[Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2013.09.09"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Kamsky, Gata"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D15"]
[WhiteElo "2862"]
[BlackElo "2741"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "36"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. d4 d5 4. Nc3 a6 5. e3 {An annoying move to face. There
are many other possibilities, but most importantly 5.c5!? is dangerous to
which Gata almost always replies 5...g6!?} Bf5 {A surprise! Other moves have
been tried in this idea. 5...b5 is a main idea while transposing to a
Semi-Slav with 5...e6 is also very popular.} 6. Bd3 (6. Qb3 b5 7. c5 a5 $1 8.
Ne5 a4 9. Qd1 g6 10. g4 Be6 11. h3 Bg7 {gave Black a fine position in the game
Tomashevsky-Ramirez, Tromso 2013}) 6... Bxd3 7. Qxd3 e6 8. O-O Bb4 {Most
players had rejected this as a dubious idea. Magnus took a long time trying to
figure out how to get an advantage after this.} (8... Be7 {allowing} 9. e4 dxe4
10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Qxe4 Nd7 {is very possible and the main idea.}) 9. Bd2 Bxc3
10. Bxc3 O-O 11. a4 Nbd7 12. a5 Ne4 13. Bb4 Re8 14. Rac1 {White holds a very
slight advantage because his position has more space and its more obvious on
what exactly to do: mainly it is to remove the knight from f3 and push f3.} h5
$5 {Kamsky took a long time thinking about this move. Carlsen seemed to have a
confused look in his face when he saw it.} 15. Ne5 Qc7 (15... Nxe5 16. dxe5 {
strands the knight on e4, and could prove dangerous.}) 16. Nxd7 Qxd7 17. Qe2 (
17. f3 {was more direct, but its unclear how much advantage White will be able
to obtain.}) 17... Nf6 18. Rfd1 Qc7 *

[Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2013.09.09"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C88"]
[WhiteElo "2772"]
[BlackElo "2813"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez, Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

{Aronian was the last person on his board, arriving only a few minutes before
the opening moves.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1
b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 b4 9. d4 d6 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nbd2 {The players
confidently blitzed to this position, but here Aronian began to think. Maybe
he was not anticipating this in his preparation, but it seemed that he wasn't
out of his own book as he quickly replied} Nfd7 12. Nd4 c5 13. Nf5 {Hikaru has
nothing to complain out of the opening. His powerful control of the
lightsquares a dangerous knight on f5 should give him the better position.} Nf6
14. Ne3 (14. Nf3 $5 {was maybe a better move, trying to mobilize all of
White's pieces, but Black can try to create counterplay after} Bxf5 15. exf5
Qc7 {preparing c4.} (15... c4 $2 {this move immediately does not work because}
16. Nxe5 cxb3 17. Nc6 {is a deadly fork.})) 14... Bb7 15. f3 Ng6 $6 {White
retains strong pressure after this. Levon spent a lot of time in this move but
maybe he was not confident in his calculations nonetheless.} (15... d5 $1 {
Breaking in the center is the only reason to put the bishop on b7.} 16. exd5
Nxd5 17. Nxd5 Bxd5 18. Rxe5 Bxb3 19. Rxe7 $1 (19. cxb3 $2 Qd4+ 20. Kh1 Qxe5 {
and Black wins.}) 19... Qxe7 20. Nxb3 Rad8 21. Qf1 c4 $1 22. Nd2 Qc5+ $1 23.
Qf2 Qe5 {Despite White's material advantage, it's very hard to see how exactly
he will untangle. It is more pleasant to be Black, but maybe Aronian was
worried that White would be able to develop and utilize his material advantage.
}) 16. Ndc4 d5 17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Nf5 Qc7 19. Nxe7+ Ngxe7 20. Bg5 {White's pair
of bishops secures him a slight but stable advantage. Also, Black's pawn
structure on the queenside is not the best.} Nf5 21. c3 (21. Na5 $5 {would've
been a very interesting move, since after} Qxa5 22. Bxd5 Bxd5 23. Qxd5 {
White's pieces are clearly dominating the board.}) 21... bxc3 22. bxc3 h6 23.
Qd3 g6 24. Bd2 Rad8 25. Qe2 Nf4 {it seems that with this move Black starts
regaining control of the position and equality. White's only advantage is the
pair of bishops and without it Black should hold without problems.} 26. Bxf4
Qxf4 27. Rad1 Bd5 28. Nd2 Bxb3 29. Nxb3 Qxa4 30. Nxc5 Qb5 $4 {A stunning
blunder!} (30... Qc6 31. Ne4 {would have led to an easy draw}) 31. Qxb5 axb5
32. Nd7 {Nakamura played this instantly, after which Aronian was visibly
shaken. He might have completely forgotten about this resource which wins an
exchange. The Armenian was very fidgety before he decided his best chance was
to immediately take on d7} Rxd7 33. Rxd7 Ra8 {If the b and c pawns didn't
exist, some resources might exist, but as it is the exchange is top powerful.}
34. Kf2 Ra6 35. g4 Nh4 36. f4 Rc6 37. Ree7 Rf6 38. Kg3 g5 39. f5 Kg7 40. Re6 {
Nakamura starts the tournament with an unexpected win.} 1-0

