Tata Steel Rd10: Relative peace from The Hague

[Event "77th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2015.01.21"] [Round "10"] [White "Van Wely, L."] [Black "Hou Yifan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2667"] [BlackElo "2673"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r1b2rk1/p2pp1bp/2p3p1/2P1p1B1/4N2Q/8/Pq3PPP/R3R1K1 w - - 0 17"] [PlyCount "15"] [EventDate "2015.01.09"] 17. Rad1 {This is a hard position to evaluate. Black is up two pawns but her position lacks development. Her bishop on c8 is specially bad. She tries to rip apart the position immediately, but it was probably better to have some patience.} d5 $6 {Too hasty.} (17... Qxa2 18. Bxe7 Rf4 19. Qg3 a5 $5 {The position remains unclear. Black could even consider sacrificing the exchange on e4.}) 18. cxd6 exd6 19. Rxd6 {The strange thing about Hou Yifan's decision is that her king position is now clearly bad, whereas before d5 it wasn't that bad.} Bf5 20. Nf6+ Bxf6 21. Bxf6 Rab8 $4 {This, however, is just a blunder.} ( 21... Qxa2 22. h3 Rf7 (22... a5 {and initiating counterplay might be a touch better.}) 23. Bxe5 {looks painful for Black, as she will have to be careful about the diagonal for the rest of the game, but she might somehow survive.}) 22. Qc4+ Rf7 23. Red1 {Simple, Black cannot avoid Rd8+} Qb1 (23... Rbf8 24. Rd8 { doesn't change anything as Rxf8 and Rd8 mate is coming.}) 24. h3 1-0

[Event "77th Tata Steel Chess Masters"] [Site "Den Haag"] [Date "2015.01.21"] [Round "10"] [White "Saric, Ivan"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2666"] [BlackElo "2784"] [Annotator "Friedel, Josh"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "NED"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qf3 {This move looks a bit unnatural, but the idea is straightforward. White wants to 0-0-0 next move, and Qg3 is often an annoying move for Black to deal with.} Ne5 (7... Nf6 {is the most common way to play, but Giri remains loyal to Ne5, which he's played a few times now.}) 8. Qg3 h5 {The queen on g3 is extremely annoying, so Black harasses it in the traditional manner.} 9. f4 ({Radjabov played} 9. O-O-O {against Giri in round 6.}) (9. f3 {was played successfully by Karjakin against Giri in 2014. One can safely assume that Anish has a few improvements.}) 9... h4 10. Qh3 Nc4 11. Bxc4 Qxc4 12. O-O-O b5 {So far, the game has proceeded in typical Paulsen fashion: White has developed and castled, and Black has moved a bunch of pawns.} 13. f5 {Saric's novelty, intentional or otherwise.} (13. Kb1 {was played against GM Bok earlier this year.}) 13... Bb7 14. Rhf1 {There is some potential scaryness on the f-file, so Giri shuts that down.} e5 15. Nb3 Qc7 16. Bg5 {A very nice move, disturbing Black's development.} Rc8 17. Rf2 {White frees the c3 knight while preparing to double on the d-file. Unfortunately, this also gives Black time to solidify his position.} (17. f6 $5 {It is possible to start throwing punches right away.} Nxf6 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Rxf6 b4 {Forced, as otherwise Black's position is just in shambles.} 20. Rxf7 bxc3 21. Rfxd7 (21. Rdxd7 {is also an option.}) 21... cxb2+ 22. Kxb2 Qxc2+ 23. Ka1 {looks promising for White, but after the accurate } Rh6 $1 {White's initiative seems to have fizzled out, and a draw is likely.}) 17... Be7 18. Bxe7 Kxe7 {This looks risky, but it isn't so easy to take advantage of the king on e7 right away. The knight is also far better on f6 than e7.} (18... Nxe7 19. Rfd2 {and Black's position is very uncomfortable to say the least.}) 19. Rfd2 Nf6 20. a3 Rh6 {This is what developing the rook in the Paulsen looks like. Black also prepares to drag his king to safety, as it surely doesn't want to remain on e7 forever.} 21. Qe3 Kf8 22. Kb1 {White can't do much, so Saric makes simple improvements to his position. The position looks very level, as improvements for both sides are hard to come by. That doesn't mean it is drawish, however.} Kg8 23. Rg1 {Seeing that nothing can be accomplished on the d-file, Saric aims his sniper rifle at a new target. Unfortunately, I think this is the start of his problems.} (23. Qe2 {keeping the status quo looks safer, but it is hard to play moves like this.}) 23... Ng4 24. Qf3 {h2 is always poisoned, since Qh3 traps the knight.} Qb6 25. Re1 Nf6 { Those pesky 2780 players, disrupting people's aim.} 26. g4 {Saric decides to play on the kingside anyway, but it looks to me as if Black's play is faster.} hxg3 27. Qxg3 (27. hxg3 b4 28. axb4 Qxb4 29. g4 Rh4 $1 {and Black is the one with the initiative.}) 27... d6 28. Rg2 Rh7 29. Qg5 Kf8 {This is where White's play ends, and he's left to deal with his weaknesses.} 30. Qd2 Rxc3 $1 {Black doesn't miss a chance to play energetically.} 31. Qxc3 Nxe4 32. Qd3 $2 {The first clear error of the game. White had to play precisely to create counterplay.} (32. Qb4 Nc3+ 33. bxc3 {The doubled pawns actually make a snug home for White's king on b2.} Bxg2 34. Rxe5 Rxh2 35. Re2 $1 {and it isn't so easy for Black to prove anything, for instance} Rh1+ 36. Kb2 Qg1 (36... Bd5 { is better.}) 37. Qxd6+ Kg8 38. a4 $1 {and Black's mating threats dissipate.}) 32... Nc3+ 33. Qxc3 Bxg2 {with the e5 pawn remaining intact, Black's advantage is decisive.} 34. Qc8+ Ke7 35. Qg8 Qf2 $1 36. Rd1 (36. Rxe5+ dxe5 37. Qxh7 Kf6 $1 {is also bad for White.}) 36... Be4 37. Rd2 Qg1+ 38. Ka2 Bxf5 {After a very precise sequence, Giri is left up two pawns. Of course, I'd still be nervous about my drafty king on e7, but thankfully it is Giri's king and he's got it covered.} 39. Qb8 Rh6 40. Rd5 Bd7 41. Qb7 Qg4 {Not obvious, but all precise. White simply can't generate any threats.} 42. Na5 Kf6 {This nifty move ensures complete safety for Black's king.} 43. b3 Rxh2 44. Rxd6+ Be6 45. Kb2 {Now it isn't about precision as much as making sure nothing gets blundered.} Qf4 46. Nc6 Rh1 47. Qe7+ Kf5 {and Saric resigns just as Giri's king completed his walk. As messy as it looked, this was a very clean game by Giri who took advantage of just a couple of errors by his opponent.} 0-1

