[Event "Russian Superfinal 2013"] [Site "Novgorod, Russia"] [Date "2013.10.14"] [Round "9"] [White "Karjakin, S."] [Black "Svidler, P."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2762"] [BlackElo "2740"] [Annotator "Friedel,Joshua"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Rb1 {Karjakin is not one to shun the main lines, even against a Grunfeld specialist such as Svidler.} O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O Bg4 13. Be3 Nc6 14. d5 Na5 15. Bg5 b6 {This move, which has been played a couple times already by Svidler himself, looks obnoxious. Bxe7? What Bxe7? In all seriousness though, gambiting this pawn is not all that unusual in the Grunfeld.} (15... Qa3 {is the older and more common move, pretending that Bxe7 is actually a threat.}) 16. Bxe7 Rfe8 17. d6 Nc6 18. Bb5 Nxe7 19. Bxe8 Rxe8 20. dxe7 Qa3 21. h3 Bxf3 22. Qxf3 Qxe7 {After a fairly forced sequence of events, this interesting position has been reached. White has snagged an exchange, but it wasn't for free. It not only cost a pawn, but White's most dangerous one (the d-pawn). In addition, the outside connected passers could become dangerous one day. If you want my theoretical opinion, I don't think Black should have serious problems here.} 23. Rfe1 {This is the first new move. While this move may look fairly simple, it allows Black to reposition his bishop to a more useful square.} (23. Rfd1 {Shulman's move stopped the immediate Bd4 but Svidler got his bishop to c5 in another way an easily made a draw.} Bf8 24. Rd4 Qe6 25. Qb3 Qxb3 26. Rxb3 Bc5 27. Ra4 a5 28. Kf1 Bb4 29. Rbxb4 axb4 30. Rxb4 Re6 31. Ke2 Kf8 32. Ke3 Rc6 33. f4 {1/2-1/2 (33) Shulman,Y (2617)-Svidler,P (2739) Ningbo 2011}) 23... Bd4 24. Rbd1 Qe5 25. Qd3 Bc5 26. Qa6 {White temporarily stops a5, which would solidify Black's queenside completely.} Re7 27. Re2 h5 {In such a position it can be difficult to do anything serious with your pieces, so Svidler simply improves his kingside.} 28. Rd5 Qe6 29. Rd8+ Kg7 30. Qa1+ Qe5 {There was no good way to avoid the queen trade, but Black shouldn't really object to it much, as his queenside will be more dangerous then. The main drawback will be that White can more easily advance his kingside.} 31. Qxe5+ Rxe5 32. Kf1 a5 33. Ra8 {The rook here is quite effective at halting Black's queenside march.} g5 {Svidler aims to prevent f4-e5 ideas.} 34. f3 h4 35. Rd2 f5 36. exf5 (36. Rd5 {had to be calculated, and after} Kf6 (36... Rxd5 $2 {would not be recommended, as after} 37. exd5 Kf6 38. Re8 $1 a4 39. Re6+ Kf7 40. Ke2 a3 41. Kd3 {and White is winning, since a2 can be answered easily with Re1. The key is that Black's king is stuck out of the action while White's is in ideal position.}) 37. Rxe5 Kxe5 38. exf5 Kxf5 39. Ke2 Kf4 {is a draw, since neither side can really make progress. Black's king will stick to the kingside, thus forcing White's king to do the same, and meanwhile the rook on a8 keeps Black's queenside from advancing.}) 36... Kf6 37. g4 {This move isn't necessary, but it doesn't change much.} hxg3 38. Kg2 Kxf5 39. Kxg3 Re1 {Neither side can really make progress here.} 40. Rd5+ Re5 (40... Kf6 {would also be a simple draw, as after} 41. f4 gxf4+ 42. Kxf4 Rf1+ 43. Kg4 Rg1+ 44. Kh5 Rh1 {White has no real way to make progress.}) 41. Rxe5+ Kxe5 42. Kg4 Be3 {The only danger to Black is if White manages to create a kingside passer and get it far advanced. White's main potential hazard would be if Black's king could support the queenside pawns. Both are pipe dreams.} 43. Rd8 b5 44. Rb8 b4 45. Rb5+ Kd4 46. Rxa5 { White snagged a pawn, but the b-pawn is dangerous enough he'll have to sac the rook for the other pawn.} b3 47. Rb5 Kc4 48. Rxb3 Kxb3 49. h4 gxh4 50. Kxh4 { And thus Svidler ensures at least a tie for first.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Russian Superfinal 2013"] [Site "Novgorod, Russia"] [Date "2013.10.14"] [Round "9"] [White "Nepomniachti, I."] [Black "Kramnik, V."