[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.16"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Giri, A."]
[Black "Grischuk, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B31"]
[WhiteElo "2773"]
[BlackElo "2781"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 $5 {Not the most common of transposition - a normal Sicilian
is on the board but definitely not on the normal move order!} Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 {
The Rossolimmo Sicilian is a popular way of preventing the Sveshnikov, a high
chance that Grischuk would have played that against 3.d4.} 4. Bxc6 bxc6 (4...
dxc6 {is the "safer" way but both captures on c6 are possible.}) 5. O-O Bg7 6.
Re1 Rb8 {Putting the rook in the half-open file makes sense...} 7. h3 $5 Qc7 {
However I am not so fond of this move. I keep wondering why the queen is on c7,
and later (and more importantly) we will see how the knight actually wanted to
go to this square.} 8. c3 Nf6 {A common idea in the structure, but the knight
gets kicked around too much.} (8... e5 $5) 9. e5 Nd5 10. c4 Nb4 (10... Nf4 11.
d4 Ne6 12. d5 {seems to leave Black completely squashed.}) 11. d4 $1 cxd4 12.
a3 Na6 13. Qxd4 {At this point Giri has a very comfortable position. His extra
space more than outweighs the pair of bishops, not to mention that Black is
lagging on development and he has to be careful that his king does not get
mated after 0-0 on the dark squares.} O-O 14. c5 $1 {Gaining more space and
making it difficult to find a move for Grischuk. So difficult, in fact, that
Grischuk was already in time pressure  by this point! With only 14 moves
played he had about 25 minutes left, not the situation anyone would like to be
in.} d6 $6 {Perhaps panic, perhaps a miscalculation. In either case this move
simply gives Giri a great initiative.} 15. cxd6 exd6 16. exd6 Qb6 17. Qh4 Nc5 {
Perhaps Grischuk was counting on some activity to compensat efor the pawn, but
in excellent fashion the Dutch player gives back the pawn an obtains a strong
attack.} 18. Be3 $1 Qxb2 19. Nbd2 Nd7 20. Rab1 $1 Qxa3 21. Rxb8 Nxb8 {The poor
knight has moved 7 (!) times in the opening, and although Black is now up a
pawn instead of down material, his kingside is difficult to defend. The
onslaught continues} 22. Bh6 Nd7 $1 {The best way of organizing a defense. The
knight must hurry up and defend h7.} 23. Bxg7 $6 {A little sloppy.} (23. Ng5
Nf6 24. Nde4 Qa5 $1 25. Rd1 $1 {with a huge initiative for White.}) 23... Kxg7
24. Qd4+ Kg8 25. Ne4 Re8 26. Kh2 {A cheeky move, and for practical reasons a
good one, though the objective evaluation is that this is too slow. Giri was
mostly putting pressure on Grischuk's clock that was ticking down.} a5 $4 {The
losing move.} (26... Qa5 $1 {Returning with the queen to the defense was
paramount. Here it is impossible for Giri to organize something decisive!
There are insufficient pieces to create threats once the queen returns.}) 27.
Nfg5 $1 {Very strong. Now there is no way of avoiding the move Nf6+.} Rf8 (
27... h6 28. Nf6+ Nxf6 29. Qxf6 {is decisive, with threats on e8 and f7} Rf8
30. Nxf7 $18) 28. Nf6+ Nxf6 29. Qxf6 {Re8 is now a threat.} Qa2 30. Re7 (30.
Nxh7 $1 Kxh7 31. Re4 {was also lights out.}) 30... Bf5 31. Nxf7 $6 {good
enough, but the easier variation was} (31. d7 Qxf2 32. d8=Q {and Black runs
out of checks soon} (32. Ne6 $1 {is a fancy way of winning.})) 31... Qxf7 32.
Rxf7 Rxf7 33. Qd8+ Kg7 34. Qxa5 Bd7 35. Qc5 Rf5 36. Qa7 Rf7 37. g4 {
Unfortunately for Grischuk he doesn't have any real hope of setting up a
fortress. His darksquare are too weak.} Kf6 38. f4 Kg7 39. Kg3 Kg8 40. Qe3 Kg7
41. h4 Kg8 42. Qe5 {White's next moves are h5-h6 and Black will be zugzwanged.
