Baku 5.2: Eljanov, Giri advance

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2015.09.24"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E60"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "137"] [EventDate "2015.09.11"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. e3 {This is definitely one way of avoiding the Grunfeld complications. Giri just wants to play some chess.} O-O 5. Be2 b6 6. O-O Bb7 7. Nc3 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bd2 {The structure is Grunfeld like anyway. Black will soon try to break with e5 or c5.} c5 $5 {But he didn't have to do it right away. This is a pawn sacrifice.} (9... Nd7 {looks playable, MVL was probably trying to avoid something like.} 10. Nxd5 Bxd5 11. Qc2 {with a quick e4 coming.}) 10. dxc5 Nxc3 11. Bxc3 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Nd7 (12... bxc5 13. Qa4 {leaves Black in a rather bad position. White will soon take control of the d and b files, resulting in a clear advantage for him.}) 13. cxb6 axb6 {In exchange for the pawn Black has an open a-file, a target on c3 and a nice anchor square for the knight on c5. I would rather playing white nonetheless, but Black has chances.} 14. Qd4 Qc7 15. Rfb1 Ra5 16. Qb4 e6 17. Qe7 $5 {Making Black's life difficult. There are some issues with the pin on the seventh rank and the f7 pawn.} Qd8 (17... Bxf3 $5 18. Bxf3 Rc5 {seems to solve some problems, but giving up a bishop for a knight isn't the easiest thing to do.}) 18. Qxd8 Rxd8 19. Rd1 Bc6 20. Nd4 Ba4 21. Rdb1 e5 22. Nb3 Ra7 23. Nd2 {Now in the endgame Black retains some compensation, but it is clear that White will be the one pressing for a win.} Rc8 24. c4 Bc6 25. Rb2 Kg7 26. f3 Re8 27. Kf2 e4 {Trying to create something, but this does weaken the d4 square.} 28. Nb3 exf3 29. gxf3 Ba4 30. Rd1 Re5 31. Rd5 $16 Rxd5 (31... Re8 {was probably better in hindsight.}) 32. cxd5 Bxb3 {A necessity. Black can't allow White to setup his pieces in all the right squares and push e4.} 33. axb3 Kf6 34. f4 {Black's only hope of surviving is to create some kind of blockade. Giri makes sure that the darksquares are under his control.} g5 (34... Nc5 35. b4 Ne4+ 36. Kf3 $18) 35. Rc2 $6 (35. Kf3 gxf4 36. Kxf4 Ne5 37. Ke4 {lets Black blockade on e5 for now, but I wonder if he can really hold this position. I like this better than what Giri did.}) 35... gxf4 36. exf4 Ke7 37. Rc6 Nf6 38. Bf3 Rd7 39. Rxb6 Nxd5 40. Bxd5 Rxd5 {This is a difficult position to assess. My intuition says that it is closer to a draw than anything else, but in practical chess it isn't easy to hold by any means.} 41. Kg3 h5 42. Kh4 Rf5 43. Rb4 Rd5 44. Rc4 Kf6 45. b4 Kg6 (45... Rb5 {would prevent the maneuver that White played in the game, on the other hand the rook looks passive on b5.}) (45... Rd2 46. Kxh5 ( 46. h3 Kg6 47. b5 Rb2 {rook from behind}) 46... Rxh2+ 47. Kg4 {was perhaps the way to go for MVL.}) 46. Rc6+ f6 47. Rc2 Rb5 48. Rb2 Kf5 49. Kg3 Ke4 50. Rb1 Kd3 {Black is pretty active, but to get to the b4 pawn he will have to give up his kingside position.} 51. Kf3 Kc2 (51... f5 52. Kg3 {makes h5 rather weak. After for example} Kc2 53. Ra1 (53. Rf1 Rxb4 54. Kh4 Kd3 55. Kxh5 Ke2 $11) 53... Rxb4 54. Ra5 h4+ 55. Kxh4 Rxf4+ 56. Kg5 Rf1 57. Rxf5 Rg1+ 58. Kh5 Kd3 { And my trust computer says this is a draw. However that is not so obvious to a human: after Re5 it looks scary.}) 52. Ra1 Rxb4 53. Ra5 Rb3+ 54. Ke4 {The king's intrusion looks fatal.} h4 55. Kf5 Kd3 56. Kxf6 Ke4 57. f5 h3 58. Ra4+ Kf3 59. Kg5 {Now the ending is winning. Giri converts precisely.} Rb5 60. Ra2 Rb4 61. f6 Rg4+ 62. Kf5 Rf4+ 63. Ke6 Re4+ 64. Kd6 Rd4+ 65. Ke7 Re4+ 66. Kf8 Rb4 67. f7 Rf4 68. Rb2 Ra4 69. Rb6 1-0