure on the c3 pawn. Here that bishop on g4 isn't happy, though seems to barely get back. It requires some extremely deep foresight to play such a move, especially when your opponent is blitzing. A sample line after:} 21. Rf4 (21. h3 $2 Bxf5 { and the hanging bishop on e3 allows Black to steal a pawn.}) 21... gxf5 (21... Bxf5 22. Nc4 {is an important intermediate move, simultaneously attacking the queen and defending the bishop. Now the bishop on f5 is lost.} Qxc3 23. Qxc3 Bxc3 24. exf5) (21... Bh5 22. h3 (22. g4 g5 {saves the day.}) 22... gxf5 { transposes}) 22. h3 Bh5 (22... Bh6 23. Nc4 {again gives White the upper hand.}) 23. Rxf5 Qg3 24. Bf2 ({Complicated is} 24. Nc4 Bg6) 24... Qg6 {might be a Houdini act. Black is hanging on by a thread; what needs to be accomplished is moving the queen so that the bishop can retreat to g6. White is not able to trap the bishop on h5, since it'd require the exposing move g4.} 25. Bh4 (25. Kh1 $5 {might be the patient move necessary to play for an advantage here.}) ( 25. g4 Bxg4 26. hxg4 Qxg4+ 27. Kf1 e6 28. Rxc5 Qh3+ 29. Ke2 (29. Kg1 $2 Kh8 $1 {with Rg8 and mate down the g-file to follow.}) 29... Qg4+ 30. Ke1 {and it does not appear to be White playing for a win here.}) 25... Qh6 $1 26. Nc4 (26. Bg5 Qe6 27. Bxe7 Qxe7 28. Rxh5 c4 $1 29. Nxc4 Rac8 {and Black has sufficient compensation for the (temporarily) sacrificed pawns.}) 26... Bg6 27. Bg5 Qh5 28. Bxe7 Bxf5 29. exf5 Re8 30. f6 Qg6 31. Qxg6 hxg6 32. Nd6 Bxf6 33. Nxe8 Bxe7 34. Nc7 Rd8) 21. Nc4 e6 (21... fxe4 22. Qxe4 Be6 23. Rb7 {looks terrible for Black, whose queen is being hunted down. Yet the sacrifice} (23. Bf4 Qa7 24. Be5 {looks very strong.} (24. Nb6 {traps the rook but} Bxa2 {snags a second pawn, and more importantly attacks the rook.})) 23... Qxb7 24. Qxb7 Bxc4 { seems completely acceptable for Black, who currently has Lasker compensation for the queen.}) 22. h3 Bh5 23. exf5 exf5 24. Bg5 f4 {"A really typical Maxime move." (Carlsen) Only here Karjakin started thinking.} (24... Re8 25. Nb6) ({ Karjakin revealed that the best move is} 24... Rf8 {when} 25. Nb6 {can be answered by} Rae8) 25. Qf2 ({Karjakin wasn't sure if he should take on d8 first or not but it's likely a transposition.} 25. Bxd8) 25... f3 26. Bxd8 Rxd8 {"I like what Maxime has come up with. Maybe it's not the best but it's very dynamic and a lot is happening." (Nakamura)} 27. Qh4 (27. g4 $6 Bg6 (27... Bxc3 $6 28. Qxf3 Bd4+ 29. Kg2 Bg6 30. Rb7) 28. Rbd1 Rd3 $1 {with an advantage for Black.}) 27... fxg2 ({MVL thought} 27... Rd5 28. Ne3 Re5 29. Qf4 {was slightly better for White.} (29. Ng4 $1)) 28. Rfe1 Bf3 (28... Bg6 29. Rb7 Qxb7 (29... Qc8 30. Nb6) 30. Qxd8+ Bf8 31. Re8 Kg7 32. Nd2) 29. Re3 (29. Re7 Qc6 30. Re3 Rf8 31. Ne5 {seems to lead to a very pleasant game for White, who will win the g2 pawn at any moment and have great winning chances.}) 29... Bc6 30. Rbe1 (30. Re7 Qc8 (30... Rb8 31. Rd1) 31. Qf4 Rf8 {and Black fights on.} (31... Bd5)) 30... Rf8 {"I guess I'm just borderline lost here." (MVL)} 31. Ne5 Bd5 (31... Kh8 32. Nxc6 Qxc6 33. R1e2 {is not game over, but it's tough for Black. Down an exchange and White is the one with greater attacking opportunities.}) ({ Retreating on the long diagonal doesn't make sense with a friendly pawn on g2: there's nothing to attack, and defending that pawn is meaningless to the position. White is just trying to play for a kingside attack by swinging his rook:} 31... Ba8 32. Rg3 f6 33. Ng4 Kh8 34. Nxf6 $1 {with back rank mate to follow:} Bxf6 35. Qxf6+ Rxf6 36. Re8+ Rf8 37. Rxf8#) 32. Rg3 f6 (32... f5 33. Nd7 $1 {with the intention of infiltrating via Re7.}) 33. Nd3 (33. Ng4 { is incorrect here because there is no back rank checkmate with the bishop on d5.} Kh8 34. Nxf6 $4 Rxf6 35. Qxf6 Qxg3 36. Re8+ Bg8) 33... Bxa2 (33... Bf7 34. Qg4 Bh5 35. Qf4) 34. c4 Qd6 35. Nf4 Qd4+ 36. Kh2 Bxc4 37. Qh6 f5 38. Nh5 1-0 [Event "Stavanger NOR"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2018.06.01"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2778"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8. d3 O-O 9. Be3 Be6 10. Rc1 Nd5 11. Nxd5 Bxd5 {[#] In this line White gets himself a comfortable Dragon with some tempi ahead thanks to Black's Nd5-b6-d5, but what is a comfortable position for Black may not be fully satisfactory from White's point of view.} 12. Qc2 ({More common is} 12. Qa4 {After} a6 13. a3 Re8 14. Nd2 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Nd4 {Black equalized in So-Topalov, Sinquefield Cup 2016. Wesley managed to win that game, but today he was willing to be on the other side.}) 12... Re8 13. a3 a5 {A bit unusual.} 14. Qa4 {Vishy is trying to exploit a minor weakening of the light squares caused by the a5 move. } Bd6 15. Ng5 Bxg2 16. Qc4 $5 {Fancy but rather harmless.} Qe7 17. Kxg2 Nd4 18. Ne4 Ne6 19. Qd5 {[#]} f5 {Wesley So invites concrete play.} ({Also possible was } 19... Red8) 20. Nxd6 Qxd6 21. Qxb7 (21. Qxd6 cxd6 22. Rc3 {wins White the c-file, but Black isn't without chances:} f4 23. Bd2 Nd4 24. Rc7 Nxe2 25. Rxb7 Rf8 26. Rb6 f3+ 27. Kh3 Rf6 {The position of the white king is a bit unnerving. }) 21... Rab8 22. Qf3 f4 $1 {The ensuing complication were well worked out by both players.} 23. Bd2 Nd4 24. Qe4 Rxb2 25. Bxf4 Nxe2 (25... Rxe2 26. Be3 Rf8 { would likely have forced repetition after} 27. Rce1 Ra2 28. Ra1 Re2 {etc.}) 26. Rc6 Nxf4+ 27. gxf4 Qd7 28. Qc4+ (28. fxe5 Rxe5 29. Qc4+ Qd5+ 30. Qxd5+ Rxd5 31. Rxc7 {is a sure draw for Black, as long as he avoids} Rxd3 $6 32. Re1) 28... Kh8 29. fxe5 Rc2 {Neat!} 30. Qxc2 Qg4+ 31. Kh1 Qf3+ 32. Kg1 Rxe5 33. Rc5 Qg4+ 34. Kh1 Qf3+ 35. Kg1 Qg4+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Norway Chess 2018"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2018.06.01"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2808"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "139"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. Be3 Na5 {[#] Unlike MVL, Shakh settles on playing old theory. This line was played by Kamsky and Svidler some ten years ago.} 11. Bd3 b6 12. Rc1 (12. Qd2 e5 {The main continuation begins with} 13. Bh6) 12... e5 13. dxc5 Be6 14. c4 bxc5 15. Bxc5 Bh6 16. Rc3 Re8 17. Qc2 Qc7 18. Ba3 Rab8 { [#] Judging by the results of some old games Black appears to have enough compensation for the pawn. Give Aronian credit for taking a deeper look.} 19. h3 $1 {Levon plays it smart.} ({Van Wely-Shirov, 2008 saw an ill-advised push} 19. c5 Red8 20. c6 {which did nothing but cause White to lose that pawn, and eventually the game.} Rb6) 19... Red8 20. Bc1 Bf8 21. Bg5 Rd7 22. c5 h6 (22... Nc6 {doesn't solve Black's problems:} 23. Bc4 Nb4 24. Qa4 Bxc4 25. Rxc4 Nd3 26. c6) 23. Be3 Nc6 24. Bc4 Nd4 {Mamedyarov is in full escape mode. He initiates a trading sequence in hopes to survive a pawn down ending.} 25. Bxd4 exd4 26. Bxe6 dxc3 27. Bxd7 Qxd7 28. Nxc3 Qd4 29. c6 Qc4 30. Rc1 Qxc6 31. Nd5 Qxc2 32. Rxc2 {[#]} Rb1+ 33. Kh2 Kg7 34. f4 Re1 35. e5 g5 $1 {Shakh isn't going quietly into that good night.} ({A typical scenario for such endgames is} 35... h5 36. g3 Rd1 37. Nf6 Rd3 38. g4 hxg4 39. hxg4 Be7 40. g5 {as demonstrated by Kramnik and some others, White's mating threats on both the back rank and the h-file eventually decide matters.}) 36. g3 Rd1 37. Ne3 Rd3 38. Ng4 Be7 $2 ({Giving the king some elbow room with} 38... gxf4 39. gxf4 h5 40. Nf6 Kg6 {was Black's best bet.}) 39. f5 Bd8 {[#] Bad form or not, Levon Aronian is always good for finding pretty tactics.} 40. f6+ Kh7 (40... Kg6 {doesn't help at all:} 41. e6 Bxf6 42. e7 $3 Bxe7 43. Ne5+) 41. e6 $1 fxe6 42. Rf2 Bc7 43. f7 Bxg3+ 44. Kg2 Bd6 45. f8=Q Bxf8 46. Rxf8 {[#] White's technical task is anything but easy.} Ra3 47. Rf2 Kg6 48. Re2 Kh5 49. Nf6+ Kg6 50. Ne4 e5 51. Rc2 Kf5 52. Ng3+ Ke6 53. Rf2 Kd5 54. Nf5 Ra6 ({Another defensive method was} 54... h5 55. Rd2+ Kc5 56. Nd6 h4) 55. Kf3 Ra3+ 56. Kg4 h5+ 57. Kxh5 Rxh3+ 58. Kxg5 e4 59. Kg4 Ra3 60. Re2 {Levon treads carefully.} (60. Kf4 $2 Rf3+ 61. Rxf3 exf3 62. Kxf3 Kc4 $11) 60... Ke5 61. Ng3 Ra4 62. Kh3 Kf4 63. Kg2 e3 64. Rb2 Ra3 65. Ne2+ Ke4 66. Kf1 { [#]} Kd3 $2 ({I can't see how White wins after the correct} 66... Ra6 $1 67. Rb4+ (67. Rb3 Rb6) 67... Kd3 68. Ke1 Kc2 69. Rc4+ Kb2 70. Nc1 Rh6) 67. Ke1 Ra6 68. Kd1 $1 Rh6 ({Still Shakh had to try} 68... Rb6 {forcing Levon to find study-like wins such as} 69. Nc1+ Kc3 70. Rc2+ $1 Kb4 71. Nd3+ Ka4 72. Rc4+ Ka3 73. Rc3+ Kxa2 74. Kc2) 69. Rb3+ Ke4 70. Rb4+ 1-0 [Event "6th Norway Chess 2018"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2018.06.01"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O b6 11. dxc5 Qc7 12. Nd4 Ne5 13. Nb5 Qb8 14. Be2 bxc5 {[#]} 15. Rb1 {Karjakin's preparation.