Norway 03: Mayhem over the board!

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2015.06.18"] [Round "3.3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2876"] [BlackElo "2773"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2r3k1/1br2p1p/1q1p2p1/1P1Pp2n/1Q2P3/3BbN1P/5PP1/R3R1K1 w - - 0 32"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2015.06.16"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 32. Rxe3 Rc3 33. Rae1 f5 $5 {Giri had sacrificed a pawn on the queenside for some pressure, but Carlsen slowly but surely pushed him back. Now the Dutch tries some kind of desperate attempt to break through the center and create complications.} (33... Nf6 34. g3 {and White will slowly but surely consolidate and use his pawn on the queenside.}) 34. exf5 Nf4 35. Be4 $1 R3c5 36. fxg6 hxg6 37. Bxg6 $1 {A brilliant sacrifice... even though the position remains very complicated!} (37. Nh4 {was perhaps easier from a human point of view.}) 37... Rxb5 (37... Nxg6 38. Qg4 Kf7 39. Ng5+ {loses very quickly.}) 38. Qe4 $2 {Surprisingly, White has no win after this move. Carlsen had to find one of most brilliant, machine-like and unlikely moves I have seen.} (38. Bf7+ $3 {This idea did not occur to any of us in the analysis room. Talking later to Kasparov about it, before he knew the answer to the "puzzle", he only knew that Qe4 was incorrect as Carlsen played it. Instantly he thought of 38.Bh7+, but that move fails to the surprising 38...Kh8! And instantly he smiled, thought for a second, and said. "Of course, 38.Bf7+!"} Kxf7 39. Qe4 {Black cannot prevent the threats of Qf5+ and Ng5+, even then it is not obvious how the attack proceeds, but Black simply cannot save himself. We will not overwhelm the readers with the analysis and instead invite you to try out the different variations, with or without your favorite engine!}) 38... Rf8 39. Nxe5 $6 {spectacular but insufficient} (39. Nh4 $1 Bxd5 {and White is up a pawn, but the position is not clear at all.}) 39... dxe5 40. Rg3 Rxd5 $1 {The only move to survive, and Giri did it with confidence. Carlsen thought for a long time after this trying to come up with some idea, but there simply is no win in this position any more.} 41. Qb1 {Inviting simplifications.} Qxb1 42. Bxb1+ Kh8 43. Be4 Rd7 44. Bxb7 Rxb7 45. Rxe5 Rh7 46. Re4 Rhf7 47. Kh2 Kh7 {A dead drawn position. Carlsen got more chances than he deserved, but Giri never let go of the draw.} 48. Rf3 Kg6 49. h4 Nh5 50. Rxf7 Rxf7 51. Re2 Nf4 52. Rd2 Nh5 53. g3 Nf6 54. Kg2 Rd7 55. Ra2 Rd5 56. Ra4 Re5 57. g4 Re4 58. Rxe4 Nxe4 59. Kf3 Nd6 60. Kf4 Nf7 61. Ke4 Kf6 62. f4 Nd6+ 63. Kd5 Nb5 64. h5 Nc3+ 65. Kd4 Nb5+ 66. Kc4 Nd6+ 67. Kc5 Ke6 68. Kc6 Nf7 69. Kc7 Nh6 70. g5 Nf7 71. g6 Nh6 72. Kd8 Kf5 73. Ke7 Kxf4 74. Kf8 Kg5 75. g7 Kxh5 76. g8=Q Nxg8 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2015.06.18"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A35"] [WhiteElo "2802"] [BlackElo "2805"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/3r1p2/1pk3pp/p1p2p2/P6P/3PP1P1/1P1K1P2/2R5 w - - 0 38"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "2015.06.16"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 38. Kc3 {The endgame here looks to be about even. Perhaps White has the tiniest of pulls, but that must be the extent of it.} b5 $2 {An inexplicable move, shattering his own pawn structure. Still, with perfect play one would think Black should have no problems holding a draw.