A nice game from Giri, even though the finish might have not been the most
precise.} 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.16"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Anand, V."]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Nbd2 O-O 6. Bxc6 bxc6 7. Nxe5 Re8
8. Nef3 d5 9. O-O Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. Qe2 (11. e5 $5 {seems like the test of
fire, but Black has a clever resource.} Rxe5 12. g4 Nxg4 {otherwise e5 is
hanging.} 13. Nxe5 Qh4 $1 {And White can do nothing to prevent the perpetual
check on g3 and h3 since the f2 pawn is pinned by the c5 bishop.}) 11... dxe4
12. Nxe4 h6 13. Be3 Nxe4 14. dxe4 Rxe4 15. Qd3 Bxf3 16. Qxd8+ Rxd8 17. Bxc5 Be2
18. Rfc1 a5 {With eveerything traded off and the opposite colored bishops on
the board it is clear that this will be a draw, which it was on move 37.} 19.
b3 a4 20. Re1 Rd2 21. Rac1 axb3 22. axb3 Rd5 23. Be3 Bh5 24. Ra1 Bg6 25. Ra7
Re7 26. c4 Rd8 27. Rea1 Bc2 28. b4 Rd1+ 29. Rxd1 Bxd1 30. b5 cxb5 31. cxb5 Re5
32. Rxc7 Rxb5 33. Rc5 Rxc5 34. Bxc5 Bc2 35. Bd6 Bd1 36. Bc5 Bc2 37. Bd6 Bd1
1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.16"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "Hammer, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "2802"]
[BlackElo "2677"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. O-O Nb6 7. b3 Be7 8.
Bb2 f6 9. d4 e4 10. Ne1 f5 11. f3 exf3 12. Nxf3 Nd5 13. Qd3 O-O 14. e3 Be6 15.
a3 Qd7 16. Nbd2 Rad8 17. Rac1 Nb6 18. b4 a6 19. Nb3 Na4 20. Ba1 Bd5 21. Nbd2
Qe6 22. Rfe1 Nb6 23. e4 fxe4 24. Nxe4 Qg6 25. Qe2 Rfe8 26. Ne5 Nxe5 27. dxe5 c6
28. Bd4 Nd7 29. Bf3 Rf8 30. Bh5 Qh6 31. Be3 Qe6 32. Bf4 a5 33. Ng5 Qf5 34. Bg4
Qg6 35. Bh5 Qf5 36. e6 Nf6 37. Bf7+ Kh8 38. Rf1 Ne4 $2 39. Nxe4 $1 Qxe4 40.
Qxe4 Bxe4 41. Be3 $1 {This is the key move. When Nakamura saw this he felt
confident in a victory. The point is that the threat of Bc5 is too strong,
simply destroying the blockade of the e6 pawn.} axb4 (41... Rc8 42. Bc5 Rc7 43.
Bb6 {costs Black a pawn, and it doesn't improve his position much, but it was
his best bet.}) 42. Bc5 Rd2 $6 {simply hastening his defeat.} 43. Rfe1 $1 Bxc5+
44. Rxc5 Rg2+ 45. Kf1 {Black runs out of threats and White wins easily with
his powerful passed pawn.} b3 46. Rxe4 b2 47. Re1 Rxh2 48. Rce5 Rh1+ 49. Kg2
b1=Q 50. Rxb1 Rxb1 51. e7 Ra8 52. e8=R+ Rxe8 53. Rxe8# 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.16"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Carlsen, M."]
[Black "Topalov, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2876"]
[BlackElo "2798"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "120"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 Nd7 8. Rc1
g6 9. Be2 Bg7 10. cxd5 exd5 11. b4 a6 12. a4 O-O 13. b5 axb5 14. axb5 Qd6 15.
