[Event "FIDE Grand Prix Tashkent 2014-15"]
[Site "Tashkent"]
[Date "2014.10.21"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A65"]
[WhiteElo "2758"]
[BlackElo "2748"]
[Annotator "Ramirez, Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[EventCountry "UZB"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 e6 4. e4 c5 5. d5 d6 6. Nc3 exd5 7. cxd5 {Modern
chess is like this, weird of full transpositions. The anti-Grunfeld has turned
into a Benoni.} Bg7 8. Nge2 O-O 9. Ng3 a6 10. a4 Nh5 $5 {Clearly an idea
cooked at home. The idea of doubling the pawns on the h-file is not unheard of
in the Benoni, Here Black tries to accelerate his development while at the
same time it gives him the possibility to break with f5 quickly.} (10... Nbd7 {
is far more common.}) (10... h5 $5 {has also been seen often.}) 11. Nxh5 gxh5
12. Be2 Qh4+ 13. g3 Qe7 14. h4 Nd7 15. Kf2 Ne5 16. Kg2 f5 {Black has no
complaints from the opening. He has good development and he has achieved f5.} (
16... Ng6 $5 {Was maybe even more ambitious, preparing f5 next move.}) 17. f4
Ng4 18. Bxg4 hxg4 19. Re1 Bxc3 20. bxc3 fxe4 21. a5 Bf5 {Black is up a pawn,
but he will be unable to do anything with it. White on the other hand will
triple down the b-file to attack the weak b7 pawn. Black will defend it, and
no one will make progress.} 22. Be3 Rad8 23. Rb1 Rd7 24. Rb6 Qf7 25. c4 Re8 26.
Qb3 h5 27. Rb1 Ree7 28. Kf1 Kh7 29. Ke2 Kg8 30. Kd2 Kh7 31. Qd1 Kg8 32. R1b3
Kh7 33. Kc2 Kg8 34. Kb1 Kh7 35. Ka2 Qe8 36. Qc2 Qf7 37. Qc3 Qg7 38. Qc2 Qf7 39.
Qc3 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix Tashkent 2014-15"]
[Site "Tashkent"]
[Date "2014.10.21"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Andreikin, Dmitry"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2722"]
[Annotator "Ramirez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[EventCountry "UZB"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. e3 e6 6. Qc2 Nbd7 7. b3 (7. a3 {was
Mamedyarov's unsuccessful try against Andreikin in the previous GP.}) 7... Bd6
8. Bb2 O-O 9. Be2 e5 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. O-O Be6 13. Rac1 Rc8 14.
Qb1 {A typical isolated pawn position for the structure. Black has almost no
problems. He will always have to defend his d-pawn, but his space advantage
and good pieces usually nullifies White's structural edge.} Nfg4 15. Nxe5 Bxe5
16. h3 Bh2+ 17. Kh1 Bb8 {Black has some serious threats on the kingside, one
of the reasons this structure is acceptable for him. Mamedyarov eases the
pressure as soon as possible, but that costs him the pair of bishops.} 18. Bxg4
Bxg4 19. Qd3 (19. Nxd5 Rxc1 20. Rxc1 Bxh3 21. Nf6+ gxf6 22. gxh3 Qd5+ $11)
19... Qd6 $2 {This move is surprisingly imprecise.} (19... Be6 20. f4 f6 $11)
20. f4 Be6 21. Rcd1 Qc5 22. Nxd5 {Black basically did not have a good way of
defending d5. He has compensation due to his activity but White is the one
playing for a win.} Bxd5 23. Qxd5 Qxd5 24. Rxd5 Ba7 25. e4 Rfe8 26. e5 Rc2 27.
Rb1 h5 28. Rd7 Rf2 29. Rxb7 Be3 30. f5 Rxf5 31. Re1 Rf2 32. Rxe3 Rxb2 33. a4 {
White is up a solid pawn, but winning is very hard. Black is active and he has
pressure over both e5 and b3.} Re6 34. Kh2 h4 35. Re4 f5 $2 36. Rd4 Rc6 37.
Rb8+ $2 (37. Rd6 $1 Rxd6 (37... Rcc2 38. Rg6 $18) 38. exd6 Rd2 39. Rb6 $18)
37... Kh7 38. Rxh4+ Kg6 39. Rhh8 Rcc2 40. Kg3 (40. Rb6+ Kf7 41. e6+ Ke7 42. Kg3
{was just a stronger version of the game.}) 40... Rxg2+ 41. Kh4 Rbe2 42. Rb6+
Kf7 43. e6+ $2 {With a weak king Mamedyarov panics.} (43. Rb7+ Ke6 44. Re8+ Kd5
45. Rd7+ Ke4 46. Rg8 $11) 43... Rxe6 44. Rxe6 Kxe6 45. b4 {It's unclear if
White can save this endgame. Karsten Muller will tell us!} (45. Ra8 f4 $19)
45... g5+ 46. Kh5 g4 47. Kh4 g3 48. b5 axb5 49. axb5 f4 50. Rg8 Kd7 51. Rg7+
Kc8 {White is helpless agaisnt Rf2, g2, f3 and Rf1.} 0-1

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix Tashkent 2014-15"]
[Site "Tashkent"]
[Date "2014.10.21"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C47"]
[WhiteElo "2726"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[Annotator "Ramirez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[EventCountry "UZB"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 $5 d5 (3... Bc5 {This move interestingly transposes
to a specific variation of the Spanish where sometimes Black plays ...a6 and
that move is met with Bc4 because Black has played g6.}) 4. exd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2
Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bd6 7. Nf3 O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. Rb1 h6 10. d3 {We aren't following
any specific game, but the structures are well known. It kind of resembles a
reverse King's Indian, except Black's pawn is still on c7 (which is probably a
good thing for him as he can always close the diagonal later with c6).} Rb8 11.
Nh4 Be6 12. Qh5 Ne7 13. f4 exf4 14. gxf4 Nd5 (14... Bxa2 15. Ra1 Bd5 $1 {This
forced move is not easy to see.} 16. Bxd5 Nxd5 17. Nf5 Qf6 $1 {Black retains
some advantage.}) 15. Bxd5 Bxd5 16. Nf5 Bc6 17. Be3 Qf6 18. Bd4 Qg6+ 19. Qxg6
fxg6 20. Nxd6 cxd6 {At the end of the day the opposite colored bishops give
the position more of a drawish feeling than antyhing else. The rooks are not
active enough yet to cause the enemy kings any problems.} 21. Rbe1 Rbe8 22.
Rxe8 Rxe8 23. Bxa7 Ra8 24. Bb6 Rxa2 25. Rf2 Ba4 26. Bc7 d5 27. Be5 Kf7 28. Kg2
h5 29. h4 Bd7 30. Kg1 Bg4 31. Bd4 b5 32. Be5 Ra7 33. Kg2 Ke6 34. Bd4 Re7 35.
Be5 Kf5 36. Rf1 Ra7 37. Rb1 g5 38. Bd4 Ra2 39. fxg5 Rxc2+ 40. Kg3 Rd2 41. Bxg7
Rxd3+ 42. Kf2 Rh3 43. Rxb5 Rxh4 44. Rxd5+ Kg6 45. Be5 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix Tashkent 2014-15"]
[Site "Tashkent"]
[Date "2014.10.21"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Kasimdzhanov, Rustam"]
[Black "Jakovenko, Dmitry"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2706"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[Annotator "Ramirez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[EventCountry "UZB"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5
8. Rxe5 O-O 9. Nc3 Ne8 10. Nd5 Bd6 11. Re2 c6 12. Ne3 Bc7 13. Nf5 d5 14. Ne7+
Kh8 15. Nxc8 Rxc8 16. d3 Nf6 {A brilliant novelty changing the evaluation of
the Berlin Defense. No, just kidding, the position is still just equal.} (16...
f5 17. g3 Qf6 18. Bd2 Nd6 19. Bc3 d4 $2 {Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime - Giri, Anish;
Biel 2014 1-0}) 17. g3 Ng4 18. h3 (18. Bh3 f5 {and the computers are giving
White an edge, but I do not know why.}) 18... Nf6 19. Bd2 Qd7 20. Bg2 Rce8 21.
Rxe8 Rxe8 22. Qf3 Kg8 23. Re1 Rxe1+ 24. Bxe1 Qe6 25. Kf1 g6 26. Qe2 h5 27. Bd2
Ne8 28. c4 Be5 29. b3 Nf6 30. Qe3 a6 31. Bb4 Kg7 32. a4 Bb2 33. Bd2 Qd6 34. b4
Nd7 35. cxd5 cxd5 36. a5 Nf6 37. Bf3 Qd7 38. Kg2 Qf5 39. Qe2 Bd4 40. g4 hxg4
41. hxg4 Qe6 42. g5 Ng8 43. Bg4 Qxe2 44. Bxe2 Ne7 45. Bd1 f6 46. gxf6+ Kxf6 47.
Ba4 Nf5 48. b5 axb5 49. Bxb5 Nh4+ 50. Kf1 Nf3 51. Bb4 g5 52. Ke2 Ne5 53. Bd2
Kf5 54. Ba4 Kf6 55. Bb3 Ke6 56. Ba4 Kf6 57. Bb5 Kf5 58. Be8 Kf6 59. Ba4 Kf5 60.
f3 Kf6 61. Bb3 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix Tashkent 2014-15"]
[Site "Tashkent"]
[Date "2014.10.21"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2844"]
[BlackElo "2757"]
[Annotator "Ramirez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[EventCountry "UZB"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3
Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. Rg1 Nb6 13. Na5 Rc8 14. g5 Nh5 15.
Kb1 Qc7 {This must be MVL's improvement from the Anand-Topalov game from last
year.} (15... Nf4 16. a3 g6 17. h4 Qc7 18. Bxf4 exf4 19. Nd5 Bxd5 20. exd5 $14
{Anand, V - Topalov, V; Norway Chess 2013 1-0 (41)}) 16. Nd5 Nxd5 17. exd5 Bxd5
18. Qxd5 Qxa5 19. Bd3 g6 20. c4 $5 {This changes the character of the position.
Caruana will regain his pawn, but the opposite colroed bishops and the open
files will guarantee Black at least some counterplay.} Nf4 21. Bxf4 exf4 22.
cxb5 axb5 23. Qxb5 Qa7 {White is up a pawn, but that is the only good thing
about his position. Practically speaking it must be easier to play with Black
already.} 24. Be4 Rc7 25. Bd5 Qf2 $5 {Mixing things up.} (25... Rb8 26. Qd3 Bf8
{was natural and good, though one can imagine that after Bb3 White will
eventually be solid enough for equality.}) 26. Qb3 Qxh2 {Black goes on a pawn
venture; White cannot really exploit the open h-file as his queen has no good
way to transfer to that flank.} 27. a4 Qf2 28. Rc1 Ra7 29. Qb4 Qe3 30. Rcd1 Qe5
31. Qb5 Kg7 32. Bc6 Rc8 33. Rg2 d5 $1 {A powerful and well timed move! White
surprisingly has no good way of taking this pawn.} 34. Bxd5 (34. Rxd5 Qe1+ 35.
Ka2 Qe6 36. Rc2 Bxg5 $17) (34. Qxd5 Qxd5 35. Bxd5 Rxa4 $17) 34... Rc5 35. Qb3
Bxg5 36. Bc4 Bf6 37. Re2 Qf5+ 38. Re4 Re5 39. Rde1 Rxe4 40. Rxe4 Re7 {Black is
now ahead in material and the endgames are far from drawn. In this case the
opposite colored bishops do not matter as much as White's bishop will have
huge problems transfering to defend against the advance of the h-pawn.} 41. Bd3
Rxe4 42. Bxe4 Qd7 43. Qb5 Qxb5 $1 {Well analyzed.} 44. axb5 Bd4 45. Kc2 h5 46.
b6 Bxb6 47. Kd1 f5 48. Bc6 g5 49. Bd7 Kf6 50. Ke2 g4 51. Kf1 Kg5 0-1

