[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.06.27"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Meier, Georg"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E06"]
[WhiteElo "2654"]
[BlackElo "2676"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2015.06.27"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4
Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bg5 Bd5 11. Qc2 Be4 12. Qd1 c5 13. dxc5 Bxc5 14. Nbd2 Bc6
15. Ne5 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 Nbd7 17. Rc1 Nxe5 18. Rxc5 Ned7 19. Bxf6 Nxf6 20. Qc2 Rc8
21. Rxc8 Qxc8 22. Rc1 Qd7 23. Nf3 Rd8 24. Qb3 h6 25. Rc4 Qe7 26. e4 e5 27. Qc3
Re8 28. a5 Qe6 29. Rb4 Rc8 30. Qxe5 Qxe5 31. Nxe5 Rc5 32. f4 Rxa5 33. Kf3 b5
34. Rd4 g5 35. Rd6 Kg7 36. Nd3 Ra4 37. e5 Ne4 38. Rd7 gxf4 39. gxf4 Kg6 40. Ke3
f5 41. Rb7 Ra1 42. Rb6+ Kg7 43. b4 h5 44. Rb7+ Kg6 45. Rb6+ Kg7 46. h4 Ra3 47.
Rb7+ Kg6 48. Kd4 Ng3 49. Rd7 Ne2+ {Black is clearly in problems. White has a
protected passed pawn on e5 and his king is very active.} 50. Ke3 $2 {
Inexplicably going backwards. Much stronger was} (50. Kc5 {trying to take all
of Black's pawns on the queenside. The plan is simply Kb6 and Nc5.}) 50... Nc1
51. Kd2 Nxd3 52. Rxd3 Ra2+ 53. Ke3 Rb2 54. Rd6+ Kg7 55. Rxa6 $2 (55. Rf6 Rb3+
56. Kd2 Rxb4 57. Rxf5 {still gives White great winning chances because his
pawns are faster. If it is completely winning remains to be analyzed.}) 55...
Rb3+ 56. Ke2 Rxb4 {Now this is simply a draw. White must keep defending his f4
pawn.} 57. Ke3 Rb3+ 58. Ke2 Rb4 59. Ke3 1/2-1/2

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.06.27"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D41"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2722"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2015.06.27"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 cxd4 8.
cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 O-O 11. Bc4 Nd7 12. O-O b6 13. a4 Bb7 14. Bd3
a5 15. Rfc1 e5 16. d5 Nc5 17. Qe3 f5 18. Bc4 Qd6 19. exf5 Rxf5 20. Ng5 Rf4 21.
Rab1 Qg6 22. Ba2 Qxg5 23. Rxb6 Raf8 24. f3 Nd3 25. Rd1 Nb4 26. Rxb7 Nxa2 27. d6
Nb4 28. Rb5 Nc6 29. d7 h6 30. Rbd5 Rd8 31. Qc3 Nd4 32. Kh1 Rh4 33. Qc7 Kh7 34.
h3 Nxf3 35. Qc2+ Kh8 36. Qf2 Nd4 37. Re1 Rf4 38. Qb2 Qf6 39. Qb1 Nf5 40. Kh2
Rb4 41. Qc1 Ne7 42. Rxa5 Rxd7 43. Raxe5 Ng6 44. Re6 Qf4+ 45. Qxf4 Nxf4 46. R6e4
Rxe4 47. Rxe4 Nd3 48. Re8+ Kh7 49. Ra8 Rd4 50. g4 Nc5 51. a5 Ra4 52. Kg3 Ra3+
53. Kg2 Ne4 54. a6 Nd6 55. h4 Nb5 56. g5 hxg5 57. hxg5 Nc7 0-1

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.06.27"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A07"]
[WhiteElo "2720"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2015.06.27"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 c6 5. O-O Nf6 6. b3 O-O 7. Bb2 Ne4 8. Nbd2
Bf5 9. c4 Nd7 10. Rc1 a5 11. Nh4 Nxd2 12. Qxd2 Be6 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. Nf3 Nf6
15. Ne5 Ne4 16. Qe3 a4 17. Nd3 axb3 18. axb3 Qb6 19. Nc5 Ra2 20. Bxe4 dxe4 21.
Bc3 Qb5 22. Nxe6 fxe6 23. Rfe1 Qd5 24. Red1 Ra3 25. Qd2 Qxb3 26. Qg5 Ra2 27.
Rd2 Bf6 28. Qc5 Rxd2 29. Bxd2 Qd5 30. Be3 Rd8 31. Rb1 Rd7 32. Rb5 Kf7 33. Qb4
Qc6 34. Rb6 Qd5 35. Rb5 Qc6 36. Rb6 Qc2 37. Rxb7 Rxb7 38. Qxb7 Bxd4 39. Bxd4
Qd1+ 40. Kg2 Qxd4 41. e3 Qd5 42. Qb2 Qf5 43. Qh8 Qf3+ 44. Kg1 Qd1+ 45. Kg2 Qf3+
46. Kg1 1/2-1/2

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.06.27"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "2654"]
[BlackElo "2778"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2015.06.27"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Bxd7+ Qxd7 7. O-O Nc6 8.
d3 e6 9. f5 {White's intentions are not subtle. The position has been seen a
few times, but only once at the GM level.} Nge7 (9... exf5 10. exf5 O-O-O {is
a better approach, though not the most natural.}) 10. fxe6 fxe6 11. Ng5 $1 {
The start of a very aggressive plan.} Ne5 (11... Nd8 12. Qg4 h6 13. Nh3 {feels
like White is a bit better.}) 12. Nb5 $1 {A great move!} Qxb5 (12... O-O-O 13.
d4 $1 Qxb5 14. dxe5 Bxe5 (14... dxe5 15. Qg4 $16) 15. Nf7 {wins an exchange
for a pawn for White. Black doesn't have enough.}) 13. Nxe6 Kd7 14. Nxg7 {The
knight is trapped on g7, but White is up a pawn and has chances to attack the
black king.} h5 (14... Raf8 {was perhaps a bit more prudent.}) 15. a4 Qb6 16.
a5 Qb5 17. c4 {The Black queen gets kicked around a lot this game!} Qc6 18. b4
$5 (18. Bf4 $1 $18 Rhg8 19. d4 cxd4 20. Qxd4 {was extremely difficult to meet
for Black. The threat of Bxe5 is not easy to parry. White is winning.}) 18...
Rh7 19. bxc5 Rxg7 20. Rf6 {White's attack in this line is also decisive.} Nc8 (
20... Nf7 21. Bh6 {is very ugly, but it was necessary.}) 21. d4 $1 Ng4 (21...
Qxe4 22. dxe5 Qxe5 23. Rb1 Qxf6 24. Rxb7+ Ke8 25. Bb2 {and White wins material
with the lethal skewer.}) 22. Rf3 Qxe4 23. h3 {Simple and good. The knight on
g4 is trapped, without extra material Black's position simply collapses.} dxc5
24. dxc5+ Ke8 25. hxg4 Ne7 26. Qf1 Rg8 27. Bb2 hxg4 28. Re1 {The king will
perish on e8 shortly. A great game by NIsipeanu!} 1-0

