Candidates Rd3: Anand grabs early lead with 2.5/3

[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2014.03.15"] [Round "3"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A39"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2787"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez, Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "5bk1/3r1p2/3P3p/4p1pP/1pQ3P1/1P1R1P2/q4BK1/8 w - - 0 41"] [PlyCount "21"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] 41. Qc6 $6 {Seemingly decisive, but Kramnik has an ace up his sleeve.} (41. Qxb4 $1 Qa6 42. Rd5 Rxd6 $1 43. Rxe5 {And White will have enormous problems trying to convert his extra pawn, but he is the only one pushing for a win, clearly.}) 41... e4 $1 {Beautiful counterplay!} 42. fxe4 (42. Qxe4 Rxd6 $11) ( 42. Qxd7 $2 exd3 {and Black's passed pawn is more dangerous than White's.}) 42... Qe2 43. Rf3 Rxd6 44. Qe8 f6 45. e5 $1 {It seems as if Kramnik is going down anyways. There is no way to defend f6, and the e5 pawn is poisoned.} f5 $1 (45... Qxe5 $2 46. Qxe5 fxe5 47. Rxf8+ Kxf8 48. Bc5 Ke7 49. Bxb4 {and White will trade off into a winning pawn endgame on the next move.}) 46. gxf5 Rf6 $3 {The only move, but sufficient. White has, surprisingly, no way to make progress as all of his pieces are tied up.} 47. Kg3 (47. e6 Qe4 $11) (47. Qc8 Qxe5 $11) (47. Re3 Qg4+ 48. Bg3 Ra6 $11) 47... Qe4 48. Bc5 Qe1+ {White doesn't have enough resources to protect himself from the checks. Amazing!} 49. Bf2 Qe4 50. Bc5 Qe1+ 51. Bf2 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2014.03.15"] [Round "3"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D23"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2770"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez, Alejandro"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qc2 {This sideline of the Slav is not considered to be the most dangerous idea, but Black has to know what to do. There are several popular ideas to fight this variation.} dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg4 ( 5... Bf5 {is more solid and is considered to be the main line. White gets a slight space advantage while Black retains a solid position in these lines.}) 6. Nbd2 Nbd7 7. g3 e6 8. Bg2 Be7 9. Ne5 (9. O-O O-O 10. Ne5 Bh5 {is a more common way of reaching the same position.}) 9... Bh5 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. O-O O-O 12. Nb3 a5 13. a4 Bb4 14. e4 e5 {A novelty, but far from an earth shattering one. It certainly is the move that makes the most sense in the position.} ( 14... Qe7 15. Be3 Rfd8 16. f4 Kh8 17. Rf2 f6 {and although Black's last moves have not been the most natural and he has not been able to break on e5 just yet, his position is probably ok. This happened in Ivanchuk-Vallejo Pons 2012, a game which the Ukrainian ended up winning.}) 15. Be3 exd4 16. Bxd4 Kh8 $5 { Possibly preparing f5, or more likely f6 and Bf7.} 17. e5 {This move doesn't seem to be good to me. The pawn on e5 will become a target and it will be easy for Black to trade it off for his own f-pawn, a Strategical gain as he is able to exchange a side pawn for an advanced central pawn.} (17. f4 f6 (17... f5 $6 18. e5 $14) 18. Qc2 Re8 $11) 17... Re8 $1 {Forcing f4 before trading the pawns will seriously expose weaknesses on White's camp.} 18. f4 f6 19. exf6 Nxf6 $15 {White's pair of bishops are not particularly coordinated against anything, and it is very uncomfortable to develop his rooks as Black's bishops are controlling both e1 and d1. Black already stands slightly better.} 20. Bf3 Bxf3 21. Rxf3 Re4 $1 (21... c5 $6 22. Bc3 Bxc3 23. bxc3 Rc8 {is some strange computer suggestion that I don't understand. The move in the game seems better. }) 22. Re3 (22. Qd3 $1 {Was the most precise as to bring the queen closer to the kingside.