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP 2014"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.22"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2768"]
[BlackElo "2764"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 a6 7. b3 Bd6 8. Bb2
O-O 9. Be2 e5 10. Nxd5 {An unusual novelty but there are some computers that
suggest this idea. The trick here is that White will recover his piece with
dxe5, forking the knight and bishop. The issue is more about the fact that I'm
not sure this can bring any advantage.} Nxd5 (10... cxd5 11. dxe5 Qa5+ 12. Kf1
Nxe5 13. Nxe5 Re8 14. Nf3 dxc4 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Bxc4 Bf5 {leaves White up a
pawn. The computers claim compensation, but im not so sure about that.}) 11.
cxd5 Qa5+ $6 (11... e4 $1 12. Qxe4 Bb4+ 13. Kf1 Nf6 14. Qb1 cxd5 {again gives
Black some compensation. White's development is awkward and his pieces dont
have any good future.}) 12. Bc3 Bb4 13. Bxb4 Qxb4+ 14. Qd2 Qxd2+ 15. Kxd2 exd4
16. Nxd4 cxd5 {Black retained material equality, but his position is far from
pretty. He has a bad version of an isolated pawn and White is well palced for
it.} 17. Rhc1 Nf6 18. Rc7 Rd8 19. Rac1 Ne8 20. R7c5 Kf8 {Black is extremely
passive and has a weak pawn. White should try to open a second front on the
kingside to create even more problems, but Giri somehow plays this too
passively.} 21. g4 h6 22. f3 Ke7 23. h3 Kd6 24. f4 Bd7 25. Bf3 Nf6 26. Nf5+
Bxf5 27. gxf5 Rd7 28. Kd3 {Now that Black has had time to bring the king to d6
it seems hard to make progress.} Re8 29. Rc8 Rxc8 30. Rxc8 Rc7 31. Rb8 Kc5 32.
a3 a5 33. Rf8 Kd6 34. Ra8 Rc5 35. Rf8 Rc7 36. Ra8 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP 2014"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.22"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2748"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qb3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Na5 7. Qa4 Bb7 8. Bg2
c5 9. dxc5 bxc5 10. O-O Be7 11. Re1 {Never played at the top level, but this
idea of playing Re1, e4 and binding Black a little more looks logical enough.}
Qc7 12. e4 Bc6 13. Qa3 d6 14. e5 dxe5 15. Nxe5 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 O-O 17. Qa4 Rfc8
18. Ndf3 Nc6 19. Nxc6 Qxc6 20. Qxc6 Rxc6 21. Bf4 Rb6 22. Re2 Kf8 23. Rd1 Ke8
24. Ne5 Rd8 25. Rxd8+ Bxd8 26. Be3 Be7 27. Nd3 {White's edge is definite in
this endgame, but converting the advantage is difficult as there is only one
weakness to attack.} Ra6 28. b3 Nd7 29. g4 Rc6 30. f4 f5 31. Kf3 Kf7 32. g5 h6
33. h4 Rc8 34. Bf2 hxg5 35. hxg5 Rh8 36. Kg2 g6 37. Rd2 Rc8 38. Ne1 Ke8 39. Nf3
Rc6 40. Rd1 Ra6 41. Rd2 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP 2014"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.22"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Jakovenko, Dmitry"]
[Black "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A35"]
[WhiteElo "2747"]
[BlackElo "2726"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. d4 e6 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bg2 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Qxd4 11. cxd4 Bb4+ 12. Bd2 Bxd2+ 13. Kxd2 Ke7
14. Rhc1 Rd8 15. Rc7+ Rd7 16. Rac1 Kd8 17. Rxd7+ Kxd7 18. g4 h6 19. f4 Rb8 20.
g5 hxg5 21. fxg5 b6 22. g6 {The novelty of the game, in an endgame that is
drawn almost always.} fxg6 23. Be4 Kd6 24. Rc6+ Kd7 25. Rc1 Kd6 26. Bxg6 Bd7
27. h4 Rf8 28. h5 Rf2 29. Rg1 Bb5 {This leads to a drawish endgame but it was
not necessary to give up a pawn.} (29... Bc6 $11) 30. Bd3 Bxd3 31. Kxd3 Rf5 32.
Rxg7 Rxh5 33. Rxa7 e5 34. Ra4 Rh3+ 35. Kd2 e4 36. Rb4 Kd5 37. Rxb6 Kxd4 38.
Rb4+ Ke5 39. Rb3 Rh1 40. Ke3 Rh3+ 41. Kd2 Rh1 42. Rb2 Kd4 43. a3 Ra1 44. Rb4+
Ke5 45. Rb3 Kf4 46. e3+ Kf3 47. Kc3 Re1 48. Kd4 Rd1+ 49. Kc4 Rc1+ 50. Kd4
1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP 2014"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.22"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Kasimdzhanov, Rustam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2757"]
[BlackElo "2706"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Nbd2 d6 6. O-O Bd7 7. c3 O-O 8. Nc4
h6 $2 {Completely underestimating White's quiet moves.} 9. b4 Bb6 10. a4 {
Black's bishop is about to get trapped on b6, so Black is forced to weaken his
structure.} a5 11. Nxb6 cxb6 12. bxa5 Nxa5 13. h3 {With the pair of bishops
and a clear target on b6 White is on top. If Black takes on b5 his knight will
get stranded on a5 for the rest of the game.} d5 14. exd5 Bxb5 15. axb5 Qxd5
16. c4 Qe6 17. Bb2 e4 18. Re1 Rad8 19. Bxf6 Qxf6 20. Rxe4 Nb3 $6 (20... Rxd3
21. Qxd3 Qxa1+ 22. Kh2 {is still better for White, clearly, but Black has
reasonable chances to survive.}) 21. Ra3 Nc5 22. Re3 {Now Kasimdzhanov has the
worse position and is down a pawn.} Ne6 23. Qa1 Qe7 24. d4 Qf6 25. Re4 Rd6 26.
d5 Qxa1+ 27. Rxa1 Nc5 28. Re3 Rc8 29. Nd2 Rd7 30. Kf1 Kf8 31. Ne4 Rdc7 32. Nd6
Rd8 33. Rae1 g6 34. Re8+ Rxe8 35. Rxe8+ Kg7 36. Ke2 {Black is out of moves and
has the worse position and is down a pawn. A pretty simple win for MVL.} 1-0

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP 2014"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.22"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "Jobava, Baadur"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C44"]
[WhiteElo "2717"]
[BlackElo "2844"]
[PlyCount "118"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Be2 Nf6 4. d3 d5 5. Nbd2 Bc5 6. c3 a5 {Playing the
reverse Philidor defense seems to be Jobava's style nowadays. He played this
successfully in the Russian Team Championship this year.} 7. Qa4 O-O 8. b4 Bd6
9. O-O $2 {Actually this move is suprisingly careless, and Caruana takes full
advantage of it.} b5 $1 {If White retreats he loses the b4 pawn. He has to
take on b5.} 10. Qxb5 axb4 11. exd5 Na5 (11... Ne7 $1 {Was a stronger move.
The knight will take on d5 soon and White's position is too close to falling
apart.}) 12. cxb4 Bd7 13. Qxa5 Rxa5 14. bxa5 Nxd5 15. Ne4 Qa8 16. d4 exd4 17.
Nxd6 cxd6 18. Nxd4 Qxa5 {The smoke has cleared and Black is up material. The
win is far from trivial, but it is Black that is pushing.} 19. Bf3 Rb8 20. a4
Qc3 21. Ba3 Qxd4 22. Rad1 Qxa4 23. Bxd6 Rd8 24. Bxd5 Bg4 25. f3 {With all the
pawns in one side of the board, now it is very difficult to win.} Be6 26. Bxe6
fxe6 27. Rd2 e5 28. Rfd1 Qb5 29. h3 Kf7 30. Rd5 Qe2 31. Kh2 Qc4 32. Kh1 h5 33.
Kg1 Qb3 34. R1d3 Qb6+ 35. Kh1 Qc6 36. Rd1 g5 37. R5d3 Qc4 38. Rd5 g4 39. fxg4
hxg4 40. hxg4 e4 (40... Qe2 41. Bxe5 Rxd5 42. Rxd5 Ke6 43. Rc5 Qf2 44. Bd4 $1
Qxd4 45. Rf5 Qd1+ 46. Kh2 Qxg4 47. Rf3 {is a known fortress. White just has to
shuffle the rook between h3 and f3.}) 41. Rf5+ Kg6 42. Rdd5 Rh8+ 43. Kg1 Qc1+
44. Kf2 Ra8 45. Bc5 Ra6 46. Kg3 Qe1+ 47. Kh3 Qc3+ 48. Kh2 Qh8+ 49. Rh5 Qb8+ 50.
Kh3 Qf4 51. Rdf5 Qc1 52. Bf8 Re6 53. Kh2 Qc7+ 54. g3 Qc2+ 55. Kh3 Qc1 56. Kg2
Re8 57. Rh6+ Qxh6 58. Bxh6 Kxh6 59. Kf2 e3+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP 2014"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.22"]
[Round "2.6"]
[White "Andreikin, Dmitry"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "2722"]
[BlackElo "2764"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. a4 Rb8 8. axb5
axb5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. d4 Bxd4 11. Qxd4 d6 12. f4 Nc6 13. Qc3 Ne7 14. Ra7 (14.
Nd2 O-O 15. e5 Nfd5 {Polgar-Nakamura, 2012}) 14... c5 15. e5 Nfd5 16. Bxd5 Nxd5
17. Qf3 Qb6 18. Rxf7 Kxf7 {Surprisingly this is the novelty of the game, but
it doesn't change anything. It actually is almost the same as Anand-Shirov
from 1997.} (18... c4+ 19. Kh1 Kxf7 20. Qxd5+ Be6 21. Qd1 Bf5 {is the old game
between Anand and Shirov that was drawn.}) 19. Qxd5+ Be6 20. Qd1 Bf5 21. Qd5+
Be6 22. Qd1 Bf5 23. Qd5+ Be6 24. Qd1 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Radjabov, T."]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, M."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2726"]
[BlackElo "2757"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3
Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. g5 b4 13. Ne2 Ne8 14. f4 a5 15. f5
a4 16. fxe6 axb3 17. cxb3 fxe6 18. Bh3 Rxa2 19. Bxe6+ Kh8 20. Ng3 Nc7 21. Bc4
Qa8 22. Rhf1 Rxf1 23. Rxf1 Ra1+ 24. Kc2 Rxf1 25. Bxf1 d5 26. Qf2 g6 {The first
new move of the game! Both sides had analyzed this variation very deeply, but
with different engines! Sources say that MVL analyzed this very deeply with
Houdini, while Radjabov used either Stockfish, Komodo or his own eyes. Who was
right?} (26... Qc6+ 27. Kb1 d4 28. Bd2 {was seen a couple of times in the
Playchess Fresstyle tournament of 2007. (That is, half machine half human
matches).}) 27. h4 Qf8 28. Qxf8+ Nxf8 29. Ba7 dxe4 30. Bb8 (30. Nxe4 $16 {Is
what my Stockfish says. But I don't know how reliable it is!}) 30... Nfe6 31.
Nxe4 h6 32. Bc4 hxg5 33. hxg5 Kg7 34. Kd3 Kf8 35. Ke3 Bd8 36. Bxe6 Nxe6 37.
Bxe5 Nxg5 {Now it is clear the game will end in a draw. The material is too
reduced.} 38. Bd6+ Ke8 39. Bxb4 Nxe4 40. Kxe4 Kd7 41. Kd5 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Jakovenko, D."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A05"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c5 4. O-O g6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Bg7 7. Nb3 O-O 8.
Nc3 e6 9. e4 {A reverse Fianchetto Grunfeld! The extra tempo is not vital but
it does allow White to achieve his break without impediments.} dxe4 10. Nxe4
Nxe4 11. Qxd8 Rxd8 12. Bxe4 Nc6 13. c3 e5 14. Be3 f5 15. Bg2 Bf8 {White can be
reasonably happy with the opening result. He has a slight edge based on his
bishops' activity and he has no risk to play on.} 16. Rfe1 Be6 {Basically
sacrificing the e5 pawn. The idea is that the bishops will somewhat compensate.
} 17. Bg5 Re8 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. Rxe5 Bd5 20. Bf4 Bg7 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Nd2 a5
23. c4 Bf7 24. Rb1 a4 {White's up a pawn and has consolidated it quite nicely.
Converting it should still be troublesome, however.} 25. b3 axb3 26. axb3 h6
27. h4 Re7 28. b4 Bc3 {This helps White, but maybe the opposite colored
bishops will do the trick.} (28... Bd4 29. b5 (29. Nb3 Bf6 {still gives White
problems to solve.}) 29... cxb5 30. cxb5 Re2 $11) 29. b5 cxb5 30. cxb5 Rb7 $2 (
30... Bxd2 {Jakovenko had to try this, although it still looks ugly} 31. Bxd2
h5 32. b6 (32. f3 $5 $16) 32... Bd5 33. Bf4 Kf7 34. Bc7 Bb7) 31. b6 Ba2 32. Rb5
h5 33. Nf3 {Now the pawn is just unstoppable.} Kf7 34. Be5 Bxe5 35. Nxe5+ 1-0