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.06.28"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Black "Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2722"]
[BlackElo "2654"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2015.06.27"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Ne7 6. O-O h6 7. Nbd2 Nd7 8. Nb3
g5 9. Ne1 Qc7 10. Nd3 b6 11. Be3 Bg7 12. Rc1 Rd8 13. Kh1 c5 14. dxc5 O-O 15.
cxb6 axb6 16. f4 gxf4 17. Nxf4 Nxe5 18. Nh5 Nc4 19. Bg1 Bxb2 20. Nd4 Bg6 21.
Nf6+ Kg7 22. Rb1 e5 23. Nb5 Qc6 24. a4 Nf5 25. Nh5+ Kh7 26. Qe1 Nce3 27. Rxb2
Nxf1 28. Qxf1 d4 29. Bf3 Qc5 30. Nf6+ Kg7 31. Ne4 Qe7 32. Rb3 Nh4 33. Qe1 f5
34. Nd2 Nxf3 35. Nxf3 Rfe8 36. Nh4 Kh7 37. Rh3 Qf6 38. Bf2 Bh5 39. Nf3 Bxf3 40.
Rxf3 e4 41. Rh3 d3 42. cxd3 exd3 43. Qd1 d2 44. Nc3 Re6 45. Qb1 Qxc3 $1 46.
Qxf5+ Kh8 47. Rxc3 Re1+ 48. Bg1 Rxg1+ 49. Kxg1 d1=Q+ {The rook falls no matter
what} (49... d1=Q+ 50. Kf2 (50. Qf1 Qd4+) 50... Qd2+) 0-1

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.06.28"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Hou, Yifan"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2676"]
[BlackElo "2783"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2015.06.27"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Qe2 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. d3 h6 7. Nbd2 d6 8. O-O
Ne7 9. d4 a6 10. dxc5 axb5 11. cxd6 Qxd6 12. Qxb5 Ng6 13. Re1 b6 {Yifan's
opening was a little suspicious. She is up a pawn right now, but her
develoment is lacking. Black has at least enough compensation for the pawn,
but probably it is even sufficient for a small advantage.} 14. Nc4 Qe6 15. Ne3
Nxe4 $1 {A very strong move!} 16. Qd5 (16. Nd5 Nd6 17. Qd3 e4 $17) 16... Nc5 $1
{This is the beautiful point, otherwise White is even better.} (16... Qxd5 17.
Nxd5 $14) 17. b4 (17. Qxa8 Bb7 18. Qa3 Bxf3 $1 {The lines are complicated
still, but Black's attack is too strong. Taking the bishop loses to:} (18...
Ra8 19. Qb4 Ra4 20. Qb5 Ba6 21. Qxa4 Nxa4 {is also quite strong.}) 19. gxf3 Nh4
20. Kh1 Nd3 {and White cannot hope to keep her position together.}) 17... Bb7
18. Qxe6 Nxe6 19. Nf5 Rfd8 20. a4 Rd3 21. Be3 Rxc3 {Black is up a pawn with
the better position. The rest is easy.} 22. a5 Rb3 23. axb6 cxb6 24. Rxa8+ Bxa8
25. Bxb6 Bxf3 26. gxf3 Ng5 27. Kh1 Nxf3 28. Re4 Nf4 0-1

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.06.28"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2778"]
[PlyCount "138"]
[EventDate "2015.06.27"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 b5 8. g4
b4 9. Nd5 Nxd5 10. exd5 h5 11. gxh5 Rxh5 12. a3 bxa3 13. Rxa3 Nd7 14. Bg2 Nf6
15. O-O Rb8 16. f4 Be7 17. c4 Qb6+ 18. Rf2 Rh4 19. Rc3 Bd7 20. b3 Bxh3 21. Bxh3
Ne4 22. Qe1 Nxc3 23. Qxc3 Qxb3 24. Qxb3 Rxb3 25. Bc8 e4 26. Bxa6 Bd8 27. c5
dxc5 28. Rg2 g6 29. Rg3 Rxg3+ 30. Nxg3 Rg4 31. Kh2 f5 32. Ne2 Rh4+ 33. Kg2 Bc7
34. Bc8 Kd8 35. Be6 Ke7 36. Be3 Bd6 37. Bf2 Rh8 38. Be1 c4 39. Bc3 Ra8 40. Be5
Ra2 41. Kf1 Rd2 42. Bc3 Rd3 43. Ba5 Ba3 44. Bg8 Bd6 45. Be6 Bc5 46. Ke1 Rb3 47.
Kd2 Rb2+ 48. Kd1 Bb4 49. Bxb4+ Rxb4 50. Kc2 Rb3 51. Nc3 e3 52. Bg8 Rb6 53. Ne2
Ra6 54. d6+ Rxd6 55. Bxc4 Kf6 56. Bd3 g5 57. fxg5+ Kxg5 58. Ng3 Rc6+ 59. Kd1 f4
60. Nf1 Rb6 61. Nh2 Kh4 62. Ke1 Kg3 63. Nf1+ Kf3 64. Nh2+ Kg2 65. Nf1 Re6 66.
Bc4 Re5 67. Ba6 Ra5 68. Bb7+ Kg1 69. Nxe3 Re5 0-1

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.06.28"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Meier, Georg"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2720"]
[BlackElo "2654"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2015.06.27"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. dxc5
Nxc5 9. Qd2 a6 10. O-O-O Qa5 11. Kb1 b5 12. Bd3 Bd7 13. Bxc5 Bxc5 14. f5 Bb4
15. Qg5 Bxc3 16. Qxg7 O-O-O 17. bxc3 d4 18. Nxd4 Nxd4 19. cxd4 Qb4+ 20. Kc1
Rhg8 21. Qxf7 Rxg2 22. fxe6 Qa3+ 23. Kb1 Qb4+ 24. Kc1 Qa3+ 25. Kb1 Qb4+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.06.30"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Nisipeanu, LD."]
[Black "Hou Yifan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E16"]
[WhiteElo "2654"]
[BlackElo "2676"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 a5 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. O-O O-O 8. Bf4
Be7 9. Nc3 Na6 10. d5 Bb4 11. Nb5 $6 {White's sacrifice does not yield good
results. Yifan seizes over the initiative with a good follow up:} exd5 12. Nh4
c6 $1 13. Nd6 Bxd6 14. Bxd6 Re8 {Despite the weaknesses on the dark squares,
it will soon become clear that Black's pieces enter the fray very quickly.} 15.
cxd5 Ne4 16. dxc6 (16. Bxe4 Rxe4 17. f3 Re8 {is close to equal, but Nisipeanu
had to already be thinking about that.}) 16... dxc6 17. Bf4 Qf6 {g5 is a
threat.} 18. Be3 c5 {Black is doing quite well despite the pair of bishops.
Her pieces are simply better placed.} 19. Qd7 Bc6 20. Qg4 Nb4 21. Rad1 (21. a3
Nc2 22. Rad1 g6 $1 {and b2 is still weak, while f5 is taken away from the
white knight.}) 21... Qe6 $2 (21... Qxb2 $1 {The time to  be brave and take
the pawn was now. Nisipeanu's initiative on the kingside simply does not
compensate.}) 22. Nf5 g6 23. Nh6+ Kg7 24. Qh4 {White has sufficient
counterplay now.} Nc2 25. Ng4 Nxe3 26. fxe3 $1 {Otherwise Black is better
again. The inclusion of the rook on the f-file is more important than the
structure.} (26. Nxe3 h5 {with a little more pleasant position for Black.})
26... h5 27. Bxe4 Qxe4 {White is getting mated, but he has a perpetual just on
time.} (27... Bxe4 28. Nf6 {doesn't help Black much.}) 28. Qf6+ Kg8 29. Qxf7+
Kh8 30. Qf6+ Kg8 31. Qf7+ Kh8 32. Qf6+ Kg8 33. Qf7+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.06.30"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Kramnik, V."]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, I."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A05"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2720"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 g6 4. c4 Bg7 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 d5 7. Nc3 dxc4 8.
Qa4+ Nbd7 9. O-O O-O 10. Rd1 Nb6 11. Qa3 Qd6 12. Qxd6 exd6 13. a4 a6 14. Bf4
Ne8 15. Rac1 a5 16. Ndb5 Bd7 17. Bxd6 Nxd6 18. Rxd6 Bc6 19. Bxc6 bxc6 20. Rxc6
Rab8 21. Rc5 Rfd8 22. Na7 Rd2 23. Rb5 Nd7 24. Rxb8+ Nxb8 25. Ncb5 Nd7 26. Rxc4
Bxb2 27. Kf1 Nb6 28. Re4 f5 29. Re8+ Kf7 30. Rb8 Nxa4 31. Nc6 Nc3 32. Nxa5 Rd1+
33. Kg2 Nxe2 34. Nc4 Ba1 35. Nbd6+ Kg7 36. Rb7+ Kg8 37. Re7 Nc3 38. h4 Nd5 39.
Rd7 h5 40. Ra7 Bd4 41. Ra8+ Kg7 42. Rd8 Ba1 43. Nb6 Nc3 44. Nbc8 Kf6 $2 (44...
Nd5 $11) 45. Rd7 $1 Nd5 46. Nb6 $1 Be5 $2 (46... Nxb6 47. Ne8+ {is, of course,
impossible.}) (46... Nc3 $1 {is still far from easy, but this is clearly just
a computer move.}) 47. Nb7 {Suddenly Black is in danger of losing his knight.
His saving resource fails:} Nc3 48. Nd8 $1 {A mate threat out of nowhere! The
rooks cant be traded because of the deadly fork.} g5 49. Rxd1 Nxd1 50. Nd7+ Ke7
51. Nxe5 Kxd8 (51... gxh4 52. Nec6+ Kd7 53. gxh4 $18) 52. hxg5 Ke7 53. f4 {The
endgame is easily winning.} Nc3 54. Kh3 Ne4 55. Kh4 1-0

