Tashkent 10: More peace

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2014.11.01"] [Round "10"] [White "Gelfand, B."] [Black "Andreikin, D."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2722"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2014.10.20"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 5. Nc3 e6 6. c5 b6 7. cxb6 Qxb6 8. Na4 Qc7 9. Bd2 a5 10. Rc1 Bd6 11. Bd3 Ba6 12. Qe2 O-O 13. O-O Bxd3 14. Qxd3 Nbd7 15. Rc2 Rfc8 16. Rfc1 Qb7 17. Be1 {Black's not quite ready to actually play c5, but White is doing nothing other than preventing it.} Ne4 18. Nd2 Nxd2 19. Bxd2 Qa6 20. Qxa6 Rxa6 21. f3 f5 22. e4 fxe4 23. fxe4 dxe4 24. Nc3 Nf6 25. Re1 e3 26. Bxe3 Bb4 27. Rec1 Bxc3 {a surprisingly correct move. This allows Black to liquidate the game into a draw.} 28. bxc3 c5 29. dxc5 Ng4 30. Bd4 e5 31. h3 exd4 32. hxg4 Rxc5 33. cxd4 Rxc2 34. Rxc2 Rg6 35. Kf2 Rxg4 36. Ke3 Kf7 37. Re2 Rg6 38. Kd3 Re6 39. Rb2 Rg6 40. Kc4 Ke7 41. Kb5 Rd6 42. Kc5 Rg6 43. a4 h5 44. d5 h4 45. Kb5 Rd6 46. Rd2 g5 47. Kxa5 g4 48. Kb5 h3 49. gxh3 gxh3 50. a5 Rh6 51. Rh2 Kd6 52. a6 Kc7 53. Kc5 Rxa6 54. Rxh3 Rg6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2014.11.01"] [Round "10"] [White "Giri, A."] [Black "Jobava, Ba"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A04"] [WhiteElo "2768"] [BlackElo "2717"] [PlyCount "138"] [EventDate "2014.10.20"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. N1c3 a6 7. Na3 Be6 { This variation reminds me of the Kalashnikov Sicilian, but in this case White does not have to go e4, weakening his d4 square, but simply develop his bishop with a Fianchetto.} 8. g3 f5 9. Bg2 Nf6 10. O-O Be7 11. e4 (11. Nd5 $5) 11... fxe4 12. Nxe4 O-O 13. b3 Kh8 14. Nc2 Bg4 15. Qd2 Qd7 16. Bb2 Nxe4 17. Bxe4 Bf3 18. Qd5 Qg4 19. Rae1 Qh5 20. Re3 Bxe4 21. Qxe4 {The structure favors White, but Black still has some counterplay on the kingside.} Rf6 22. Bc1 Raf8 23. Rd3 Rg6 24. Rd5 Bh4 {Jobava is clearly gunning for some kind of sacrifice on g3, but at the moment there are no clear threats. That being said it is also not easy for Giri to make progress as he cannot leave his kingside unguarded.} 25. Ba3 Be7 26. Bc1 Qh3 27. Be3 Qh5 28. a3 Rg4 29. Qg2 Qe8 30. Nb4 h5 31. c5 $1 { Well timed. Now that Jobava retreated his queen to push his h-pawn Giri has some t ime to create threats on his own, specifically in the center.} Nxb4 ( 31... dxc5 32. Nxc6 Qxc6 33. Rxe5 {loses either c5 or h5, and the game either way.}) 32. axb4 Qg6 33. Rfd1 dxc5 34. Rxe5 {it's hard to understand why Giri wanted this pawn out of all the ones that he could have taken.} (34. Rd7 Bf6 35. bxc5 {looks pretty lethal, with b7 falling next.}) 34... Bf6 35. Bxc5 (35. Rxc5 Rxb4 36. Qf3 {now at least the queen attacks h5, which is surprisingly hard to defend} Rxb3 37. Rd7 {with strong threats.}) (35. Qf3 {is some strong computer move, but who would ever play that.}) 35... Bxe5 36. Bxf8 h4 37. Be7 $6 {Why put the bishop on e7?} (37. Bc5 {preserved a sizeable advantage.} hxg3 $2 38. Rd8+ {is not possible.} Kh7 39. Qh3+ Qh6 40. Qxg4 Qxh2+ 41. Kf1 {and in this line f2 is covered, so there is no Qxf2 checkmate.}) 37... hxg3 38. Rd8+ Kh7 39. Qh3+ Qh6 40. Qxh6+ Kxh6 41. hxg3 {Now this endgame is better for White, but far from won.} Re4 42. Rd7 b5 43. Bc5 Re1+ 44. Kg2 Ra1 45. Kf3 Kh7 46. Rd3 Bb2 47. Ke4 Ba3 48. Kd5 Rc1 49. Bd6 Rc8 50. Ke6 Kg6 51. f3 Rc6 52. Kd7 Rc2 53. Ke6 Rc6 54. Ke7 Rc2 55. g4 Re2+ 56. Kd7 Rc2 {Giri simply doesn't find a good way to make progress.