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Mamedyarov, S."]
[Black "Gelfand, B."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E60"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2748"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Be2 c5 6. d5 d6 7. O-O e6 8. Nc3
exd5 9. cxd5 {Another Benoni, albeit a little passive from Mamedyarov. With
the pawn on e3 and the bishop trapped behind it on c1 Black is supposed to
have good play in one of many ways.} Bg4 10. e4 {There are many games from
this position, but almost all of them have White to move in this position....}
Re8 11. Qc2 Nbd7 12. Bf4 Bxf3 (12... Qe7 {was more natural, hitting the pawn
on e4 and defending d6.}) 13. Bxf3 Ne5 14. Be2 a6 15. a4 Rc8 (15... Nh5 $5 {
I'm not sure how correct this move is, but it would have been awesome to see
Gelfand sacrifice his structure like this two times in a row in his black
games. The more I think of it, the better I like this move.}) 16. Rae1 Qb6 17.
Ra1 c4 18. a5 Qd8 19. Be3 Nfd7 20. Na4 h5 21. h3 Qe7 22. Rac1 Kh7 $2 {This is
too slow. Gelfand misses his chance to equalize the game.} (22... Nd3 23. Bxd3
cxd3 24. Qxd3 Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Qxe4 $11) 23. b3 cxb3 24. Qxb3 {Now that the
b-file is open  Black is some serious and obvious problems.} Nf6 25. Qb4 Rxc1
26. Rxc1 Bh6 27. Bxh6 Kxh6 28. Nb6 Ned7 29. Nxd7 Nxd7 30. Qxb7 Nc5 31. Qxe7 $6
(31. Qb6 $1) 31... Rxe7 32. f3 {An extra pawn is an extra pawn. Gelfand gets
it back, but it gives White time to put his rook in the magnificent b6 square.}
f5 33. Rb1 fxe4 34. Rb6 exf3 35. Bxf3 Rd7 36. Kf2 (36. Be2 Kg5 37. Bxa6 Nxa6
38. Rxa6 Kf5 39. Kf2 Ke5 {should be enough activity to hold the draw.}) 36...
Kg5 37. Ke3 Kf6 38. Kd4 Rd8 39. Be2 Ke7 {Black is in time to hold his pawn
right now (Bxa6 fails to Ra8) but his position is uncomfortable. That being
said, how does White make progress?} 40. Rc6 Rb8 41. Rc7+ Kf6 42. Rxc5 $5 {Not
too dangerous of a sacrifice. The passed pawn alone should be enough
compensation to keep White safe.} dxc5+ 43. Kxc5 Rc8+ 44. Kb6 Ke5 45. Bxa6 Rc2
46. Bf1 Rf2 47. Bc4 Rxg2 $4 (47... Kd6 $1 {kept equality. White doesn't have
time to push his pawn here.} 48. a6 Rb2+ $1 {It's of paramount importance to
distract the bishop.} 49. Bb5 Rxg2 50. a7 (50. h4 Ra2 51. a7 Rxa7 52. Kxa7 Kxd5
$11) 50... Ra2 51. Bc6 (51. Ba6 Rb2+ 52. Bb5 $11 (52. Ka5 $4 Kc5 $19)) 51... g5
{and Black's counterplay is sufficient!}) 48. a6 Rf2 (48... Kd6 49. a7 Rb2+ 50.
Ka5 {and now, because the bishop is covering a2, there is no Ra2+ or Kc5 in
time to stop the pawn.} Rb1 51. Bb5 $18) 49. Kc5 Rf8 50. Bb5 Ra8 51. d6 Ke6 52.
h4 g5 53. hxg5 h4 54. d7 Ke7 55. g6 h3 56. g7 h2 57. Bc6 1-0

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "Giri, A."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2768"]
[PlyCount "157"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. e3 b6 8. Nf3
Ba6 9. b4 Bxc4 10. Bxc4 dxc4 11. Qxc4 Qd5 12. Qxd5 Nxd5 13. Bd2 Nd7 14. Ke2 c5
15. dxc5 bxc5 16. Rhc1 Rfc8 17. Rc2 N5b6 18. Rac1 cxb4 19. axb4 e5 20. e4 f6
21. Be3 {White has a bishop, Black doesn't. White's king is closer to the
center. White has a slight advantage. That doesn't mean that he is going to
win.} Kf7 22. Nd2 Rxc2 23. Rxc2 Rc8 24. Ra2 Rc7 25. Nb3 Ke8 26. Kd3 Nc8 27. f3
Rb7 28. Kc3 Rc7+ 29. Nc5 Ndb6 30. Kb3 Rc6 31. Nd3 Rd6 32. Kc3 Rd7 {The
computer is very optimistic with this endgame, saying tha White is clearly
better. However I don't see any good way of applying more pressure on Black's
position.} 33. Bc5 Kd8 34. h4 Kc7 35. b5 Kb8 36. Nb4 Kb7 37. Ra1 Nd6 38. Bxd6
Rxd6 39. Nc6 Nc8 40. Na5+ Kb8 41. Nc6+ Kb7 42. Kc2 Rd7 43. Ra6 Rc7 44. Kd3 Rd7+
45. Ke2 Ka8 46. g4 Rb7 47. Ra5 Nd6 48. b6 Nc8 49. bxa7 Rb6 50. Rc5 Nxa7 51.
Nxa7 Kxa7 52. g5 Kb7 53. Kf2 h5 54. gxh6 gxh6 55. f4 Re6 56. Kf3 h5 57. Rd5 Kc7
58. Ke3 Re8 59. Kd3 Kc6 60. fxe5 fxe5 61. Kc4 Rg8 62. Rxe5 Rg4 63. Re6+ Kd7 64.
Kd5 Rxh4 65. Rh6 Rg4 66. e5 Ra4 67. Rh7+ Ke8 68. Ke6 Ra6+ 69. Kf5 Rb6 70. Rxh5
Ra6 71. Rg5 Rb6 72. Rg6 Rxg6 73. Kxg6 Ke7 74. Kf5 Kf7 75. e6+ Ke7 76. Ke5 Ke8
77. Kd6 Kd8 78. e7+ Ke8 79. Ke6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Caruana, F."]
[Black "Andreikin, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2844"]
[BlackElo "2722"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 h5 11. Bf4 Be7 12. Rad1 Be6 13. Ng5 Rh6 14.
Rfe1 Bb4 15. Nge4 Rg6 16. Kh2 h4 17. g4 hxg3+ 18. fxg3 Ne7 19. a3 Bxc3 20. Nxc3
Nd5 21. Ne2 Ke7 22. g4 Rh8 23. Kg2 Nxf4+ 24. Nxf4 Rgh6 25. Nxe6 Kxe6 26. Rd3 a5
27. a4 b6 28. Re4 Re8 29. Red4 c5 30. Rf4 Rhh8 31. Kg3 Rd8 32. Rdf3 Rhf8 33. g5
Rd1 34. h4 Re1 35. Rf5 g6 36. Rf6+ Ke7 37. Rc6 Rc8 38. Kf4 Kd7 39. Rf6 Ke7 40.
b3 Rh8 41. Kg3 Rh7 42. Rc6 Kd7 43. Rcf6 Ke7 44. Rc6 Kd7 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Kasimdzhanov, R."]
[Black "Jobava, Ba"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C10"]
[WhiteElo "2706"]
[BlackElo "2717"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bd7 5. Nf3 Bc6 6. Bd3 Nd7 7. O-O Ngf6 8.
Ng3 g6 9. c4 Bg7 {Jobava's openings are always unique! How often do you see
Black kingside fianchetto in a French!? Black's position is not the best, it
is passive and he doesn't have a lot of play, but he is at least very solid.}
10. d5 $5 {Going for it. White sacrifices a pawn to keep the opponent's king
on f8, but this was not necessary.} (10. Bf4 O-O 11. Re1 $14) 10... exd5 11.
Re1+ Kf8 12. cxd5 (12. Nd4 $44) 12... Bxd5 13. Qc2 c6 14. Ng5 Kg8 15. Bf4 Nf8
16. Rad1 Qa5 17. a3 Rd8 18. Bd2 Qb6 19. Be3 Qc7 {Clearly White must have some
compensation for his pawn. Black's pieces are placed in a very strange fashion.
However there is no immediate way to break through and it seems as if with
every passing moment from here on out Black will push White back and
consolidate his pawn.} 20. h3 $6 (20. Bd4 $1) 20... h6 21. N5e4 Ne6 22. Nxf6+
Bxf6 23. Be4 Kg7 24. Bxa7 $2 {Probably based on a miscalculation.} b6 25. Bxd5
Nd4 {Perhaps Kasimdzhanov missed this intermediate move?} 26. Qa4 Rxd5 27. Qa6
Qd7 28. Rxd4 Bxd4 29. Bxb6 c5 {Black is now up the exchange with great
activity.} 30. Ba5 Bxb2 31. Qc4 Bd4 32. Bc3 Ra8 33. Re3 Rxa3 0-1

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Gelfand, B."]
[Black "Jakovenko, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2748"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 Nh5 8. Be2
Nxf4 9. exf4 c6 10. O-O b6 11. b4 a5 12. a3 Qc7 13. g3 Ba6 14. Qc2 Bxe2 15.
Nxe2 Ra7 (15... Ra6 16. Rab1 axb4 17. axb4 {was a draw eventually in the game
Grischuk-Nakamura, European Club Cup 2014. About a month ago.}) 16. Rab1 axb4
17. axb4 Rfa8 18. Nc1 Bf6 19. Nd3 Ra4 20. Rfc1 bxc5 21. Nxc5 Nxc5 22. Qxc5 Be7
23. Qxc6 Qxc6 24. Rxc6 Rxb4 {Obviously equal.} 25. Rxb4 Bxb4 26. Kf1 Be7 27.
Ke2 g6 28. h4 h5 29. Rc7 Bf6 30. Ke3 Ra3+ 31. Ke2 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Vachier Lagrave, M."]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2757"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qb3 {It seems as if this move is
gaining quite some speed in the chess fashion world.} Nc6 6. Nbd2 Na5 7. Qc3 c5
8. dxc5 bxc5 9. e4 Bb7 10. e5 Ne4 11. Nxe4 Bxe4 12. Bg2 Nc6 13. O-O Rb8 14. b3
Be7 15. Bb2 O-O 16. Qe3 $14 {White seems to have a little pressure with the
open d-file and the potential weakness of c5.} Bxf3 $5 {A typical Karjakin
move. He is willing to go down a pawn to somehow hold an opposite colored
bishop position.} 17. Bxf3 Nd4 18. Bxd4 cxd4 19. Qxd4 Qc7 20. Rad1 Rfd8 21. Qe4
Qa5 22. Qe2 d6 23. exd6 Bxd6 24. h4 Bc5 25. Kg2 Qc7 26. Qe4 a5 27. h5 h6 28.
Be2 Kf8 29. f4 Rxd1 30. Rxd1 Rd8 31. f5 Rxd1 32. Bxd1 {With every piece trade
Black comes closer to h is goal.  The blockade in the queenside is permanent.}
Ke7 (32... exf5 $11) 33. Bg4 Qd6 34. fxe6 fxe6 {With o nly one weakness to
latch onto there is very little MVL can do.} 35. Kh3 Bd4 36. Qb7+ Kf6 37. a3
Bc5 38. Qf3+ Ke7 39. Qc3 Kf7 40. Qxa5 Bxa3 41. Qe1 Bc5 42. Qb1 Ke7 43. Qe4 Bb4
44. Bf5 Bc5 45. Bg6 Kd8 46. Qa8+ Kc7 47. b4 Bxb4 48. Qa7+ Kc8 49. Qxg7 Qf8 50.
Qa1 Qf3 51. Qa6+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Jobava, Ba"]
[Black "Radjabov, T."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D80"]
[WhiteElo "2717"]
[BlackElo "2726"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Bg7 5. Bxf6 Bxf6 6. cxd5 c5 7. Nf3 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 Qb6 9. e3 {A couple of GM games had continued with e3 in stead.} Qxb2 10.
Bb5+ Nd7 11. Rc1 O-O {with equal material, the pair of bishops and a solid
position Black shuld be happy with the opening situation.} 12. O-O a6 13. Bxd7
Bxd7 14. d6 exd6 15. Nd5 Bd8 16. Qf3 Rc8 17. Rb1 Qxa2 18. Rxb7 Rc5 19. Nb4 Qa4
20. Nxa6 Bc6 (20... Rg5 21. h4 $1 (21. Nb4 Bg4 22. Qf4 Bh3 $17) 21... Rh5 22.
Nb4 {keeps some compensation for White.}) 21. Nxc6 Rf5 22. Rb4 Qxa6 23. Rf4
Rxf4 24. exf4 Bf6 {The position  is now unwinnable.} 25. Nb4 Qc4 26. Nd5 Kg7
27. f5 Qd4 28. Rd1 Qe5 29. fxg6 hxg6 30. g3 (30. Nxf6 Qxf6 31. Qxf6+ Kxf6 32.
Rxd6+ {is an extra pawn in an endgame that is not hard to hold.}) 30... Re8 31.
h4 Bd8 32. Nf4 Qe4 33. Qg4 Bb6 34. h5 Bc5 35. Rf1 Qf5 36. Qxf5 gxf5 37. Rb1 Re7
38. Kg2 Ra7 39. Rb3 Kh6 40. Rf3 Re7 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Andreikin, D."]
[Black "Kasimdzhanov, R."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D58"]
[WhiteElo "2722"]
[BlackElo "2706"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 e6 3. c4 Be7 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. Be2
Bb7 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Qc2 dxc4 11. Bxc4 a6 12. Rfd1 Qe8 13. a4 c5 14. d5 exd5 15.
Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Bxd5 17. Rxd5 Bxh4 18. Nxh4 Nf6 19. Rd6 Ne4 20. Rd5 Nf6 21.
Rd6 Ne4 22. Rd5 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Giri, A."]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2768"]
[BlackElo "2844"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. g3 Nbd7 6. Bg2 dxc4 7. Nd2 Nb6 8.
Nxc4 O-O 9. Ne5 c5 10. dxc5 Qxd1+ 11. Nxd1 Bxc5 12. O-O Nfd5 13. b3 a5 14. a4
Bd6 15. Bb2 f6 16. Nd3 Bd7 17. Nc3 Nxc3 18. Bxc3 Nd5 19. Bd2 Bc6 20. Rfc1 e5
21. Nb2 Bb4 22. Rd1 Nc3 23. Bxc3 Bxc3 24. Bxc6 bxc6 25. Rab1 Bxb2 26. Rxb2 Rab8
27. Rc1 Rb6 28. Rc5 Rfb8 29. Rxa5 Rxb3 30. Rc2 Rb2 31. Rxc6 R8b7 32. e3 Ra2 33.
Rc1 h5 34. Rb5 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Mamedyarov, S."]
[Black "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2764"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. g4 Be6 8. h4
Nd7 9. h5 Nh6 10. Be2 Nb6 11. Nh3 g5 12. hxg6 hxg6 13. Be5 (13. Bg3 Qd7 14. Nf4
O-O-O 15. Nxe6 Qxe6 {Nakamura-Aronian, 2011}) 13... f6 14. Nf4 {The start of
some interesting complications.} fxe5 (14... Bf7 15. Qc2 fxe5 16. Nxg6 {is
also very unclear.}) 15. Nxg6 Rg8 16. Nxe7 Qxe7 17. Rxh6 e4 {White ends up a
pawn but it is weak and on g4. The computer suggestion of Kd2 makes sense as
White wants to trasnfer his king to the queenside, but it is not a natural
move by any means.} 18. a4 Nd7 19. Qb3 (19. Kd2 $1 O-O-O 20. Qg1 Rdf8 $44)
19... Nf6 20. Rc1 Bxg4 21. Rxf6 Qxf6 22. Qxb7 Rd8 23. Qxa7 Rf8 {Now Black
really ans nothing to fear. He has enough activity to compensate for his
awkward king and White's two pawns for an exchange.} 24. Nd1 Bxe2 25. Kxe2 Qd6
26. Rc5 Rb8 27. Qa5 Kd7 28. Qc3 Ra8 29. a5 Rfb8 30. b4 Rb5 31. Rxb5 cxb5 32.
Qc5 Rc8 33. Qxb5+ Ke6 34. a6 (34. Qa4 Qc7 $11) 34... Ra8 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.26"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Jobava, Ba"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B10"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2717"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