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.06.30"]
[Round "3"]
[White "So, W."]
[Black "Naiditsch, A."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2778"]
[BlackElo "2722"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. e3 Be7 6. b3 O-O 7. Bb2 b6 8. Bd3
Bb7 9. Qc2 c5 10. cxd5 exd5 11. O-O a6 12. Rfd1 Re8 13. Rac1 Bd6 14. Bf5 Rc8
15. dxc5 bxc5 16. Qd3 Rc7 17. Na4 Qe7 18. Qc3 d4 19. exd4 Bxf3 20. Qxf3 cxd4
21. Ra1 $2 {A move that is too mysterious to understand. So clearly is being
ambitious and wants to take on d4, but he grossly underestimates Black's
initiative.} (21. Rxc7 Qe1+ {is not playable either.}) (21. g3 Rxc1 22. Bxc1
Ne5 23. Qg2 $11 {is still rather unclear.}) 21... Ne5 22. Qh3 g6 $1 23. Bd3 Nd5
$1 {Black's knights start swarming the position. So regrets having such
inactive pieces, like the knight on a4 and the rook on a1. Naiditschs's attack
strikes at the right time.} 24. Bxd4 $2 {A clear oversight.} (24. Bf1 {is
passive, ugly, but holds for now.}) 24... Nxd3 $2 (24... Nf4 {seems to simply
win material.} 25. Qh6 Qf6 $1 {A very difficult move to find, but one that
would have ended the game immediately. The point is that Bf8 is a very
difficult move to defend against!} (25... Nfxd3 $4 26. Rxd3 $14) 26. Bxe5 (26.
h4 Bf8 27. Qg5 Qxg5 28. hxg5 Nexd3 {is over.}) 26... Rxe5 $19 {Bf8, Rh5... too
many threats.}) 25. Qxd3 Nf4 {Black's attack is strong regardless.} 26. Qxa6 $2
{Grabbing this pawn seems suicidal, though. A hard move to understand.} (26.
Qf3 Ne2+ 27. Kf1 Nxd4 28. Rxd4 Be5 29. Re4 {is ugly for White, but was best
case scenario.}) 26... Qg5 27. g3 Ne2+ 28. Kf1 Qg4 29. Be3 Rxe3 {Other moves
also won.} 30. Qa8+ Kg7 31. Rxd6 Re4 {White's king is simply getting mated
here. Qh3 is a big threat.} 32. Kg2 Nf4+ 33. Kg1 Nh3+ 34. Kg2 Rc2 35. Rf1 Nf4+
36. Kg1 Qf3 {A very bad game from So, who completely underestimated his
opponent's chances.} 0-1

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.06.30"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Meier, Geo"]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "2654"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 g6 3. e4 Bg7 4. Be2 Nd7 5. c4 e5 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. h4 h6 8. g4 Nb6
9. g5 hxg5 10. Bxg5 Bg4 11. d5 f6 12. Be3 Bh6 13. Qd3 Bh5 14. O-O-O Kf7 15.
Rdg1 Qd7 16. Bxh6 Rxh6 17. Bf1 Rah8 18. Bh3 Qd8 19. Ne1 c6 20. b3 Nd7 21. Qe3
cxd5 22. cxd5 Nc5 23. b4 Nd7 24. Qxa7 Qc7 25. Qe3 Nb6 26. Kb1 Kg7 27. Nb5 Qd8
28. f3 Rf8 29. Rg2 f5 30. Rc2 Na8 31. Qa7 fxe4 32. fxe4 Rf4 {White has more
material, the better position... just look at that knight on a8! Black's rook
on h6 is not very happy.} 33. Bg2 (33. Qxb7 {was way easier. The discomfort
caused by the queen on the 7th means that the rook will have to return soon to
defend.} Rxe4 34. Nd3 $1 {Locks the rook out of f4 and the game seems to be
over.}) 33... Bd1 34. Rd2 Bg4 35. Qxb7 Rf7 36. Qa6 Nb6 37. Nd3 {Black has some
counterplay, but two pawns are two pawns.} Nc4 38. Rc2 $2 (38. Rf2 $18) 38...
Bc8 39. Qa8 Ne3 40. Re2 Nxg2 41. Rxg2 Qb6 {Things are far from easy now.} 42.
a4 $2 {Weakening even further} Qe3 43. Rd1 Rf1 $2 (43... Qxe4 {keeps the
pressure and picks off a very important pawn.}) 44. Rxf1 Qxd3+ 45. Rc2 Qxf1+
46. Kb2 {Unfortunately for Caruana, he wins a piece but his initative
evaporates. White now has some counterchances.} Qe1 47. Qa7 $2 (47. Nc3 $1 {Is
not a human move at all, however the point is simple. Once White solidifies
the queenside from mating patterns, he is able to play Qb8,xd6 and create
counterplay. I don't blame Meier for missing this, though, it is too computer
like.}) 47... Qxb4+ 48. Ka2 Kf6 49. Rf2+ Nf5 {A nice detail.} 50. exf5 Bxf5 {
Material is somehow equal, but White's king is much weaker than Black's} 51.
Qa8 Rxh4 0-1