} ({The stem game in this line was Aronian-Grischuk, Candidates 2011} 15. f4 Ng4 16. Bxc5 a6 17. Na3 Qc7 18. Bd4 e5 19. fxe5 Nxe5 {Alexander managed to save himself by the slimmest of margins, but Maxime figured out some improvements and confidently drew against So in 2015.}) 15... a6 16. Na3 {And the novelty.} (16. Nd4 Qc7 17. Nb3 Rd8 18. Qc2 c4 19. Nc5 Nd3 {gave Black an easy game in Ganguly-Giri, 2012.}) 16... Qc7 { Now White who has avoided the aimless hopping around with the knight, gets down to business.} 17. f4 $1 Rd8 18. Qc2 Ng4 (18... Qa5 19. fxe5 Qxa3 20. Bc4 Be6 {may be enough to hold, but lacking proper research MVL didn't judge it reliable.}) 19. Bxg4 Bxg4 20. f5 $1 {[#] This is a typical idea of isolating the bishop. It may not end up lost, but only trapped behind its own pawns. Anyway, a great concept from Sergey.} gxf5 ({The aggressive} 20... Qe5 21. Rf4 gxf5 22. h3 Bh5 ({Not} 22... Bh6 {as} 23. Nc4 Qc7 24. Rbf1 {does look extremely threatening.}) 23. Rxf5 Qg3 24. Bf2 Qg6 25. g4 Bxg4 26. hxg4 Qxg4+ 27. Kf1 Rd6 {getting that rook over to g6 may have been the best way for Black. }) 21. Nc4 e6 22. h3 Bh5 23. exf5 exf5 24. Bg5 f4 {True his uncompromising style, Maxime seeks counterplay.} (24... Re8 {would allow White to establish a bind with} 25. Nb6 Ra7 26. Nd5 Qd6 27. c4) 25. Qf2 f3 26. Bxd8 Rxd8 27. Qh4 $1 fxg2 28. Rfe1 {[#]On the face of it, Black has a great game: two pawns for the exchange with a bishop pair and an open White king. Truth is, he's significantly worse, if not outright lost. What gives? The key factor is the activity of White's pieces. In a few moves he will achive a dominating position.} Bf3 ({The white king is actually quite safe behind that pawn, and the only way to bother it can be a check from d4. However, the try} 28... Bxc3 29. Qxh5 Qg3 30. Qg4+ Qxg4 31. hxg4 Bxe1 32. Rxe1 Rd4 33. Ne3 {comes way short. The resulting ending is similar to the Aronian-Mamedyarov game played the next table over and analyzed below.}) 29. Re3 Bc6 30. Rbe1 Rf8 31. Ne5 Bd5 32. Rg3 $1 {Power play from Karjakin.} f6 33. Nd3 {[#]} ({He even turned down a safe advantage after} 33. c4 fxe5 34. cxd5 Qf7 35. Rxg2 Qxd5 36. Qg3 Qf7 37. Qxe5 c4 ) 33... Bxa2 $2 {A decisive error, leaving the bishop out of play.} (33... Kh8 34. Nf4 Bf7 35. Rxg2 $16) 34. c4 $1 Qd6 35. Nf4 Qd4+ 36. Kh2 Bxc4 37. Qh6 f5 38. Nh5 1-0 [Event "6th Norway Chess 2018"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2018.06.01"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2769"] [BlackElo "2843"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Nbd7 { [#] The Orthodox Defense of the Queens Gambit was more popular in the 1910's than in the 2010's, but King Magnus can play anything he wants.} 8. Be2 { There's hardly any difference between the text} ({and the other bishop move} 8. Bd3) ({while} 8. Rc1 c5 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Bxe7 Nxe7 {is currently considered a reliable defense, thanks to the pioneering efforts of Vladimir Kramnik. Although, Nakamura himself beat Fressinet in 2016 by going to the endgame:} 11. dxc5 Nxc5 12. Qxd8 Rxd8 13. b4 Nd7 14. Bd3) 8... dxc4 9. Bxc4 a6 10. a4 c5 11. O-O cxd4 12. Nxd4 {Hikaru goes safety first.} ({The more principled} 12. exd4 { is met by the solid defense} Nb6 13. Bb3 Bd7 14. Ne5 Bc6 {It's very hard for White to break through, while Carlsen would surely be looking to siege your IQP.}) 12... Nb6 13. Be2 (13. Bb3 Nbd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Bxe7 Nxe7 16. Bc2 Bd7 17. Qd3 g6 {and Black eventually prevailed in Salem-Karjakin, World Rapid 2017} ) 13... Nbd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Bxe7 Qxe7 16. Qb3 b6 17. Bf3 Bb7 {[#] There's nothing White can do in terms of playing on, and Hikaru forces total liquidation.} 18. Nf5 exf5 19. Bxd5 Bxd5 20. Qxd5 Qf6 21. Qb3 Rad8 22. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Rd8 24. Rxd8+ Qxd8 25. g3 g6 26. h4 h5 27. Qc4 a5 28. b3 Qd1+ 29. Kg2 Qd7 30. Kf1 Qd1+ 31. Kg2 Qd7 32. Kf1 Qd1+ 33. Kg2 Qd7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.02"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2843"] [BlackElo "2760"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Norway"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] [WhiteClock "1:19:19"] [BlackClock "1:27:49"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. a3 Be7 7. e4 O-O 8. Nf3 Qa5 {A bit of a rare move.} 9. Bd2 Qh5 10. Be2 d5 11. cxd5 exd5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. O-O (13. Nd4 Qe5 14. Nf3 Qd6 15. Nxd5 Qxd5 16. Bc3 Be6 17. O-O Rfd8 18. Qxd5 Bxd5 19. Rfd1 Kf8 {Vidit,S (2715)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2789) Riadh 2017}) 13... Nf6 $146 (13... Rd8 14. Nd4 Qg6 (14... Nxc3 15. Bxh5 Nxd1 16. Nxc6 bxc6 ( 16... Rxd2 17. Nxe7+ Kf8 18. Nxc8) 17. Rfxd1 Be6 {Anand}) 15. Nxd5 Rxd5 16. Nxc6 bxc6 17. Bf3 Rd8 18. Qe2 Be6 {Wojtaszek,R (2734)-Borisek,J (2565) Berlin 2015}) 14. Nd4 {"For a second I thought I had blown it." (Anand) "Then I calmed down."} Qc5 (14... Ng4 15. Bf4 (15. Bxg4 Bxg4 16. Nxc6 bxc6) 15... Bg5 16. Nxc6 Bxf4 17. Ne7+ Kh8 18. h3 Qh4 19. Nxc8 Bh2+ 20. Kh1 Nxf2+ 21. Rxf2 Qxf2 {"is not a lot of fun." (Anand)}) 15. Nxc6 (15. Nb3 Qb6 (15... Qe5) 16. Be3 Qc7 {Anand}) 15... Qxc6 16. Bf3 Qa6 17. Re1 (17. Qb3 Be6 {Anand}) 17... Be6 18. Qe2 Qxe2 19. Nxe2 (19. Rxe2 Rfd8 {Anand}) 19... Bg4 20. Bxg4 (20. Nd4 Bxf3 21. Rxe7 Bd5 22. Bg5 Ne4 23. Re5 Nxg5 24. Rxd5 Rfd8 {Anand}) 20... Nxg4 21. h3 Ne5 22. Nf4 Nc6 23. Nd5 Bd6 24. Bc3 f6 25. Rad1 Rad8 26. Rd2 Kf7 27. Red1 Bb8 28. Kf1 Rfe8 29. Nb4 Rxd2 30. Rxd2 Bf4 31. Rd1 Rd8 32. Rxd8 Nxd8 33. Ke2 Bd6 34. Nc2 Nc6 35. Nd4 Nxd4+ 36. Bxd4 a6 37. Kd3 Ke6 38. Be3 Kd5 39. f3 b5 40. Bd2 f5 41. Be1 g6 42. Bd2 Be7 43. Be1 Bd6 44. Bd2 Be7 45. Be1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.02"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2808"] [BlackElo "2769"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "1:12:30"] [BlackClock "1:31:45"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. Bg5 dxc4 ( 7... h6 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Nf3 c6 10. g3 Nd7 11. Bh3 b6 12. cxd5 cxd5 13. Qc6 Rb8 14. O-O Rd8 {Mamedyarov,S (2809)-Aronian,L (2794) Berlin 2018}) 8. Qxc4 b6 9. Rd1 Ba6 10. Qa4 h6 11. Bh4 Qe7 12. Nf3 Rd8 13. e3 Bxf1 14. Rxf1 c5 ({ Mamedyarov said he prepared this for the Berlin Candidates' but expected} 14... Nbd7) 15. dxc5 Rxd1+ 16. Qxd1 g5 $146 {"I prepared this for the Candidates two years ago but I never got it." (Nakamura)} (16... bxc5 17. Ne5 Qc7 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Qg4+ Kf8 20. Qe4 Qa5+ 21. Kd1 Qd8+ {Nechaeva,M (2416)-Kashlinskaya,A (2466) Sochi 2016}) 17. Bg3 (17. Nxg5 hxg5 18. Bxg5 Nbd7 19. Qf3 Rc8 20. c6 Qc5 {Nakamura}) 17... Qxc5 18. Qd8+ Kg7 19. Be5 Qc1+ 20. Ke2 Qc4+ 21. Ke1 (21. Kd2 $2 {actually loses:} Nbd7 $1 22. Qxd7 Qxf1 23. Qe7 Qxf2+ 24. Kd3 Qf1+ 25. Kd2 Qxg2+) (21. Qd3 Qxd3+ 22. Kxd3 Nbd7 23. Rc1 g4 24. Bxf6+ Kxf6 25. Nd4 {was still in Nakamura's preparation.}) 21... Qc1+ 22. Ke2 Qc4+ 23. Ke1 Qc1+ 24. Ke2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.02"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [BlackElo "2764"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "France"] [BlackTeam "Armenia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "FRA"] [BlackTeamCountry "ARM"] [WhiteClock "1:21:07"] [BlackClock "1:23:54"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 O-O 7. Bg2 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Qb3 Nc6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. O-O Rb8 (11... Qa5 12. Ne4 Ba6 13. Qc2 Rfc8 14. Rd1 h6 15. Bf3 Be7 16. Bd2 Qb6 17. Nc3 Rab8 {Yu,Y (2734)-Zhao,J (2622) Wuxi 2016}) 12. Qc2 Ba6 13. Rd1 $6 {"I knew all the candidate moves but I couldn’t remember which one is good and I took the wrong decision." (MVL)} Bxc3 $146 (13... Qa5 14. Bd2 h6 15. e4 Nxc3 16. Bxc3 Bxc3 17. bxc3 Qa3 18. Rab1 Bc4 {Serna Lara,S (2247)-Suba,M (2507) Albacete 2008}) 14. bxc3 Qa5 15. Bb2 Bc4 {"I felt I should be better somehow." (Aronian)} 16. Rd4 Qa6 17. e4 (17. Rh4 h6 ) 17... Nb6 18. a4 (18. e5 c5) 18... e5 (18... c5 19. Rd6 Qa5 20. Bc1) 19. Rd2 (19. Rd6 Bb3) 19... Qa5 20. Rd6 {"Very clever." (Aronian)} c5 21. Bh3 Nc8 ( 21... Ba6 $2 22. c4 $1) (21... Rfd8 22. Qd2) (21... f6 22. Bc1 Bf7 23. Be6) 22. Rd2 Nb6 23. Rd6 Nc8 24. Rd2 Nb6 25. Rd6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.02"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A28"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2782"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] [WhiteClock "1:30:59"] [BlackClock "1:13:23"] {Caruana, fresh off a second straight rest day due to Ding Liren's unfortunate accident, was having a rough stretch. In the Bundesliga playoff he was outplayed by an impressive Giri. In three rounds of Norway Chess, he sat at just 1/3 with an uninspiring defeat to the man he will challenge in five months for the world championship title. Is this win the start of a turnaround for the world number two? His fans certainly hope so.