{What a game! Jobava played his typical unusual Caro-Kann style stuff to get a
passive but solid position, but he saw one opportunity and he took it. A
well-timed bishop sacrifice gave him two pawns and a nagging initiative.
Karjakin did not respond in the best way and he succumbed to the attack.} 1. e4
c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 6. Bc4 Qe7+ 7. Be2 Qc7 {
Already there are no real games in this variation by professionals. It can
hardly be considered a success for Black; White's imminent space advantage and
4v3 queenside majority should give him the edge.} 8. d4 Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. h3
Rd8 11. Be3 Nd7 12. c4 Nf8 13. Bd3 Ng6 14. Qc2 Be6 15. Rfe1 $6 {Surprisingly,
this move is already innaccurate!} (15. Nd2 {keeps a little edge.} Qd7 $6 16.
Ne4 Bxh3 $2 17. Nxd6 Bxg2 18. Bf5 $1 $16) 15... Qd7 $1 {What a keen sense! It
is surprisingly hard to stop the "obvious" Bxh3 threat. All Karjakin can do is
brace himself for impact.} 16. Bd2 (16. h4 Bh3 $1 {Anyways!}) (16. Nd2 Nh4 {
starts to look risky for White.}) 16... Bxh3 17. gxh3 Qxh3 18. Bxg6 {The g6
knight must be eliminated before he jumpst to h4.} hxg6 19. Re3 g5 {Now the
pawn joins the fray. White has several ways of defending against the attack
but only the most accurate seems to give an advantage.} 20. c5 $2 {At this
juncture, this move only helps Jobava.} (20. Rae1 $1 g4 $6 {Maybe this advance
is hasty, surprisingly.} (20... c5) (20... Bc7 $5 {is some computer suggestion,
but it is beyond me.} 21. c5 $5) 21. Ne5 Qh5 22. c5 $1 Bc7 23. Nc4 Qh2+ 24. Kf1
{it takes nerves of steel to play like this, but it seems as if Black has
nothing better than a draw.} g3 $1 25. fxg3 Bxg3 26. Rxg3 Qxg3 27. Qc3 Qh2 (
27... Qxc3 28. Bxc3 Re8 {is not a very clear endgame, but White should be
better.}) 28. Nd6 $14 {White is better in every sense but with such a weak
king there is nothing he can do.}) 20... Bf4 $1 21. Rb3 Bc7 {With this
maneuver Black gets the rook out of the way so he can control the e-file.} 22.
Qc4 Qh5 (22... Qg4+ $1 23. Kf1 Re8 $40) 23. Kg2 (23. Rxb7 $1 {This move looks
risky at first, but Black is not really threatening anything at the moment
while the c7 bishop is a key player in Black's attack.} Rac8 24. Rxc7 Qg4+ 25.
Kf1 Rxc7 $15) 23... Qg4+ 24. Kf1 Re8 25. Re1 $6 {It's already very
uncomfortable to defend such a position.} Qh3+ $1 26. Kg1 Rxe1+ $1 27. Bxe1
Qg4+ 28. Kf1 Re8 29. Ng1 Bh2 {Black's attack grows despite the piece trades.
Now Karjakin is forced to go into a bad position.} 30. Ne2 $2 {A bad move
under pressure! Now it is all over.} (30. Nh3 Qe4 $1 31. Re3 $8 Qh1+ 32. Ke2
Rxe3+ 33. fxe3 g4 $17 {And Black's g-pawn is very, very dangerous.}) 30... Rxe2
31. Rxb7 (31. Qxe2 Qg1#) 31... Re6 0-1

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.26"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Radjabov, T."]
[Black "Andreikin, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2726"]
[BlackElo "2722"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

{Radjabov, Teimour ½-½ Andreikin, Dmitry  Radjabov's novelty on move 22 of a
fashionable line of the Berlin was not impressive at all. Andreikin equalized
easily and Radjabov had to force a perpetual before he ended up worse.} 1. e4
e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8.
Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 h5 11. Bf4 Be7 12. Rad1 Be6 13. Ng5 Rh6 14. Rfe1
Bb4 15. g4 hxg4 16. hxg4 Ne7 17. Nxe6 Rxe6 18. Kg2 Bxc3 19. bxc3 Rd8 20. Rxd8+
Kxd8 21. Rh1 Nd5 22. Rh8+ {A novelty on move 22. Anand-Karjakin from the
Candidate's was the game they were following.} Kd7 (22... Re8 {is the computer
suggestion, saying Black is slightly better, but surely Radjabov had some deep
preparation in this line}) 23. Bg3 g5 24. Rg8 Nf4+ 25. Bxf4 gxf4 26. Rg5 Rg6
27. Rh5 Rxg4+ 28. Kf3 Rg1 29. Kxf4 Rf1 {White doesn't have any real winning
chances in this endgame.} 30. Ke3 Ra1 31. f4 Rxa2 32. f5 Rxc2 33. Rh7 Ke8 34.
Kf4 f6 35. e6 a5 36. Rh8+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.26"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Kasimdzhanov, R."]
[Black "Giri, A."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D80"]
[WhiteElo "2706"]
[BlackElo "2768"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

{A not terribly successful Grunfeld for Kasimdzhanov. After the opening it was
only Black that could stand better, but that was also not very much. The
players tried to maneuver around for a while but it was clear they were
getting nowhere.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nxd5
Qxd5 7. Ne2 O-O 8. Nc3 Qd8 9. Be2 c5 10. d5 e6 11. e4 exd5 12. exd5 Qb6 13. O-O
Bf5 {The first new move of the game should not change the character of the
position. Black should be ok, his active pieces compensate for his slight lack
of space.} 14. Qb3 Nd7 15. Be3 h5 16. Rfd1 $6 {Allowing a relative simple
double attack. Kasimdzhanov probably over estimated how much he was getting
out of the following sequence.} Qxb3 17. axb3 Bc2 18. Rd2 Bxb3 19. Bb5 Rfd8 20.
Ra3 c4 21. Bxd7 Rxd7 22. Rxa7 {White got his pawn back, but Black's pair of
bishops give him a slight advantage. It is not too difficult to hold for White
though as any instance where Black trades on c3 to win the d5 pawn leaves an
opposite colored bishop situation.} Rad8 23. Ra5 f5 24. h4 Kf7 25. g3 Re8 26.
Kg2 Bf8 27. Bc5 Bh6 28. f4 Bg7 29. Kf2 Red8 30. Bb6 Re8 31. Bd4 Bf8 32. Be5 Rc8
33. d6 Be7 34. Ke3 Bd8 35. Ra1 Bb6+ 36. Kf3 Bc5 37. Nb5 Bb4 38. Bc3 Bc5 39. Be5
Bb4 40. Bc3 Bc5 41. Kg2 Rcd8 42. Be5 Bb4 43. Rd4 Bc5 44. Rd2 Bb4 45. Rd4 Bc5
1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.26"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Caruana, F."]
[Black "Mamedyarov, S."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2844"]
[BlackElo "2764"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

{Third time is the charm! After being vanquished twice in this variation
Mamedyarov finally seems to have found the key to neutralizing White's
position. He obtained a draw without too many problems.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3.
Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Nc3 e6 6. Qb3 Qb6 7. Nh4 Bh5 8. h3 {If it worked twice
maybe it will work thrice... Caruana has used this line to beat Mamedyarov
twice this year.} Qxb3 {A change from the pre vious games, but still a known
path.} 9. axb3 Na6 10. g4 Nb4 11. Ke2 g5 12. gxh5 gxh4 13. Bg2 Nxh5 14. Bf3 Nf6
15. Bd2 Be7 {Definitely an improvement over Popov's game.} (15... Nd7 16. Ra5
Nb6 $2 17. c5 $16 {Was a game betweeen Wojtaszek and Popov from a couple of
years ago.}) 16. Rhc1 Kd7 {Black is pretty solid in this line and it is hard
to imagine White can break through, maybe this is the answer Black players
were l ooking for in this line?} 17. e4 dxe4 18. Bxe4 Nxe4 19. Nxe4 Na6 {White
has enough for his missing pawn, especially since it is weak and doubled on
the h-file, but not more than that.} 20. Ra5 f5 21. Ng5 Bd8 22. Raa1 Bf6 23.
Nf3 c5 24. Bc3 cxd4 25. Nxd4 Nc5 26. Rd1 Ke7 27. Bb4 Rhc8 28. Nb5 a5 29. Rxa5
Rxa5 30. Bxa5 Bxb2 31. Bb4 Be5 32. Na7 Rc7 33. Nb5 Rc8 34. Na7 Rc7 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.26"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "Gelfand, B."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B52"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2748"]
[PlyCount "193"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

{Nakamura stayed off the beaten path and chose a structure ag ainst the
Sicilian that leads to interesting play but is considered to be ok for Black.
Gelfand got a good position, but he miscalculated in a sharp endgame where all
of White's and Black's pawns on the queenside were weak. This allows Nakamura
to win a pawn and lead the posititon to a 4v3 endgame with rook and knight.
After much insistence, his opponent eventually collapsed and Nakamura took a
huge point.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. O-O Nf6 6. e5 dxe5
7. Nxe5 Qc8 8. Qf3 e6 9. b3 (9. d3 {is the other way of developing the bishop
and was essayed in Tiviakov-Vachier Lagrave just about a couple of weeks ago
in the Isle of Man tournament held by Pokerstars.}) 9... Be7 10. Bb2 Nbd7 11.
Nc4 O-O {Perhaps just trying to reach a playable position Nakamura has taken
the waters into a more quiet line in which he can outplay his opponent.
White's position is slightly more comfortable without it being anything
special.} 12. Nc3 Qc7 13. a4 Rad8 14. Rfe1 a6 15. a5 Nb8 16. Na4 Nc6 17. Qg3
Qxg3 18. hxg3 Nd5 19. c3 Rc8 20. Ba3 Na7 21. Ne3 Nxe3 22. dxe3 Rc7 23. Red1 Nb5
24. Bb2 c4 25. bxc4 Nd6 26. Nb6 Ne4 {White cant' afford to keep his extra pawn
for too long. His pieces are too crippled at the moment and the knight on e4
is powerful.} 27. Ba3 Nxc3 28. Bxe7 Rxe7 29. Rd3 Ne4 30. Nd7 Rc8 31. f3 Nf6 32.
Nb6 Rc5 33. Rd8+ Re8 34. Rxe8+ Nxe8 {The endgame should be about equal.
White's bind and space advantage in the queenside is compensated by the fact
that his own pawns are weak and under attack. However, equal is not drawn.} 35.
Rd1 Rxa5 36. Rd8 Kf8 37. Rb8 Ra2 $6 (37... Ra1+ 38. Kf2 Ra2+ 39. Kf1 Ra1+ 40.
Ke2 Ra2+ 41. Kd3 Rxg2 42. Rxb7 Rxg3 {is difficult to evaluate, but only White
can be better.}) (37... f5 $1 38. Rxb7 Nf6 $11 {The point of this moves are to
bind the kingside with f5 and the prevent c5 by controlling the check on the
d7 square.}) 38. c5 Rc2 39. e4 f6 40. Rxb7 Kg8 {Now it is clear that White
holds the advantage. Black's position is very passive.} 41. Re7 $1 Kf8 42. Rxe6
{The extra pawn is very significant, also Black's knight is not having a swell
time.} Nc7 $1 {Black maneuvers out just in time. He needs to exchange White's
powerful c-pawn even if it means losing his a-pawn.} 43. Rc6 Nb5 44. Nd5 Nd4
45. Rxa6 Rxc5 46. Ra8+ Kf7 47. Ra7+ Kf8 48. Nf4 Rc6 49. Ra8+ Kf7 50. Rh8 h6 51.
Rb8 Rc7 {The resulting 4 on 3 will be a long and difficult defense. Maybe a
computer can hold it, but practically there are many things Black
consisntently has to watch out for. White wants to exchange rooks, Black wants
to exchange knights.} 52. Rb6 Ra7 53. Rd6 Nb5 54. Rd5 Rb7 55. Kh2 Na7 56. Rd6
Nc8 57. Rc6 Ne7 58. Ra6 Ng6 59. Nh5 Ne7 60. Nf4 Ng6 61. Nd5 Ne7 62. Ne3 Rc7 63.
g4 Rc3 64. Nf1 Rc7 65. Ra3 Rb7 66. Ne3 Rd7 67. Kg3 Rc7 68. Ra5 Rc3 69. Kf2 Rc7
70. Rb5 Ng6 71. Nd5 Ra7 72. Rc5 Ra2+ 73. Kg3 Kg8 74. Rc7 Ra3 75. Rb7 Ra2 76.
Rc7 Ra3 77. Rd7 Ra2 78. Ne3 Ne5 79. Rb7 Ra3 80. Nf5 Nf7 81. Kh2 Ra2 82. Re7 Ra8
83. f4 Kf8 84. Rc7 g6 85. Nh4 g5 (85... Kg7 86. f5 {is not that different.})
86. Nf5 gxf4 87. Rc6 {Finally a dent in the armor. Once white takes on f6 he
can try to push his e-pawn as well as make threats against h6 and f4.} Ng5 $2 (
87... Kg8 88. Rxf6 Ra4 {was the only way to try to survive.}) 88. Rxf6+ Kg8 89.
e5 {Now White has too many threats, Gelfand cannot deal with them all.} Ra2 90.
e6 Nf3+ 91. Kh3 Ng1+ 92. Kh4 {Black's counterplay is meaningless, the king
will simply join the attack.} Rxg2 93. Kh5 Nf3 94. Nxh6+ Kh7 95. Rf7+ Kh8 96.
e7 Re2 97. Rxf4 1-0