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.01"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, I."]
[Black "Nisipeanu, LD."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2720"]
[BlackElo "2654"]
[PlyCount "150"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h5 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 e6 7. Bg5 Qb6 8. Nd2
Ne7 9. Ngf3 Qa6 10. c4 Nf5 11. O-O Nd7 12. Qc3 Be7 13. Bxe7 Nxe7 14. c5 b6 15.
a4 bxc5 16. dxc5 Qc8 17. b4 a5 18. bxa5 Qc7 19. Nb3 Ng6 20. Rfe1 O-O 21. Rac1
f6 22. Nbd4 Nf4 23. Qc2 Nxe5 24. g3 Nfd3 25. Nxe5 Nxe1 26. Rxe1 fxe5 27. Nxe6
Qxa5 28. Rxe5 Qxa4 29. Qxa4 Rxa4 30. Nxf8 Kxf8 31. Re6 Ra1+ 32. Kg2 d4 33. Rxc6
d3 34. Rd6 Rc1 35. c6 d2 36. Rxd2 Rxc6 37. Rd5 g6 38. Rd7 Rc3 39. Kf1 Rc2 40.
Ke1 Ra2 41. Rd2 Ra3 42. Ke2 Kf7 43. Rd3 Ra2+ 44. Ke3 Kf6 45. Rd4 Rb2 46. Rf4+
Kg7 47. Ra4 Kf6 48. f3 Rb3+ 49. Kf4 Rc3 50. Ra6+ Kg7 51. Rd6 Ra3 52. Ke4 Rb3
53. Rd3 Rb5 54. Rd7+ Kf6 55. g4 hxg4 56. fxg4 Rb4+ 57. Rd4 Rb7 58. Rd6+ Kg7 59.
Ke5 Rf7 60. Re6 Rf1 61. Re7+ Kg8 62. g5 Rf5+ 63. Ke6 Rf4 64. Rd7 Rxh4 65. Kf6
Ra4 66. Rg7+ Kh8 67. Re7 Kg8 68. Re6 Kh7 69. Re7+ Kg8 70. Re3 Kh7 71. Re7+ Kg8
72. Rg7+ Kh8 73. Rxg6 Ra6+ 74. Kf5 Ra5+ 75. Kf6 Ra6+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.01"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Hou Yifan"]
[Black "So, W."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2676"]
[BlackElo "2778"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Kb1 Qb6 14. Ne4 Rd8
15. c4 O-O 16. Qe2 c5 17. Bc3 cxd4 18. Bxd4 Qc6 19. Nxf6+ Bxf6 20. g4 Bxd4 21.
Nxd4 Qc5 22. Nf3 Nf6 23. Ne5 Rd4 24. Rxd4 Qxd4 25. Rd1 Qf4 26. Re1 Qd4 27. Rd1
Qf4 28. f3 {White has a bit of pressure in the position. She has a powerful
knight on e5 and control over the d-file, for this reason she declines the
draw. It is not so fun to make moves for Black, despite the well placed queen
on f4.} a6 29. a3 Ra8 {A mysterious rook move like no other, but I suppose it
is Wesley's way to pass} 30. Rd6 Re8 31. Ka2 $6 {It is fair to say that
finding a way to continue was already something that was not easy, but this
gives So a surprising resource to push back all of White's control.} (31. Rb6
$14 {White is a bit better, but breaking through is another matter entirely.})
31... Nxg4 $1 {Nicely calculated. So gets rid of the pressure completely.} 32.
fxg4 f6 {the pin on the f4-d6 diagonal means that White must give her material
back.} 33. Rd7 fxe5 34. Rxb7 {It seems that White is better, but in fact
Black's activity is just enough.} Qd4 $6 {A slip that went unpunished.} (34...
Rc8 $1 {immediately was much better, avoiding the following complications.})
35. g5 $6 (35. Qc2 $1 Qxg4 (35... Rc8 36. g5 hxg5 37. h6 Qxc4+ 38. Qxc4 Rxc4
39. Rxg7+ Kh8 40. Rxg5 {looks like a difficult endgame for Black.}) (35... e4
$1 {Is best, but not easy to find.} 36. Qa4 $1 Rc8 37. Qxa6 Qxc4+ 38. Qxc4 Rxc4
39. Re7 Rc6 {the endgame is unclear to me, but White is the one pressing for a
win.}) 36. Qa4 $14) 35... hxg5 $1 {This is forced, and safe.} 36. h6 gxh6 37.
Qh5 (37. Qc2 e4 {is insufficient.}) 37... Qxc4+ {Now the game finishes in a
draw. Black is getting mated, but he has a perpetual.} 38. Ka1 (38. Kb1 $4 Qe4+
39. Ka2 Rf8 {allows Black to cover everything.} (39... Qxb7 $1 $19 {is also
good.})) 38... Qc1+ 39. Ka2 Qc4+ 40. Ka1 Qc1+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.01"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Caruana, F."]
[Black "Naiditsch, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2722"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. Qa4 Bd7 8. Qxc4
b5 9. Qc3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Qxd4 Rc8 12. Bf4 Bc5 13. Qd3 Qb6 14. Nd2 O-O
15. Ne4 Nd5 (15... Nxe4 16. Bxe4 {double attacks h7 and d7.}) 16. Ng5 $5 (16.
Nxc5 Qxc5 17. Be5 {seemed more natural, simply obtaining the pair of bishops.
Caruana is more ambitious.}) 16... g6 17. Be5 $5 Be7 (17... f6 18. Bxd5 fxg5 $1
(18... exd5 19. Qxd5+ Kh8 20. Qxd7 $18) 19. Bf3 {looks visually ugly for Black,
but he does get the open f-file and some pressure on f2. Perhaps this was
Naiditsch's best move.}) 18. Nf3 Bc6 19. Qd2 {White retains some pressure
thanks to the darksquare weaknesses on the kingside. If f6 is played, the
kingside is weakened in the longterm.} f6 20. Bd4 Qb7 21. Rac1 Rfd8 22. Bh3 Bd7
23. Rxc8 Bxc8 24. Rc1 Bd7 25. Bc5 $1 {Nice timing for this. White retains most
of his attacking material while getting rid of the important e7 defender.} Bxc5
26. Rxc5 Rc8 27. b4 $1 Rxc5 28. bxc5 Qc7 29. e4 Ne7 30. Qd4 {Superb. White's
domination came almost out of nowhere. The passed pawn is now strong, while
the pressure on f6 is annoying. White's pieces are placed in great positions.}
Kg7 31. e5 $1 f5 32. Bg2 h6 33. Qd6 $16 {The two passed pawns are too strong
now, and Black has no choice but give them to Caruana.} Qxd6 34. exd6 Nc6 35.
Ne1 (35. Nd2 {was also good.}) 35... a5 $6 (35... Kf6 {resists longer, but
still looks too strong for White.}) 36. Nd3 b4 37. h4 Nd4 38. Kh2 Bb5 39. Ne5
Kf6 40. c6 {Finally the killing blow.} Bxc6 41. Nxc6 1-0