O-O Nb6 16. Qb3 Rb8 17. Nd1 Bf5 18. Nb2 Rfc8 19. Nd3 Bxd3 20. Qxd3 c5 21. dxc5
Rxc5 22. h4 Na4 23. h5 Rbc8 24. Rxc5 Nxc5 25. Qc2 gxh5 26. Nd4 Qg6 27. Nf5 Bf8
28. Rd1 Qe6 29. Rc1 Nb3 30. Qxc8 Nxc1 31. Qxc1 Qxf5 32. Qc7 Qb1+ 33. Bf1 d4 34.
exd4 Qd1 35. Qe5 Bg7 36. Qe8+ Bf8 37. Qd8 Kg7 38. Qd5 b6 39. Qe5+ Kg8 40. Qf6
Bg7 41. Qxb6 Bxd4 42. Qxh6 Qg4 43. Qd6 Qd1 44. Qd8+ Kh7 45. Qc7 Kg7 46. b6 Qg4
47. b7 Qh4 48. g3 Qf6 49. Qc2 Qe5 50. Qd3 Ba7 51. Qf3 Qf6 52. Qe2 Qc3 53. Kh2
Qd4 54. Qf3 Bb8 55. Kh3 Bc7 56. Be2 Bb8 57. Bd1 f5 58. Be2 f4 59. Qxh5 Qxf2 60.
Qg5+ {After a long defence, Topalov can resist no more. The combined threats
of the queen and bishop are decisive.} Kf7 {And White lost! He believed to
have an extra 15 minutes given to him on move 60, but they simply did not
exist.} (60... Kf7 61. Bc4+ Ke8 62. Bb5+ Kf7 63. Qf5+ Ke7 64. Qd7+ Kf6 65. Qd8+
Kg7 66. Qe7+ Kh6 67. Qf6+ Kh7 68. Bd3+ Kg8 69. Bc4+ Kh7 70. Qf7+ Kh6 71. Qf8+
Kg5 72. Qg7+ Kf5 73. g4+ Ke4 74. Qg6+ Ke5 75. Qe6+ Kd4 76. Qb6+ {And Black
loses. It might seem like a long sequence, but White should somehow stumble
upon it when he sees that other moves are not winning.}) 0-1

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.16"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Vachier Lagrave, M."]
[Black "Aronian, L."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2723"]
[BlackElo "2780"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Nbd7 8.
e3 g5 9. Bg3 Ne4 10. Qc2 h5 11. h3 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Nxg3 13. fxg3 Nb6 14. Bd3 g4
15. hxg4 Bxg4 16. O-O Qe7 17. Ne5 Be6 18. Bf5 Nd7 19. e4 $1 {Excellent,
opening up the position.} Nxe5 20. exd5 $1 {The point. Black has no good way
of responding to this move.} O-O-O (20... Bxd5 21. Rae1 Be6 22. Rxe5 {should
cost at least a pawn, but might have been the lesser evil.}) 21. dxe6 fxe6 22.
Rae1 $1 exf5 23. Rxe5 Qa3 24. Rfxf5 $1 {White's rooks are dominant, and he has
an extra pawn. Black was unable to create counterplay and after many moves MVL
converted his two extra pawns (after taking on h5).} Kb8 25. Rxh5 Rxh5 26. Rxh5
a6 27. Kh2 Rf8 28. Qb3 Qe7 29. Qd5 Qe2 30. a4 Qd3 31. c4 a5 32. Rh4 Qc3 33. g4
Qe1 34. Rh7 Qc1 35. Qe5 Qxc4 36. g5 Rg8 37. Rh8 Qf7 38. Rxg8+ Qxg8 39. Qf6 b5
40. axb5 a4 41. g6 a3 42. b6 a2 43. Qe5 Qd8 44. bxc7+ Qxc7 45. g7 Qxe5+ 46.
dxe5 a1=Q 47. g8=Q+ Kc7 48. Qc4+ Kd8 49. Qd5+ Ke7 50. Qd6+ Ke8 51. Qc6+ Ke7 52.