} (38... Kd5 $11) 39. axb5+ Kxb5 40. b3 g5 $4 {But this move is completely suicidal. The mistake is very hard to understand. Why does Black shatter his own pawn structure and give White such a wonderful open file to attack his pawns? It's a mistake that doesn't seem to be based on a miscalculation... just an incomprehensible move!} 41. hxg5 hxg5 42. Rh1 Ra7 43. Rh7 f4 44. gxf4 gxf4 45. e4 $1 {With this move White threats to wrap around with Rh4 and take the f4 pawn for free. Caruana attempts some counterplay but it falls way short.} a4 46. bxa4+ Rxa4 47. Rxf7 Ra3+ 48. Kd2 Ra2+ 49. Ke1 Ra3 50. Ke2 Ra2+ 51. Kf3 Rd2 52. Rd7 Kc6 53. Rd5 Kb6 54. e5 Kc6 55. Rd8 Kc7 56. Rd6 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2015.06.18"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D47"] [WhiteElo "2723"] [BlackElo "2798"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2015.06.16"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 {The Meran has been an interesting battlefield for top players for many decades now. It is far from being fully understood, as is clear in this game.} Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. O-O a6 10. e4 c5 11. d5 Qc7 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. Bc2 {This position has been seen in thousands of games still.} Bd6 14. Ng5 Nf8 15. f4 O-O-O 16. Qe1 {Qe2 and Qe1 are different variations, both have been seen many times.} e5 17. f5 $6 {From a practical perspective, even though this position has been seen in dozens of games still, I cannot recommend closing the center. White loses any chance for active play, his e4 pawn becomes a real target and it is far easier to find moves and plans for Black than for White!} (17. Nd5 $5 Bxd5 18. exd5 exf4 19. Bd2 $1 {Is very unclear and has been seen in some old strong games, such as Piket-Khalifman, 2000.}) 17... h6 18. Nf3 N8d7 19. Kh1 (19. Bd2 {seems more accurate, Kh1 was maybe unnecessary.}) 19... Rhe8 {Technically the novelty of the game.} (19... Nb8 {was played in a strong correspondence game between Knight-Loinjak, 2008.}) 20. Bd2 {Topalov criticized this plan after the game, thinking that the idea to put the bishop on a5 was not good. I tend to agree with him, but also fail to come up with a better idea.} (20. Be3 b4 { leaves the e4 pawn undefended.}) (20. b3 {was probably ok, trying to prevent c4 or b4 later, but after} Nb8 $1 {With the idea of Nc6-d4 Black seems to have the edge.}) 20... Qc6 $1 {I like this move, putting further pressure on e4 and disallowing any tricks on the a7-d8 diagonal.} 21. Rd1 Nb6 {Another strong move. Black further controls d5, maybe threatens Nc4 and has the idea of playing b4 in the near future now that White's knight cannot go to a4.} 22. Nd5 $2 {Perhaps based on a miscalculation, perhaps based on sheer panic of not knowing what to do.} Nbxd5 23. exd5 Qd7 $1 {Not the only move for an advantage, but definitely the most accurate. Black will take on d5 when he feels he is ready, and for now prepares the advance of the e-pawn down the board.} 24. Ba5 e4 $1 25. Ng1 (25. Bxd8 exf3 {is completely winning as all of White's pieces are hanging.}) 25... Bc7 {White isn't even down material yet, but d5 is very lose and Black's strong pieces are better than MVL's. Another important factor is the pressure generated by the e-pawn.} 26. d6 Bxa5 27. Qxa5 e3 $1 28. Ne2 $2 {Allowing Topalov to finish the game off quickly, but it was hopeless regardless.} Qc6 {MVL simply threw in the towel, and it's impossible to blame him.} (28... Qc6 29. Rf3 Rxd6 {and Black has every plus in this position.}) 0-1