[Event "77th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2015.01.21"] [Round "10"] [White "Jobava, Ba"] [Black "Caruana, F."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2727"] [BlackElo "2820"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2015.01.09"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Nge2 O-O 6. a3 Bd6 7. g3 b6 8. Bg2 Bb7 9. O-O c5 10. Re1 Be7 11. h3 Nc6 12. g4 Rc8 13. Qd2 a6 14. dxc5 bxc5 15. Rad1 Qa5 16. Nc1 c4 17. N1e2 Rfd8 18. Nd4 Qb6 19. Qc1 Nd7 20. g5 Bf8 21. h4 g6 22. h5 Bg7 23. hxg6 hxg6 24. Nf3 Nc5 25. Nh2 e5 26. Bg3 Ne7 27. Ng4 e4 28. f4 Nf5 29. Bf2 Rb8 30. Rd2 Qe6 31. Bh3 Qc6 32. Bg2 Qe6 33. Red1 Nh4 34. Bh3 Nf3+ 35. Kg2 Qd6 36. Rxd5 Bxd5 37. Rxd5 Qb6 38. Rxc5 Qxc5 39. Nxe4 Qc6 40. Nef6+ Bxf6 41. Nxf6+ Kg7 42. e4 Nd2 43. Bg4 c3 44. b4 Rd6 45. Qe1 Rbd8 46. Qh1 {As strange a position as it gets. Black is up two exchanges (!) but White has two pawns and he is currently threatening checkmate on h6.} Rxf6 (46... Rh8 $1 47. Qe1 Qc4 48. Bc5 Rdd8 {keeps the material, and although White retains compensation it is unclear if it is enough.}) 47. Qh6+ Kg8 48. gxf6 Qxf6 49. Bh4 Qd4 50. Bxd8 {White recovers all of his material.} Qxe4+ 51. Kg3 $4 {An absolute blunder... and White still had plenty of time to calculate!} ( 51. Kf2 Qd4+ 52. Ke2 $1 (52. Kg2 Qxd8 53. Be6 Qa8+ 54. Kh2 Qe4 {is bad for White.}) 52... Qxd8 53. Be6 $1 {is fine for White. If the bishop is taken a perpetual follows, if it isn't, the bishop can retreat to d5 and put pressure on f7.} (53. Qh3 {is worse for White, but still would make Black work for it.}) 53... Qf6 54. Bd5 $11) 51... Qe1+ {Now White is simply getting mated.} 52. Kg2 Qf1+ 53. Kh2 (53. Kg3 Ne4+ 54. Kh2 Qf2+ 55. Kh3 Qg3#) 53... Qf2+ 54. Kh1 Nf1 { There is no way to avoid Ng3+ except with Bh4, but that allows Qh2#. oops.} 0-1