Qc7+ Ke6 53. Qd6+ Kf7 54. Qd7+ Kf8 55. Qf5+ Ke7 56. g3 Qc3 57. Kh3 Ke8 58. Kh4
Qe1 59. Qf4 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.17"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A22"]
[WhiteElo "2781"]
[BlackElo "2780"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. e3 Bb4 4. Nge2 c6 5. a3 Ba5 6. b4 Bc7 7. Bb2 O-O 8. Ng3
d5 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Qc2 Nd7 11. Bd3 N7f6 12. O-O Nxc3 13. Bxc3 Be6 14. Rab1 Kh8
15. Rfd1 Ng4 16. Nf5 g6 $1 {This position is already very complicated. White
would like to retreat his knight, but he can't!} 17. f3 (17. Ng3 Qh4 18. h3
Nxf2 19. Kxf2 Kg8 $1 {With the incoming e4 and a very strong attack for Black.}
) (17. h3 Nxf2 18. Kxf2 gxf5 $15) 17... Nxh2 $1 18. Kxh2 gxf5 19. Bxf5 Qh4+ 20.
Kg1 Rg8 {Material is still even, but there are problems here for White:
Black's rook is threatening a sacrifice on g2 and White's king would be too
exposed.} 21. Bxe6 fxe6 22. Qe4 $1 {An excellent resource in a position that
would have been very difficult to hold in time pressure.} (22. d3 Raf8 $36)
22... Rxg2+ 23. Kxg2 Rg8+ 24. Qg4 (24. Kf1 Qh2 $19) 24... Rxg4+ 25. fxg4 Qxg4+
26. Kf2 {The computer gives Black an edge, but that doesn't seem right. White
has better practical chances than Black, so Aronian forces the draw.} Qh4+ 27.
Ke2 Qg4+ 28. Kd3 Qf5+ 29. Ke2 Qg4+ 30. Kd3 Qf5+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.17"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A14"]
[WhiteElo "2773"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 c5 7. Bb2 Nc6 8. e3 b6
9. Nc3 Ba6 10. Qe2 Qd7 11. Rfd1 Rac8 12. Nb5 Rfd8 13. Rac1 dxc4 14. bxc4 Qd3
15. Qxd3 Rxd3 16. Bf1 Rd7 17. d4 Rcd8 18. a4 Bb7 19. d5 exd5 20. Bh3 dxc4 21.
Bxd7 Nxd7 22. Nd6 Ba6 23. Nxc4 f6 24. Rd2 Bxc4 25. Rxc4 a6 26. Rc1 b5 27. axb5
axb5 28. Ba3 Kf7 29. Rxd7 Rxd7 30. Bxc5 Ne5 31. Nxe5+ fxe5 32. Bxe7 Kxe7 33.
Kf1 Kd6 34. Ke2 e4 35. Rc8 Ra7 36. Kd2 Ra2+ 37. Kc3 Rxf2 38. Rb8 Rxh2 39. Rxb5
Ke6 40. Kd4 Rg2 41. Kxe4 Rxg3 42. Kf4 Rg1 43. Rb6+ Kf7 44. e4 h5 45. Rb7+ Ke6
46. Rb6+ Kd7 47. Kf5 Kc7 48. Rb2 Kd7 49. e5 Rf1+ 50. Kg5 Ke6 51. Kxh5 Kxe5 52.
Kg4 g5 53. Kxg5 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.17"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "2798"]
[BlackElo "2802"]
[PlyCount "104"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. a4 Rb8 8. Nxe5
Nxe5 9. d4 Bxd4 10. Qxd4 d6 11. Bf4 c5 12. Qd2 O-O 13. f3 c4 14. Ba2 Be6 15.
Nc3 b4 16. Ne2 b3 17. Bb1 bxc2 18. Bxc2 Rxb2 19. Rfb1 Rxb1+ 20. Rxb1 Qc7 21.