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.26"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Jakovenko, D."]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "2747"]
[BlackElo "2757"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

{Very nice preparation from the Russian player. Following one of MVL's games
from last year the Russian had his own novelty in store. MVL could not figure
out how to obtain compensation agains the extra pawn for his opponent and
slowly he was pushed back until White's advantage was obvious. Jakovenko built
up his position and then marched his queenside pawns to victory.} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2.
c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Qb3 Nb6 6. d4 Bg7 7. e4 Bg4 8. Bb5+ c6 9. Ng5
O-O 10. Be2 Bxe2 11. Nxe2 c5 12. dxc5 N6d7 13. Qxb7 Qa5+ 14. Bd2 Qa6 15. c6 $5
{A novelty.} (15. Qxa6 Nxa6 16. c6 Bxb2 17. Rb1 Ne5 18. O-O Rab8 19. Bf4 {was
eventually a win for White in Gajewski-MVL from last year. MVL must have had a
novelty in this variation, but Jakovenko pulls out his preparation first.})
15... Qxc6 16. Qxc6 Nxc6 17. Rc1 Rac8 18. b3 {Black has some compensation for
the sacrificed pawn but the question is whether it is enough. White is
dangerously close to consolidating.} Bb2 (18... Rfd8 {is the computer's
suggestion, MVL might not have been that well prepared in this specific line.})
19. Rd1 Nce5 20. Be3 h6 21. Nf3 Nxf3+ 22. gxf3 {By this point it is clear that
Black has nothing for his pawn. Jakovenko starts pushing his advantage
immediately.} Ne5 23. f4 Ng4 24. Bxa7 $1 {Why not? Now there will be two
passed pawns on the queenside for the Frenchman to contend with.} Ra8 25. Rd2
Ba3 26. Bd4 Rfc8 27. Bc3 Nf6 28. f3 Nh5 29. Rd3 Bd6 30. e5 Bc5 31. a4 Rab8 32.
Ba5 Ra8 33. Bd2 {Mission accomplished; the pawns are all obviously safe and
Black is running out of ideas.} Rab8 34. Rc3 Kh7 35. Kd1 Ng7 36. b4 Ba7 37.
Rxc8 Rxc8 {The game is now simply over. Black has no way of stopping the
queenside pawns.} 38. Nc3 Nf5 39. Nb5 Be3 40. Re1 Rd8 41. Re2 Bxf4 42. Kc2 Bxd2
43. Rxd2 Ne3+ 44. Kc3 Nd1+ 45. Rxd1 Rxd1 46. a5 h5 47. Na3 1-0

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.27"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Gelfand, B."]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, M."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2748"]
[BlackElo "2757"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 c5 7. dxc5 Qa5 8. cxd5
Rd8 9. Bc4 e6 {A new idea by Vachier-Lagrave. Black puts pressure on the d5
pawn with the e-pawn rather than the bishop.} (9... Be6 {has been playaed
before, but without any particular success.}) 10. Nge2 Nxd5 11. Bd6 Nxc3 12.
Nxc3 {White is still retaining his extra pawn, but his position is clearly
quite loose. MVL has a few moves to try to create counterplay.} b5 13. Bd3 (13.
Qf3 Bd7 $1 14. Bb3 $8 Bc6 15. Qf4 Rxd6 $5 16. cxd6 Bxg2 {is very murky. White
emerges up the exchange but his position is not very good, d6  being more of a
weakness than an asset.}) 13... b4 14. Ne4 (14. Nb5 {is the computer's
suggestion, but it is very unclear and more practical tests (and deep
preparation) will be neded to reveal who is better in this position.}) 14...
b3+ 15. Qd2 Qxd2+ 16. Kxd2 bxa2 {The threat of Bxb2 is looming, so White
doesn't have the time to play it slow; he must take a2 immediately.} 17. Ra1
Bb7 18. Rxa2 Bd5 19. Ra4 Nc6 $6 (19... a5 $1 {It was important to not allow
the b-pawn to b4, as it would reinforce the structure too much.}) 20. b4 Ne5
21. b5 (21. Bxe5 Bxe5 22. Ke2 $16) 21... f5 22. Nc3 (22. Ng5 $1 {This precise
computer-like strike was necessary to keep the advantage.} h6 (22... Bxg2 23.
Rb1 Nxd3 24. Kxd3 {here Black doesn't have time to play Rac8.}) 23. Bxe5 Bxe5
24. Nf3 $16 Bxf3 25. gxf3 Rd5 26. Ke2 Rxc5 27. Ra6) 22... Bxg2 23. Rha1 Nxd3
24. Kxd3 Rac8 {White's position is close to collapsing; luckily for him it
hold, even if its barely.} 25. Rc4 Be4+ 26. Ke2 Rxd6 27. cxd6 Rxc4 28. Nxe4
fxe4 $2 (28... Rc2+ $1 29. Kf1 Rc8 $1 {White loses a piece anyways because of
the double attack on e4 and a1.} 30. Nc3 $1 Bxc3 31. Rc1 Kf7 32. d7 $17 {Black
will take d7 for his troubles and emerge up a pawn, though still a lot of work
away from a win.}) 29. d7 Bf6 30. Rxa7 Rc2+ 31. Kf1 {Now both of White's
passed pawns means that MVL has to return the piece, the resulting endgame
gives him no c h ances to win.} Rd2 32. b6 Kf8 33. Ra8+ Ke7 34. b7 Be5 35. b8=Q
Bxb8 36. Rxb8 Rxd7 37. Rb4 Kf6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.27"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Jobava, Ba"]
[Black "Jakovenko, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E48"]
[WhiteElo "2717"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Nge2 Re8 8.
O-O Bf8 9. Bd2 c6 {We are relatively out of theory, th ough the strucutre is
well known. The Karlsbad type positions are usually handled by White by either
going for a minority attack with b4 or by pushing f3 and e4. Jobava goes for
the latter.} 10. Rc1 a5 11. f3 c5 12. Be1 $5 {Using the development advantage
to transfer the bishop. Normally f2 is a good position for it.} Rxe3 13. Bh4 (
13. Bf2 cxd4 14. Nxd4 (14. Bxe3 dxe3 $15 {isn't a good situation for White.
Here Jakovenko has at least enough compensation for the exchange and has good
chances for the advantage if he finishes his development without losing a pawn.
}) 14... Re8 {only gives some compensation for the pawn.}) 13... Nc6 14. Nf4 {
The pressure on d5 is mounting.} Be6 (14... cxd4 15. Ncxd5 Re5 16. Nxf6+ gxf6 {
Gives White enough compensation for the pawn, but maybe not more than that.
There is no clear path to continue pressuring f6.}) 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. Kh1 Be7
17. Bxf6 {Jobava has to regain his pawn now before Black finishes
consolidating.} Bxf6 18. Ncxd5 Bxd5 19. Nxd5 Re8 20. Qb3 Be5 21. Qxb7 Ne7 22.
f4 (22. Nxe7+ Rxe7 23. Qc6 Bxb2 $2 (23... g6 24. Rcd1 Rc8 {keeps the extra
pawn for White but it is a very difficult position to win between Black's
activity and the opposite colored bishops.}) 24. Bxh7+ $14) 22... Qxd5 23. Qxd5
Nxd5 24. fxe5 Ne3 25. Rf4 Rad8 26. e6 Rxe6 27. Rd4 Ree8 28. Rxd8 Rxd8 29. Kg1
g6 30. Be4 Rd2 (30... Rd1+ 31. Rxd1 Nxd1 32. b3 Nc3 33. Bf3 Nxa2 34. Kf2 Kg7
35. Ke3 f5 36. Kd4 {looks difficult to  win for Black as his knight is
completely stranded.}) 31. Rc3 Ng4 32. Bf3 Ne5 33. Ra3 Rxb2 34. Rxa5 Nxf3+ 35.
gxf3 Kg7 36. Ra6 Kh6 37. Ra7 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.27"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Andreikin, D."]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A46"]
[WhiteElo "2722"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 c5 4. Nc3 {After Jobava's victory y esterday,
perhaps Andreikin thought that the key against Karjakin was to play something
weird?} cxd4 5. Qxd4 (5. Nxd4 Be7 6. e4 d6 {was a very weird transposition
into a Sicilian in Koneru-Hou Yifan, 2010}) 5... Nc6 6. Qh4 Bb4 7. e4 Bxc3+ {
Perhaps a little hasty.} (7... h6 8. Bd3 Rg8 $5 {Already strange moves like
this one are possible.} 9. Bd2 g5 10. Qg3 Nh5 11. Qh3 Nf6 $13) 8. bxc3 h6 9.
Bd3 d6 10. Rd1 Rg8 {The idea is that White does not want to take on f6, so
Black forces the bishop on g5 to make a decision.} 11. Be3 e5 {As usual it is
advantageous to put pawns in the color of the bishop that you lost. Here the
pawn structure controls the dark squares and now g5 can be come a threat in
some lines (not at the moment).} 12. Bb5 {doesn't quite work for Black.} (12.
O-O {As usual it is advantageous to put pawns in the color of the bishop that
you lost. Here the pawn structure controls the dark squares and now g5 can be
come a threat in some lines (not at the moment).} g5 13. Nxg5 hxg5 14. Bxg5)
12... Qc7 13. Nd2 Be6 14. f3 Qa5 15. c4 Ke7 {Sometimes this plan of putting
the king on e7 and fortifying the darksquares is possible, but in this
specific case it seems as if Karjakin's position did not hold together.} (15...
O-O-O {doesn't look safe, but it might have been superior to putting the king
on e7.}) 16. O-O g5 17. Qf2 Rgd8 18. h4 Nh7 19. hxg5 hxg5 20. g4 (20. Nb3 Qc7
21. Qg3 f6 22. c5 {Was already hard to deal with.}) 20... f6 21. Kg2 Nf8 22.
Rh1 Bf7 23. Nf1 Bg6 24. Bd2 Qb6 25. Ne3 Kf7 26. Qe1 Ne6 27. Nf5 {Since Black
cannot afford to take this knight it is clear his position is not good.} Qc7 $6
(27... Ncd4 $1 28. Rh6 $40) 28. c5 $1 dxc5 29. Bc4 $1 {Now the combined
threats against the king are too strong.} b5 30. Bd5 Rac8 31. Rh6 Ncd4 32. Ba5
Nxc2 33. Qh1 Qxa5 34. Rh7+ 1-0