} 1. c4 {Already an interesting choice by Caruana, who infrequently opts for the English. There's no doubt he wanted revenge on Karjakin, who beat him during round 12 of the Candidates.} Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Qc2 Bxc3 (5... O-O 6. Nd5) 6. Qxc3 Qe7 7. b3 (7. Be2 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Qb3 Nb6 10. d3 Bg4 11. Bd2 O-O-O 12. Rc1 f5 {Oleksienko,M (2615)-Navara,D (2726) Germany 2018}) 7... O-O (7... d5 {seems like a principled reply here. White is underdeveloped, which means a strike in the center is well-timed. After all, Karjakin committed to this break (he didn't really have active play if not for it) later in the game. However, the clear drawback is that White can begin opening up the position for his bishops.} 8. d4 {challenges Black's setup, attempting to open diagonals for the two bishops.} (8. Bb2 d4) 8... Ne4 9. Qb2 Be6 {among other variations is an interesting start.}) 8. Bb2 Re8 9. a3 a5 10. h3 $146 (10. d3 d5 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Qc2 Bg4 13. Be2 Rad8 14. O-O Rd6 15. Qc4 Qd7 16. Rac1 Nb6 17. Qc2 Rg6 {Van Wely,L (2570)-Piket,J (2570) Wijk aan Zee 1996}) 10... b6 { "A little bit slow." (Caruana)} (10... d5 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Qc2 e4 13. Nd4 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 Qg5 15. Bc4 c6 {and I can even consider castling queenside (Caruana). The bishop on d4 is a dominant, unopposed piece, but Black is in no immediate danger. Karjakin would have counter chances here that he did not get in the game.}) 11. Be2 ({Too risky is} 11. g4 Bb7 12. Rg1 {Agdestein/Mamedyarov} d5 13. g5 d4 $1 {appears to have been overlooked by the commentators.} (13... Ne4 14. Qc2) 14. gxf6 dxc3 (14... Qxf6 15. Qc2 Qxf3 16. Bg2 Qh5) 15. fxe7 cxb2 16. Rb1 e4 17. Nd4 Ne5 {and Black is much better.}) 11... Bb7 12. O-O d5 {"This kind of surprised me." (Caruana)} (12... e4 13. Nd4 (13. Nh4) 13... Nxd4 14. exd4 {and now} (14. Qxd4) 14... d5 {blockading the long diagonal.}) 13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. Qc2 e4 15. Nh2 {Great understanding by Caruana. His knight currently sits awkwardly on h2, but importantly the knight on c6 is misplaced because it prevents the c7 pawn from pushing to c5. Black can't play Ne5 since the e4 pawn will hang.} (15. Nd4 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 c5 17. Bb2 Qg5 (17... Rad8)) 15... Qg5 (15... Ne5 16. Qxe4 Nc3 17. Qxb7 Nxe2+ (17... Reb8 18. Qxb8+ Rxb8 19. Bxc3) ( 17... Rab8 18. Qa6) 18. Kh1 {"The knight is trapped." (Caruana)} Nd3 19. Qf3 Nxb2 20. Qxe2 {"And now the other knight is trapped." (Caruana)}) (15... Rad8 16. f4 (16. f3 Rd6 17. fxe4 Qxe4) 16... exf3 (16... Rd6 17. Ng4) 17. Nxf3 { is an even better version.}) 16. f4 exf3 17. Nxf3 Qg3 {More clever.} 18. Rf2 Rad8 19. Bc4 Nf6 {"This surprised me. It can't be good. It's kind of admitting that your position is bad." (Caruana)} (19... Rd6 20. Raf1 (20. Qf5 Bc8 (20... Qg6 21. Nh4) 21. Qg5 Qxg5 22. Nxg5 {and Black can keep fighting, despite the poor position of his pieces.}) 20... Nf6 21. e4 {with overwhelming pressure down the f-file.} (21. Qf5 Bc8 22. Qg5 Qxg5 23. Nxg5 {is just crushing.})) 20. Bxf6 (20. Raf1 Rd6 21. e4 $1 {and the pawn is immune to capture, since} Nxe4 22. Bxf7+ {is devastating.}) 20... gxf6 21. Raf1 (21. Bxf7+ Kxf7 22. Qxh7+ Ke6 $1 {and I didn't see a continuation." (Caruana)} (22... Kf8 23. Nh4) (22... Qg7 23. Ng5+ Kf8 24. Rxf6+ Qxf6 25. Rf1)) 21... Rd6 22. b4 (22. Bxf7+ Kxf7 23. Qxh7+ Qg7 24. Ng5+ Kf8 {is promising for White, though the knockout blow still requires some work. After all, White has sacrificed a piece for soon-to-be 3 pawns!}) 22... axb4 23. axb4 Re7 {"This leads to a sad situation." (Caruana)} ( {Caruana thought he should have tried} 23... Nxb4 24. Bxf7+ Kxf7 25. Qxc7+ Kg8 (25... Re7 26. Ng5+ Qxg5 (26... Ke8 27. Qb8+) 27. Qxd6 Nd5 28. Rf5 Qxg2+ 29. Kxg2) 26. Qxb7 Nd3 27. Nd4 Nxf2 {and he wasn't sure about this, but apparently he missed} 28. Nf5 $1 {here which wins on the spot.}) (23... Kh8 {is an attempt to rush the rook to the g-file. Unfortunately, it costs either the c- or f- pawn.} 24. Be2 (24. Bxf7 Re7 25. Qc4) 24... Rg8 25. b5 Ne5 26. d4 $1 { when the g2 pawn gets the reinforcement it needs from the queen on c2.}) 24. b5 Ne5 25. Nd4 Bc8 (25... Nxc4 26. Qxc4 {"He just doesn't have counterplay." (Caruana)} (26. Nf5 {first ends the game immediately.}) 26... Be4 27. Qe2) 26. Kh1 Kg7 {Here "I was sure I would find a way to break through." (Caruana)} 27. Be2 Kh8 28. Qc3 ({Caruana was a bit worried about stuff like} 28. Bf3 Bxh3 29. gxh3 (29. Ne2 Qg6 30. Qxg6 fxg6 31. gxh3 Rxd2 {with pretty good drawing chances.}) 29... Qxh3+ 30. Kg1 Rxd4 31. exd4 Qg3+ (31... Nxf3+ 32. Rxf3 Qg4+ 33. Kf2)) 28... Kg7 29. Bd1 Kg8 30. Bc2 Qh4 31. Rf4 Qg3 32. Bf5 Bb7 33. Be4 Bc8 {Karjakin can't afford a bishop trade, since the f5 square is impossible to defend.} 34. Qa3 (34. Qa1) 34... Kg7 (34... Re8 35. Qa8 Rdd8 36. Nc6 Nxc6 37. Qxc6 {is easily winning.}) 35. Qa8 Bxh3 {Desperation in a lost position.} ({ After} 35... Bd7 36. Qd8 (36. Bf5 {forces the bishops off, which means the f5 square is White's for the taking.}) 36... Ng6 {Caruana was considering} 37. R4f3 {but that would be bad because of} (37. Qxd7 {secures two minors for the rook.} Rdxd7 (37... Qxf4 38. Nf5+ Kf8 39. Qxe7+ Nxe7 40. Rxf4) 38. Nf5+ Kf8 39. Nxg3 Nxf4 40. exf4 Rxd2 {with a winning advantage for White. The minor pieces are too strong, especially as the bishop plants itself on c6.}) 37... Qe5) 36. gxh3 Qxh3+ 37. Kg1 Rxd4 38. Bg2 Qg3 39. Rxd4 Ng4 40. Rf3 Qe1+ 41. Bf1 1-0 [Event "Altibox Norway Chess"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.03"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2808"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "AZE"] [WhiteClock "1:35:29"] [BlackClock "1:28:03"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. c3 (4. d4 exd4 5. Bg5 Be7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. Qxd4 Nf6 9. Nc3 Bg4 {Guseinov,G (2645)-Carlsen,M (2832) chess.com INT 2017}) 4... a6 5. Ba4 (5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 Bg4 8. Qb3 Bxf3 9. gxf3 Bg7 10. Be3 Ne7 11. Nc3 Bxd4 12. Bxd4 Qxd4 13. Qxb7 O-O {was a game Mamedyarov won at the Candidates against Karjakin.}) 5... Bg7 6. O-O Nge7 7. d4 exd4 8. cxd4 b5 9. Bc2 (9. Bb3 {would transpose back to the mainline.}) 9... d5 $5 ( 9... d6) 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Re1+ $6 {"Simply a mistake." (Anand)} (11. Bg5 Nde7 (11... Qd6 12. Re1+ Be6 13. Nc3 O-O 14. Ne4 Qb4 {Anand}) 12. Nc3 h6 13. Bh4 g5 14. Bg3 Bg4 15. Re1 Nxd4 16. Be4 Rc8 {Nepomniachtchi,I (2751) -Aronian,L (2789) chess.com INT 2017}) 11... Be6 12. Bg5 Qd7 {Possible because the bishop is on e6 here. Mamedyarov felt he was better here.} 13. Nc3 O-O 14. Be4 $146 (14. Ne4 $6 Bg4) (14. Bb3 Nxc3 15. bxc3 Bd5 16. a4 Rae8 17. Rxe8 Rxe8 18. axb5 axb5 19. Be3 Ne7 {Sylvan,J (2325)-Delorme,A (2512) Cappelle-la-Grande 2016}) 14... Rae8 {Now Anand decides to more or less force the draw.} 15. Bxd5 Bxd5 16. Ne5 Nxe5 ({Mamedyarov said he might have tried} 16... Qd6 17. Bf4 Bxg2 $5 18. Kxg2 Nxd4 {on another occasion.