Sinquefield 04: Aronian Brilliant Again!

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2771"] [BlackElo "2816"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bc1 Nf6 8. f3 e5 {White has a choice between playing this, repeating moves or going for the Bg5 lines after Ng4. Also he has 11 moves besides f3 that make sense... such is the Najdorf.} 9. Nb3 Be6 10. Be3 h5 {The modern variations of the Najdorf all involve an early h5. The idea is that g4 is delayed, or sometimes outright prevented, but on the other hand Black can't castle.} 11. Nd5 Bxd5 12. exd5 Nbd7 13. Qd2 g6 14. O-O-O Nb6 {White has two possibilities in this position. Qa5 has been played more, but Kb1 is the move that is trending.} 15. Kb1 Nbxd5 16. Bg5 Be7 17. Na5 {played after an 11 minute think, so its fair to say that Grischuk wasn't in his preparation any more.} Rb8 18. Bc4 Nb6 (18... Qc7 { worked tactically, and was maybe a very bit better than the move played in the game.} 19. Bxd5 Nxd5 20. Qxd5 Bxg5 $11) 19. Bxf6 $6 {After this move Black has no problems.} (19. Rhe1 $1 {Might be more accurate} Qc7 {what else?} (19... O-O 20. Bb3 {starts looking dangerous.}) 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. Qxd6 Qxd6 22. Rxd6 {is like the game but White is up a tempo. Now e5 hangs.}) 19... Bxf6 20. Qxd6 Qxd6 21. Rxd6 Bd8 22. Rd3 Bc7 23. Bb3 Ke7 24. Rhd1 Rhd8 25. Rxd8 Bxd8 26. Nc4 Nxc4 27. Bxc4 {With opposite colored bishops, it is clear that this game is now a dead draw.} Bb6 28. c3 Rd8 29. Rxd8 Bxd8 30. Kc2 Bc7 31. Bd5 {Done.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2853"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 {The Sveshnikov Sicilian. It goes in and out of fashion, and Carlsen playing it might bring some attention back to a defense that is largely overlooked, despite the fact that there is no definite refutation of it.} 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 Ne7 {One of several possibilities Black has at his disposal. Krasenkow likes to play this move.} 12. Nc2 Nxd5 13. Qxd5 Rb8 14. Nb4 Bb7 15. Qd3 O-O 16. Be2 a5 17. Nd5 b4 {Giri took some time to get to this position, but Carlsen reached it relatively quickly. Black shouldn't have any real problems in this position. This vriation has been played a couple of times. White might be able to pressure slightly on the light squares but it won't big a big deal.} 18. O-O bxc3 19. bxc3 Bg5 20. Rab1 Qd7 21. Rb3 Bc6 22. Rfb1 Rxb3 23. Rxb3 g6 24. Rb6 Rc8 25. h3 Bxd5 {Even this move was maybe unnecessary.} (25... h5 26. Ra6 Bxd5 {is safer:} 27. Qxd5 Rc5 $1 {a nice intermezzo.} 28. Qxd6 Qxd6 29. Rxd6 Rxc3 $11) 26. Qxd5 Rxc3 27. Rxd6 Qe7 28. Bd1 Rc7 29. g3 Kg7 {White has a very minor amount of pressure, but this is way closer to a draw. Black's bishop isn't the greatest but White can't create threats, so it will eventually remaneuver.} 30. Ba4 Bc1 31. Rc6 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D43"] [WhiteElo "2808"] [BlackElo "2816"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 {the not very sharp Moscow.} (6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 {is the ultra-sharp anti-Moscow.}) 6... Qxf6 7. e3 g6 8. Bd3 Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. e4 {An interesting break, played rather quickly. Sometimes White holds on to this and plays preparatory moves.