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.01"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Meier, Georg"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2654"]
[BlackElo "2783"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2015.06.27"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nf5 8.
Nf3 d5 9. d4 O-O 10. c3 Bd6 11. Bd3 Nce7 12. Nbd2 c6 13. Nf1 g6 14. h3 Kh8 15.
Bd2 f6 16. Qc2 Bd7 17. b3 Rc8 18. Re2 b6 19. g4 Ng7 20. Rae1 c5 21. dxc5 bxc5
22. Qc1 Bc6 23. Bf4 Ng8 24. Bg3 d4 25. N1h2 Bxg3 26. fxg3 g5 27. Be4 Bxe4 28.
Rxe4 Qd6 29. Kg2 f5 30. Re5 h6 31. Qd2 Rcd8 32. Qd3 f4 33. Nf1 Qc6 34. cxd4
cxd4 35. R1e4 fxg3 36. Nxg3 Nf6 37. Rxd4 Ne6 38. Rxe6 Rxd4 39. Qxd4 Qxe6 40.
Qxa7 Rc8 41. Nf5 Qe2+ 42. Qf2 Qd3 43. Qd4 Rc2+ 44. Kg1 Rc1+ 45. Kg2 Qc2+ 46.
Kg3 Qc7+ 47. Kg2 Rc2+ 48. Kg1 Rc6 49. Kf2 Kh7 50. Ke2 Rc2+ 51. Ke3 Rxa2 52. Qc4
Qb7 53. Qe6 Nd5+ 54. Kd4 Qb4+ 0-1

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.03"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D78"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 Nf6 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 c6 {The solid setup
against the Fianchetto Grunfeld is one of the toughest systems for White to
break. But who better than the big Vlad to give it a go!} 7. Nbd2 a5 8. b3 a4
9. Ba3 (9. Bb2 {is the more common move but Ba3 is the latest innovation and
has been scoring quite decently for White.}) 9... axb3 10. axb3 Bf5 11. Nh4 Be6
12. Re1 Ne4 13. Bxe4 $5 {A very unorthodox exchange by Kramnik. He is trying
to spice up the position.} (13. e3 {might have been a safer choice.}) (13. Nxe4
dxe4 14. Bxe4 Qxd4 15. Qxd4 Bxd4 16. Bb2 $1 Rxa1 17. Bxa1 Bg7 {would have lead
to a handshake pretty soon.}) 13... dxe4 14. Nxe4 (14. e3 $11 {was necessary
as the move chosen by Kramnik in the game leads to a clearly inferior position.
}) 14... Qxd4 (14... Bxd4 $2 15. Bxe7 $1 $16 {just drops a pawn.}) 15. Qc2 $5 {
This is objectively a bad move. However, it takes many precise moves from
Caruana to prove that. If Black were to play anything apart from Bf5 on the
next move then White has a fine position.} (15. Qxd4 Bxd4 16. Bb2 Rxa1 17. Bxa1
Bb6 $15 {Keeping the double bishops. Of course, this was not the reason why
Kramnik had given up his light squared bishop on e4.}) 15... Bf5 $1 {An
excellent tactical resource that might have been missed or underestimated by
Kramnik.} (15... Qxa1 $6 16. Rxa1 Bxa1 17. Bxe7 $16 {The queen will prove to
be a much stronger in such a position with the knights than the two rooks.}) (
15... Nd7 16. Rad1 Qb6 17. Bxe7 Rfe8 18. Bd6 $13 {Black has compensation but
White is not worse.}) (15... Re8 16. Bb2 Rxa1 17. Bxa1 Qb6 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19.
Rd1 $11) 16. Nxf5 gxf5 17. Ng5 (17. Nd2 Qc3 $1 {is the neat little point.} 18.
Qa2 Qa5 $17 {The exchange is lost.}) (17. Nc5 Rxa3 18. Rxa3 Qxc5 $17) 17... Qg4
{The queen attacks the knight and the bishop on g7 uncovers an attack on the
a1 rook.} 18. f4 Bxa1 19. Rxa1 h6 $6 (19... c5 $1 {would have given Caruana a
nearly decisive advantage. The idea is to develop the knight on c6 where it
will be much more active than on d7.} 20. Bb2 (20. Qc3 Nc6 21. Bxc5 Rxa1+ 22.
Qxa1 Qxe2 $19 {The is the difference of not playing h6 and pushing the knight
back to f3.}) 20... Rxa1+ 21. Bxa1 Nc6 $17) 20. Nf3 Nd7 (20... c5 {would no
longer be strong because} 21. Qc3 Nc6 22. Bxc5) 21. Rd1 $1 {Kramnik takes his
best practical chance to keep the rooks on board.} Rxa3 22. Rxd7 Qh3 $1 {
Keeping an eye on the white king.} 23. Qc3 e6 $6 {This terribly weakens the f6
square and gives White enough counterplay against the f7 point.} (23... Rfa8 {
would have been much stronger as after} 24. Rxe7 $2 (24. Rxb7 Ra1+ 25. Kf2 Rf1+
26. Ke3 Qg2 $19) 24... Ra1+ 25. Kf2 (25. Ne1 Rb1 26. b4 b6 {Leaves White in a
nearly zugwang like position.} 27. c5 b5 28. Rd7 Re8 $19) 25... Rf1+ 26. Ke3
Qg2 $19 {The attack against the white king breaks through.}) 24. Rxb7 Rfa8 25.
Kf2 Ra1 26. Ke3 Rf1 27. Qf6 Rf8 {Once the rook has to passively defend the f7
point, it is clear that White cannot be worse.} 28. Rd7 (28. Kd4 $5 {In this
age where we are seeing king walks in almost every other tournament this move
would have been really loved by the spectators. It doesn't really change the
assessment of the position but Black has to quickly find a way to get his
queen into the game. Most probably the game would end something like this} Qg2
29. Qxh6 Qxe2 30. Qg5+ Kh7 31. Qh4+ Kg8 32. Qg5+ $11) 28... Rb1 29. Rb7 c5 30.
Rb5 Rf1 31. Nd2 $2 {It is quite possible that Kramnik was under time pressure
as this gives Black the golden opportunity to get a winning position.} (31.
Rxc5 Rxf3+ 32. exf3 Qxh2 $11 {would have ended in a draw.}) 31... Rc1 32. Qb2 (
32. Nf3 Qf1 $1 33. Qxh6 Rc3+ 34. Kd2 Qc1#) 32... Rd1 33. Qc2 Rh1 {White has
lost all his co-ordination and now the Black pieces weave a deadly attack.} 34.
Nf3 Qg2 35. Qc3 Rf1 36. Qf6 Rf2 37. Kd3 (37. Qb2 Rxf3+ $19) 37... Rxe2 38. Ng5
Rd2+ {What an exciting game. First Kramnik plays the opening in dubious
fashion and gets a minus position. Caruana makes one inaccurate move and just
when we felt that the game was heading towards a draw, Kramnik makes a very
huge mistake by playing Nd2. After that Caruana finished off the game to
perfection.} (38... Rd2+ 39. Kc3 Rc2+ 40. Kd3 Qd2#) 0-1