}) 17. dxe5 c6 18. f4 f6 19. Bxf6 Bxf6 20. Nxd5 cxd5 21. exf6 Rxe1+ 22. Qxe1 Rxf6 23. Qd2 d4 24. Rd1 d3 25. Qxd3 Qxd3 26. Rxd3 Rxf4 27. Rd6 Rc4 28. Rxa6 Rc1+ 29. Kf2 Rc2+ 30. Kg1 Rc1+ 31. Kf2 Rc2+ 32. Kg1 Rc1+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.03"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2822"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Armenia"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "1:30:24"] [BlackClock "1:31:42"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bxc4 Nxe4 7. O-O Nf6 ( 7... Bxc3 8. bxc3 Nxc3 9. Qb3 Nd5 10. Ba3 f6 11. Rae1 Kf7 12. Ng5+ fxg5 13. f4 g4 14. f5 {Aronian}) ({Aronian said he spent a lot of time on} 7... Nxc3 8. bxc3 {e.g.} Be7 9. Ne5 O-O 10. Re1 Nc6 11. Qg4 f5 12. Qf3 Nxe5 13. Rxe5 Kh8 { Karjakin,S (2763)-Mamedyarov,S (2809) Moscow 2018}) 8. Qa4+ Nc6 9. Ne5 (9. Bg5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. d5 exd5 12. Rfe1+ Be6 13. Bxd5 O-O {Aronian,L (2807) -Anand,V (2817) Sao Paulo/Bilbao 2011}) 9... Rb8 10. d5 $146 (10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Qxc6+ Qd7 12. Qxd7+ Bxd7 13. Bg5 O-O 14. Rfc1 Ba5 15. Rab1 Rfd8 {Halkias,S (2580)-Fressinet,L (2670) Rijeka 2010}) 10... exd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Qxc6+ Qd7 14. Bxd5 ({A bit more accurate is} 14. Qxd5 O-O 15. Be3 {and Black is under some pressure "but nothing he can't overcome." (Caruana)}) 14... O-O (14... Bb7 $2 15. Bxf7+) 15. Qxd7 (15. Be3 Bd6 16. b3 Qf5 {Aronian} 17. Bxf7+ Qxf7) 15... Bxd7 16. Be3 Bd6 17. b3 a5 18. Rfd1 a4 19. Rac1 axb3 20. axb3 Rfe8 21. h3 Be6 22. Bxe6 Rxe6 23. Bc5 Bxc5 24. Rxc5 g6 25. Rxc7 Rxb3 26. Rcd7 Rb8 27. Rd8+ Rxd8 28. Rxd8+ Kg7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.03"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2769"] [BlackElo "2789"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "France"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "FRA"] [WhiteClock "1:38:31"] [BlackClock "1:24:28"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qd2 g6 (5... Nf6 6. b3 e6 7. Bb2 a6 8. O-O-O b5 9. f3 h5 10. Nh3 Be7 11. Ng5 h4 12. f4 Bb7 {Carlsen,M (2843) -Wojtaszek,R (2744) Shamkir AZE 2018}) 6. b3 Bg7 (6... Bh6 7. f4 e5 8. Nb5 {MVL }) 7. Bb2 Nf6 8. O-O-O O-O 9. Kb1 Qa5 10. Nge2 e5 {Anand said he was "shocked and impressed" by this move, as playing it with the bishop on g7 is unusual. MVL wanted to prevent Nf4.} (10... Rd8 11. Nf4 Bh6 12. g3 e5 13. Ncd5) 11. f3 ( {Nakamura after the game preferred} 11. h3 b5 12. a3 b4 13. axb4 Nxb4 14. Nc1 { and now the players didn't mention} d5 $5) 11... Rd8 (11... Be6 12. Nd5 Qxd2 13. Rxd2 Rfd8 14. Nxf6+ Bxf6 15. Nf4) 12. Nd5 (12. g4 $5 Be6 13. g5 Nh5 14. Nd5 Qxd2 15. Rxd2 {Nakamura} Rac8 16. Ng3 Nf4 17. Nxf4 exf4 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Ne2 d5 {MVL}) 12... Qxd2 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Rxd2 Bg5 (14... Be6 15. Nf4) 15. Rd1 Be6 16. Nc3 (16. c4 Be3) 16... Nd4 17. Bd3 Rac8 18. Rhf1 (18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. exd5 Nf5) 18... Nc6 {"The last key move," said Nakamura. Black is fully OK now.} 19. a3 Ne7 20. Ne2 Be3 21. h3 ({The players thought} 21. f4 Bg4 {was nothing but} 22. fxe5 dxe5 23. h3 {might still give White an edge.}) 21... g5 22. a4 f6 23. c4 Ng6 24. Bc1 Bxc1 25. Nxc1 h5 26. Rf2 h4 27. Rfd2 Kf7 28. Ne2 Ke7 29. Kb2 Nf4 30. Nc3 a5 31. Bf1 b6 32. Bd3 Rc5 33. Bc2 Rc7 34. Re1 Rc5 35. Nd1 Rc6 36. Ne3 Rc7 37. Red1 Rc6 38. Bd3 Rc7 39. Bc2 Rc6 40. Bd3 Rc7 41. Bc2 Rc6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Altibox Norway Chess"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.03"] [Round "6.1"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D13"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2843"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Norway"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "NOR"] [WhiteClock "1:27:02"] [BlackClock "1:34:40"] {Before today, Wesley So had never beaten Magnus Carlsen in a classical game. Many will wonder how he managed to do so with the "drawish/boring" exchange Slav. Those who dismiss the opening do not realize how difficult it can be to fully equalize. And if that equality is not reached, the nagging advantage that White obtains is so frustrating that it often causes Black to lash out in unproductive ways.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Bf4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nf3 a6 7. Rc1 Bf5 8. e3 Rc8 9. Be2 e6 10. O-O Nd7 $5 (10... Bb4 {is a rare move} 11. a3 Bxc3 12. Rxc3 Ne4 13. Rc1 O-O 14. Qb3 Na5 $2 15. Qb4 {was advantageous for White in Akobian,V (2647)-Erenburg,S (2564) chess.com INT 2018.}) (10... Bd6 {offers a bishop exchange, but leaves the c5 square somewhat vulnerable.}) (10... Be7 {did not end well for the former world champion with the Black pieces in this blitz game:} 11. Qb3 Na5 12. Qa4+ Nc6 13. Bxa6 Ra8 14. Bxb7 Rxa4 15. Bxc6+ Kf8 16. Nxa4 Ne4 17. Bb7 Nd6 18. Bxd6 Qxd6 19. Rc6 Qd7 20. Rc8+ Bd8 21. Ne5 {1-0 (21) Kramnik,V (2785)-Anand,V (2801) Moscow 2007}) 11. Na4 Be7 12. h3 (12. a3 g5 $1 13. Bg3 h5 {according to So. Black quickly gains an initiative on the dark-squared bishop and launches a pretty intense pawn storm. }) 12... O-O (12... g5 13. Bh2 h5 14. Nd2 g4 15. hxg4 hxg4 16. Bxg4 {So. Wesley fully understands that this pawn sacrifice is speculative: Black is nowhere near ready to attack on the kingside.}) 13. a3 Na5 (13... b5 14. Nc5 Nxc5 15. dxc5 Bf6 (15... f6 16. Nd4 {leads to a huge edge for White, whose passed c-pawn coupled b4, a4 ideas on the queenside is difficult to overcome. Black can't really avoid capturing on d4 here, which improves White's pawn structure.} Nxd4 17. exd4) 16. Nd4 {So. Again, White clearly has the upper hand.}) 14. Nc5 Nc4 $146 (14... Nxc5 15. dxc5 Nc4 ({Agdestein suggested} 15... b6 {though this move is exceptionally difficult to play even if it's good. It looks like White nets a pawn with the straightforward} 16. b4 Nc4 17. Bxc4 dxc4 18. Qxd8 Bxd8 19. cxb6 Bxb6 20. Ne5) 16. Bxc4 dxc4 17. Rxc4 Rxc5 18. Rd4 Rd5 { Alienkin,A (2387)-Lintchevski,D (2548) Ghent 2016}) 15. b4 Nxc5 16. dxc5 Nxa3 $6 {Risky, but Magnus must not have liked the alternatives.} (16... b5 { aims to stabilize the knight on c4. White can obtain the queenside majority with} 17. cxb6 Qxb6 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19. Bxe5 {and try to press for a win. The a6 pawn is vulnerable, particularly because the light-squared bishop can't reroute to the queenside quickly.}) 17. Nd4 Be4 (17... Bg6 18. Qb3 Nb5 (18... Nc4 19. Bxc4 dxc4 20. Qxc4) 19. Nxb5 (19. Bxb5 axb5 20. Nxb5) 19... axb5 20. Bxb5 {remains superior for White, thanks to the queenside majority.}) 18. f3 Bg6 19. Qb3 Nc4 20. Bxc4 dxc4 21. Qxc4 {"Here I'm a little better." (So)} Qe8 { "I thought for some reason he is playing for a win again." (So)} (21... Bg5 22. Bxg5 Qxg5 23. e4 Rfd8 24. Nb3 {Carlsen suggested to So right after the game. The knight dominates the bishop, which is blunted by White's pawns.} (24. Rcd1 {also looks strong.})) 22. Bg3 (22. Rfd1 e5 23. Bxe5 Bxc5 24. bxc5 Qxe5 25. e4 Kh8 {So. White is clearly better, though, because at some point c6 will undermine the protection of the a-pawn.}) 22... e5 23. Nb3 (23. Bxe5 Bxc5 24. bxc5 Qxe5 25. e4 {is a significantly worse version of the earlier variation, since White has lost a tempo by playing Bf4-g3-e5. Now Black is quick to get in } Rfd8 26. Rfd1 h6 {when} 27. c6 {is met by the extremely necessary} (27. Nb3 b5 {with ...f5 coming soon.}) 27... Kh7) 23... Bd8 $6 {"It seems he is miscalculating." (So)} (23... Bg5 24. f4) 24. Qd5 {So wins a pawn with a simple double attack.} Qb5 25. Bxe5 Be7 ({So was refering to the fact that Carlsen noticed too late that} 25... Qxb4 {fails to} 26. Bd6 Re8 27. c6) 26. Qd2 Rfd8 27. Bd6 Bf6 28. e4 h6 29. Nd4 Bxd4+ 30. Qxd4 {Opposite colored bishops are on the board, but Carlsen is down a pawn and equality is out of reach.} Re8 (30... f6 {is necessary at some point to get the bishop into the game. Unfortunately it does little to impede White's progress, as} 31. f4 { among other moves maintain the huge advantage. Just look what happened in the game.}) 31. Rfe1 Kh7 32. g4 f6 33. f4 Qc6 34. f5 Bf7 35. h4 Ra8 36. Rc2 (36. Rc3 a5 37. g5 Bh5 38. Rg3 {So}) (36. g5) 36... a5 37. g5 Bh5 38. g6+ $6 (38. gxf6 {may appear risky because it opens the g-file, but White's king actually is not in true danger.} gxf6 (38... Rg8 39. b5 Qxb5 40. Rb2 Qd7 41. Reb1) 39. b5 Qxb5 40. Rb2 Qd7 41. Qxf6) 38... Kh8 39. b5 Qxb5 40. Rb2 Qc6 $2 (40... Qd7 { kept Carlsen in the game. The point is that} 41. Qd5 {is met by an offer of a queen trade} Qc6) 41. Rb6 Qc8 (41... Qd7 42. Qd5 Ra7 43. Bg3 {is crushing despite the even material. Black can't afford to exchange queens, since White's pawns queen first. Keeping the queens gets Black mated.