} Qd8 11. Re1 c5 $1 {An interesting novelty from the Indian player, always showing superb opening knowledge.} 12. exd5 (12. dxc5 d4 13. Nb5 e5 {gives Black plenty of compensation for the pawn. He will break on b6 if he cannot capture c5, and his passed pawn, good development and open lines will give him a fine position.}) 12... cxd4 13. dxe6 Bxe6 14. Ne2 {Caruana's solution clearly cannot pose real problems for Anand. White has some kind of blockade, but Black's position is active and well developed.} Qd6 15. Qd2 Nc6 16. Nf4 Bg4 { giving up the bishop for the f3-knight is not necessary, but with the opposite colored bishops coming into play the position should be rather equal.} 17. Be4 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Ne5 19. Bd5 Rac8 20. b3 b5 21. Rac1 bxc4 22. bxc4 Rc7 23. Nd3 Nxd3 {Anand was critical of this move after the game, correctly pointing out that the retreat with Nd7 was a better move and equalizing. Now he comes under a little bit of pressure.} 24. Qxd3 Kh7 25. g3 Bf6 26. Rb1 {White is slightly better with his control of the b-file and slightly better bishop.} Kg7 27. Rb5 Rfc8 28. Reb1 Rc5 29. a4 Rxb5 30. axb5 {White has some hopes of an advantage. He can pressure f7 and he has potentially dangerous pawns, but to be fair this should be holdable for Black if he just stays put.} Rc7 31. Qb3 Qe5 32. Qf3 Bg5 33. c5 {taking advantage of tactics to push the pawn, but Anand has this under control.} Rd7 $1 34. b6 axb6 35. cxb6 (35. Bc6 Rd8 36. cxb6 d3 37. Qe4 Qxe4 38. Bxe4 d2 39. Rd1 Bf6 {is going to be a draw, no matter what the computer says.}) 35... Rxd5 36. Qxd5 Qxd5 37. b7 d3 38. b8=Q d2 {White won an exchange, but he is simply not able to do anything with it due to the huge pawn on d2.} 39. Rd1 Qf3 40. Qb2+ Kh7 41. Qc2 Be3 {forcing the draw.} 42. fxe3 Qxe3+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A65"] [WhiteElo "2731"] [BlackElo "2814"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 {The KID! of course, Nakamura is going aggressive against MVL playing for the full point.} 5. f3 {The Saemisch. This has dropped in popularity considerably with the new Classical lines with 6.h3, but it's nice and refreshing to see this sharp line.} O-O 6. Nge2 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Ng3 exd5 9. cxd5 a6 10. a4 h5 {This move is standard in this structure. It makes the g3 knight uncomfortable and allows the f6 knight to have more options.} 11. Be2 Nbd7 12. O-O h4 13. Nh1 Nh5 {An old game between Spassky-Polgar happened in 1993, which was quite interesting.} 14. Be3 f5 $5 { A standard breakthrough, MVL is given no time to consolidate his position and finish good development. Black strikes while the knight is on h1.} (14... Bd4 { was the aforementioned game.} 15. Bxd4 cxd4 16. Qxd4 Qg5 17. Rad1 {and Black has a lot of compensation for the pawn. Spassky-Polgar,J 1993.}) 15. f4 Qe8 16. Bxh5 (16. Qe1 $5 {is also messy.}) 16... gxh5 17. e5 $5 {The position is extremely complicated. Even engines need some tiem to try to understand what is going on. Tactics are everywhere, the pawn structures can change wildly, some pieces are not in the best positions. Such is the King's Indian/Benoni!} dxe5 18. d6 $5 {Creating counterplay by freeing the d5 square.