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.03"]
[Round "5"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E60"]
[WhiteElo "2778"]
[BlackElo "2720"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 e6 4. e4 c5 5. d5 d6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Nge2 exd5 8. cxd5
O-O 9. Ng3 a6 10. a4 h5 11. Be2 Qe8 12. Bf4 Qe7 13. Bg5 Qe8 14. Qd2 Nbd7 15.
Bh6 Qe5 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Bd3 Rb8 18. Rd1 Re8 19. Be2 h4 20. Nf1 h3 21. g4 b5
22. axb5 axb5 23. Ng3 b4 24. Na4 Ra8 25. b3 Ba6 26. Bxa6 Rxa6 27. O-O Rea8 28.
f4 Qe7 29. Qe2 Nh7 30. Rf3 Qh4 31. Kh1 c4 32. Qxc4 Qxg4 33. Qd3 Kf8 34. Rg1 {
White has some pressure in this position. Nepo tries to drastically change the
character of the position but in that process makes some extremely dubious
decisions.} Rxa4 $2 {What was the compensation that Nepomniachtchi was aiming
for is quite unclear.} (34... Qh4 {We can agree that Black's position is
unpleasant, but still this would have been a better choice.}) 35. bxa4 Nc5 36.
Qe3 (36. Qf1 {was also very good.} Rxa4 37. Ne2 Qd7 38. f5 $18) 36... Rxa4 37.
Nf5 $1 gxf5 {Nepo sacrifices his queen in return for two knights. That's just
not enough.} (37... Qh5 38. Rxh3 $18) (37... Ra1 {would have been an
interesting move} 38. Rfg3 $1 (38. Rxa1 Qg2#) 38... Rxg1+ 39. Rxg1 Qh5 40. Nxd6
$18 {White is winning.}) 38. Rxg4 fxg4 39. Rf1 Nf6 40. e5 Nfe4 41. f5 $1 {
Opening up the c1-h6 diagonal for the queen. White is just winning.} Ra2 42. e6
g3 43. hxg3 Ke8 44. g4 h2 45. Qh3 f6 46. g5 Nxg5 47. Qh8+ Ke7 48. Qg7+ Ke8 49.
Qxf6 {1-0 (49) So,W (2778)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2720) Dortmund GER 2015} 1-0

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.03"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter"]
[Black "Meier, Georg"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E42"]
[WhiteElo "2654"]
[BlackElo "2654"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2015.06.27"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Nge2 cxd4 6. exd4 d5 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8.
Nxc3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nc6 10. Be3 O-O 11. O-O h6 12. Ba2 Ne7 13. Qf3 Ned5 14. Rac1
b6 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Qxd5 17. Qg3 Bb7 18. Bxh6 Qxg2+ 19. Qxg2 Bxg2 20.
Bxg7 Bxf1 21. Bxf8 Ba6 22. Bd6 Rc8 23. Bc7 Bb7 24. Kf1 Kh7 25. Ke2 Kg6 26. Ke3
Kh5 27. Kf4 f6 28. Rc3 Bd5 29. Bd6 Rxc3 30. bxc3 b5 31. Be7 Kg6 32. h4 Bb3 33.
h5+ Kf7 34. Bd8 Bd1 35. h6 Bc2 36. f3 a6 37. Ke3 Kg6 38. Kf4 Kf7 39. Kg4 Kg6
40. Kf4 Kf7 41. Ke3 Kg6 42. Kf4 1/2-1/2

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.03"]
[Round "5.4"]
[White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E48"]
[WhiteElo "2722"]
[BlackElo "2676"]
[PlyCount "127"]
[EventDate "2015.06.27"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Nge2 Bd6 8.
O-O Re8 9. Bd2 a5 10. Rc1 b6 11. Ng3 Ba6 12. Bxa6 Nxa6 13. Qa4 Nb4 14. Nf5 Bf8
15. a3 c5 16. Ng3 g6 17. Nce2 Na6 18. dxc5 Nxc5 19. Qd1 h5 20. Nd4 h4 21. Nge2
h3 22. g3 Nfe4 23. Be1 a4 24. Nf4 Qd7 25. Bb4 Rac8 26. Nde2 Rcd8 27. Nc3 Qf5
28. Nb5 Ng5 29. Nd4 Qd7 30. Rc2 Nge4 31. Re1 Bg7 32. Ree2 Rc8 33. f3 Ng5 34.
Kf2 Kh7 35. Qf1 Nb3 36. Rxc8 Rxc8 37. Bc3 Rc4 38. Nxb3 Bxc3 39. Nd2 Bxd2 40.
Rxd2 Qc6 41. Nxh3 Ne6 42. Nf4 Nxf4 43. gxf4 Rc1 44. Qg2 Qc4 45. Kg3 Kg7 46. f5
Re1 47. Qf2 Rf1 48. Qe2 Qc1 49. Rc2 Rg1+ 50. Kf4 g5+ 51. Ke5 Re1 52. f6+ Kh6
53. Rxc1 Rxe2 54. Rc3 Rxb2 55. Kxd5 Kg6 56. Rc6 Rb3 57. Ke4 b5 58. Rb6 Rxa3 59.
Rxb5 Kxf6 60. Rb6+ Kg7 61. Ra6 Ra2 62. Kf5 Ra3 63. Kxg5 Rxe3 64. Rxa4 1/2-1/2

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.04"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Hou Yifan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2676"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Bb4 4. a3 {Caruana is in an attacking mood today as
he goes for the a3 variation in the Nimzo. One cannot really say that this is
a Nimzo because the knight is still not on f6 and the pawn is on d5. But after
a few moves it transposes into the Nimzo.} Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 Nf6 6. e3 c6 $5 {This
line is not played very often. Just around 70 games in the database. But this
is one of the favourite lines of Yu Yangyi and was also played by Hou Yifan
against Lin in 2010. The main idea for Black is 0-0 and then follow it up with
b6-Bb7 or Ba6.} (6... O-O {is the main line and readers will recall the famous
Botvinnik-Capablanca game that was played in AVRO 1938.} 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 c5
9. Ne2 b6 10. O-O Ba6 {with a complex and interesting battle.}) 7. a4 $5 {A
wise move by Caruana. Not only can he develop his bishop to a3 but a move like
b6 can be met with a5 putting pressure on the black queenside.} (7. Bd3 {was
nicely countered by Yu against Aleksandrov with the move} e5 $1 8. dxe5 dxc4 9.
Bxc4 Qxd1+ 10. Kxd1 Ng4 11. Ke1 Nxe5 12. Be2 Bf5 {When black had already
equalised comfortably. 0-1 (91) Aleksandrov,A (2554)-Yu,Y (2675) Dubai 2014})
7... O-O 8. Nf3 b6 9. cxd5 exd5 {This is a much better recapture than taking
with the c-pawn because later Black can break with c6-c5.} (9... cxd5 {
optically looks much better but after} 10. Ba3 Re8 11. Bb5 Bd7 12. Bd3 Nc6 13.
O-O $14 {White is just better.}) 10. Bd3 Ba6 11. O-O c5 12. Ne5 Re8 13. a5 Bxd3
14. Nxd3 Nc6 $6 {An odd move by Hou Yifan. She could have comfortably
developed her knight to d7 but instead she chooses this square in order to
clarify the situation with regards to the a5 pawn.} (14... Nbd7 $11 {was very
comfortable for Black.}) 15. axb6 axb6 16. Rxa8 Qxa8 17. dxc5 bxc5 18. Nxc5 {
Black has some compensation because the c1 bishop doesn't have a good square
to go to but Hou Yifan has to play very accurately now.} Ne5 $6 (18... Ne4 $5
19. Nxe4 (19. Qxd5 $6 Re5 $1 20. Qxe4 Rxe4 21. Nxe4 Qa5 $15) 19... dxe4 20. c4
Ne5 21. Qd4 Qc6 22. Bb2 Qxc4 23. Rc1 Qxd4 24. Bxd4 Nd3 {would have been the
best way to play for Black.}) 19. Nd3 $1 {A strong move in order to relocate
the knight to f4 and put pressure on the d5 pawn.} Nc4 20. Nf4 (20. Nb4 {was
also possible.}) 20... h6 21. Qd4 Re4 22. Qc5 Re5 23. f3 $1 {Taking away the
crucial e4 square from the rook so that the queen cannot be disturbed on d4.}
Qa2 24. Qd4 {This is a clear case of reaching maximum activity and seeing no
real way to improve your already well placed pieces. Black has her pieces well
stationed but what next?} Qa4 25. h4 $1 {The logical plan now is to expand on
the kingside. Look how the f3 pawn does a wonderful job of limiting the black
pieces.} Qb5 26. g4 {Hou Yifan would be under tremendous pressure here. She is
a pawn down and unable to improve her position, while Caruana is slowly but
steadily taking over.} Nd7 27. Nd3 Re6 28. Kg2 Ndb6 {The knight has wandered
away a little too far away to b6 from the kingside. Caruana now tries to
attack the kingside and the weakest point i.e g7.} 29. Nf4 Re5 30. Nh5 {The
knight is so menacingly placed on h5 that Black will have to give up her rook
for it. Threats include moves like f4 but maybe stronger is Nxg7 followed by
f4.} Qb1 31. e4 $1 {Hawk eyed Caruana does not let the opportunity slip by. He
forces a black pawn to the e4 square so that later he can play f4 and there
would be no Qe4+.} (31. f4 $6 Qe4+ 32. Kf2 Qxd4 33. cxd4 Re6 {gives black some
hopes to defend the inferior endgame.}) 31... dxe4 32. f4 $1 Rxh5 {Black is
forced to give up an exchange but she doesn't have enough compensation for it.
The rest is really a matter of technique for Caruana as he quickly wraps up
the game.} 33. gxh5 Qc2+ 34. Kh1 Qe2 35. Rg1 Qf3+ 36. Rg2 g6 37. hxg6 Qf1+ 38.
Kh2 Qxc1 39. Qf6 {One could say that Hou Yifan's play was not up to the mark
in this game but what I found amazing was Caruana playing extremely accurate
chess. His manouevres of Nc5-d3-f4, and expansion on kingside with h4 followed
by g4 and the central break e4 coupled with f4 were supremely high level
concepts.} 1-0