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.27"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Giri, A."]
[Black "Radjabov, T."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2768"]
[BlackElo "2726"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 h5 11. Bf4 Be7 12. Rad1 Be6 13. Ng5 Rh6 14. g3
(14. Rfe1 Bb4 15. g4 hxg4 16. hxg4 Ne7 {was the game Radjabov played yesterday
with White.}) 14... Bxg5 15. Bxg5 Rg6 16. h4 f6 17. exf6 gxf6 18. Bf4 Nxh4 19.
f3 Rd8 20. Kf2 Rxd1 21. Nxd1 Nf5 22. Rh1 Bxa2 23. Rxh5 Be6 24. g4 {The novelty.
} (24. Bxc7 Rh6 25. Rxh6 Nxh6 26. g4 {was drawn at thist m oment in the game
Alekseev-Grachev from this year.}) 24... Nd6 25. Rh7 f5 (25... Nf7 {is the
computer's suggestion, as it is not a big fan of the c7 pawn.}) 26. g5 (26.
Rxc7 Nb5 27. gxf5 Bxf5 28. Rxb7 Bxc2 {looks unwinnable, though the computer
claims W hite is better.}) 26... Nf7 27. Rh5 Rg8 {White's down a pawn but his
g5 passer is the most dangerous thing on the board. That being said it is
blocked. This game isn't going anywhere.} 28. Kg3 Rh8 29. Rxh8+ Nxh8 30. Bxc7
Ng6 31. Nc3 Kd7 32. Bb8 a5 33. Na4 Kc8 34. Bf4 b5 35. Nc5 Ba2 36. c3 a4 37. Bd6
Bd5 38. f4 Kd8 39. Kf2 Nh4 40. Ke3 Ke8 41. Nd3 Be4 42. Nf2 Bd5 43. Ba3 Kf7 44.
Kd4 Ke6 45. Nd3 Ng6 46. Nc5+ Kf7 47. Na6 Nxf4 48. Ke5 Nd3+ 49. Kxf5 c5 50. g6+
Kg8 51. Nxc5 Nxc5 52. Bxc5 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.27"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Mamedyarov, S."]
[Black "Kasimdzhanov, R."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C25"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2706"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. Be3 Nge7 7. h4 h5 8. Qd2
O-O 9. Bh6 {Already we have a very strange opening. The game only gets
stranger from here on, in a good way!} Nd4 10. Bxg7 Kxg7 11. Nd1 d5 {
Kasimdzhanov logically opens up the position in the center as he is better
developed.} 12. Ne3 Be6 13. f4 dxe4 14. dxe4 f5 $5 {Risky but not very
necessary.} (14... exf4 15. gxf4 c5 $13) (14... Ndc6 15. Qf2 f6 {Gives Black a
good position.  Notice how White won't be able to castle queenside.}) 15. Nh3
fxe4 16. Ng5 Nef5 17. O-O-O Bxa2 (17... Nxg3 $5) 18. fxe5 (18. Nxe4 $1) 18...
Nxg3 19. Rhe1 c5 20. Bxe4 Nxe4 21. Nxe4 Qxh4 {Kasimdzhanov has taken all the
pawns that Mamedyarov has left for him, and he still retains a good position.
However he loses the hread of the ga me almost instantly.} 22. Qg2 Rad8 $2 (
22... Rae8 $17 23. b3 (23. Nf6 Rxe5 {doesn't work at all.}) 23... Rxe5 24. Nc4
Re6 25. Kb2 Bxb3 $17) 23. Nf6 {Perhaps Kasimdzhanov missed this move. The
threat is now Rxd4 and Nf5+} Rxf6 24. exf6+ Qxf6 25. Qxb7+ Qf7 26. Qe4 Qf6 27.
Qb7+ Qf7 28. Qa6 Be6 29. Kb1 Rb8 30. Qd6 Rb6 $2 {There was no good reason to
let go of the c5 pawn, which was important as it was keeping the d4 knight
anchored.} 31. Qxc5 Nf3 32. Qc3+ Kh7 33. Rf1 Rb8 34. Ng2 Bg4 $6 (34... Rf8 35.
Rf2 $18 (35. Nh4 $2 Nd2+ $19)) 35. Nh4 1-0

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.27"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2844"]
[PlyCount "129"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. Nf3 c5 6. dxc5 Na6 7. Bd2 Nxc5 8.
a3 Bxc3 9. Bxc3 Nce4 10. e3 Nxc3 11. Qxc3 b6 12. Be2 Ba6 13. Qb3 Rc8 {With
pressure on c4 and finished development it doesn't seem as if Black could be
worse here. Actually,  if anything,  White is the one that has to be careful.}
14. Qa4 Bb7 15. O-O Qc7 16. Nd4 a6 17. Rfd1 Rfd8 18. Qb4 Be4 19. Rac1 e5 20.
Nb3 d6 21. Qe1 Qb7 22. Qf1 Bc6 23. Nd2 Qe7 24. Rc3 a5 25. Rdc1 a4 {Isolating
the c4 pawn.} 26. Qd1 Ra8 27. Bf3 e4 28. Be2 Nd7 29. Qe1 Nc5 {Caruana keeps
improving his position while Nakamura is without a plan. He lashes out, but
this costs him a pawn.} 30. b4 axb3 31. Nxb3 Rxa3 32. Nd4 Rxc3 33. Qxc3 {
White's activity has greatly improved and he has ripped apart the bind on the
queenside,  he also gains a chance to attack the b6 pawn. Practically speaking
this seems like a good position, but he is after all down a pawn now.} Bd7 34.
Ra1 Rb8 35. Ra7 Qd8 36. Qa1 Rc8 37. h3 g6 38. Nb5 {an unusual decision to
trade  the nice knight on d4, but White does gain the spot for the queen. It
will be very difficult for  Caruauna to try to make progress from this
position.} Bxb5 39. cxb5 h5 40. f4 exf3 41. Bxf3 Qg5 42. Qc3 Rd8 43. Qd4 d5 44.
h4 Qf5 45. Ra1 Qd7 46. Qf6 Qe8 47. Kh1 Ne4 $2 (47... Ne6 {kept the extra pawn
and starts to actually consolidate Black's position.} 48. Ra7 $15) 48. Bxe4
dxe4 49. Qxb6 Qe7 50. Kg1 $1 Rd2 (50... Qxh4 51. Qc7 {starts to actually be
bad for Black as the b-pawn is a real concern.}) 51. Qc6 Qxh4 {In this
scenario Black's attack is very fast, but  White has a good resource to
neutralize it.} 52. Ra8+ Kh7 53. Rh8+ $1 Kxh8 54. Qc3+ Kh7 55. Qxd2 Qg5 {
White's passed pawn on the b-file is worth more than anything else in the
position. Black has the material advantage but w ould be happy with a draw.}
56. b6 h4 57. Qf2 Kg7 58. Qf4 Qb5 59. Qc7 h3 60. gxh3 Qb1+ 61. Kg2 Qb2+ 62. Kg3
Qf6 63. b7 Qf3+ 64. Kh2 Qf2+ 65. Kh1 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.28"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Radjabov, T."]
[Black "Mamedyarov, S."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2726"]
[BlackElo "2764"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. a3 {This strange looking
move actually transposes to a position usually reached with another move order.
} b6 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Nxd5 exd5 9. e3 c5 10. Ne5 Bf5 11. Bb5 a6 (11... cxd4 {
Gustafsson-Adams, 2010}) 12. Bc6 Nxc6 13. Nxc6 Qd7 14. Nxe7+ Qxe7 15. dxc5 Qxc5
16. O-O {White has a minimal edge, but with the opposite colored bishops this
is obviously going to a draw.} Rac8 17. Rc1 Qxc1 18. Qxc1 Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Rc8 20.
Rxc8+ Bxc8 21. Kf1 f6 22. Ke2 Bf5 23. Kd2 Kf7 24. Bc7 b5 25. Kc3 Ke6 26. Kd4 h5
27. Kc5 Be4 28. f3 Bd3 29. Kb6 b4 30. axb4 Bf1 31. g3 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.28"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Kasimdzhanov, R."]
[Black "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A88"]
[WhiteElo "2706"]
[BlackElo "2764"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 d6 7. Nc3 c6 8. b3 Na6
9. Bb2 Qc7 10. d5 e5 11. dxe6 Bxe6 12. e3 {A new and passive but solid move.} (
12. Ng5 {has been seen a few times.}) 12... Rad8 13. Ne2 Rfe8 14. Nf4 Bc8 15.
Rc1 Nc5 16. b4 Nce4 17. b5 Nc5 18. Qc2 Nfe4 19. Bd4 {Both sides have well
placed pieces. With the lack of attackable weaknesses it is somewhat awkward
to remaneuver.} Qf7 20. Rfd1 Bd7 21. Qb2 Bf8 22. h4 h6 23. Bxc5 {Grandmasters
never trade a bishop for a knight lightly. In this case Kasimdzhanov thought
that it would be the best way to open up lines against the d6 and c6 pawns.
However Nakamura's position remains very strong.} Nxc5 24. Qa3 Ne4 25. Qa5 (25.
Qxa7 g5 26. hxg5 hxg5 {starts to look very risky.}) 25... g5 26. bxc6 Bxc6 27.
Nd5 b6 28. Qa3 Bg7 29. hxg5 hxg5 30. Nd4 Bxd5 31. cxd5 Bxd4 32. exd4 f4 33. Rc2
Re7 34. Re2 Nf6 35. Rxe7 Qxe7 36. gxf4 Nh5 {A relatively strange time to agree
to a draw. Black's attack is annoying but it won't crash through, while White
doesn't seem to have a good way to repel it.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.28"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Caruana, F."]
[Black "Gelfand, B."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E35"]
[WhiteElo "2844"]
[BlackElo "2748"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8.
e3 {As natural as this move is, it is actually somewhat rare. Usually 8.a3 is
played.} O-O 9. a3 Bf5 10. Bd3 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 c5 {It seems as if
Black should somehow be ok here. He has good activity and will finishe his
development at the same time as White.} (12... Nd7 13. Nf3 Nb6 14. Nd2 Rac8 $11
) 13. Ne2 Nd7 14. O-O Qc6 15. a4 Rfc8 16. Rfb1 Rc7 17. a5 Rac8 {Black's
tripling on the c-file is strange. The reason is that he does not actually
want to take on d4 as this would weaken his d5 pawn in the long run, and there
are no real targets to attack from the c-file. Maybe Gelfand is waiting for
Caruana to take on c5?} 18. h3 Nf6 19. Ng3 Qe6 20. dxc5 $1 {Well-timed. Now
White is a little better. The pawn cannot be recovered in a trivial way.} Ne4 (
20... Nd7 21. Qd4 Nxc5 22. Nh5 f6 23. Nf4 {And White would still be up a pawn.}
) 21. Nxe4 dxe4 22. Qd6 Qf5 23. Ra4 Rxc5 (23... Rd7 24. g4 $1 Rxd6 25. gxf5
Rxc5 26. Rxb7 Rxf5 27. Rxe4 (27. Rxa7 $4 Rd1+ 28. Kg2 Rg5+ 29. Kh2 Rdg1 {
actually gets White mated.}) 27... a6 {should give Black good hopes to draw.} (
27... Ra6 28. Ree7 Raxa5 29. Rxa7 Rac5 $14)) 24. Rxb7 Rxa5 25. Rxa5 Qxa5 26.
Rxf7 Qxc3 27. Rxa7 {This version of the pawn-down endgame is not pleasant at
all for Gelfand. The major pieces always signal that the safer king willl have
the easier time. In time trouble, he errs.} Kh8 28. Rf7 Re8 29. g4 Kh7 30. Qd7
Rb8 31. Qf5+ Kg8 32. Ra7 {Black cannot hold the e4 pawn and prevent checkmate
at the same time.} Qb2 33. Qxe4 Rf8 34. Qd5+ Kh7 35. Rf7 1-0