} exf4 19. Bxf4 Nf6 20. Nf2 Bd7 21. Nd3 h3 22. Ne5 $5 hxg2 23. Re1 {The computers are confsued about the evaluation. They keep jumping back and forth over which move is best. When talking to MVL and Nakamura about the game the consesus simply seemed to be "it's a mess".} Be6 $6 (23... Bc6 $1 {was definitely better. g2 needs a defender.}) 24. Qf3 Ne4 $2 {A mistake, allowing a crushing continuation.} ( 24... Ng4 $5) 25. Rad1 $2 {but MVL misses!} (25. Re2 $1 {Next White takes on g2 with a big and obvious attack on the kingside.}) 25... Bxe5 $1 26. Bxe5 Qg6 {MVL might have missed that here Ng5 is a strong threat.} 27. Qxg2 (27. Re2 Ng5 28. Qxg2 f4 $17 {Black is definitely in the driver's seat.}) 27... Qxg2+ 28. Kxg2 Bd7 $1 {Black is fine here, up a pawn. However it is clear that winning chances are slim. The opposite colored bishops create strong drawing chances and White is active.} 29. Rg1 Kf7 30. Kf3 Rg8 31. Nxe4 fxe4+ 32. Kxe4 Ke6 33. Bf4 Bxa4 34. Rde1 h4 35. Rxg8 Rxg8 36. Kf3+ {Black can keep pushing for as long as he wants, but as soon as the rooks come off the opposite colored bishops will guarantee a draw as long as White keeps a queenside blockade.} Kf6 37. Re5 Bc6+ 38. Ke3 Re8 {what else?} 39. Rxe8 Bxe8 40. d7 {the d pawn is irrelevant, its more important to make sure the black pawns are blockaded.} Bxd7 41. Bd6 c4 42. Kd4 b5 43. Kc3 Ke6 44. Bc7 Kd5 45. Bd8 h3 46. b4 cxb3 47. Kxb3 Kc5 48. Be7+ Kb6 49. Bd8+ Kc5 50. Be7+ Kb6 51. Bd8+ {Black can never make progress.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.26"] [Round "4"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 c5 5. d5 O-O 6. e4 d6 7. Nge2 a6 $5 {An interestig idea. The sacrifice 7...b5 was played in Grischuk-Topalov earlier this year, with a great result for the Bulgarian. Aronian changes his approach and prepares b5, and interesting idea.} 8. a4 Ba5 $5 {Nice understanding from the Armenian. This threatsn b5 again!} 9. Bd2 (9. Ng3 b5 10. axb5 axb5 {and Black is better.}) 9... exd5 10. cxd5 Nh5 $1 {A very uncomfortable move for So. Now it is unclear how to develop his pieces.} 11. g3 Nd7 12. Bg2 b5 {Black has good play all around the board.} 13. g4 $2 {So tries to push back Aronian, but the Armenian does not give back any ground!} (13. O-O b4 14. Nb1 {is ok for Black but White isn't doing that badly.}) 13... b4 14. Nb1 (14. gxh5 bxc3 15. bxc3 Qh4+ {is not pleasant.}) 14... Qh4+ 15. Kf1 Ne5 $1 {The start of a very strong attack. There is nothing White can do but accept the piece.} 16. Be1 $6 (16. Qe1 Qf6 17. gxh5 Nxf3 $19) (16. gxh5 f5 {is too strong. Black is tooa active, White has no plan and it is uncomfortable to defend. And yet, this was the best continuation.}) 16... Qf6 $1 17. gxh5 Nxf3 18. Bf2 Bg4 $1 {Keeping the initiative seems much stronger to me than to go for material with Qxb2.} 19. Qc1 (19. Bxf3 Qxf3 20. Rg1 Qh3+ 21. Ke1 f5 $19) 19... Nd4 $1 20. Nxd4 cxd4 {Black's attack is way too strong. The king is weak, So has no development... how to defend this position?} 21. e5 {tryign to get some squares.} dxe5 22. Nd2 Rac8 23. Qb1 b3 $1 24. Nxb3 Bb6 25. a5 Ba7 (25... Rc2 $3 {is brilliant, but everything wins.}) 26. Kg1 Bf5 $1 27. Be4 Qg5+ 28. Kf1 Qf4 {d3 comes next, White's position clearly collapses.} 0-1