} Re6 $5 (22... Qe7 23. Re3 Rxe3 24. Qxe3 Qd7 25. Bxf6 {and White is only a little bit worse.})) 22... Rxe3 23. Bxe3 Qe8 24. Bb6 Qh5 $1 {The weakness on the kingside is now starting to tell. It is not so trivial to defend against the threat of Ng4 and Re8.} 25. Bd4 Re8 26. Rf1 $2 {A miscalculation in an already ugly position.} (26. Qd3 {was mandatory.} Ng4 27. h4 Qd5 28. Rd1 $17 {and White is still holding somehow.}) 26... Ng4 27. Qc2 ( 27. h4 Ne3 28. Bxe3 Rxe3 {and now e3 cannot be defended and the game is over.}) 27... c5 $1 {Excellent. The bishop on d4 cannot move, so c5 must be captured.} 28. Nxc5 (28. Bc3 Ne3 $19 {Suddenly that rook doesn't look so comfortable on f1.}) 28... Rc8 29. Rd1 Bxc5 (29... b6 {was slightly simpler but there is nothing wrong with the move in the game.}) 30. Bxc5 h6 {threatening to take on c5 with check, and there is no more back rank checkmate.} 31. Kh1 (31. Kh1 Nf2+ {was lights out, so Mamedyarov resigned in what was truly a one sided game.}) 0-1

[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2014.03.15"] [Round "3"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D23"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2770"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qc2 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg4 6. Nbd2 Nbd7 7. g3 e6 8. Bg2 Be7 9. Ne5 Bh5 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. O-O O-O 12. Nb3 a5 13. a4 Bb4 14. e4 e5 15. Be3 exd4 16. Bxd4 Kh8 17. e5 Re8 18. f4 f6 19. exf6 Nxf6 20. Bf3 Bxf3 21. Rxf3 Re4 22. Re3 Rxe3 23. Bxe3 Qe8 24. Bb6 Qh5 25. Bd4 Re8 26. Rf1 Ng4 27. Qc2 c5 28. Nxc5 Rc8 29. Rd1 Bxc5 30. Bxc5 h6 31. Kh1 0-1 [Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2014.03.15"] [Round "3"] [White "Andreikin, Dmitry"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2709"] [BlackElo "2766"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. d4 exd4 9. cxd4 Bb6 10. h3 d5 11. e5 Ne4 12. Bd3 Bf5 13. Qe2 Nc6 14. Rd1 Bxd4 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Bxe4 Bxe4 17. Nxd4 Qd5 18. Nxc6 Qxc6 19. f3 Bd5 20. b3 a5 21. Ba3 Rfd8 22. Rac1 Qb6+ 23. Kh1 Be6 24. Rxd8+ Rxd8 25. Rd1 Rxd1+ 26. Qxd1 h6 27. Qd8+ Kh7 28. Qd3+ Kg8 29. Qd8+ Kh7 30. Qd3+ Kg8 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2014.03.15"] [Round "3"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2785"] [BlackElo "2830"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 b4 9. d4 d6 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Nbd2 Bc5 12. h3 Bb7 13. Qe2 Nd4 14. Nxd4 Bxd4 15. Bc4 a5 16. Bd3 Nd7 17. Nf3 Nc5 18. Nxd4 exd4 19. Bf4 Re8 20. Qh5 Qe7 21. Bb5 c6 22. Bc4 Ba6 23. Bd6 Qxd6 24. Bxf7+ Kf8 25. e5 Qd7 26. e6 Nxe6 27. Bxe8 Rxe8 28. Qxh7 Qd5 29. f4 d3 30. f5 d2 31. Qh8+ Kf7 32. Qh5+ Kf8 33. Qh8+ Kf7 34. Qh5+ Kf8 35. Qh8+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2014.03.15"] [Round "3"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A39"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2787"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Bg7 7. Bg2 O-O 8. O-O Nxd4 9. Qxd4 d6 10. Qd3 Be6 11. Bd2 Qc8 12. b3 Bh3 13. Rac1 Bxg2 14. Kxg2 Qc6+ 15. f3 e6 16. Rfd1 Rad8 17. Bf4 Rd7 18. Qe3 b6 19. Rd3 Rc8 20. Qd2 Ne8 21. e4 a6 22. e5 h6 23. h4 Rcd8 24. Rd1 b5 25. c5 Qxc5 26. Ne4 Qb6 27. Nxd6 Bf8 28. h5 Nxd6 29. exd6 g5 30. Be5 Rc8 31. Rc1 Rxc1 32. Qxc1 Qb7 33. g4 b4 34. Qc4 Bg7 35. Bg3 Qb5 36. Be1 Qe5 37. Bg3 Qe2+ 38. Bf2 Bf8 39. Qxa6 e5 40. Qc4 Qxa2 41. Qc6 e4 42. fxe4 Qe2 43. Rf3 Rxd6 44. Qe8 f6 45. e5 f5 46. gxf5 Rf6 47. Kg3 Qe4 48. Bc5 Qe1+ 49. Bf2 Qe4 50. Bc5 Qe1+ 51. Bf2 1/2-1/2