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.28"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Vachier Lagrave, M."]
[Black "Jobava, Ba"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2757"]
[BlackElo "2717"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. O-O h5 $5 {Leave it up to
Jobava to play something weird in a known position.} 7. Nbd2 Nh6 8. Ne1 g5 9.
Nb3 g4 {Black's kingside expansion gives him some actual space, something
Caro-Kann players usually don't have in this variation.} 10. Nd3 Be4 11. Nf4
Nf5 {Black traps hiw own bishop on e4, but he has an idea.} 12. f3 gxf3 13.
gxf3 Rg8+ 14. Ng2 (14. Kh1 Bxc2 15. Qxc2 Qh4 16. Rg1 Rxg1+ 17. Kxg1 O-O-O {
there should be a way to consolidate here for White, but it might not have
been so easy to find over the board.}) 14... Bxc2 15. Qxc2 a5 $1 {Black is
down a piece, and it is possible he does not have enough compensation. However
he has practical chances as he has pressure on d4, an open g-file and White
has no clear plan.} 16. a4 Qh4 17. Bd3 $2 {MVL errs almost immediately.} (17.
f4 $1 {There was no good reason to give up the d4-pawn.} Qh3 18. Bd1 Nh4 19.
Rf2 $16 {This looks scary, and it still doesn't solve the problem of how to
untangle, but It was important to keep all the material.} c5 $1) 17... Nxd4 18.
Nxd4 Qxd4+ 19. Kh1 Nxe5 {With three pawns for the piece Black will be ok in
the long run. MVL tries to mix things up quickly.} 20. Bh7 Rg7 21. Be3 Qc4 22.
b3 Qxc2 23. Bxc2 Rg8 24. Nf4 h4 25. Rae1 Be7 {Perhaps White is a little better,
but Black is so solid that it is very difficult to do anything.} 26. Bd2 Nd7
27. Rg1 Rf8 $2 {This gives White too much space.} (27... Rh8 $1 {Is the better
move.} 28. Rg7 Kf8 (28... Bf6 $6 29. Nxe6 $1) 29. Nxe6+ fxe6 30. Rxe6 Re8 31.
Bc3 Bf6 $1 $14) 28. Rg7 Bf6 29. Rh7 Ne5 30. Nh5 Nxf3 31. Nxf6+ Ke7 32. Rf1 $2 {
MVL misses his chance to win the game.} (32. Ng4 $1 Nxd2 33. Ne5 $1 {The point
is that here Black's knight is trapped and the f7-pawn is close to hanging.}
Ke8 34. Rd1 Ne4 35. Bxe4 dxe4 36. Kg2 $18 {Black has 4 pawns for the knight,
but he is paralyzed and White will easily gobble up h4.}) 32... Nxd2 33. Rf2 b5
34. Rxh4 bxa4 35. Rxa4 Rfb8 36. Nxd5+ cxd5 37. Rxd2 Rb4 38. Ra1 {Perhaps both
players had enough of the fight. Despite White's material advantage the most
logical conclusion for this game would be a draw as at some point he probably
has to sacrifice his bishop for one or two of the passed pawns.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.28"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Jakovenko, D."]
[Black "Andreikin, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2747"]
[BlackElo "2722"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 Nh5 8. Bd3
Nxf4 9. exf4 b6 10. b4 a5 11. a3 c6 12. O-O Qc7 13. g3 Ba6 14. Kg2 Bxd3 15.
Qxd3 Ra7 16. Rfc1 Rfa8 17. Rab1 axb4 18. axb4 Ra3 19. Qc2 Bf6 {A novelty that
changes very little.} (19... h6 {Onischuk-Jakovenko, 2013}) 20. Nd1 b5 21. Ne3
g6 22. Qd1 R8a4 23. Nc2 Ra2 24. Ne5 Bg7 25. Ra1 f6 26. Nxd7 Qxd7 27. Rxa2 Rxa2
28. Ra1 Qa7 29. Qe1 Kf7 30. Qc3 Rxa1 31. Nxa1 Qa2 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.28"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Giri, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B48"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2768"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qf3 {White
always keeps finding new resources against the Sicilian. This early Queen
sortie has been seen a few times. The idea is that 0-0-0 will come sooner and
White can pressure g7 quickly by putting his queen on g3.} Ne5 {rare, and
honestly quite strange. White does want to play f4 at some point.} (7... b5 {
was Grischuk-Wang Hao in the Mindsports games blitz section last year.}) 8. Qg3
h5 9. f3 (9. O-O-O {looked more to the point.}) 9... b5 10. O-O-O d6 11. f4 {
Better late than never.} Ng4 12. e5 {A typical Sicilian. White is fully
mobilized and attempts a pawn break. Black is trying to withstand the opening
of the position with a solid structure and a pair of bishops.} dxe5 $2 13. fxe5
$2 (13. Ndxb5 axb5 14. Bxb5+ Ke7 15. fxe5 Nxe5 16. Bb6 $1 Qxb6 17. Qxe5 Nf6 18.
Rhf1 $18 {and to say that Black's position is uncomfortable is selling it very
short.}) 13... Nxe3 14. Qxe3 Bd7 15. Be2 {regardless because Black doesn't
have a clear way to develop his pieces he is not going to be doing very well
in this game.} g6 {threatening a cheapo on h6, but it just helps White's
attack.} 16. Qf3 Rc8 17. Rhf1 Rh7 18. Kb1 Bb4 19. Ne4 Qxe5 20. h4 f5 21. Ng5 {
White has full deployment and Black is underdeveloped, his king is in the
center and he is full of weaknesses.} Re7 22. Qb7 Bc5 23. Ngf3 (23. Nxf5 $1 {
But this was not the only way.} exf5 24. Rxd7 Rb8 25. Rfd1 $1 {the queen is
taboo because of checkmate on d8.}) 23... Qc7 24. Qxa6 Bxd4 25. Nxd4 Kf8 26. c3
Nf6 27. Bxb5 Bxb5 28. Qxb5 {The smoke has cleared somewhat.  Giri can consider
himself lucky: all he has lost so far is a pawn.} e5 $2 {Way too optimistic,
or just missing White's next move.} (28... Ne4 29. Qb4 Kg8 {gives Black some
chances to survive.}) 29. Qa6 Kg7 (29... Kf7 30. Nb5 $18) 30. Ne6+ Rxe6 31.
Qxe6 {now the material advantage is too big.} Re8 32. Qd6 Qb7 33. Rfe1 Re7 34.
g3 Ne4 35. Qb4 Qxb4 36. cxb4 Nxg3 37. b5 f4 38. b6 f3 39. Rg1 Ne2 $2 (39... Nf5
$1 {why put the knight on the way of the pawns? that being said, Black is
probably toast anyways.}) 40. Rgf1 e4 41. a4 Ng3 42. Rf2 {Black cannot move
anything now and the a and b  pawns will secure victory.} 1-0

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP 2014"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.29"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Jakovenko, Dmitry"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2768"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 e6 4. Nf3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7 7. d4 cxd4 8. Qxd4
O-O 9. Rd1 d6 (9... Nc6 {"gaining a tempo on the queen" is actually a bad move,
and has been known for a long time.} 10. Qf4 {starts giving White too much
pressure on d6, limiting Black's choices.}) 10. Bg5 Nc6 11. Qf4 Qb8 {It's
surprising that Black can get away without playing a6, but this is modern
chess and everything is calculated to maximize effectiveness.} 12. Nb5 Ne5 13.
Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Nxd6 Nxf3+ 15. Bxf3 Bxf3 16. Qxf3 Bxb2 17. Rab1 Be5 18. c5 Qc7
19. Qe4 Qxc5 20. Rbc1 Bxd6 21. Rxc5 Bxc5 22. Qd3 {The first new move, but the
position obviously remains the same. Black is very close to simply calling th
is a fortress and shuffling his rook back and forth to achieve a draw.} (22.
Rd7 {was played last year in the Spanish team championship game between Bacrot
and Nisipeanu, so nothing here is new.}) 22... a5 23. a4 Rae8 24. Kg2 e5 25.
Qe4 Re6 26. Rd5 Rfe8 27. g4 h6 28. e3 g6 29. h4 Kg7 30. Kf1 Kg8 31. Ke2 Kg7 32.
Kf1 Kg8 33. Kg1 Kh8 34. Rd7 R6e7 35. Rd1 Kg7 36. Kg2 Re6 37. Rd5 Kh8 38. g5
hxg5 39. hxg5 Kg8 40. Kg3 Bf8 {If White doubles on the h-file, the bishop will
go to g7 to defend. If White pressures b6, it will go to c5.} 41. Rd7 R6e7 42.
Rd1 Re6 43. Kg2 Bc5 44. Rh1 Bf8 45. Qh4 Bg7 46. Qe4 Bf8 47. Rb1 Bb4 48. Rh1
1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP 2014"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.29"]
[Round "8.2"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E20"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bd6 6. e4 dxe4 (6... c5 {is the
hot line in this variation, but Karjakin's approach makes a lot of sense.}) 7.
fxe4 e5 {Rarely played but this idea of breakin with e5 instead of c5 looks
completely logical for the position. White will be very weak on the
darksquares no matter which approach he takes to the central tension.} 8. d5
O-O 9. Nf3 Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. Bd3 Bc5 12. g4 Bg6 13. Bc2 (13. Nxe5 Nbd7 14.
Nxg6 fxg6 $5 {Already looks scary for White after Black installs a knight on
e5. Notice how far away from castling he is.}) 13... Re8 14. Bg5 (14. b4 Bd4
15. Nxd4 exd4 16. Qxd4 Nc6 17. Qe3 Ne5 {should give Black enough compensation
to regain his pawn.}) 14... h6 15. Bh4 c6 16. b4 Be7 17. O-O a5 (17... Nxd5 {
is tempting but incorrect.} 18. exd5 Bxh4 19. Bxg6 fxg6 20. Ne4 {and now it is
White that has the compensation! His powerful knight on e4 and the passed pawn
on d5 give him enough for an advantage.}) 18. Nxe5 axb4 19. Nxg6 fxg6 20. e5 $5
{A risky move.} (20. axb4 Rxa1 21. Qxa1 Nxd5 22. exd5 Bxh4 23. Bxg6 Qd6 {looks
like a draw.}) 20... Nfd7 21. Bxe7 Qxe7 22. Bxg6 bxc3 23. Bxe8 Qxe8 (23... Nxe5
$5) 24. e6 Nf6 25. Qd3 cxd5 26. cxd5 Na6 {Black has a material advantage, but
with those huge pawns on d5 and e6 it is clear that he is not the one fighting
for the advantage.} 27. Rae1 Nc7 28. d6 Nxe6 29. Qc4 Kf7 {Visually this looks
super risky, but the knights are excellent defenders.} 30. Qe4 Rd8 31. Rxf6+
gxf6 32. Qh7+ Kf8 33. Qh8+ Kf7 34. Qh7+ Kf8 35. Rf1 Nf4 $1 {This critical
resource keeps Karjakin in the game... and with equality!} 36. Qxh6+ Kf7 37.
Qh7+ Kf8 38. Qh6+ Kf7 39. Qxf4 Qe6 40. Qf3 Qe5 41. Qxb7+ {Even though White is
up a pawn (he will lose d6 soon) his main problem is that his king is too weak
to do anything. Draw is the logical conclusion.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP 2014"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.29"]
[Round "8.3"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2726"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8.
Qb3 c5 9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. Qxc3 Nd7 11. Qe3+ Qe7 12. Qxe7+ Kxe7 13. dxc5 Nxc5 {
Even though Black has an isolated pawn in this endgame it doesn't seem like he
is in any kind of problems. He already has finished most of his development,
his king is in the center and White has still to develop his kingside.} 14. Rc1
Kd6 15. Nd4 Bd7 16. f3 Rac8 17. Kd2 {Already White had to watch out for Nd3+
tricks.} Ne6 18. Rxc8 Rxc8 19. Nxe6 fxe6 {Black has fixed his structure and he
is the one that is slightly better, but it is nothing special.} 20. e3 e5 21.
Bd3 a5 22. h4 Rc6 23. Rb1 Rb6 24. b4 axb4 25. Rxb4 Rxb4 26. axb4 g5 27. hxg5
hxg5 28. g3 Ke7 29. f4 Kf6 30. Bc2 b6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP 2014"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.29"]
[Round "8.4"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Kasimdzhanov, Rustam"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D27"]
[WhiteElo "2844"]
[BlackElo "2706"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bxc4 e6 5. Nf3 c5 6. O-O a6 7. dxc5 Qxd1 8.
Rxd1 Bxc5 9. Be2 Nbd7 10. Nbd2 b6 11. a3 {I'm not sure about the value of this
move.} (11. Nc4 {and}) (11. Nb3 {have been proven by Kramnik to be interesting
moves and that the symmetrical position is still tricky for Black.}) 11... Bb7
12. b4 Be7 13. Nc4 O-O 14. Bb2 Bd5 15. Nfe5 b5 16. Na5 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Nd7 18.
Bc7 Bf6 19. Rac1 Bb2 20. Rc2 Rfc8 {Kasimdzhanov has, at the very least,
equalized.} 21. Nc6 {Caruana gets himself out of problems with some tactics,
he already had to be very careful.} (21. Rxb2 Rxc7 {leaves him a little worse
with Black controlling the most important file on the board.}) 21... Rxc7 22.
Ne7+ Kf8 23. Rxc7 Kxe7 24. e4 Be5 25. Rxd7+ Kxd7 26. exd5 {The opposite
colored bishops are still dangerous because the a3 and b4 pawns can be
attacked, but it is not a big deal.} Rc8 27. dxe6+ Kxe6 28. Bg4+ f5 29. Bf3 Rc3
30. Bb7 Rxa3 31. Bc8+ Kf6 32. g3 {Kasimdzhanov won a pawn, but it is still
very far from a win.} f4 33. gxf4 Bxf4 34. Rd5 g6 35. Rd7 h5 $6 (35... a5 36.
bxa5 Rxa5 37. Rxh7 {is better for Black still but one would imagine it is a
drawn endgame.}) 36. Ra7 Bd6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP 2014"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.29"]
[Round "8.5"]
[White "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Black "Jobava, Baadur"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2748"]
[BlackElo "2717"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. e4 Bb7 {This set-up is not as uncommon as people think.}
4. Bd3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 (5. Kf1 $1 {Is probably the strongest move. So proved its
value agaisnt Jobava back in July with a convincing victory.}) 5... Bxd2+ 6.
Nxd2 d6 {Black is, surprisingly, probably almost ok here. He will have a space
disadvantage but he will slowly develop all his pieces to good squares and he
is very solid.} 7. f4 Nd7 8. Qg4 $6 {This aggression is not well prepared.}
Ngf6 9. Qxg7 Rg8 10. Qh6 Rxg2 (10... e5 $5) 11. Ngf3 Qe7 12. Qh3 Rg7 13. O-O-O
Ng4 $1 (13... O-O-O 14. Rhg1 Rdg8 15. Rg5 $1 $14) 14. Qg3 Ndf6 {White's queen
is in a surprisingly awkward situation. The threat is Nh5 followed by Nxf4.}
15. Ng5 $6 (15. Qe1 Nh5 16. f5 {was preferable.}) 15... h6 16. Nh3 O-O-O 17.
Rde1 Nh5 18. Qf3 Qh4 {White seems, if anything, over-extended. His pawns and
pieces are awkward and under severe pressure.} 19. Re2 $6 (19. Qf1 Nxf4 $1 20.
Nxf4 Nf2 $15) 19... Kb8 20. Bc2 f5 21. Qf1 Nhf6 {Black is playing the simplest
of moves, and Gelfand's position collapses on its own.} 22. Nf3 Qh5 23. exf5
exf5 24. d5 Re8 25. Rxe8+ Qxe8 26. Qd3 Re7 27. Rf1 Ne3 28. Rf2 Ba6 29. Bb3
Nexd5 {The first pawn falls. White can already resign.} 30. Qxf5 Bxc4 (30...
Bxc4 31. Bxc4 Re1+ 32. Kc2 (32. Nxe1 Qxe1+ 33. Kc2 Ne3+) 32... Ne3+) 0-1