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.04"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Nisipeanu, Liviu Dieter"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A13"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2654"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "165"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

{Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu was leading the tournament with 3.5/5. But he had to
face Kramnik in round six and Caruana in the final round. Not the easiest of
opponents to maintain your lead against!} 1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 {Kramnik continues
his strategy of playing off-beat systems against players who are not the
absolute elite.} Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. b3 {Usually Kramnik likes to play a doubled
fianchetto system with his pawns on b3 and g3 but today he prefers to develop
his light squared bishop on the f1-a6 diagonal because he has already played
e3 on the second move.} c5 5. Bb2 Nc6 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bb5 Bd6 {Nisipeanu plays
in classical fashion, developing his pieces to the best possible squares.} 8.
d4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 O-O 10. O-O (10. Nxc6 $6 bxc6 11. Bxc6 Bg4 $1 12. f3 Rc8 13.
Ba4 Qe7 $1 14. O-O (14. Kf2 Ne4+ $1 15. Ke2 Qg5 $19) 14... Qxe3+ 15. Kh1 Qh6 $1
$19) (10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Nxc6 Qc7 $1 12. Nd4 Ba6 $15 {And Black has just ample
compensation for the pawn as the white king cannot 0-0.}) 10... Qc7 11. h3 Bh2+
12. Kh1 Be5 13. Qc2 Bd7 14. Nf3 Bxb2 15. Qxb2 Rac8 16. Rc1 Qd6 17. Nc3 Ne5 $6 {
I somehow find this move to be a little suspect. Nisipeanu tries to exchange
pieces which is not a good idea when you have an isolated pawn.} (17... Rfe8
18. Rd1 Bf5 $11 {would have been more in the spirit of the position.}) 18. Be2
(18. Nxe5 {might have been more accurate.} Qxe5 19. Bxd7 Nxd7 20. Rc2 $14 {
[%cal Ga1d1,Gc3e2]} d4 $2 21. exd4 Qxd4 22. Rd1 $18) 18... Nxf3 (18... Ng6 {or
Nc6 retaining more pieces was an option.}) 19. Bxf3 {These are the type of
technical positions that Kramnik loves to milk although they maybe objectively
equal.} Qe5 20. Qd2 Be6 21. Nb5 Bd7 (21... Ne4 $1 22. Bxe4 dxe4 23. Nd4 (23.
Nxa7 $2 Ra8 $19) 23... Bd7) 22. Qd4 Qxd4 23. Nxd4 $14 a5 24. g4 $1 {Gaining
space on the kingside and giving the g2 square for the king.} h6 25. Kg2 Rxc1
26. Rxc1 Rc8 27. Rb1 {Kramnik realises that he wont have enough resources to
put pressure on Nisipeanu if he exchanges the rooks. Hence he decides to
retain them.} Ra8 28. Ne2 $1 {Blockading an isolated pawn is good but winning
it is better. The knight decides to go to the c3 or f4 square in order to put
pressure on d5.} g5 29. Nc3 Be6 30. Rd1 Rd8 31. e4 $1 {Forcing the d5-pawn to
advance.} d4 32. Kg3 $1 {Kramnik makes use of every little opportunity to
improve his position.} (32. Nb5 d3 33. e5 Nd5 $11 {And now White cannot take
on d3 because of a check on f4. This little detail was noticed by Kramnik as
he improved the positioning of his king from g2-g3.}) 32... Rc8 33. Nb5 Nd7 (
33... Rc2 {might have been better as after} 34. Nxd4 Rxa2 35. Nxe6 fxe6 36.
Rd8+ Kf7 37. Rb8 Nd7 38. Rxb7 Ke8 $14 {White is a pawn up and better but his
bishop is not so active because of the number of pawns standing on the same
colour as itself.}) 34. Nxd4 Ne5 35. Be2 Rc3+ 36. f3 Kg7 37. Rd2 Kf6 38. Nf5
Bxf5 39. exf5 Ke7 {How shall we assess this position? White is a pawn up but
the knight on e5 is pretty well placed there. After Black goes f6 and
consolidates his knight it won't be easy to win but fortunately for Kramnik
the a5 pawn is also undefended and he is able to exchange the minor pieces.}
40. Rd5 $1 Nc6 41. Bb5 b6 42. h4 f6 43. Bxc6 {Eliminating the knight before it
can settle down on e5.} Rxc6 44. hxg5 hxg5 45. a4 Rc3 46. Rb5 Rc6 {Mihail
Marin in his excellent book "Learn from the legends" says that in such rook
endings, every extra pawn counts for one point and better positioning of the
rook counts for one. If you have two extra points then you can be confident
about converting your position. Here, the white rook is definitely better
placed than its counterpart which gives him one point. But the extra pawn is
double and not so easy to create a passer. Hence you cannot really claim a
full point for it. Maybe half. So White has 1.5 points. Objectively it may not
be enough.} 47. f4 {Kramnik realises that the only way in which he can prove
something here is if he creates a passer on the kingside.} Rc3+ 48. Kf2 gxf4
49. Rxb6 Kf7 {Nisipeanu finds the g5 square to be the perfect home for his
king.} 50. b4 (50. Rb5 Kg7 51. Rxa5 Rxb3 52. Ra6 {Preventing Kh6.} Ra3 53. a5 {
Black's defensive task is very difficult here because he is almost in a
zugzwang.} Kf7 54. Ra7+ Ke8 55. Ra8+ $1 Kf7 56. a6 Ra2+ 57. Kf3 Ra4 58. a7 Kg7
59. g5 $1 fxg5 60. f6+ Kf7 (60... Kxf6 61. Rf8+ $18) 61. Rh8 $1 $18) 50... Rc2+
51. Kf3 Rc3+ 52. Kf2 Rc2+ 53. Ke1 Rc1+ 54. Kd2 f3 55. Ke3 (55. Kxc1 $2 f2 {And
the pawn cannot be stopped.}) 55... Rc3+ 56. Kf2 axb4 57. Rxb4 Kg7 58. Kg3 $2 (
58. Rb8 $5 Rc4 (58... Kh6 59. Rg8 $18) 59. Ra8 Rxg4 60. Kxf3 Rg1 61. a5 Rf1+
62. Ke4 Re1+ 63. Kd5 Kh6 64. a6 Ra1 {and it is unclear how White will make
progress here.}) 58... Ra3 59. Rb7+ Kh6 60. Ra7 f2+ 61. Kxf2 Kg5 {Black has
the perfect blockade and it's impossible to win from here.} 62. Ke2 Kxg4 63.
Ra5 Kf4 64. Kd2 Ke4 65. Kc2 Kd4 66. Ra6 Rc3+ 67. Kb2 Rc4 68. Ra5 Rb4+ 69. Ka3
Kc4 70. Ra6 Rb3+ 71. Ka2 Rb4 72. Ra8 Kc5 73. Ka3 Rf4 74. Rb8 Rf1 75. Rb5+ Kc4
76. Kb2 Rf2+ 77. Kb1 Kc3 78. a5 Kc4 79. Rb7 Rxf5 80. a6 Ra5 81. a7 Kc5 82. Rf7
Kb6 83. Kc2 {Kramnik had his chances to convert his extra pawn. But in the
rook endgame, he made some mistakes and Nisipeanu defended very well to take
home a half point.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.04"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Meier, Geo"]
[Black "So, W."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2654"]
[BlackElo "2778"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Nc3 e6 6. h3 Bh5 7. g4 Bg6 8. Ne5
Nbd7 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. g5 Ng8 11. h4 Ne7 12. Bd2 Nf5 13. Qg4 Be7 14. Rh3 Rh5 15.
O-O-O Qc7 16. Kb1 dxc4 17. Bxc4 O-O-O 18. Ne2 c5 19. Bb3 Kb8 20. Bc3 Rdh8 21.
Rdh1 Bd6 22. dxc5 Be5 23. e4 Bxc3 24. Rxc3 Rxh4 25. Rch3 Rxh3 26. Rxh3 Rxh3 27.
Qxh3 Ne7 28. Qh8+ Nc8 29. Qxg7 Nxc5 30. Bc2 Qe7 31. f4 a6 32. Nc3 Nd7 33. e5
Qf8 34. Qxf8 Nxf8 35. Be4 Nd7 36. Kc2 Ne7 37. Bf3 Kc7 38. Kd3 b5 39. b4 Nb6 40.
Kd4 Nf5+ 41. Kd3 Ne7 42. Kd4 Nf5+ 43. Kd3 1/2-1/2