} Qc8 44. Rxf6 gxf6 45. Qf7 b6 46. g7+ Kh7 47. g8=Q#) 42. Qd5 a4 43. Rxb7 Rg8 44. c6 (44. c6 Ra6 45. c7 ({or} 45. Rb8) 45... Rxd6 46. Qxg8+ Kxg8 47. Rb8) 1-0 [Event "6th Altibox Norway Chess 2018"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.03"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2822"] [Annotator "Marco Baldauf"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 {Aronian chooses the second main line after his bad experience with the Vienna against Caruana in Berlin.} 6. Bxc4 {[%emt 0:00:04]} (6. Bg5 {He chose this at the Candidates Tournament a few months ago, where a very exciting game followed.} h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Bxc4 c5 9. O-O cxd4 10. e5 Qd8 11. Ne4 O-O 12. Qe2 Be7 13. Rad1 Qc7 14. Bd3 Nd7 15. Rc1 Qa5 16. g4 $5 Nxe5 17. Nxe5 Qxe5 {0-1 (37) Aronian,L (2794)-Caruana,F (2784) Berlin 2018}) 6... Nxe4 7. O-O Nf6 (7... Nxc3 {is the more established continuation: Black takes some pieces off the board, but after} 8. bxc3 { does not get a material advantage.After} Be7 (8... Bxc3 $6 9. Rb1 c6 10. Rb3 Ba5 11. Ne5 b5 12. Qg4 $16 g6 13. Bg5 f5 14. Qh4 Qc7 15. Be2 $18 {1-0 (21) Hjartarson,J (2536) -Ristoja,S (2228) Reykjavik 2017}) 9. Ne5 O-O 10. Re1 Nc6 11. Qg4 f5 12. Qf3 $44 {White has good compensation for the sacrificed pawn: ½- ½ (37) Karjakin,S (276)-Mamedyarov,S (2809) Moscow 2018}) 8. Qa4+ Nc6 9. Ne5 {LiveBook: 3 Games} (9. Bg5 {Aronian chose this against Vishy Anand seven years ago. There, he got good compensation and later won the game.} Be7 (9... Bxc3 10. bxc3 O-O 11. Rae1 Ne7 12. Qc2 $44 {1-0 (33) Wojtaszek,R (2735) -Pelletier,Y (2578) Tromsoe 2014}) 10. Bxf6 $1 Bxf6 11. d5 exd5 12. Rfe1+ Be6 13. Bxd5 O-O 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. Rad1 $44 {1-0 (25) Aronian,L (2807)-Anand,V (2817) Sao Paulo/Bilbao 2011 CBM 145 [Edouard,R]}) 9... Rb8 10. d5 $146 { An innovation that leads to a visually slightly better endgame for White. Caruana, however, seems to think that this is good for him.} (10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Qxc6+ Qd7 12. Qxd7+ Bxd7 13. Bg5 O-O $11 {1-0 (52) Halkias,S (2580)-Fressinet, L (2670) Rijeka 2010}) 10... exd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Qxc6+ Qd7 14. Bxd5 O-O 15. Qxd7 Bxd7 {White has a slightly better pawn structure. Aronian creates a a risk-free game, where there can only be two results.} 16. Be3 Bd6 $1 {The bishop is stable here; also, the b-file is now open to counterattack.} 17. b3 a5 $1 {Caruana can now exchange one of the two pawn weaknesses — there is nothing more for White.} 18. Rfd1 a4 19. Rac1 axb3 20. axb3 Rfe8 21. h3 Be6 22. Bxe6 Rxe6 23. Bc5 Bxc5 24. Rxc5 g6 25. Rxc7 Rxb3 26. Rcd7 Rb8 27. Rd8+ Rxd8 28. Rxd8+ Kg7 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Altibox Norway Chess 2018"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.03"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2769"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "Marco Baldauf"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qd2 {Although it is not official, the players called this strange looking structure the Carlsen Variation. That should be enough to use this name here too.} g6 (5... Nf6 6. b3 e6 {Wojtaszek used this construction and was gradually outplayed.} 7. Bb2 a6 8. O-O-O b5 9. f3 h5 10. Nh3 Be7 11. Ng5 {1-0 (31) Carlsen,M (2843)-Wojtaszek,R (2744) Shamkir 2018}) 6. b3 Bg7 7. Bb2 Nf6 8. O-O-O O-O 9. Kb1 {White's argument goes something like this: the knight is not necessarily worse on g1 than on d4, where it often needs to spend another tempo in the Sicilian to go to e2 or b3. I prefer to use the two saved tempi for Qxd4 and Qd2, and place my queen in the right square. In addition — and this is why the Carlsen Variation is so special — I can put my bishop on b2, giving my king additional protection.} Qa5 10. Nge2 e5 $5 {a strange move that locks the bishop and removes it from the game. On the other hand, Nf4 and Nfd5 are prevented, so the knight on e2 is also bad. In addition, Black can now put the light-squared bishop on e6.} 11. f3 Rd8 ({In case of the immediate} 11... Be6 {the players agreed that after } 12. Nd5 Qxd2 13. Rxd2 {White might have a slight advantage.} Bxd5 ({If} 13... Rfd8 $6 {White has the trick} 14. Nxf6+ Bxf6 15. Nf4 $1 {at his disposal.} Bg5 16. Nxe6 fxe6 (16... Bxd2 $6 17. Nxd8 Rxd8 18. Bc4 $16) 17. Rd1 $14) 14. exd5 Ne7 15. c4 $14 {might still be ok for Black, but MVL decided to avoid this structure.}) 12. Nd5 (12. g4 Be6 13. g5 Nh5 14. Nd5 Qxd2 15. Rxd2 {is more exciting than the game's continuation: White threatens Nc7, and also has the position threat of Ng3.} Rac8 16. Ng3 Nf4 $1 (16... Nxg3 $2 17. hxg3 $16) 17. Nxf4 exf4 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Ne2 {White wins the pawn on f4, but Black counters with} d5 $1 {is sufficient}) 12... Qxd2 (12... Nxd5 {is less accurate (Vachier-Lagrave), because the black black in some variants is good on f6. The reason: Td8 is covered, as shown in the following sequence:} 13. Qxa5 Nxa5 14. Rxd5 Nc6 15. Nc3 Be6 16. Rd2 Nd4 17. Nb5 Nxb5 18. Bxb5 d5 19. Rhd1) 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Rxd2 Bg5 (14... Be6 $6 15. Nf4 $1) 15. Rd1 Be6 {and both players agreed that Black does not have any problems here.} 16. Nc3 Nd4 17. Bd3 Rac8 18. Rhf1 (18. Nd5 {would be the last chance for Nakamura to create something in the position.} Bxd5 19. exd5 Nf5 20. Rde1 Bd2 21. Re2 Bc3 $11 {Nothing at all.}) 18... Nc6 19. a3 Ne7 20. Ne2 Be3 21. h3 (21. f4 Bg4 $1 $11 {Keep the position in balance!}) 21... g5 22. a4 {Black can now expand, but MVL overlooks the urgency to stop the next move Nakamura could have played. However,} f6 $6 {is generally useful, but too slow here.} (22... a6 $1 { prevents the advance.} 23. c4 $6 {and now} ({Nakamura wanted instead} 23. Rh1 Ng6 24. g3 {maintaining the balance. Visually, Black is great, but it will not be easy to make progress.}) 23... b5 $36 {is strongly countered by}) 23. c4 $1 {and "the excitement is over" (MVL).} Ng6 24. Bc1 Bxc1 25. Nxc1 h5 26. Rf2 h4 27. Rfd2 Kf7 28. Ne2 Ke7 29. Kb2 Nf4 30. Nc3 a5 31. Bf1 b6 32. Bd3 Rc5 33. Bc2 Rc7 34. Re1 Rc5 35. Nd1 Rc6 36. Ne3 Rc7 $11 37. Red1 Rc6 38. Bd3 Rc7 39. Bc2 Rc6 40. Bd3 Rc7 41. Bc2 Rc6 $11 {"A position with fortresses for both sides", the players agreed and agreed to a draw.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Altibox Norway Chess"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.05"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "France"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "FRA"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] {In recent years, Viswanathan Anand has been counted out many times. His rating has dropped to 2760 and out of the world top 10, yet he won a World Rapid title. Even as he approaches 50 years old, no player can underestimate him, lest they fall victim to a game like this. Against MVL in Norway, Anand's play was practically perfect.} 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 Be7 (9... Bc5 {was played by Anand over 20 (!) years ago in games against Kamsky and Polgar. A quick filter of top games in this line indicate it's an outdated option. Anand did defeat Sethuraman from the White side of this line at the 2017 Isle of Man tournament. }) 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Re1 Nc5 12. Nd4 Nxd4 13. cxd4 Nd3 (13... Nxb3 {is a bad decision, since the bishop on b3 stares into a wall. White quickly prevents Black from playing ...c5, leaving him with a permanent weakness in the form of a backward pawn.} 14. Nxb3) 14. Re3 Nf4 {The knight's tour continues. Anand is not ceding control of the c-file that easily!} ({MVL had mainly looked at the following game, where Black seemed to have several opportunities to improve with ...c5 breaks:} 14... Nxc1 15. Rxc1 a5 16. f4 g6 17. a4 Rb8 18. Bc2 Qc8 19. Nb3 bxa4 20. Nxa5 c5 {Short,N (2656)-Tukhaev,A (2551) Kolkata 2018}) 15. Nf3 Bg4 16. h3 Bh5 17. Rc3 $146 (17. Bc2 Ne6 18. Bf5 c5 19. dxc5 Bxc5 20. Rd3 Qb6 21. Be3 Bxe3 22. Rxe3 d4 23. Re1 Rad8 {Ye,J (2545)-Norri,J (2400) Helsinki 1992 }) 17... Ne6 18. g4 (18. Be3 f5 {may look similar to a possibility in the game, but after} 19. exf6 Bxf6 20. g4 {Black has additional space for the bishop on the retreating diagonal.} Be8) 18... Bg6 19. Be3 {MVL's last few moves aim to prevent ...c5.