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP 2014"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.29"]
[Round "8.6"]
[White "Andreikin, Dmitry"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D91"]
[WhiteElo "2722"]
[BlackElo "2757"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5 Ne4 6. Bf4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 dxc4 8.
e3 b5 9. a4 c6 10. Qb1 Bf5 11. e4 Bd7 12. Bxc4 $5 (12. Be2 O-O 13. O-O {was
some Blitz game between Eljanov and Aronian.}) 12... bxc4 13. Qb7 Na6 14. Qxa6
c5 {Both sides must have looked at thits prior to the game.  MVL seems to have
a lot of faith in his pawn sacrifices in the Grunfeld, this time it pays off
without issues.} 15. Qxc4 cxd4 16. cxd4 Rc8 17. Qa6 Be6 18. Qb5+ Bd7 19. Qa6
Be6 20. Qb5+ (20. Qxa7 Bc4 {looks extremely risky as White has no good way of
incorporating his rook into the game without the possibility to castle. The
decision to simply accept the draw is understandable.}) 20... Bd7 21. Qd3 Be6
22. Qb5+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.31"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Radjabov, T."]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2726"]
[BlackElo "2844"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 h5 11. Bf4 Bb4 {actually kind of rare. We have
seen a lot of duels recently with 11...Be7, but with the amazing draw rate in
that line it is refreshing to see something slightly different.} 12. Ne4 (12.
Ne2 Be6 13. Rfd1 Bd5 {Bacrot-Sargissian, 2014}) 12... Be6 13. c3 Be7 14. Rfe1
Rd8 15. Neg5 Bxg5 16. Nxg5 Ke7 17. Ne4 Rd5 18. Rad1 b6 19. b3 h4 20. c4 Rd4 21.
g4 (21. Bg5+ Kd7 22. Rxd4+ Nxd4 23. Rd1 c5 24. Be3 Kc6 25. Bxd4 Rd8 $11) 21...
hxg3 22. fxg3 c5 23. h4 Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Nd4 25. Kf2 Bf5 26. Nc3 Ke6 27. Rd2 Rc8
28. Ne2 Nc6 29. Bg5 Bg4 30. Nf4+ Kxe5 31. Nd5 Ke4 32. Bf4 Ne5 33. Nc3+ Kf5 34.
Nd5 Ke4 35. Nc3+ Kf5 36. Nd5 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.31"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Kasimdzhanov, R."]
[Black "Gelfand, B."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2706"]
[BlackElo "2748"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. Bb3
b5 9. Qf3 Qc7 10. Qg3 O-O 11. Bh6 Ne8 12. Rad1 Bd7 13. f4 Nc6 14. Nxc6 Bxc6 15.
f5 Kh8 16. f6 gxh6 17. fxe7 Qxe7 18. Qf2 Ng7 19. Qb6 (19. Qd4 {was Ivanchuk's
choice against Gelfand in 2008. Surely by now the Israeli had an improvement
in this position, but Kasimdzhanov deviates first.}) 19... Rfc8 20. Rf2 (20. a3
{Michiels-Bu, 2008}) 20... a5 21. a4 bxa4 22. Bxa4 Rab8 $1 {An important pawn
sacrifice.  Black needs as much activity as he can get.} 23. Qxa5 Bxa4 24. Nxa4
Qb7 {Black has counterplay all over the board. It is hard for Kasimdzhanov to
defend all his pawns and create any kind of progress.} 25. Re2 Rc6 26. b3 f5
27. e5 d5 {With equal pawns Black has the disadvantage of the h6 and h7
structure, which will be weak the entire game, but White has to contend with a
weak pawn on e5 which can be attacked in the later game as well as pressure
against his queenside pawns.} 28. Rf1 h5 29. Rff2 h4 30. Qd2 Qe7 31. Qh6 Kg8
32. h3 Rb4 33. Nb2 Re4 34. Nd3 Qc7 35. Qg5 Rxe2 36. Rxe2 Rxc2 37. Rxc2 Qxc2 38.
Ne1 Qxb3 39. Qd8+ Kf7 40. Nf3 $6 {A rather strange choice; why not repeat
moves first at least?} (40. Qf6+ $11) 40... Qe3+ 41. Kf1 h6 42. Qxh4 Kg6 43.
Qf6+ Kh7 44. Qd8 Qa7 45. Qh4 {Black is the only one pushing for a win, but
that seems almost impossible to achieve. The knight must stay and defend the
king and the queen cannot do everything by herself.} Qd7 46. Kg1 Qe8 47. Kh2
Nh5 48. Qb4 Qg6 49. Qe7+ Qg7 50. Qh4 Qf7 51. Nd4 Qg6 52. Qe7+ Ng7 53. g3 Qg5
54. Qxg5 hxg5 55. g4 fxg4 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.31"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Jobava, Ba"]
[Black "Andreikin, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2717"]
[BlackElo "2722"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 {Leave it up to Jobava to make the game weird on move two.} Bf5
3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. g4 Bg6 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. Bd3 Bxd3 8. Qxd3 {White has a
slight lead in development and has pushed g4, which si gnals that he will
castle queenside and expand on the kingside. Well, normal people would do that.
} Bxf4 9. exf4 h5 10. gxh5 (10. f5 $5 hxg4 11. fxe6 gxf3 12. exd7+ (12. exf7+
Kxf7 13. Nxd5 {is too optimistic.}) 12... Qxd7 13. O-O-O {is probably not good
for White.}) 10... Rxh5 11. Rg1 Qf6 {White's structure is ruined, but he has
some activity to show for it.} 12. Ne5 c6 13. Na4 $2 {A hard move to
understand. Jobava himself mentioned it was a rather bad idea. That being said,
White was probably already worse.} Qxf4 14. Nf3 e5 15. Rxg7 O-O-O $19 {Black
simply has a huge initiative now. With his king tucked in safely on c8 it is
White's king on e1 that is about to come under attack.} 16. Qe3 Qf6 17. Rg3
exd4 18. Qxd4 Qxd4 19. Nxd4 Rxh2 {White loses a pawn, but even worse his king
is still weak. He cannot 0-0-0 as f2 is hanging.} 20. Nf3 Rh1+ 21. Rg1 Rxg1+
22. Nxg1 d4 23. b3 Ngf6 24. Nf3 c5 25. Nb2 Kc7 26. a4 Re8+ 27. Kf1 Ne4 28. Nd3
b6 29. a5 Kb7 30. b4 Nc3 31. axb6 axb6 32. bxc5 bxc5 33. Nd2 Re2 34. Nb3 Kb6
35. Ra8 Rxc2 {Now it is clear that it's over.} 36. Ndxc5 Nxc5 37. Nxd4 Rc1+ 38.
Kg2 Nd5 39. Rf8 Ne6 0-1

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.31"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Vachier Lagrave, M."]
[Black "Giri, A."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2757"]
[BlackElo "2768"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d5 {Side-stepping some theory
here.  The normal move is 0-0 or d6, but d5 is logical if Black can get away
from it. Kryvoruchko tried it recently with success agaisnt Hansen.} 6. Nbd2 (
6. Nxe5 O-O 7. Bxc6 bxc6 {leaves  White's position rather shaky.  With e4
hanging and his lack of development it doesn't seem he can find a path to an
advantage, actually he should be careful not to be worse.}) 6... dxe4 7. dxe4
O-O 8. Qe2 a5 9. O-O Qe7 {The symmetrical position is not worse for Black in
this scenario.} 10. Nh4 Bg4 11. Ndf3 Nh5 12. Qc4 Na7 13. Bg5 Qd6 14. Nf5 (14.
Rad1 Bxf2+ $1 15. Kxf2 $6 (15. Kh1 Qc5 $11) 15... Qb6+ $17) 14... Bxf5 15. exf5
h6 16. Rad1 Qb6 (16... Bxf2+ 17. Kxf2 Qb6+ 18. Be3 Qxb5 19. Qxb5 Nxb5 20. Nxe5
$11) 17. Rd5 c6 18. Qxc5 Qxb5 19. Qxf8+ $1 {The only way to keep equal chances.
} (19. Qxb5 Nxb5 {leaves White's rook on d5 and White's bishop on g5 hanging.})
19... Rxf8 20. Rxb5 cxb5 21. Be3 Nc6 22. Rd1 Nf6 {Neither side can claim to
anything in this position.} 23. h3 Rc8 24. g4 Kf8 25. Bc5+ Kg8 26. Be3 Kf8 27.
Kf1 Ke8 28. Ke2 Rc7 29. Bc5 Ne4 30. Rd5 Nf6 31. Rd1 Ne4 32. Rd5 Nf6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.31"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Jakovenko, D."]
[Black "Mamedyarov, S."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "2747"]
[BlackElo "2764"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. Nf3 f5 {This move-order is usually not recommended, maybe Mamedyarov had
some plan.} 2. c4 (2. d3 {is supposed to be annoying for Black as e4 is
usually strong.}) 2... Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. b4 d6 5. d4 Bg7 6. Bb2 e5 7. dxe5 Nfd7
8. Bg2 dxe5 (8... Nc6 {is more common b ut scores horribly.  The text move is
not usually seen.}) 9. O-O Qe7 10. e4 O-O 11. b5 {Overall Jakovenko can be
very happy with the opening. He has a good amount of space on the queenside,
pressure against a potentially weak e5 pawn and Mamedyarov has yet to develop
any sort of counterattack.} Nc5 12. Nc3 Be6 13. Nd5 Qd6 14. Ng5 Nbd7 15. Ba3 (
15. Nxe6 Nxe6 16. exf5 gxf5 17. Ne3 f4 18. Qxd6 cxd6 19. Bd5 $14) 15... Bf7 16.
Qc2 c6 17. Nb4 a5 18. Rad1 Qf6 19. Nd3 Qxg5 20. Nxc5 Nxc5 21. Bxc5 Rfd8 22. Bb6
Rdc8 23. exf5 Qxf5 24. Be4 {After the small tactical melee White still retains
some advantage with control over the d-file and a blockade against e5. He does
have to be careful about opening the c-file, though.} Qe6 25. bxc6 bxc6 26. c5
$2 {This move is just very strange.} (26. Rc1 $14) 26... Qxa2 27. Qxa2 Bxa2 28.
Rd6 Bc4 {perhaps in time pressure Jakovenko forgot that the bishop can return
in time to defend c6. Now White suffers material losses.} 29. Rb1 (29. Ra1 Bb5
30. Rxa5 Rxa5 31. Bxa5 Bf8 $17) 29... a4 $1 {Very powerful. Because the rook
is on b1 this advance of the pawn is too fast.} (29... Bb5 $2 30. Rxb5 cxb5 31.
Bxa8 Rxa8 32. c6 {is, in fact, losing for Black.}) 30. Rxc6 a3 31. Rxc8+ Rxc8
32. c6 a2 33. Ra1 Bf8 34. c7 Bd6 {The rook is pinned down to defending against
Black's promotion and it cannot help the c7 pawn.} 35. Bb7 Bxc7 36. Bxc8 Bxb6 {
Bd4 is unstoppable, and the game is over.} (36... Bxb6 37. Ba6 Bf7 (37... Bxa6
38. Rxa2 {makes things unnecessarily complicated.})) 0-1

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.31"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E90"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2764"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2014.10.20"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. h3 e5 7. d5 Nh5 8. g3 Na6
{With the surge of popularity of the 6.h3 system in the Classical King's
Indian Nakamura has had to try new things against it. This is his latest
attempt, to put both s ides on the rim hoping to counter-attack later.} 9. Be3
f5 10. exf5 gxf5 11. Ng5 Qe8 12. Be2 Nf6 13. Qd2 Qg6 14. O-O-O Bd7 15. h4 {It
is always difficult to assess this kind of positions. Black has counterplay
all over the board and can quickly break with c6 or sometimes even b5. He can
also push his central pawns to create more space, or put his knight on c5 and
follow it up  with a5. White has a space advantage but it is not very big,
meanwhile he is trying to cause problems by ramming the h-pawn forward. Only
many  practical tests usually determine whether the position is sound or not.}
Ng4 16. h5 Qe8 17. Bxg4 fxg4 18. Qe2 (18. a3 {and the computer claims White is
better, much better, but I don't trust it.}) 18... h6 19. Nge4 Qf7 20. a3 Bf5
21. Rh4 Qd7 22. Qd2 {It's still hard to understand what is happening in this
position. The players repeat as they both lack a clear plan.} Kh7 23. Qc2 Kh8
24. Qd2 Kh7 25. Qc2 Kh8 26. Qd2 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

[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

