Baku 6.TB: All Russian Final

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2015.09.29"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "2717"] [BlackElo "2762"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2015.09.11"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. O-O e5 5. e4 (5. c4 d5 {leads to Maroczy type of positions}) 5... Be7 6. Nc3 d6 7. d3 O-O 8. a4 Nb4 {Even though it is hard to get rid of the knight here, I wonder what exactly it is doing on this square. I liked it better on c6, where it can go to d4 later.} 9. Nd2 $1 h6 10. Nc4 Bg4 11. Qd2 {Avoiding the subtle weakness of f3.} Bd7 12. Nd1 Re8 13. Nde3 Bf8 14. c3 Nc6 15. f4 exf4 16. gxf4 {White's position is rather nice. He controls more center and his plan is more obvious - an important asset in a 25 minute game!} Be6 17. Qf2 Bxc4 18. Nxc4 d5 19. exd5 Nxd5 {Black is making some progress by simplifying the center and getting some pressure on the e-file. However now Eljanov has the pair of bishops in an open position, the g2 bishop might be particularly powerful in the future.} 20. Bd2 Nf6 21. Qf3 Na5 22. Ne5 Qb6 23. Rab1 Rad8 24. Kh1 Qb3 $6 25. Be1 Qxa4 $6 {Shameless pawn grabbing, but this was not the time to do it.} 26. Bh4 $1 Rd6 27. Ra1 $1 {Black's pieces in the queenside are rather awkward. Eljanov immediately exploits this.} Qb5 28. c4 Qa6 29. d4 $1 Rxd4 (29... cxd4 30. b4 $18) 30. Qc3 $1 (30. Bxf6 gxf6 31. Rxa5 $1 (31. Qg3+ Bg7 32. Rg1 fxe5 {lets the queen back into the game via the 6th rank.}) 31... Qxa5 32. Qg3+ Bg7 33. Rg1 $1 {was also decisive.}) 30... Ne4 (30... b6 31. Bxf6 gxf6 32. Qg3+ Bg7 33. Rg1 {is a much easier to calculate version of the above}) 31. Qxa5 Qxa5 32. Rxa5 Nd2 33. Rd1 {White's basically up a piece.} Bd6 34. Bf2 Bxe5 35. fxe5 Nxc4 36. Bxd4 Nxa5 37. Bc3 Nc4 38. e6 Rxe6 39. Rd8+ Kh7 40. Bd5 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2015.09.29"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2762"] [BlackElo "2717"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2015.09.11"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. Bg2 c6 4. c4 e6 5. cxd5 Bxf3 6. Bxf3 cxd5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d4 Nf6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. e3 O-O 11. Bd2 Rc8 12. Rc1 Nd7 13. Ne2 Nb6 14. Nf4 Nc4 15. Bc3 Bb4 16. b3 Nb6 17. Bb2 Qe7 18. Nd3 Ba3 19. Bxa3 Qxa3 20. Nc5 Rc7 21. Nxb7 Rxb7 22. Rxc6 Qxa2 23. Qd3 Nd7 24. Rb1 a5 25. Bd1 Nf6 26. Bc2 g6 27. f3 Qa3 28. Qc3 Qb4 29. Qxb4 axb4 30. Ra1 h5 31. h4 Re8 32. Kf2 Ree7 33. Ke2 Rec7 34. Rxc7 Rxc7 35. Kd2 Rb7 36. Ra8+ Kg7 37. Bd3 Nd7 {Black is solid, but passive. Karjakin starts opening up the position for his bishop. Even though this looks drawish to the naked idea, a deeper inspection shows that this is just unpleasant for Black.} 38. e4 dxe4 39. Bxe4 Rb6 40. Ra4 e5 41. Ke3 Kf6 42. dxe5+ {Not afraid of the symmetrical pawn structures. The bishop is superior to the knight and b4 is weak, Karjakin will work with this.} Kxe5 43. Ra5+ Kd6 44. Kd4 Rb8 45. Bd5 $1 {Dominating the board.} f6 46. Ra6+ Ke7 47. f4 Nb6 ( 47... Nf8 {is uncomfortable to play but maybe a better try. It's hard to imagine Black will hold on once he loses b4, though.}) 48. Ra7+ Kd6 49. Bf7 { The Russian player made it look easy! Black's position is already falling apart.} Rc8 50. Ra6 Kc6 51. Bxg6 Kb7 52. Ra5 Rc3 53. Be4+ Kb8 54. Rb5 Ka7 55. Rxh5 {Simply too many pawns, and Black can't even grab b3 yet.