} a5 (19... f5 20. exf6 Bxf6 21. Rac1 {remains a fight, but perhaps Black would prefer to have control of the c6 square with the bishop on e8.}) 20. Bc2 ({MVL didn't like} 20. Rac1 c5 21. dxc5 b4 22. R3c2 Bxc2 23. Rxc2 d4 24. Bxd4 a4 25. Bxe6 fxe6) 20... Bb4 21. Rb3 f5 22. exf6 (22. a3 Be7 23. Rxb5 fxg4 24. Bxg6 gxf3 {is extremely suspicious for White, whose king is exposed beyond repair.}) (22. Qb1 {is one of those weird moves hoping to pile up on the diagonal, but Black has tactical resources because of White's overextended kingside.} f4 (22... c5 23. gxf5 Bh5 {is extremely messy.}) 23. Bxg6 hxg6 24. Qxg6 (24. Bc1 c5) 24... Ra6 $1) 22... Bxc2 23. Qxc2 Qxf6 24. Ne5 c5 $1 {Anand has great foresight here; he could have kept material level and played for an attack on the kingside, but he holds nothing back.} (24... Rad8 25. Nc6 (25. Qf5 {leads to an ending where White has decent drawing chances, but it'd be a tough road ahead.}) 25... Rd6 26. Nxb4 axb4 {is bad for White. The knight on e6 absolutely dominates the big pawn on e3, and White's shaky kingside does him no favors.} 27. Rxb4) 25. Nd7 (25. a3 a4 26. Rxb4 (26. Rd3 cxd4 27. Nd7 Qg6 $1 28. Nxf8 Rxf8 {when the pin on the rook is devastating.} 29. axb4 dxe3 30. fxe3 Ng5) 26... cxb4 27. Nd7 Qf3 28. Nxf8 Rxf8 29. Qc6 Nf4 ( 29... Ng5 30. Bxg5 Qxf2+ {is no less than an immediate repetition, though Black can certainly play on with} 31. Kh1 Qxb2) 30. Bxf4 Rxf4 {is better for Black, though White can try to survive the endgame after} 31. Qe8+ Rf8 32. Qe6+ Kh8 33. Qe3 {where Black is much preferred in a number of continuations.}) 25... Qf7 (25... Qh4 26. Nxf8 Rxf8 27. dxc5 Qxh3 $6 (27... Rf3 28. Qd1 Rg3+ 29. fxg3 Qxg3+ {leads to a forced draw:} 30. Kf1 Qxh3+ 31. Kf2 (31. Ke2 $4 Qg2+ 32. Kd3 Nxc5+ 33. Bxc5 Qe4#) 31... Qh2+ 32. Kf3 Qh3+) 28. Qd1 {Anand}) 26. Nxf8 Rxf8 27. Qf5 $6 (27. a3 c4 (27... a4 28. Rxb4 cxb4) 28. axb4 cxb3 29. Qxb3 { "In hindsight this is what I should have done: look for equality." (MVL). He certainly has a point, but it's always an uphill battle.} (29. Qc6 a4 30. Qxd5 Nf4 {The outside passed pawn and permanent threat of a4-a3 is trouble for White.}) 29... Qf3 {keeps Anand in charge, despite the temporary pawn deficit.} ) 27... cxd4 28. Qxf7+ Rxf7 29. Rxb4 ({Both players missed} 29. a3 $1 Nc5 30. Rxb4 axb4 31. Bxd4 Nb3 32. Rd1 {with equality.}) (29. Bc1 Nc5 30. Rg3 Ne4) 29... axb4 30. Bd2 {"Somehow I thought this was fine for me but I forgot about b3 completely." (MVL)} b3 {After this, Anand's path to victory was pretty straightforward.} 31. axb3 Rf3 32. b4 (32. Ra3 Rxh3 33. b4 Rxa3 34. bxa3 { is a winning ending for Black, thanks to ideas with ...d3 as well as the outside h-pawn.}) 32... Rd3 33. Re1 Kf7 34. Bc1 Rxh3 35. Re5 Rd3 36. Kf1 Rd1+ 37. Re1 Rxe1+ 38. Kxe1 g6 39. f4 Nd8 40. g5 Ke6 0-1 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.05"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2769"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "0:41:39"] [BlackClock "0:55:09"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 d4 5. exf6 dxc3 6. bxc3 Qxf6 7. Bd3 (7. d4 b6 8. h4 Bb7 9. Bg5 Qf5 10. Bd3 Qa5 11. Kf1 Nc6 12. Rb1 f6 13. Bd2 O-O-O { Aronian,L (2794)-Ding,L (2769) Berlin 2018}) 7... Bd7 (7... Nc6 8. Be4 e5 9. Qf3 Qxf3 10. Nxf3 f6 11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4 Bg4 13. Be3 Bb4+ 14. Kf1 O-O-O { Nakamura,H (2779)-Wei Yi (2707) Doha QAT 2016}) 8. Nf3 (8. Be4 {Gartside,C (147)-Ross,S (126) Aberystwyth 2014} Bc6) 8... Bc6 9. Bc2 Bxf3 $146 (9... e5 10. d4 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Qxf3 12. gxf3 exd4 13. Rb1 Nd7 14. cxd4 O-O-O 15. Be3 c5 { Meskovs,N (2476)-Stupak,K (2561) Baku 2016}) 10. Qxf3 Qxf3 11. gxf3 Nc6 12. Rb1 O-O-O 13. d4 g6 ({The immediate} 13... e5 {is bad because of} 14. Bf5+ Kb8 15. Be4) (13... Na5 14. c5 b6 {might be possible though.}) 14. Ke2 (14. Be4 f5 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. c5 e5) ({The correct move might have been} 14. f4 Na5 15. c5 b6 16. Ke2 (16. cxb6 axb6) (16. Be4) 16... bxc5 (16... Be7 17. Bd3) 17. Rb5 Nb7 18. Be3 c6 19. Rb2 c4 20. Rhb1 Rd7 21. Ba4 Ba3 22. Bxc6 Bxb2 23. Bxd7+ Kxd7 24. Rxb2 Nd6 {Caruana/Nakamura}) 14... e5 15. Bg5 Rd6 16. c5 Rd7 17. Bf6 Rg8 18. dxe5 ({Initially Caruana was planning} 18. Rhg1 {but then he saw} Be7 19. Bxe5 Nxe5 20. dxe5 Rgd8 {and Black is OK.}) 18... Bxc5 19. Be4 Be7 20. Rxb7 Kxb7 21. Rb1+ Kc8 22. Bxc6 Bxf6 23. Bxd7+ Kxd7 24. exf6 Re8+ 25. Kd3 Re6 {"It's just a draw because my pawns are too weak."} 26. Rb4 Rxf6 27. Ke3 Re6+ 28. Kd3 Rf6 29. Ke3 Re6+ 30. Kd3 Rf6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.05"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2764"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Russia"] [BlackTeam "Armenia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"] [BlackTeamCountry "ARM"] [WhiteClock "0:55:18"] [BlackClock "0:46:38"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 ({Karjakin spent more time on } 5... dxc4 {like in their previous encounter:} 6. e4 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. Bb5+ Nbd7 11. Bxf6 Qxc3+ 12. Kf1 gxf6 {Karjakin,S (2763) -Aronian,L (2794) Berlin GER 2018}) 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. Qa4+ Nc6 8. e3 O-O 9. Be2 ( 9. Rc1 Rd8 10. h4 e5 11. cxd5 Rxd5 12. dxe5 Bxc3+ 13. Rxc3 Nxe5 {Li,C (2732) -Le,Q (2737) Riadh 2017}) 9... dxc4 10. O-O Bd7 11. Bxc4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Rfd8 13. Qa3 (13. Be2 Be8 14. Qa3 Qe7 15. Qb2 b6 (15... Na5 16. Qb4 Qxb4 17. cxb4 Nc6 18. Rab1 a5 {Topalov,V (2798)-Aronian,L (2780) Stavanger 2015}) 16. Nd2 Na5 17. Nb3 Nxb3 18. axb3 a5 19. b4 axb4 20. Qxb4 Kf8 {Vachier Lagrave,M (2731) -Aronian,L (2765) Saint Louis 2015}) (13. Qc2 Na5 14. Bd3 c5 15. Ne5 Be8 16. f4 Nc6) 13... Qe7 14. Qxe7 (14. Qb2 Na5 15. Bd3 c5 16. e4 Be8 17. Rad1 cxd4 18. cxd4 Rac8 19. Rfe1 Nc4 20. Qe2 Nb6 {Shankland,S (2661)-Aronian,L (2770) Tsaghkadzor 2015}) 14... Nxe7 15. Rab1 $146 (15. Ne5 Be8 16. Rfb1 Rab8 17. a4 b6 18. a5 Nc6 19. Nxc6 Bxc6 20. f3 Kf8 {Navara,D (2730)-So,W (2773) Wijk aan Zee 2016}) 15... b6 16. Ne5 Be8 17. e4 Nc8 (17... Nc6 {was more precise according to Karjakin.}) 18. f3 Nd6 19. Be2 Kf8 20. Kf2 (20. Rb2 f6 21. Ng4 { Karjakin}) 20... Rac8 21. Nd3 Nb7 22. Nf4 c5 23. Ba6 Rc7 24. Bxb7 Rxb7 25. dxc5 Rd2+ 26. Kg3 Rxa2 27. cxb6 Rxb6 28. Rxb6 axb6 29. c4 b5 30. cxb5 g5 31. Nd3 Bxb5 32. Rf2 Rxf2 33. Nxf2 f5 34. exf5 exf5 35. h4 f4+ 36. Kg4 Bf1 37. hxg5 hxg5 38. Kxg5 Bxg2 39. Kxf4 Bxf3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.06"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2822"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] {Fabiano Caruana's impact on Petrov's Defense is one of the more underdiscussed topics in modern chess. Long considered boring and dry, Caruana has turned the opening into a legitimate weapon. Anand actually dismantled Caruana's Petrov at the Tata Steel tournament, though Caruana was extremely off in that event. In this game, Anand sought a stable opening advantage, but his opponent's creative play created some lasting difficulties.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d3 (5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Qc2 Na6 10. a3 Bg4 11. Ne5 Bf5 12. b4 Nc7 {Anand,V (2767)-Caruana,F (2811) Wijk aan Zee NED 2018}) 5... Nf6 6. d4 d5 7. Bd3 Bd6 8. O-O O-O 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 Nc6 (10... c6 11. Nc3 Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13. g4 Bg6 14. Ne5 Bxd3 15. Qxd3 Be7 16. Rae1 Nbd7 {Voiculescu,C (2583)-Szczepanski,Z (2580) corr. 2010}) 11. c3 g5 {Many might assume this move is a risky way to break the pin, but passivity in fact is a worse method.} (11... Be7 12. Re1 {when White's play is quite simple: develop, control the e-file, improve pieces. Black's dark-squared bishop will never have a useful home and space is lacking.}) 12. Bg3 Ne4 $146 {"I analyzed this but it's not good for Black" (Caruana).} (12... Re8 13. Qc2 g4 14. Nh4 Ne4 15. Bxd6 Nxd6 16. g3 Qg5 17. Nd2 Bd7 {Tieken,F (2111)-Sousa,C (2124) corr. 2014 }) 13. Bxd6 (13. Nbd2 f5 {is a worse variation for White (Caruana).} 14. Bxd6 cxd6 15. Qb3 Be6 {and he can't win a pawn here because} 16. Nxe4 (16. Qxb7 Na5 (16... Ne7 {the centralized should give Black improved chances than with the knight on a5.} 17. Qb3 g4 18. Bxe4 Rb8 19. Qa3 dxe4 20. Nh4 Qb6 {with clear compensation.