Norway 08: Missed Chances

[Event "Norway Chess 2014"] [Site "Sandnes"] [Date "2014.06.12"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A25"] [WhiteElo "2753"] [BlackElo "2881"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 f5 4. d3 Nf6 5. g3 Bb4 6. Bg2 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6 8. O-O O-O 9. Rb1 Qe8 (9... Rb8 {was played in Wang-Vitiugov last year, but that ended in a White victory.}) 10. Qb3 {White has tried several other moves but not this one. It is rather strange.} b6 11. Nh4 Na5 12. Qa3 Rb8 {Svidler's erratic queen maneuve has left her somewhat stranded on a3. Black has a clear plan of attacking on the kingside and it is unclear how White will proceed in the opposite flank.} 13. Be3 $6 {Inviting what clearly has to be a powerful sacrifice.} f4 14. gxf4 Qh5 15. Nf3 Bh3 $1 16. Bxh3 Qxh3 17. Kh1 Rbe8 $1 18. Qb2 e4 $1 {Carlsen precisely strikes at his opponent's position. This last move shatters the position in the center and allows all of black pieces, including the knight on a5, to jump in to the fray.} 19. Ng5 Qh5 20. dxe4 Ng4 21. Nf3 Nxc4 22. Qb3 Rxe4 {Black has recovered his material and it is obvious that his attack and positional advantage should be sufficient for the victory.} 23. Rg1 d5 (23... Rfxf4 $1 {was immediately winning.} 24. Bxf4 Nxf2+ 25. Kg2 Nh3 $1 {A hard move to find, but absolutely decisive. White cannot defend against both Nxf4 and Rxe2.}) 24. Qb5 Rfxf4 $2 {This surprisingly does not work!} (24... Ncxe3 {Simple and effective.} 25. fxe3 Nf2+ $1 (25... Rxe3 $19) 26. Kg2 Nh3 $19) 25. Bxf4 Nxf2+ 26. Kg2 Rxe2 27. Kf1 $1 {Forced but sufficient! } Ne4 $1 (27... Qxf3 28. Rg3 $1 Qe4 (28... Qxf4 29. Qxd5+ Kf8 30. Kxe2 $19) 29. Qd7 $11 {and Black has nothing better than a perpetual.}) 28. Rxg7+ $1 Kf8 ( 28... Kxg7 29. Qd7+ Qf7 30. Qg4+ Qg6 31. Qd7+ Kh8 32. Qd8+ Qg8 33. Qxg8+ Kxg8 34. Kxe2 Nxc3+ 35. Kd3 Nxb1 36. Bxc7 {is hard to win, since Black's knights are stranded, but it was the only chance.}) 29. Kxe2 Nxc3+ 30. Kf2 Nxb5 31. Rbg1 {Black is technically up material, but his king is too weak.} Nc3 $6 32. Rxc7 $6 (32. Rg8+ Ke7 33. R1g7+ Kf6 34. Rxc7 $14 {Black's king is dangerously placed. White's on the other hand will be totally safe on g2.}) 32... Ne4+ 33. Ke1 Nc5 34. Rc8+ Kf7 35. Rc7+ Kf8 36. Rc8+ Kf7 37. Rc7+ Kf8 {A perpetual before anything bad happens. A very wild game.} 38. Kf2 1/2-1/2

[Event "Norway Chess 2014"] [Site "Sandnes"] [Date "2014.06.12"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E61"] [WhiteElo "2792"] [BlackElo "2752"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez, Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/8/3p3n/3P2k1/3P2Pp/7P/2pKN3/8 w - - 0 52"] [PlyCount "29"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] 52. Kxc2 {Black looks like he is completely lost. The king cannot penetrate and he is down two pawns. However a miracle resource is still available.} Nxg4 $1 {Proving again how bad knights are at stopping rook pawns.} 53. hxg4 Kxg4 54. Ng1 Kg3 55. Kd2 Kf2 56. Nh3+ Kg3 57. Ng1 Kf2 58. Nh3+ Kg3 59. Ng5 Kf4 60. Ne6+ Ke4 {The knight still has to come back to defend against the pawn which leaves Black's king free to take all of White's pawns.} 61. Ng5+ Kxd4 62. Nf3+ Ke4 63. Nxh4 Ke5 64. Kd3 Kxd5 65. Nf5 Kc5 66. Nxd6 1/2-1/2