} 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2015.09.29"] [Round "6.5"] [White "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "2717"] [BlackElo "2762"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "130"] [EventDate "2015.09.11"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. O-O e5 5. e4 Be7 6. Nc3 d6 7. d3 O-O 8. a4 Nb4 9. h3 Re8 10. Re1 Bd7 11. Nd2 Bc6 12. Nc4 Bf8 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15. Na5 Bd7 16. Nb5 Qd8 17. Nc4 Be6 18. c3 Nc6 19. Ne3 a6 20. Na3 Rb8 21. Nd5 Ne7 22. Nc4 b5 23. axb5 axb5 24. Nce3 Nxd5 25. Nxd5 g6 26. Ra7 Bxd5 27. exd5 Qb6 28. Qa1 c4 29. dxc4 bxc4 30. Re2 Rb7 31. Ra6 Qb3 32. g4 Rb6 33. Ra5 Rb7 34. Be4 Qb6 35. Ra6 Qd8 36. Qa4 Qb8 37. Kg2 Rd8 38. Qxc4 Rxb2 39. Rxb2 Qxb2 40. Ra7 Qb6 41. Rc7 {Eljanov is on the offensive in this position with opposite colored bishops. His position is certainly better as he is more active.} Bg7 42. h4 $2 (42. Qc6 $1 {makes Black's position very uncomfortable. For example:} Qb8 ( 42... Qxc6 43. dxc6 d5 44. Rb7 $1 {looks almost winning for White.}) 43. Rb7 Qc8 44. c4 $1 $16 {with domination. c5 is a threat, forcing a passed pawn.}) 42... Bf6 43. h5 $2 {Completely missing his opponent's ideas. This move simply gifts the game away.} Bh4 {Oops. f2 cannot be defended. The game is over, the queen on c4 is overloaded.} 44. Kh3 Qxf2 $6 (44... Bxf2 {is even stronger, but taking with the queen is certainly tempting.}) 45. Qd3 gxh5 46. gxh5 Bg5 47. Qg3 Qf1+ 48. Qg2 Qf4 49. Qg4 Qe3+ 50. Kg2 (50. Qf3 Qxf3+ 51. Bxf3 f5 {looks bad, but what else?}) 50... Rb8 51. Rc8+ Rxc8 52. Qxc8+ Kg7 {White's king is too weak. Eljanov simply cannot hold on to his position here.} 53. Qc4 Qd2+ 54. Kh3 Qd1 55. Qd3 Qxh5+ 56. Kg2 Qg4+ 57. Kh1 Bh4 58. Bf5 Qg5 59. Qf3 Be1 60. Bc2 Bd2 61. c4 Qh4+ 62. Kg2 Qxc4 63. Qf5 Qxd5+ 64. Be4 Qe6 65. Qh7+ Kf8 0-1

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2015.09.29"] [Round "6.6"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A04"] [WhiteElo "2762"] [BlackElo "2717"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "138"] [EventDate "2015.09.11"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. d5 d6 5. Nc3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 f5 7. g3 Nf6 8. Bg2 Qa5 9. Qb3 Nbd7 10. Nd2 Nb6 11. O-O Bd7 12. Re1 Qa4 13. Bf1 Ne4 14. e3 O-O-O 15. Bd3 Nxd2 16. Bxd2 e5 17. f4 e4 18. Be2 h6 19. Kf2 g5 20. h4 Rdg8 21. Rh1 gxf4 22. exf4 Rg7 23. h5 Rhg8 24. Rhg1 Qa6 25. a4 Be8 26. Be1 Nd7 27. Ke3 Nf6 28. Rh1 Qa5 29. Bf2 b6 30. Rh3 Kd8 31. Be1 Ke7 32. Bf2 Kf8 33. Be1 Re7 34. Rh1 Rgg7 35. Ra3 Kg8 36. Bf2 Kh8 37. Be1 Rg8 38. Bf2 Reg7 39. Rh3 Qa6 {Black has obtained what must be a strategically winning position. All of his pieces are better and White's structure is shattered. And yet Eljanov has been unable to find a way in, and it is not easy to find at all. Karjakin, however, cracks under pressure.} 40. Qd1 $2 Ng4+ $1 {It seems silly to give up this knight, but Black gets to take all the pawns.} 41. Bxg4 fxg4 42. Rh1 Qxc4 43. Qe2 Qxd5 {Two pawns are two pawns.} 44. Rd1 Qe6 45. c4 Rd7 46. Rd5 Bf7 47. Be1 Qe8 48. Rf5 Kh7 49. Bc3 Be6 50. Rf6 Rf7 51. Rg6 {Trying to create complications, Karjakin gives away yet another pawn.} Rxg6 52. hxg6+ Kxg6 53. Ra1 h5 54. Rd1 Rd7 55. Qh2 Qd8 $2 (55... Bxc4 56. Qh4 Qd8 57. f5+ Kxf5 58. Qxh5+ Qg5+ 59. Qxg5+ Kxg5 {is just winning for Black, but it is easy to be scared of ghosts.}) 56. Ba1 d5 $2 {This move is hard to understand. He should simply take the free pawn when he can.} (56... Bxc4 57. Qb2 {i guess this was the point of ba1, but it comes with no threat at all.} d5 58. Qe5 d4+ $19) 57. cxd5 Rxd5 58. Qb2 Rd3+ 59. Ke2 Qd4 60. Qxd4 cxd4 61. Rxd3 Bc4 62. Bxd4 exd3+ 63. Ke3 {Opposite colored bishop endgames aren't easy, but luckily for Eljanov this one is winning.} Kf5 64. Bc3 a5 $1 65. Be1 Ke6 (65... Bb3 66. Kxd3 Bxa4 67. Bf2 Bb5+ 68. Kd4 (68. Kc3 Ke4 $19) 68... Be8 69. Kd5 b5 {and this is just over. White will eventually have to bring back the king and let the Black king in, or he will have to bring back the bishop after which h4 is a lethal breakthrough in the kingside.}) 66. Bc3 Kf5 67. Be1 Kf6 68. Bd2 Kg6 69. Bc3 Kf5 $4 {Trying to gain time, Eljanov misses the fact that this is a three-fold repetition. Karjakin correctly claimed it and won the match.} 1/2-1/2