}) 17. Qa6 g4 18. Bxe4 dxe4 19. Nh4 {keeps White in the game, thanks to the en prise knight on a5. Black has compensation for the lost pawn, but White is holding steady.}) 16... fxe4 17. Bxe4 {is met by the timely} Na5 { when White's best is to sacrifice the queen into a worse position} 18. Bxd5 Nxb3 19. Bxe6+ Kg7 20. axb3) (13. Qb3 Be6 (13... Bf5 {appears to be more accurate than the analysis in the post-mortem.}) 14. Qxb7 {is a free pawn. Where's the compensation!?} ({Amusingly in the post-mortem, Caruana demonstrated the perils of hallucinating:} 14. Bxd6 cxd6 15. Qxb7 Na5 16. Qa6 Bc8 17. Qb5 {and now Caruana mentioned the wonderful trick} Rb8 {...except that it hangs a rook. His point was that if} 18. Qxd5 Nf6 {the queen is trapped in the center!})) 13... cxd6 {"At least I put pressure on him this way. " (Caruana)} (13... Qxd6 {is objectively better than the game continuation, though Black isn't seeking winning chances anytime soon} 14. Nbd2 Bf5 (14... f5 {leaves behind some issues on the e5 square.}) 15. Qc2 (15. Bxe4 {looks interesting, seeking an imbalance of knight versus bishop.}) 15... Rae8 16. Rae1 (16. Rfe1) 16... Nxd2 17. Nxd2 Bxd3 18. Qxd3 {is slightly better for White.}) 14. Nfd2 (14. Qb3 {is just strong here. Caruana was understandably worried about this move, which is an improvement over playing it a move earlier.}) 14... f5 15. Na3 Be6 16. Nc2 Nxd2 17. Qxd2 f4 {Now "it's very comfortable. I was already playing for an advantage." (Caruana). Where this advantage will come from if Anand were to do nothing is unclear.} 18. Rae1 Qf6 19. f3 Rf7 20. Re2 Raf8 21. Ne1 (21. Rfe1 Bd7 {when Caruana intended to play .. .h5 and g4. Perhaps White can reroute his bishop and then attack d5, but the impending kingside attack does appear worrisome.}) 21... Ne7 22. Bc2 a5 23. Bb3 {Probably not a great move.} (23. Nd3 Nf5 (23... h5 24. Rfe1 Bd7 {concerned Caruana because he can't yet play ...g4 with f4 hanging, since the queen is overloaded defending the knight on e7.}) 24. Rfe1 Ne3 25. Nf2 Bd7) 23... Rg7 24. Qd3 Bd7 25. a4 (25. a3 {was definitely worth consideration, keeping pressure on the d5 pawn without leaving a target on a4.}) 25... Kh8 26. Qd2 ( 26. Nc2 h5 {and the attack comes}) 26... h5 27. Nd3 {"Now I am not sure if I should have taken the exchange. I got a bit greedy." (Caruana)} Nf5 28. Bxd5 Ne3 29. Rxe3 fxe3 30. Qxe3 Bxa4 31. Ra1 ({Caruana suggested} 31. Re1 Bc6 32. Bxc6 bxc6 {with good winning chances.}) (31. b4 {attempts to remove Black's outside pawn. In more general terms, White's best chances to hold will occur when all infiltration points are under control. It doesn't look like White will be able to fend off the heavy pieces just yet, but having the rook leave the first rank was risky.}) 31... Re7 32. Qd2 Bb5 33. Rxa5 Bxd3 34. Qxd3 Re1+ 35. Kf2 Rfe8 36. Ra8 ({After the game Anand said to his opponent that} 36. g3 { was a draw but Caruana was hoping for that:} Qf5 $1) 36... Qf4 37. Rxe8+ Rxe8 38. Qd1 (38. Be4 d5 $1 39. Bxd5 (39. Qb5 Rxe4) 39... Qh4+ {Caruana}) 38... Qxh2 (38... Qh4+ {was a worthy inclusion:} 39. Kf1 Qxh2 40. Qd2 h4) 39. Qd2 Qh4+ 40. Kf1 Qh1+ (40... Kg7 $1 {allows Caruana to play ...g4 next, aiming to mate Anand.} 41. Bxb7 g4 42. Bc6 g3 (42... Re7 {is also very strong, but why not get a new queen?}) 43. Bxe8 Qh1+ 44. Ke2 Qxg2+ 45. Ke1 Qxd2+ 46. Kxd2 g2) 41. Kf2 Qh4+ 42. Kf1 Ra8 43. Ke2 Ra1 44. Kd3 b5 45. c4 ({After} 45. Bc6 {Caruana thought that} Qh1 {was winning but the computer goes} 46. Ke4 $3 {and says it's equal.}) 45... bxc4+ 46. Kxc4 Qf4 47. Qe2 ({Caruana expected} 47. Qxf4 gxf4 48. Be6 Rb1 49. Kd5 {and thought he was winning but he wasn't sure. For starters,} Rxb2 {immediately draws because} (49... Kg7 50. Kxd6 Kf6 51. Bh3 Rxb2 {with a long ending ahead.}) 50. Kxd6 {will lead White's d-pawn forward.}) 47... Qc1+ 48. Kb5 Qc8 $1 {An excellent retreating move. Black takes away the check on e8, and threatens many brutal checks of his own.} 49. Kb6 (49. Kb4 Qb8+ 50. Qb5 Qxb5+ 51. Kxb5 Rd1 $1 {and Black's king rushes toward the center, while the rook does the remaining damage. Importantly, the d6 pawn does not fall. Also, Black's pawns are not disconnected on the kingside as in the variation after Qxf4.}) 49... Qb8+ 50. Kc6 Rc1+ (50... Rc1+ 51. Bc4 (51. Kd7 Rc7+ 52. Ke6 (52. Kxd6 Rc2+) 52... Qe8+) 51... Qc8+ 52. Kd5 (52. Kb5 Qb7+) 52... Qg8+) 0-1 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.06"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2843"] [BlackElo "2808"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Norway"] [BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"] [BlackTeamCountry "AZE"] [WhiteClock "0:48:01"] [BlackClock "1:04:59"] 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 Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Nbd2 Nxd2 {Deviating from Anand's win in the previous round. Mamedyarov spent 10 minutes on the move.} (11... Nc5 12. Nd4 Nxd4 13. cxd4 Nd3 14. Re3 Nf4 (14... Nxc1 15. Rxc1 a5 16. f4 g6 17. a4 Rb8 18. Bc2 Qc8 {Short,N (2656) -Tukhaev,A (2551) Kolkata 2018}) 15. Nf3 Bg4 16. h3 Bh5 17. Rc3 Ne6 18. g4 Bg6 19. Be3 a5 {Vachier-Lagrave,M (2789)-Anand,V (2760) Stavanger 2018}) 12. Qxd2 Qd7 13. Qd3 Rad8 14. Bc2 g6 15. Bh6 Rfe8 16. Rad1 d4 $146 {This pawn sacrifice, played after 14 minutes, is a novelty over a game that's more than a century old.} (16... f6 17. exf6 Bxf6 18. h3 Bf7 19. Bf4 Rxe1+ 20. Rxe1 Re8 {Fox,A-Schroeder,A New York,NY 1916}) (16... Bf5 17. Qe2 Bxc2 18. Qxc2 {and White is better (Mamedyarov).}) 17. Nxd4 (17. cxd4 Nb4 { Mamedyarov}) 17... Nxd4 18. Qxd4 (18. cxd4 c5 {Mamedyarov}) 18... Qxd4 19. Rxd4 {Oddly, Mamedyarov thought for seven minutes here.} Rxd4 20. cxd4 c5 21. dxc5 Bxc5 22. b3 a5 23. h3 b4 $6 24. Rd1 {"Now my position is really bad," said Mamedyarov, who forgot about White's Bh6-g5-f6 idea.} Rc8 25. Rd2 Be7 26. Bd1 $6 {"A very strange move," said Mamedyarov.} Rc5 (26... g5 27. Kf1 Rc5 28. f4 gxf4 29. Bxf4 Kg7 {Mamedyarov}) 27. Bf4 (27. f4 f6 28. exf6 Bxf6 {Mamedyarov}) 27... g5 28. Bg3 Kg7 29. f4 Rc1 30. Kh2 Bc5 31. fxg5 Be3 32. Rd3 ({After} 32. Rd6 {Mamedyarov thought he could force a draw with} a4 33. bxa4 b3 34. axb3 Bxb3 {but White can still try} 35. Rd3) 32... Bxg5 {Black is completely fine now.} 33. h4 Bf5 34. Rf3 Bg4 35. hxg5 Rxd1 36. Rf2 Be6 37. Bf4 Rd3 38. Rf3 Rxf3 39. gxf3 Bf5 40. e6 fxe6 41. Bc7 Bb1 42. Bxa5 Bxa2 43. Bxb4 Bxb3 44. Bc3+ Kg6 45. f4 Kf7 46. Kg3 Kg6 47. Be5 Kf7 48. Bc3 Kg6 49. Be5 Kf7 50. Bc3 Kg6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.06"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2769"] [BlackElo "2782"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] [WhiteClock "1:19:10"] [BlackClock "0:33:44"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O e4 7. Ng5 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Re8 9. f3 exf3 (9... e3 10. d3 d5 11. Qb3 Na5 12. Qa3 c6 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. f4 Nc6 15. Rb1 Qc7 {Kasparov,G (2740)-Karpov,A (2700) Sevilla 1987}) 10. Nxf3 d5 (10... Qe7 11. e3 Ne5 12. Nd4 Nd3 13. Qe2 Nxc1 14. Raxc1 d6 15. Rf4 c6 16. Rcf1 Qe5 {Kasparov,G (2740)-Karpov,A (2700) Sevilla 1987}) 11. d4 dxc4 (11... Ne4 12. Qc2 dxc4 13. Rb1 f5 (13... Rb8) 14. g4 Qe7 15. gxf5 Nd6 16. Ng5 Qxe2 17. Bd5+ Kh8 18. Qxe2 Rxe2 19. Bf4 Nd8 20. Bxd6 cxd6 21. Rbe1 Rxe1 22. Rxe1 Bd7 23. Re7 Bc6 24. f6 {1-0 (24) Kasparov,G (2760)-Ivanchuk,V (2625) Moscow 1988}) 12. Bg5 (12. Qc2 h6 13. Bf4 Ne4 14. Rad1 Bf5 15. Ne5 Nd6 16. e4 Bh7 17. Qe2 Ne7 {Caruana,F (2794)-Anand,V (2762) Moscow 2016}) 12... h6 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Nd2 $146 (14. e4 Bg4 15. Qa4 Qd6 16. Rae1 Rab8 17. Qxc4 b5 18. e5 bxc4 19. exd6 cxd6 {Aronian,L (2765)-Anand,V (2816) Saint Louis 2015}) 14... Qe7 {"The first move that surprised me." (Nakamura)} (14... Qg5) (14... Qg6) 15. e4 Na5 $6 ( 15... b5 16. e5) (15... Qa3) 16. e5 Be6 {"I was just shocked by this. I thought after 17.Ne4 he can just pretty much resign. " (Nakamura)} (16... c5 17. Qa4 Nc6 {was a better try.}) 17. Ne4 Rad8 18. Qh5 b5 (18... Rf8 19. Rf6) ( 18... Qf8 19. Rf4) (18... c5 19. Nf6+ gxf6 20. Rxf6 Qf8 21. Rxh6 Qg7 22. Be4 { Nakamura}) 19. Nf6+ Kh8 20. d5 Bxd5 21. Bxd5 Rxd5 22. Nxe8 Rxe5 23. Qxf7 Qxe8 24. Qxe8+ Rxe8 25. Rae1 Rxe1 26. Rxe1 c5 27. Kf2 ({Nakamura had been planning} 27. Re5 {but here he noticed} Nb3 $5 28. axb3 $2 (28. Re1) 28... cxb3 29. Rxc5 b4 $1 {and now Black wins!