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2702"] [BlackElo "2795"] [Annotator "Friedel,Joshua"] [PlyCount "153"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 g6 7. h4 Bg7 8. h5 Bf5 9. Qb3 Ndb4 10. Kf1 Be6 11. Qa4 Qa5 12. Qxa5 Nxa5 13. Ng5 Bd7 14. h6 Bd4 15. Rb1 f6 16. Nge4 f5 17. Nxc5 Bxc5 18. a3 Nd3 $1 19. exd3 Nb3 {White's opening has been rather uninspired.} 20. Rh4 Bc6 21. Rc4 Bxg2+ 22. Kxg2 Kf7 23. Ne2 Rhd8 24. Rc3 Nd4 25. Rxc5 Nxe2 26. Re5 Nd4 27. b4 Nc6 28. Re3 Rd5 29. Bb2 Rad8 30. Bc3 a6 31. a4 Na7 32. Rbe1 R8d7 33. Re5 Nc6 34. Rxd5 Rxd5 35. Rb1 g5 { White is up a pawn, but as d3 and h6 are both rather weak, I prefer Black.} 36. Re1 e6 37. Re3 Ne7 38. Be5 Nc6 39. Bc3 e5 40. Re1 g4 41. Rb1 Kg6 42. b5 axb5 43. axb5 Nd8 44. f3 {I'm not sure about the objective value of this move, but it makes the game messy, which is usually better for the defender.} gxf3+ 45. Kxf3 Rxd3+ 46. Ke2 e4 47. Be5 Ne6 (47... Kxh6 {was a simpler continuation, and would have spared Black a lot of grief.}) 48. Bf4 Rf3 (48... Nxf4+ {is safest but simply isn't enough to win. Now after} 49. gxf4 b6 (49... Kxh6 50. Rh1+ Kg6 51. Rg1+ Kf6 52. Rh1 Rd7 53. Rh5 {and Black can't make any progress.}) 50. Rc1 Kxh6 51. Rc6+ Kh5 52. Rxb6 Kg4 53. Rh6 Rb3 54. Rxh7 Rxb5 55. d3 Kxf4 56. dxe4 Rb2+ 57. Ke1 fxe4 58. Rh3 {with a Philidor draw.}) 49. b6 Nd4+ 50. Ke1 Nc2+ 51. Ke2 Nd4+ 52. Ke1 Rb3 {At this point Kramnik realized he had to win, but even if not I'm sure he'd have played on.} 53. Rc1 Rxb6 54. Rc8 Ne6 55. Be3 Rd6 { Black is up a pawn, but winning will be rather difficult, especially since h6 can't be easily won now.} 56. Rg8+ Kf6 57. Rb8 Rd7 58. Kf2 Ke5 59. Ra8 Kf6 60. Rb8 Rf7 61. Ra8 Kg6 62. Rg8+ Kh5 {Kramnik decides to go for it. I don't see how he could try to make progress otherwise.} 63. Re8 Nf8 64. Kg2 Kg4 65. Rb8 Ng6 66. Rg8 Rd7 67. Kf2 Kh3 {It looks like Black is making progress, but in fact he has to be very cautious. Rg7 must always be watched, and the b-pawn isn't so dangerous yet.} 68. Bg5 Ne5 69. Rg7 {I bet Black wishes he took that h6 pawn when he had the chance.} b5 $2 {As normal as it looks, this move was a major error.} (69... Rd3 {Black had to give up on the h-pawn and start counterplay in the center.} 70. Bf4 Ng4+ 71. Ke1 Nf6 72. Bg5 Ng4 73. Rxh7 Rxg3 74. Bf4 Rg1+ 75. Ke2 Rg2+ 76. Kd1 Rf2 {Now Black should draw comfortably, for instance if} 77. Rg7 (77. Bg5 Kg3 78. Rxb7 Rh2 79. h7 f4 80. Rg7 e3 {is also drawn.}) 77... Rxf4 78. h7 Nf2+ 79. Ke2 Rh4 80. Kxf2 f4 {it is an easy draw, since White can't support his h-pawn.}) 70. Ke2 $1 b4 71. Bf4 {This is the problem. Black's pieces are badly placed and the h-pawn will be a monster.} Nf7 (71... Rd5 {would have resisted a bit better, though I think White should still win with best play. The following is one possible continuation.} 72. Rxh7 b3 73. Rb7 Ng6 74. Be3 Rd8 75. Rxb3 Kxg3 76. Bg5+ Rd3 77. Rxd3+ exd3+ 78. Kxd3 Kg4 79. Bf6 Nf8 80. Bg7 Nh7 81. Ke2 Kf4 82. Kf2 {and Black is lost here. The plan for White is to for Black to go after the d-pawn with his king, and then White will move up his king to take the f-pawn. After this, despite only having the h-pawn left, the knight on h7 is trapped.} Ng5 83. Kg2 Nh7 84. Kh3 Kg5 85. d4 Kg6 (85... f4 86. d5 Kf5 87. d6 Ke6 88. Be5 $1 $18) 86. Kg3 Ng5 87. d5 Nf7 {Black can try to reposition the knight, but it won't help.} 88. Kh4 Nd6 89. Be5 $1 Ne4 90. Bf4 Nc5 91. d6 {and White can win now by marching the king over to support the d-pawn.}) 72. Rxh7 b3 73. Kd1 $1 {Once White covers the b-pawn with the king, the h-pawn will simply start running.} (73. Be5 Rd5 $1 { gives Black some counterchances.}) 73... e3 74. Bxe3 Rc7 75. Bd4 Kg2 76. Bc3 Kf2 77. Kc1 {and Black resigned, as once White plays Kb2 he can play Rg7-h7 at his leisure. As a result, Nepomniatchi managed to catch Svidler. What a finish! } (77. Kc1 Kxg3 78. Rg7+ Kf3 79. h7 $18) 1-0