} 57. Ke6 Re2+ 58. Kd5 Rc2 59. f4 Kf7 60. g5 Kg6 61. Ke6 Re2+ 62. Kd7 Re4 63. Be5 Bc1 64. Rf3 Kf5 65. Bxg7 Bxf4 66. Kc6 Kxg5 67. Kd5 Kf5 68. Bh6 Rxb4 69. Kc5 Rxb3 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2014.11.01"] [Round "10"] [White "Mamedyarov, S."] [Black "Vachier Lagrave, M."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E60"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2757"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2014.10.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c5 4. dxc5 {Well, that is one way of side-stepping the Fianchetto Benoni. However this move is not supposed to be dangerous.} Qa5+ (4... Na6 {also makes sense.}) 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Bg2 Nc6 7. Qa4 Qxc5 8. Be3 Qb4 9. Qxb4 Nxb4 10. Rc1 O-O 11. Nh3 d6 12. Nf4 Bf5 13. O-O g5 $5 {an interesting idea. The knight doesnt' have any good place to go to.} 14. Nh3 (14. Nd3 $5 Nxd3 15. exd3 Bxd3 16. Rfe1 Bxc4 17. b3 Be6 18. Bxg5 $44) (14. Nfd5 Nfxd5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Bxb2 $11) 14... h6 15. Bd2 Rac8 16. b3 Nc6 $6 (16... Nd7 $1) 17. f4 gxf4 18. Rxf4 Bd7 19. Rh4 {White's pressure on h6 is annoying.} Ne5 $5 { A strange move. MVL wants to forcefully get rid of the pressure on h6, but he gives up b7 to do so.} 20. Bxb7 Ng6 21. Bxc8 Rxc8 {The rook is trapped so MVL gets back his exchange, but not his pawn.} 22. Nf4 (22. Rxh6 $2 Bxh6 23. Bxh6 Bxh3 $19) 22... Nxh4 23. gxh4 Kh7 24. Nfd5 Nxd5 25. Nxd5 e6 26. Nf4 Rg8 27. Kf1 Be5 {Black should have enough compensation here with the pair of bishops and the open g-file.} 28. Be3 Rg4 $2 (28... a6 $1 {No reason to give up this important pawn.}) 29. Nd3 Bxh2 30. Bxa7 e5 31. Bf2 f5 32. Nb4 (32. c5 {also looked very dangerous.}) 32... f4 33. c5 dxc5 34. Rxc5 Rg7 35. Rxe5 {White's up two pawns now.} f3 $1 36. Re3 fxe2+ 37. Kxe2 Bg4+ 38. Kf1 Bd6 39. Nd3 Ra7 { The smoke has cleared somewhat. White is up two pawns and the only thing to show for it is the pair of bishops. Surprisingly, winning is still not trivial, and Mamedyarov does not find a way.} 40. Bg3 Bf8 41. Nf2 Bh5 42. a4 Rb7 43. Ne4 (43. a5 {was maybe a better try.}) 43... Bd1 44. Nd2 Bb4 45. Nc4 (45. Be1 Bxd2 46. Bxd2 Bxb3 {should be a draw. The opposite colored bishops make it hard to make progress.}) 45... Bc5 46. Re5 Bb4 47. Rb5 Rxb5 48. axb5 Bxb3 49. Ne5 Bc5 50. Nd7 Bc4+ 51. Kg2 Bd4 52. b6 Bd5+ 53. Kf1 Kg6 54. Bf2 Bf6 55. h5+ Kf5 56. Nxf6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2014.11.01"] [Round "10"] [White "Nakamura, Hi"] [Black "Jakovenko, D."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D57"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2747"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2014.10.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. cxd5 Nxc3 10. bxc3 exd5 11. Bd3 c5 12. O-O Nc6 13. Re1 Be6 (13... Rd8 14. e4 dxe4 15. Bxe4 Qf6 {led to not mucuh in Topalov-Anand, 2011}) 14. e4 dxe4 15. Bxe4 cxd4 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. Nxd4 Qc5 18. Nxe6 fxe6 19. Re3 {White's structural advantage is not a big deal as the pressure on f2 counters it. Moreover there is an immediate draw that Jakovenko missed.} Rf6 (19... Rxf2 20. Kxf2 Rf8+ 21. Ke2 Qb5+ $1 22. Rd3 (22. Qd3 Qb2+ {hangs the a1 rook}) 22... Qb2+ 23. Rd2 Qb5+ $11) 20. Qe2 Raf8 21. Rf1 Kh8 22. g3 Rd8 23. Rxe6 Rxe6 24. Qxe6 Qxc3 {White is probably slightly better because of Black's bad king position, but it is not so relevant as he still has some counterplay and White's rook is not in the attack just yet.