Rd1 Ne8 22. Qb4 Nd3 23. Bxd3 cxd3 24. Rxd3 Qc4 25. Qa3 d5 26. Kf2 Qc6 27. Nd4
Qc4 28. exd5 Qxd5 29. Nxe6 Qxe6 30. Qb3 Nf6 31. Qxe6 fxe6 32. Rb3 Rc8 33. Bd2
Rc2 34. Ke2 Nd5 35. Kd3 Rc7 36. Rb8+ Kf7 37. g4 Rd7 38. Kc2 Rc7+ 39. Kb3 e5 40.
Ra8 Rb7+ 41. Kc2 Rc7+ 42. Kd3 Rd7 43. Ke2 Rd6 44. h4 Nf4+ 45. Bxf4 exf4 46. a5
h6 47. h5 Ke7 48. Ra7+ Kf8 49. Ke1 Kg8 50. Ke2 Kf8 51. Ke1 Kg8 52. Ke2 Kf8
1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.17"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2876"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {The Berlin seemed to many as the logical
choice. Carlsen had just lost a game in the strangest of fashions, and going
for Caruana's throat after that might not have been so smart. That being said
- I think that Caruana is one of the best players, if not the best player in
the World, in the Berlin.} 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8.
Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 h6 10. Rd1+ Ke8 11. Nc3 Ne7 12. b3 {Caruana had tried Bf4 a
couple of times before. This move is a little older and hasn't been seen since
2013, a rarity for the Berlin.} Bf5 {The computer's top choice, though not the
most common idea.} (12... Ng6 13. Ne2 a5 14. a4 Be6 {was Kamsky-Akobian, 2012.}
) 13. Nd4 Bh7 14. Bb2 Rd8 15. Nce2 {Part of Caruana's preparation.} (15. e6 Nc8
$5 {with a complicated position in Polgar-Howell, 2013.}) 15... Nd5 16. c4 Nb4
17. Nf4 {Fabiano played up to this point almost instantly, but stopped doing
so after Carlsen's response.} Rg8 $5 {What an interesting move! It is designed
against e6.} 18. g4 {Expanding on the kingside is one of the most common
motifs in the Berlin. Here Caruana secures f5 for his knight.} (18. e6 Bd6 19.
Nh5 {doesn't attack the g7 pawn with tempo anymore.}) 18... Na6 $6 {This move
regroups a knight that has already moved too much. Even though this is a
Berlin, Black has to develop at some point.} (18... Be7) 19. Nf5 Nc5 20. Rxd8+
Kxd8 21. Rd1+ Kc8 22. Ba3 $1 {A very nice prophylactic move - aimed against
Ne6.} Ne6 $2 {Based on a complete miscalculation!} (22... b6 $14) 23. Nxe6 Bxa3
(23... fxe6 24. Be7 {was the trick Carlsen forgot about when he played Ne6. A
big miscalculation for a World Champion!} b6 25. Rd8+ Kb7 26. Bxf8 exf5 27. e6
$18) 24. Nexg7 Bf8 {The tactics don't work out for Carlsen. Caruana can't
retreat his knight immediately. but he has a trick up his sleeve.} 25. e6 Bxf5
(25... fxe6 26. Nxe6 {gives Black no chance to take the hanging knight on f5,
since there is a checkmate threat on d8.}) 26. Nxf5 fxe6 27. Ng3 {The
resulting position is equal in pawns, but Caruana is dominating. His knight
has several excellent anchor spots, including h5 and e4. His pawn majority on
the kingside will be impossible to stop and Black's king is cut off from the
kingside. He makes the rest look very easy, which it was.} Be7 28. Kg2 Rf8 29.
Rd3 Rf7 30. Nh5 Bd6 31. Rf3 {Black cannot afford to trade rooks, but giving up
the f-file is not a pretty sight either.} Rh7 32. Re3 $1 Re7 33. f4 $1 Ba3 34.