}) 27... b4 28. Ke3 bxc3 29. Rc1 Nc6 30. Rxc3 Nb4 31. Rxc4 ({MVL entered the confession booth to point out that} 31. a4 {might have been a simpler win:} Nd5+ 32. Kd2 Nxc3 33. Kxc3 Kg8 34. Kxc4 Kf7 35. Kxc5 Ke6 36. Kc6) 31... Nxa2 32. Rxc5 Nb4 33. Ke4 Kh7 34. Rc4 a5 35. Rc5 a4 36. Ra5 Nc6 37. Rxa4 Nd8 38. Ra6 Nf7 39. Kf5 Nh8 40. h4 Nf7 41. g4 1-0 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.07"] [Round "9.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2778"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "1:37:15"] [BlackClock "1:23:37"] {Heading into the final round of the Altibox Norway Chess tournament, Fabiano Caruana was tied for first with Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Wesley So. As the only player with the White pieces, Caruana had to be the favorite. Nakamura had Black against Aronian, who dominates their head-to-head matchup. Carlsen's game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was over almost as soon as it began. That left Caruana with the opportunity to press for a win against So, whom he defeated in the first round of the Candidates.} 1. e4 {By no means a surprise, but Caruana used the Catalan to dispatch So in Berlin.} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O Nd4 6. Nxd4 Bxd4 7. Ba4 (7. Nd2 a6 8. Ba4 b5 9. Bb3 d6 10. Nf3 Bb6 11. a4 Rb8 12. axb5 axb5 13. c3 O-O {Vachier Lagrave,M (2789) -Nakamura,H (2769) Stavanger 2018}) 7... c6 8. c3 Bb6 9. Na3 d6 10. Bc2 Be6 $146 (10... O-O 11. Nc4 Bc7 12. Bg5 d5 13. Ne3 dxe4 14. dxe4 h6 15. Bh4 Qxd1 16. Rfxd1 Be6 {Van Foreest,J (2609)-Leko,P (2679) Germany 2018}) (10... Bg4 { would be a useful move if it forced the queen to a bad square, but here it pushes the queen to e1, where after an eventual f-pawn move (following Kh1) she will move to g3 or h4.}) 11. Qe2 h6 12. Kh1 g5 {In addition to overlooking an immediate path to equality, So creates lasting weaknesses in his position.} ({Carlsen and MVL thought} 12... Ng4 {was very obvious and Black is at least fine. An important point is that} 13. f3 {is met by the decisive} (13. h3 Qh4) (13. g3 h5) 13... Nxh2 $1) 13. Nc4 Bc7 14. Ne3 d5 15. Re1 {"I just didn't see a move." (Caruana)} (15. a4 {Agdestein. This would give Caruana a head start on his queenside initiative. One major drawback is that the knight does not have the f1 square to retreat to, meaning} d4 {would force the knight to a square where it can be captured. Certainly not the end of the world, but limiting.}) 15... Qe7 16. a4 O-O-O 17. Rb1 d4 18. Nf1 Bb6 $6 {"A strange move. " (Caruana)} (18... Rdg8 {or}) (18... Rhg8 {and pushing the pawns made more sense, Caruana felt. Black is better.} 19. cxd4 exd4 20. b4 {"isn't real counterplay because b5 is met by c5." (Caruana)}) 19. Bd2 Bg4 (19... dxc3 20. bxc3 Ng4 21. Ne3 {Caruana} (21. h3 $5 h5 {keeps the initiative coming. The point is that capturing the knight leads to an open h-file and a blossoming attack.} (21... Nxf2+ 22. Kh2 {and Black must sacrifice some material for the attack [with Rxb6 being the threat, removing the guard of the knight on f2].})) ) 20. f3 Be6 21. Ng3 (21. c4 {is a plausible move, permanently eliminating the chance of opening the center. However, it becomes unclear how White unleashes an attack on the queenside, whereas Black is ready to start pressing on the kingside.}) 21... Rhg8 (21... Rdg8 22. a5 Bxa5 23. cxd4 Bxd2 24. Qxd2 exd4 25. Qa5 a6 26. Qe5 Qd8 27. Ne2 {Caruana}) ({Agdestein suggested} 21... h5 22. Bxg5 h4 23. Nf5 (23. Nf1 Rdg8) 23... Bxf5 24. exf5 dxc3 {with the idea} 25. bxc3 $2 (25. Qxe5 Qxe5 26. Rxe5 Nh5 27. Bxh4 {is good for White}) 25... Nh5 $1 { and Black wins.}) 22. b4 g4 $6 {Caruana thought this was a bad move.} ({ Caruana thought that} 22... h5 {was more correct.} 23. a5 Bc7 24. cxd4 exd4 25. b5 h4 26. Nf1 g4 (26... Nh5 27. bxc6 bxc6 28. Ba4) 27. f4 (27. bxc6 bxc6 28. Ba4 {allows Black to open the kingside. For example, the following is too crazy to calculate:} gxf3 29. Qxf3 Ng4 30. Bxc6 Ne5 31. Bb7+ Kd7)) 23. a5 dxc3 24. Bxc3 Bd4 25. Bxd4 Rxd4 26. b5 c5 27. Bb3 {A very important idea! Caruana intended to secure control of the c4 square, since Black can't afford to swap bishops with the f5 square a permanent outpost for the White knight.} h5 (27... gxf3 28. gxf3 {when the open g-file is blockaded and difficult to make use of for So.} (28. Qxf3 Ng4 {is looking worrisome for White.})) 28. Nf5 Bxf5 29. exf5 Re8 30. Rbc1 {Caruana had 5 minutes left on the clock here vs 20 minutes for So - without increment.} ({Caruana "kind of regretted" not including} 30. b6 a6 31. Rbc1 {with nagging pressure on c5, which can't be defended by a pawn. }) 30... gxf3 (30... b6 31. axb6 axb6 32. Qa2 {is trouble for Black, who has problems on the a-file and on the f7 square.}) ({Caruana said he would have played} 30... Kb8 31. b6 a6 ({can Black afford to allow White to capture on a7? It doesn't appear to be the end of the world. Meanwhile, Black is trying not to waste any tempi while gaining the momentum. A very double-edged position.} 31... gxf3)) 31. Qxf3 Red8 32. Bc4 ({Huge complications arise after } 32. a6 Rxd3 33. axb7+ (33. Qxb7+ Qxb7 34. axb7+ Kxb7 35. Bxf7 Kb6 {and Black's king is active - Caruana}) 33... Kb8 (33... Qxb7 34. Rxc5+ Kb8 35. Qxb7+ Kxb7 36. Bxf7) 34. Qc6 Ne4) 32... e4 33. dxe4 (33. a6 Ng4 {is pandemonium.}) 33... Qe5 (33... Rxe4 34. Be6+ $1 fxe6 35. Rxe4 Nxe4 36. Qxe4 { is good for White, since he has an attack and should go up a pawn.}) 34. Bxf7 Rd3 35. Qf2 R8d4 36. Bd5 Kd7 37. b6 $6 {"I was a bit confused and I panicked." (Caruana)} ({He saw} 37. h3 {but didn't like} Rd2 38. Qg1 (38. Qe3 R4d3)) ({ Caruana said he "didn't want to leave the back rank" but} 37. Rxc5 {was entirely possible:} Kd6 (37... Ng4 38. Qh4 Rh3 39. Be6+) 38. Rcc1 Ng4 39. Qh4) ({"If I wanna wait, why not just} 37. Bxb7 {" (Caruana)}) 37... axb6 38. axb6 Ng4 39. Qg1 (39. Qh4 Rh3 $3 40. Be6+ Ke8 41. Qxh3 Nf2+ 42. Kg1 Nxh3+ 43. gxh3 Rd2 {Caruana. Clearly he overlooked the Rh3 tricks!}) 39... Kd8 $6 ({The best chance was} 39... Rd2 40. Rf1 h4 41. Rxc5 (41. h3 R4d3 42. hxg4 h3) 41... Kd6 { "And now I can play} 42. f6 {and it just becomes a total mess." (Caruana)}) 40. h3 $4 (40. Bxb7 Rd2 41. Rf1 {still is great for Caruana.}) 40... Rxh3+ 41. gxh3 Rd3 $4 {Despite having reached move 40, So only used four seconds on this move. Caruana had also only considered this move when he played his 40th move.} ({ So could have forced a draw and a tiebreak on Friday with five players with} 41... Rd2 $1 42. hxg4 hxg4 43. Qg2 Qh8+ 44. Kg1 Rxg2+ 45. Kxg2 Qh3+ 46. Kf2 Qf3+ 47. Kg1 Qg3+ {with a draw.}) 42. Qg2 $1 {The only move, but the winning move.} Rg3 43. hxg4 Rxg2 44. Kxg2 h4 45. Kf3 Qg3+ 46. Ke2 h3 47. Rg1 Qh4 48. e5 1-0 [Event "Stavanger"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2018.06.07"] [Round "9.4"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2760"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Russia"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] [WhiteClock "1:33:43"] [BlackClock "1:28:16"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2 Nc6 9. a3 Qa5 10. O-O-O Ne4 (10... Be7 11. Kb1 a6 12. Nd2 b5 13. Nb3 Qb6 14. cxd5 exd5 15. Bg5 Be6 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17. Nxd5 Bxd5 18. Rxd5 Rac8 {Topalov,V (2749)-Nakamura,H (2780) Saint Louis 2017}) 11. Nb5 a6 12. Nc7 e5 13. Rxd5 exf4 $146 (13... f5 14. Rxe5 Nxe5 15. Bxe5 Ra7 16. Nd5 b6 17. Bd3 Bd7 18. b4 Qxa3+ 19. Bb2 Qa4 20. bxc5 bxc5 21. Ne5 Qxc2+ 22. Bxc2 Be6 23. Nf4 {1-0 Kasparov,G (2780)-Vaganian,R (2590) Debrecen 1992}) 14. Qxe4 Qxc7 15. Rxc5 fxe3 16. Bd3 g6 17. fxe3 Be6 18. Qh4 Rae8 ({Karjakin suggested} 18... Qd6 19. Ng5 h5 20. Qe4 Rae8 21. Nxe6 Rxe6 22. Rd5 {which is equal.}) 19. Be4 {Played after 43 minutes. } Qb6 20. Qh6 f5 (20... f6 21. Bxg6 Re7 22. Ng5) (20... Qxc5 21. Ng5 Qxe3+ 22. Kb1 Qxe4+ 23. Ka1 $1 {and wins} ({but not} 23. Nxe4 $2 Bf5)) 21. Ng5 Rf7 22. Bd5 $1 (22. Nxf7 Qxc5) (22. Bxc6 Qxc5 (22... bxc6 23. b4) 23. Bxe8 Qxc4+ 24. Kd2 Qd5+ $1 25. Ke1 Rc7 {wins for Black.}) 22... Bxd5 23. Rxd5 Qxe3+ 24. Kb1 Rfe7 25. Rhd1 Qe2 26. h4 $2 (26. Rd6 $1 Rg7 (26... Ne5 27. Rd8) (26... Qxc4 27. Rxg6+ hxg6 28. Qxg6+ Kf8 29. Qf6+ Kg8 30. Qg6+ {draws}) 27. c5 {is about equal. }) 26... Ne5 $1 {This wins on the spot.} 27. Nf3 (27. Rd8 Qxd1+ 28. Rxd1 Ng4 { is a key idea.}) 27... Qe4+ (27... Nxc4 28. Qc1 b5 {would have been quicker.}) 28. Ka2 Qxc4+ 29. Ka1 Ng4 30. Qc1 Qxc1+ 31. Rxc1 Kg7 32. h5 $6 Nf6 0-1