} 25. Qe7 Qd4 26. Rc1 Rb8 27. Qf7 a5 28. Qf5 Qd2 29. Rc2 Qd1+ 30. Kg2 Rb1 31. Qf8+ Kh7 32. Qf5+ Kh8 33. Qf8+ Kh7 34. Qf5+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2014.11.01"] [Round "10"] [White "Caruana, F."] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D73"] [WhiteElo "2844"] [BlackElo "2767"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2014.10.20"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 Nf6 5. c4 c6 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Qb3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 O-O 10. Nd2 e6 11. e4 Nc6 12. O-O Na5 13. Qd1 b6 14. e5 {Closing the position gives White chances to attack on the kingside but severely limits the defensive resources for the weak c3 pawn as there is no pressure on d5.} Ba6 15. Re1 Rc8 16. Re3 Re8 17. h4 Re7 18. h5 {White hopes to not lose his c3 pawn, because his position collapses. Black hopes not to get mated, because, well, is checkmate.} Rec7 19. Bb2 Nc4 20. Nxc4 Bxc4 21. hxg6 hxg6 22. a4 b5 23. axb5 Rb7 24. Ba3 Rxb5 25. f4 $6 {I can't say this move makes too much sense. It looks wrong to open the second rank to the enemy rooks, and the move g4-Rh3 looked much more natural rather than waiting a move to do it.} a5 26. g4 Rcb8 27. Re1 $6 (27. Qe1 $13 {Caruana really had to start gunning for checkmate at some point. The subtle plan is Rh3, g5, Qh4, Qh7.}) 27... Bf8 28. Bxf8 Kxf8 ( 28... Qxf8 $1) 29. Qf3 Qh4 30. f5 {Caruana continues his ambitious attack, mainly because if he doesn't the a -pawn will march to victory.} gxf5 31. gxf5 Ke7 32. Rec1 exf5 (32... Rh8 $1 {Black had the perfect opportunity to start his own attack.} 33. Rab1 $8 Rh6 $1 {And White's attack runs out of steam, meaning that Black's has good chances of succeeding.}) 33. Qxf5 Rb2 34. Rc2 Rxc2 35. Qxc2 Rh8 36. Qf5 Rh6 37. Rb1 Kf8 38. Qf3 a4 $2 {Human, but only good enough to draw.} (38... Ba6 $3 {Perhaps with more time Karjakin would have been able to f ind this resource. The main point is that b7 is now covered.} 39. Qxd5 a4 $19 {the pawn just keeps on marching. Of course this is just a computer line, but it claims th at its completely winning; basically White cannot defend his king and the advance of the a-pawn at the same time.}) 39. Rb7 $2 {White's counterplay is in time to draw, but not like this.} (39. Rb8+ $1 Kg7 40. Rb7 Qe1+ 41. Bf1 Qxf1+ 42. Qxf1 Bxf1 43. Kxf1 $11) 39... f6 $2 ( 39... Qe1+ $1 40. Bf1 Qxf1+ 41. Qxf1 Bxf1 42. Kxf1 a3 43. Ra7 Rh1+ 44. Kg2 Ra1 {seems like it is simply a lot endgame. Black will put his pawn on a2 and march his king forward, taking c3 and d4 (maybe after exchanging f7 for e5).}) 40. Rb8+ Kf7 41. Rb7+ Kf8 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2014.11.01"] [Round "10"] [White "Kasimdzhanov, R."] [Black "Radjabov, T."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B44"] [WhiteElo "2706"] [BlackElo "2726"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2014.10.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nb5 {This line isn't so popular right now.} d6 6. c4 Nf6 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 Be7 (8... d5 {was the super famous Karpov-Kasparov game from 1985, but since then we know this line is not sound.} ) 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O b6 11. Be3 Bb7 12. Qb3 Nd7 13. Rfd1 Nc5 14. Qc2 Rb8 15. Rac1 Ba8 16. Nab1 e5 17. Qd2 g6 18. Bf1 Kh8 19. f3 Ne6 20. Nd5 Bg5 21. Bxg5 Nxg5 22. Nbc3 Nd4 23. Qe3 Nge6 {the position is locked up and White's hold on d5 is not more important than Black's on d4.} 24. f4 f6 25. Rd2 b5 26. cxb5 axb5 27. b4 Bc6 28. Rf2 g5 29. fxe5 fxe5 30. Rd1 Qd7 31. Rdd2 Qg7 32. Rxf8+ Rxf8 33. Rf2 Nf4 34. g3 1/2-1/2