Candidates Rd8: A solid round

[Event "Candidates 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk, RUS"] [Date "2014.03.22"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Peter Svidler"] [Black "Sergey Karjakin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A05"] [Annotator "Elshan Moradiabadi"] [PlyCount "164"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [TimeControl "7200+995"] [WhiteClock "0:12:23"] [BlackClock "0:14:56"] {In an uneventful round, this game kept the fire alive for the chess fans.} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. d3 $5 {Surprisingly Svidler opts for the King's Indian attack. As we know, Fischer was a avid fan of this set up in early stage of his career. It seems that Svidler was not in the mood to check Karjakin's deep preparation in Catalan.} c5 6. e4 Nc6 (6... dxe4 7. dxe4 Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Nxe4 9. Ne5 Nd6 10. Na3 $1 {Is simply in white's favor. Black cannot capitalize any play based on his material advantage while in the mean time white would enjoy his advantage in development. Sooner or later white would level the material and seize the initiative}) 7. Qe2 O-O 8. e5 Nd7 9. c4 d4 ( 9... dxc4 $6 {Would run into a famous trap of this openign very soon.} 10. dxc4 b6 11. Rd1 Qc7 12. Nc3 a6 13. Bf4 Bb7 14. Nd5 $1 exd5 15. e6 $1 Bd6 16. Bxd6 Qxd6 17. Rxd5 Nd4 18. Nxd4 Bxd5 19. Bxd5 cxd4 20. exf7+ Kh8 21. Bxa8 $18 {1-0 Morozevich,A (2575)-Sermek,D (2515)/Moscow 1994/CBM 045 (34)}) 10. h4 Kh8 $5 { An interesting idea! Karjakin does have deep preparation even in such a statistically unpopular opening!} 11. Bf4 f5 {This is the idea behind Kh8. White cannot take on f6.} 12. Ng5 (12. exf6 gxf6 $1 {Now white cannot grab the pawn on e6 with check and Qe6 would run into:} 13. Qxe6 Nde5 {Which yields huge advantage for black}) 12... Bxg5 13. hxg5 Qc7 14. g6 {The most principled continuation.} hxg6 15. Nd2 Kg8 16. Nf3 Re8 17. Ng5 Nf8 18. g4 {A bit hasty in my opinion. White could augment a bit on the queen side by employing a3-b4 plan.} Nd8 19. Kh2 (19. b4 $5 cxb4 20. a3 {does still look very promising.}) 19... Bd7 20. gxf5 $2 {I find this move a serious error. White now hands over black a clear plan. Black will put a knight on outstanding post on e6 square.} exf5 21. Bd5+ Nde6 22. Rg1 Bc6 23. Qf3 Rad8 24. Rae1 Qd7 25. Bxe6+ $2 {This is too much.} (25. Nxe6 Nxe6 26. Rxg6 Bxd5 27. cxd5 Qxd5 28. Qh5 {Should let white to keep the balance.}) 25... Nxe6 26. Qg3 Rc8 27. Nh3 Qf7 28. Qh4 Bf3 29. Bd2 Bg4 30. Rg3 Qe7 31. Qxe7 Rxe7 {White's attach is vanished on the king side. Now he is simply a pawn down. Although it is not easy for black to capitalize on his material advantage.} 32. Ng5 Nxg5 33. Bxg5 Re6 34. f3 Bh5 35. b3 Kf7 36. Rh3 Rce8 37. Bf4 Ra6 38. Re2 Ke6 39. Kg3 Rb8 40. Bg5 f4+ $5 {Black returns the extra material in order to activate his pieces.} 41. Bxf4 Rf8 42. Rf2 Rf5 43. Bc1 (43. Rh1 Rc6 44. Bc1 Rxe5 {Would not have made any significant difference.} ) 43... Rxe5 44. Rh1 Kf7 45. Bf4 Rf5 46. Bb8 $6 {The position is very unpleasant or it may be even lost for white, nevertheless Svidler does not resist tenaciously. Bishop had to stay on c1-h6 diagonal.} Re6 $1 {Karjakin seize the momen. Now the pawn on d3 will fall.} 47. Rh4 (47. Bxa7 {loses to} Re3) 47... Re3 48. Rf4 a6 49. Bd6 Rxf4 50. Kxf4 Kf6 51. Bxc5 g5+ 52. Kg3 Rxd3 53. Kg2 Be8 $6 {I do not see why black should refrain from Ke5} (53... Ke5 54. Bb6 Kf5 55. Bc5 a5 56. Bb6 a4 57. bxa4 Be8 {Looks much more appealing}) 54. Kf1 Bh5 55. Ke2 Re3+ 56. Kd2 Ke5 {Compared to the above analysis. White has managed to improve his King's position, however the position is still much better for black.} 57. Rg2 Kf4 58. Bxd4 Re7 59. Re2 {If you have any doubt regarding Re2 being a dead drawn endgame, read Dr.Muller's endgame books!} Rd7 60. Kc3 Bxf3 61. Re8 $2 {Final decisive mistake} (61. Be5+ Kf5 62. Re3 g4 63. Bg3 Be4 64. b4 {Was white's last chance.}) 61... Be4 $1 {This move cuts white rook from the back rank} 62. Rf8+ Bf5 63. Rg8 g6 64. Rg7 {Diagram #} Rxd4 $3 { Cold Shower} (64... Rxg7 65. Bxg7 g4 66. Kd2 Bb1 67. a3 Ba2 68. Ke1 Bxb3 69. c5 g3 70. Kf1 Bd5 71. Kg1 Ke3 72. Be5 g2 73. a4 Bc6 74. a5 {is drawn and what probably Svidler was hoping for. But Svidler must have missed the next move .}) 65. Kxd4 b6 {Accurate play by Karjakin! From now till the end of the game, Karjakin plays a perfect game.} 66. Kc3 Ke3 67. Rb7 g4 68. Rxb6 g3 69. Rd6 g2 70. Rd1 g5 71. b4 Kf2 72. a4 g1=Q 73. Rxg1 Kxg1 74. b5 axb5 75. axb5 g4 76. c5 g3 77. c6 g2 78. b6 Kf2 79. b7 g1=Q 80. b8=Q {Draw?} Qc1+ 81. Kd4 Qe3+ 82. Kc4 Be6+ {No! the queen on b8 would be lost after a check on the next move. A very much needed vicotry for Karjakin and a painful defeat for Svidler, who in my opinion could score more than he has done so far.} 0-1