Zurich 04: Musical Inspiration!

[Event "Zurich Chess Challenge"] [Site "Zürich"] [Date "2014.02.02"] [Round "4"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E63"] [WhiteElo "2812"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "Chirila Cristian"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2014.01.30"] [EventCountry "SUI"] [SourceDate "2014.01.04"] {What a round! Three decisive results and a very tough choice for me. I decided to focus on this game because of last round's result, I was way too curious to see how Nakamura will deal with his psych crushing loss. His calm tweets in Italian, as well as his good mood before today's round were a sign of a cured mind, but was that the whole truth?} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. g3 d6 {Nakamura goes for his favorite KID, I don't think Aronian had a hard time preparing for this round, Naka's love for risky and complicated positions is well known} 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nc6 7. d4 a6 (7... Rb8 8. Bf4 a6 9. Rc1 h6 10. b3 g5 11. d5 gxf4 12. dxc6 fxg3 13. hxg3 b5 {With a good game for black in Carlsen- Nakamura Sinquefield 2013}) 8. h3 Rb8 9. e4 b5 10. d5 {A rare move, but again the top scoring pick in this position, Aronian's theoretical preparation is the best in the world by a large margin and we can see why in this game} (10. e5 Nd7 11. e6 (11. cxb5 axb5 12. Ng5 dxe5 13. Bxc6 exd4 14. Nxb5 Rb6 15. Na7 Ra6 16. Nxc8 Rxc6 $13) 11... fxe6 12. d5 Nce5 13. Nd4 Nb6 14. cxb5 Nxd5 {with a very complicated battle, the type of position in which Hikaru feels like a fish in the water}) 10... b4 (10... Na5 11. cxb5 axb5 12. b4 Nc4 13. Nd4 Bd7 14. a4 bxa4 15. b5 Nb6 16. Qd3 Ra8 17. Nc6 Bxc6 18. bxc6 Qc8 19. Ra3 $1 $146 (19. Be3 {was seen in Matlakov, M- Ding, L 2012, 0-1}) 19... Qa6 20. Nb5 Rab8 21. Nxc7 Qxd3 22. Rxd3 Rfc8 23. Na6 Ra8 24. Nb4 $14) 11. Ne2 Na5 12. Qc2 c6 (12... c5 $5 13. Nf4 Nd7 14. Re1 b3 15. Qd3 bxa2 16. Rxa2 Nb3 $36) 13. Nfd4 cxd5 (13... c5 14. Nb3 Nxb3 15. axb3 e6 {Would have been an interesting alternative, but Hikaru will almost always chose an open center}) 14. exd5 Qc7 $6 {In my opinion this move only helps white develop easier, necesarry would have been} (14... e5 15. dxe6 fxe6 16. b3 e5 $132) 15. b3 e5 ( 15... Nd7 16. Bb2 Nc5 17. Nf4 Re8 18. Rfe1 $16 {White's position is very pleasant, black's knights are stepping on each other's feet, or bucks...}) 16. dxe6 fxe6 17. a3 bxa3 18. Bd2 Nb7 19. Rxa3 e5 20. Nc6 $16 {White already has a crushing advantage, all his pieces are well coordinated while black's pieces are moving back and forth in an attempt to find theor optimal spot} Ra8 (20... Bf5 21. Qa2 Ra8 22. Nb4 a5 {transposes}) 21. Nb4 a5 22. Qa2 Bf5 (22... Be6 { controlling the d5 square is of imperial importance} 23. Nd5 Nxd5 24. cxd5 Bf5 25. b4 h5 26. bxa5 Nc5 {white is in control but the game is not done yet, the bishop on g2 is out of game and if black will be able control the "a" pawn the tides can easily change}) 23. Nd5 Nxd5 24. Bxd5+ Kh8 25. b4 Bxh3 26. Rb1 Bf5 27. Rb2 Bd7 28. bxa5 Bc6 29. Nc3 Nc5 30. Be3 e4 31. a6 {White is simply playing the best moves, black's position is getting worse and worse with every move} Nd3 (31... Rxa6 32. Rxa6 Nxa6 33. Qxa6 Bxc3 34. Rc2 Bxd5 35. cxd5 Qg7 36. Qxd6 $16) 32. Rb7 Qc8 (32... Bxb7 {would have been a more resilient defense, the position remains extremely difficult though} 33. axb7 Rab8 34. Nb5 (34. Nxe4 $2 Nb4 $15) 34... Qd7 35. Bxe4 Nc5 36. Bd5 $16) 33. Nxe4 Bxd5 34. cxd5 