Shamkir R8: Anand #2 in World

[Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015"]
[Site "Shamkir AZE"]
[Date "2015.04.25"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Adams, Mi"]
[Black "Giri, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B91"]
[WhiteElo "2745"]
[BlackElo "2790"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2015.04.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. g3 {Nowadays the move 6.
h3 is more commonly seen than 6.g3. That's how modern chess works!} e6 7. Bg2
Be7 8. O-O $1 O-O $1 9. a4 Nc6 10. Be3 Rb8 {A new idea in this position.
Normally Black plays Qc7 first.} (10... Qc7 11. f4 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Bd7 (12... e5
$1) 13. Kh1 Bc6 {was Zherebukh-Giri, 2012. The Ukrainian player won that game.}
) 11. f4 Qc7 12. Kh1 Bd7 13. Nb3 {This is the typical reply to Bd7. The point
is that Nxd4 followed by Bc6 is not an idea for Black.} b6 14. g4 h6 {I always
felt something went wrong if Black had to play h6 to prevent g5. Also this
looks like Giri is playing a standard line but down a couple of tempi as White
went g3-g4, true, but he did not waste time with Be2-f3-g2 as is common.
Normally Black's rook is already on e8.} 15. Qe2 Nb4 16. Nd4 Rbc8 17. Rad1 Qc4
18. Qf3 e5 19. Nf5 {White's plan of attacking on the kingside is going slowly,
but with h6 in play it is more powerful. Black has to be very careful, he has
pressure on c2 but taking that pawn will not be a big deal for a long time:
material doesn't matter if you are getting mated. Black's position is
definitely uncomfortable.} Bxf5 20. exf5 exf4 21. Rd4 $1 (21. Bxf4 $1 {is also
possible, but after} d5 $1 22. h4 Ne4 $1 {The position is suddenly far from
clear, but I would take White after} 23. g5 $1 Nxc3 24. bxc3 Qxc3 25. Qh5 $1 {
With a strong initiative.}) 21... Qc7 22. Bxf4 Nxc2 23. Rd2 Nb4 24. h4 {
Black's up a pawn, but White is simply crashing through.} Nh7 25. g5 $1 Qc4 (
25... hxg5 26. hxg5 Bxg5 (26... Nxg5 27. Qh5 Nh7 28. Be4 $1 {other moves are
also possible.} Nf6 29. Qh3 {and Black's position is hopeless. Rh2 is coming
with deadly effect.}) 27. Bxg5 Nxg5 28. Qg4 {hits both knights, so Black loses
a piece.}) 26. f6 $1 {Just crashing on through!} gxf6 27. gxf6 Bxf6 (27... Nxf6
28. Bh3 {clearing the g2 square for the rook. Black can basically resign.}) 28.
Ne4 Be5 29. Rxd6 $1 {What a nice finishing touch. Other moves won too, but
this one has a peculiar aesthetic value.} Bg7 (29... Bxd6 30. Nxd6 Qe6 31. Bh3
$1 f5 32. Qg3+ {And Black is toast.} Kh8 33. Be5+ $18) 30. Bxh6 $1 Bxh6 31.
Rxh6 {White has the attack, and now its free on top of everything.} Rc6 32.
Qg4+ Kh8 33. Rxh7+ (33. Rxh7+ Kxh7 34. Nf6+ Rxf6 35. Qxc4 {is just down a
queen. Oh and Black will also get mated soon.}) 1-0

[Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2015.04.25"] [Round "8"] [White "Anand, V."] [Black "Mamedyarov, S."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C49"] [WhiteElo "2791"] [BlackElo "2756"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2015.04.17"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {The Petroff!} 3. Nc3 Nc6 {No wait, the Four Knights...} 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Ne2 Ne7 8. c3 Ba5 9. Ng3 Ng6 10. d4 Bb6 11. Re1 (11. Be3 {was played last year between two strong Chinese players. The position is slightly preferable for White, but Black is supposed to be ok. He can finish his development and be relatively happy.}) 11... c6 12. Bd3 Re8 ( 12... Bg4 {at some point playing this move seems to be important.} 13. Be3 d5 $5 {perhaps Black is even playing for an advantage here!}) 13. h3 h6 14. Be3 Be6 15. Qc2 Qc7 16. a3 a5 17. c4 $1 {White grabs more Space. Mamedyarov has to be a little careful not to fall into an inferior position.} a4 18. Red1 $5 {I would have played Rad1 without blinking, but that's why I'm not playing in Shamkir.} exd4 19. Bxd4 Ne5 20. Be2 Bc5 21. Rd2 {Alas there was no big difference in which rook to put on d1!} Nfd7 22. Rad1 $14 {White still holds a little edge. He has some pressure on d6 and d5 is not possible to play. He also has some hope of attacking the kingside. The "binding" pawn on a4 can be considered a weakness.} Red8 23. Nh4 Bxd4 24. Rxd4 c5 25. Rxd6 (25. R4d2 Nb6 26. Ngf5 Nbxc4 27. Bxc4 Nxc4 28. Rd3 {was alaso worth a try. Black's king cannot feel safe in this variation.}) 25... Nc6 {Mamedyarov's point. A knight will be installed on d4 soon.} 26. Nhf5 Nd4 27. Qd2 Ne5 28. Rd5 $3 {What a fantastic move. Instead of just exchanging the rooks, Anand is more ambitious. He sacrifices a full exchange in order to create a powerful pawn chain and destroy Black's control over d4!} Bxd5 (28... Bxf5 29. Nxf5 Nec6 {is perhaps better, but Black is suffering down material.}) 29. cxd5 Qb6 30. f4 Ng6 31. Bc4 (31. Bh5 $5) 31... Qa5 32. Qf2 {Anand doesn't want to trade queens, but that was another way to get an advantage. This looks strong enough as it is.} b5 33. Nxd4 cxd4 34. Ba2 b4 35. Nf5 $2 {Too hasty.} (35. Nh5 $1 bxa3 36. Qxd4 Qa7 37. bxa3 $16 {in this variation the f4 pawn is defended.}) 35... bxa3 36. bxa3 Qc3 37. e5 Rab8 38. Rd2 Qxa3 $6 {time trouble.} (38... d3 $1 {creates more chances for counterplay.}) 39. Nxd4 Qc1+ 40. Kh2 Rbc8 $6 {An unfortunate 40th move.} ( 40... Rb7 {is still unpleasant, but maybe Black can claw his way back into the game.}) 41. d6 {now it's simply over. The kingside will be impossible to defend.} a3 42. Nf5 Rf8 43. d7 (43. d7 Rcd8 44. Qd4 Qc7 45. e6 $18) 1-0