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.04"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D36"]
[WhiteElo "2720"]
[BlackElo "2722"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "135"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 {One of the main reasons why Black players have
started playing Be7 before Nf6 is exactly the line that happened in this game
where the knight is developed on e2.} 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. Qc2 Be7 7. e3
Nbd7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Nge2 Re8 10. O-O h6 11. Bf4 Nf8 12. a3 a5 {preventing the
intended expansion with b4.} 13. f3 Nh5 14. Be5 f6 15. Bg3 Nxg3 16. Nxg3 Bd6
17. Rae1 Qc7 18. f4 Be6 19. Nf5 Bxf5 20. Bxf5 Re7 21. h4 $1 {A powerful move
by Nepomniachtchi in order to fix the kingside black pawns. This position
reminds me of the 4th game of the match between Karpov-Kasparov where Karpov
played a beautiful attack on the light squares and Kasparov who had a dark
squared bishop could do nothing about it.} Rae8 22. Rf3 b5 23. h5 b4 24. axb4
Bxb4 25. Re2 Qd6 26. Qd3 Rd8 {Black is trying to break free in this position
with the move c5.} 27. Na4 c5 28. Nxc5 Bxc5 29. dxc5 Qxc5 30. Rc2 $1 {Now in
addition to the weakend light squares, White also has the weak d5 pawn to
attack. Also the bishop on f5 is clearly superior to the f8 knight. All in all
this is a clear advantage to White.} Qb6 31. Kh2 Ne6 32. Rg3 Kh8 33. Qa3 Qb4
34. Qxb4 axb4 {The queens are off the board, hence the danger of a kingside
attack is averted for Black but he is still struggling with all these weak
pawns in the endgame.} 35. Rc6 Nc7 36. Rf3 Nb5 37. Rc5 Nc7 38. Bg6 (38. Rf1 {
Activating the rook while the the c7 knight is defended by the e7 rook would
have been a good idea.} Na6 39. Ra5 $16) 38... Kg8 39. Rc6 Kf8 40. b3 Ne8 $6 (
40... Rb8 $14 {defending the b4 pawn would have improved black chances for a
draw quite drastically.}) 41. Rb6 Rc7 42. Rxb4 {White has won a pawn and kept
complete control over the position.} Nd6 43. Rf1 Ke7 44. Rd1 Rc5 45. Rb6 Rb5
46. Rxb5 Nxb5 47. Kg3 Ke6 (47... d4 48. Kf3 $16) 48. Kg4 Nd6 49. e4 $1 {Just
like in the Caruana game, Kramnik game and now in Nepomniachtchi game the move
e4 was played when black had a pawn on d5! Quite a co-incidence!} dxe4 50. Bxe4
Rb8 51. Bd5+ Kd7 52. Ra1 {With an active bishop, rook and an extra pawn it's
all over for Black.} f5+ 53. Kh3 Ne8 54. Ra7+ Nc7 55. Bc4 Kd6 56. Ra5 Rf8 57.
Kg3 Rf6 58. Kf3 Kc6 59. g3 Ne8 60. Re5 (60. Ra6+ Kc5 61. Rxf6 Nxf6 {[%csl Rh5]
Would not be such a great idea as the h5 pawn hangs.}) 60... Nd6 61. Bd3 Rf7
62. b4 Rb7 63. Rc5+ Kd7 64. b5 Ke6 65. Re5+ Kf6 66. Ke3 Ra7 67. Kd4 Ra3 68. Bc4
{A pretty one sided affair. Naiditsch was never really able to equalise. Nepo
pressed well and was able to take the full point home.} (68. Bc4 Nxc4 69. Kxc4
Rxg3 70. b6 Rg1 71. b7 Rc1+ 72. Kd5 Rb1 73. Kc6 $18) 1-0