Qg4 35. Rxd3 Qxe4 36. Rdb3 (36. Qb1 {would have been a stylish way to protect the d5 pawn} Rxa6 37. Rxg7 Kxg7 38. Qb7+ Rf7 39. Qxa6 $18) 36... Qxd5 37. Qe2 Qc6 38. a7 d5 39. Rxg7 $1 {the most precise} Kxg7 40. Bd4+ Kh6 41. Qe3+ Kh5 (41... g5 42. g4 Kg6 43. Rb7 $18) 42. g4+ Kh4 43. Qh6+ Kxg4 44. Qh3+ Kf4 45. Rf3+ { What a crushing performance from Aronian, it seems like Aronian is being motivated by Carlsen's performance and doesn't want to lose the battle without a fight. So far both title contenders are simply crushing their opposition and playing marvelous chess!} 1-0

[Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [Site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.02.02"] [Round "4"] [White "Gelfand, B."] [Black "Anand, V."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2777"] [BlackElo "2773"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2014.01.29"] [SourceDate "2014.01.04"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Nc3 e6 6. h3 Bh5 {Anand keeps believing in this solid variation, and repeats it after using it against Caruana yesterday. To be fair his position did seem to be acceptable from the opening in that game.} 7. g4 Bg6 8. Nh4 {Capturing the bishop is usually the go-to way of obtaining a slight but stable advantage. The pair of bishops coupled with the extra space promises White long term prospects, but Black is relying on his solid structure and overall better dark-square control.} Bb4 9. Qb3 Qe7 10. Bd2 a5 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. cxd5 exd5 13. f3 $6 {This is possibly where Gelfand starts going wrong. Normally it's a good idea to take control of e4 by putting the structure in this way, but this allows a very quick a4-a3 and remember that Black has the better dark-square control...} a4 14. Qc2 a3 { The queenside is weakened.} 15. b3 Nbd7 16. O-O-O O-O {White's king is safer from a pawn storm because of his pawn shield, but the position is still double edged} 17. Kb1 Rfc8 18. h4 Nb6 19. g5 $6 (19. h5 $1 {seemed more direct and to thepoint. This would be a possible continuation:} gxh5 (19... g5 20. h6 g6 21. e4 $14) 20. g5 Nh7 21. g6 $1 Nf8 22. gxf7+ {with initiative.}) 19... Nh5 {With the kingside locked it's unclear what White is going to do. The knight being out of play is not a major concern in this position.} 20. Bh3 Re8 21. Rhe1 Rad8 22. Bg4 Qd6 23. Ne2 Bxd2 24. Qxd2 Nd7 25. Nf4 Nxf4 26. exf4 f5 $1 {Black forces White into an inferior pawn structure. Gelfand must hurry and prove activity before his position becomes weak and passive.} 27. gxf6 Nxf6 28. Re5 Nxg4 $1 {A transformation of advantages in its purest form! This is a veyr difficult move to play as it completely fixes White's structure, but Anand knows that the pawns can only advance so far because of White's king safety issues and his own passed pawn will give him counterplay.} 29. fxg4 Rxe5 30. fxe5 (30. dxe5 Qe7 {was double edged and it's hard to say who is better.}) 30... Qe7 31. Rh1 $6 (31. Rf1 $1 {was necessary to preserve the open file} Qxh4 32. Qf4 Qe7 $11 {and although Black is up a pawn it is not easily exploited.}) 31... Rf8 {The open file is of real importance, here Black already stands better because of it.} 32. h5 Qf7 33. h6 Qf3 $1 {Black isn't afraid of any ghosts created by the h-pawn, he knows his attack is faster.} 34. Re1 $6 { simply gifiting away a pawn.} gxh6 35. e6 Re8 36. g5 $2 Qf5+ {With two extra pawns and the weakness one e6 the game is an easy wrap. A deceptively simple game!} 0-1