Shamkir Rd7: Three wins!

[Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2015.04.24"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2802"] [BlackElo "2788"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2015.04.17"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. e3 {It's always pleasant to see a Rubinstein Variation.} Ne4 6. Qc2 Bb7 7. Bd3 f5 8. O-O Bxc3 9. bxc3 O-O 10. c5 $5 (10. Nd2 {has been played hundreds of times, and is considered to be the main line.}) 10... Rf6 {Black isn't kidding around; he weill try to checkmate White with his rook and bishop and queen. His queenside development will be stalled, but for now that is ok. White might develop them for him, if for example he takes on b6.} 11. Ne1 $1 {using hte fact that the knight on e4 doesn't have many retreat options with the rook on f6.} bxc5 (11... Rh6 12. g3 $1 {keeps the queen away. White won in both Leko-Andreikin and Georgiev, V-Eljanov.}) 12. Rb1 Qc8 13. f3 Ng5 14. Be2 cxd4 15. cxd4 {White's down a pawn, but Black's develompent is awkward. His bishop on b7 is exposed, the g5 knight will have to retreat, the f6 rook doesn't do much but be a potential target. However White does still need to do something concrete.} Nc6 16. Nd3 Ba6 17. Bb2 Ne7 18. d5 Rh6 19. dxe6 Nxe6 20. Nf4 Nxf4 21. exf4 Bxe2 22. Qxe2 {How the game has changed. White has a powerful bishop and still has the better coordination. Black has two passed pawns, but hey are not going to be a factor yet.} Re6 23. Qd3 Ng6 (23... Rb8 {looked stronger. The knight will be useful on e7.}) 24. g3 Rb8 25. Qxf5 Reb6 26. Bd4 Rxb1 27. Rxb1 Rxb1+ 28. Qxb1 {With material equality in the endgame it is time to take stock once agian. White is clearly better: his bishop dominates the open board and coordinates much better than the queen and knight.} c5 29. Qb3+ c4 (29... Kh8 30. Qc3 $18) 30. Qb5 {With little effort White has already blockaded the pawns. Now they are ripe for the taking.} Ne7 31. Qg5 $5 (31. Bc5 Nd5 32. Qxc4 Qc6 33. Qd4 $16) 31... Qf8 32. Bc5 Kf7 33. Qe5 Qe8 34. Kf2 {Black is paralyzed.} Nc6 {losing a pawn, but what else to do?} 35. Qh5+ g6 36. Qxh7+ Ke6 37. Qg7 Qf7 38. Qxf7+ Kxf7 39. Ke3 {White has too many pawns on the kingside.} Ke6 40. g4 d6 41. Ba3 d5 42. Bb2 Nb4 43. a4 Nc2+ 44. Kd2 Nb4 45. h4 Nd3 46. Bd4 a6 (46... Nxf4 47. Bxa7 {leaves Black with too many passed pawns to deal with.}) 47. h5 gxh5 48. f5+ Kd6 49. gxh5 $18 Ne5 50. Ke3 Nf7 51. Bg7 1-0

[Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2015.04.24"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2863"] [BlackElo "2783"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2015.04.17"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. h3 Ne7 8. d4 Bb6 9. Bd3 d5 10. Nbd2 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 exd4 13. Qc2 (13. cxd4 Bf5 $6 14. Bxb7 Rb8 15. Ba6 Be4 {was better for White in Duda-Vallejo Pons, but of course Black doesn't have to give up that pawn on b7.}) 13... h6 14. a4 $5 { White is in no hurry to regain his pawn. Taking on c3 looks very dangerous.} c6 (14... dxc3 15. Rd1 $1 Qe8 $8 16. Qxc3 {with the idea of a5-a6, with an initiative. Perhaps with best play Black can survive without issues, but it looks scary to not be able to develop.}) 15. Rd1 Nd5 16. Nxd4 {Symmetrical pawn structure, but White's slight lead in development gives him a nice and dangerous edge. Black needs just a couple of tempi to catch up to White's position, but it's a valuable couple of tempi.} Re8 17. a5 $1 {What a move! White sacrifices a pawn simply to discoordinate the Black pieces.} (17. Nf3 Qe7 18. Bxd5 cxd5 19. Rxd5 Be6 $132) 17... Bxa5 18. Nf3 {the point is that now c4 is a hard move to parry.} b5 (18... Qc7 19. Bxd5 cxd5 20. Qa4 {is a nasty double attack.}) 19. Nd4 {returning to d4 and regaining the pawn. The rules of chess say Kramnik can't put his pawn from b5 on b7, with a repetition.} Bc7 $6 {A tactical mistake.} (19... Bb7 $1) 20. Nxc6 Qd6 21. g3 Bb7 22. Bf4 Qxc6 23. Bxd5 {Black is in very serious problems} Re1+ (23... Qb6 24. Bxb7 Qxb7 25. Rd7 Rec8 (25... Rac8 26. Qf5 Rf8 27. Be3 {isn't much better ,with the dual threat of Bc5 and Rxa7.}) 26. Qf5 {leaves Black helpless against Qf7.}) 24. Kh2 $1 { A very important move.} (24. Rxe1 Qxd5 {leaves White nothing better than} 25. Qe4 Qxe4 26. Rxe4 Bxe4 27. Bxc7 $11) 24... Qxd5 25. Rxd5 Rxa1 26. Rd1 $1 Rxd1 27. Qxd1 Rd8 28. Qe2 {White's queen here will dominate the bishop and rook. There are too many targets, and White just needs a couple of moves to safeguard his king against the combined action of Black's pieces.} Bb6 29. Be3 Bxe3 30. Qxe3 Rd1 31. g4 Bc6 (31... Rh1+ 32. Kg3 Rg1+ 33. Kf4 {isn't really that scary. The king chills on f4.}) 32. Qc5 Bd7 33. Qxa7 Rd2 34. Kg3 Rd3+ 35. Kf4 Kh7 36. Qb7 Rd2 37. Ke3 Rd6 38. f4 g6 39. Qb8 Rd5 40. Ke4 Be6 41. Qb7 Rc5 42. Kd4 Rc4+ 43. Ke5 b4 44. cxb4 Rc2 45. Kf6 Rxb2 46. Qb8 {The king is an aggressive piece!} Rf2 47. f5 gxf5 48. Qg3 $1 Rf1 49. g5 {Black cannot escape checkmate.} 1-0