Kf3 Bb2 35. Re2 Bc3 36. g5 Kd7 37. Kg4 Re8 38. Ng3 Rh8 39. h4 b6 40. h5 c5 41.
g6 {The passed pawn on g6 is too much. Carlsen by this point had a defeated
look on his face - and it's hard to blame him.} Re8 42. f5 exf5+ 43. Kf4 Rh8
44. Nxf5 Bf6 45. Rg2 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.17"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2677"]
[BlackElo "2723"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. e4 d6 8. d3 h6
9. Be3 Kh7 10. h3 Nd7 11. Rc1 Nd4 12. Bxd4 exd4 13. Ne2 c5 14. h4 b5 15. cxb5
Rb8 16. a4 a6 17. b4 axb5 18. bxc5 dxc5 19. axb5 Rxb5 20. Nf4 Ne5 21. Bh3 Bb7
22. h5 Nxf3+ 23. Qxf3 Qd6 24. Rb1 Rb4 25. Nd5 Bxd5 26. exd5 c4 27. Rxb4 Qxb4
28. dxc4 Qxc4 29. d6 Qc5 30. d7 Qxh5 31. Qxh5 gxh5 32. Bf5+ Kg8 33. Re1 Bf6 34.
Re8 h4 35. g4 Kg7 36. f4 Bd8 37. Kg2 Bf6 38. Bd3 Bd8 39. Kf3 Bf6 40. Bf1 Bd8
41. Ke4 Bf6 42. Kd5 Rg8 43. Kc6 Bd8 {The computer claims, of course, that
White is better, but it doesnt' see a good way of making progress.} 44. Rxd8 {
The human reaction is to take the material, unfortunately it is insufficient.}
Rxd8 45. Kc7 Rf8 46. d8=Q Rxd8 47. Kxd8 h5 $1 {This is the move that saved
Black. It allows the king to come into the game and draw... by a single move!}
48. gxh5 Kh6 49. Ke7 Kxh5 50. Be2+ (50. Kxf7 Kg4 {wins White's last pawn.}) (
50. Kf6 Kg4 51. Ke5 Kf3 {and White has the choice between letting one of the
pawns queen, or allowing Black to take on f4.}) 50... Kh6 51. Bf1 {Already
necessary, other moves even lose:} (51. Kxf7 h3 52. Ke7 h2 53. Bf3 d3 $19)
51... Kh5 52. f5 Kg4 53. f6 h3 54. Bxh3+ (54. Kxf7 h2 55. Bg2 d3 56. Kg7 d2 57.
f7 d1=Q 58. f8=Q $11) 54... Kxh3 55. Kxf7 d3 56. Kg7 d2 57. f7 d1=Q 58. f8=Q
Qg4+ 59. Kf7 Qf5+ 60. Ke7 Qxf8+ 61. Kxf8 {Hammer looked absolutely devastated
after the game finished, but I have been unable to find a clear win for him in
any variation!} 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.18"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D47"]
[WhiteElo "2723"]
[BlackElo "2798"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 {The Meran has been an
interesting battlefield for top players for many decades now. It is far from
being fully understood, as is clear in this game.} Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5
8. Bd3 Bb7 9. O-O a6 10. e4 c5 11. d5 Qc7 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. Bc2 {This position
has been seen in thousands of games still.} Bd6 14. Ng5 Nf8 15. f4 O-O-O 16.
Qe1 {Qe2 and Qe1 are different variations, both have been seen many times.} e5
17. f5 $6 {From a practical perspective, even though this position has been
seen in dozens of games still, I cannot recommend closing the center. White
loses any chance for active play, his e4 pawn becomes a real target and it is
far easier to find moves and plans for Black than for White!} (17. Nd5 $5 Bxd5
18. exd5 exf4 19. Bd2 $1 {Is very unclear and has been seen in some old strong
games, such as Piket-Khalifman, 2000.}) 17... h6 18. Nf3 N8d7 19. Kh1 (19. Bd2
{seems more accurate, Kh1 was maybe unnecessary.}) 19... Rhe8 {Technically the
novelty of the game.} (19... Nb8 {was played in a strong correspondence game
between Knight-Loinjak, 2008.}) 20. Bd2 {Topalov criticized this plan after
the game, thinking that the idea to put the bishop on a5 was not good. I tend
to agree with him, but also fail to come up with a better idea.} (20. Be3 b4 {
leaves the e4 pawn undefended.}) (20. b3 {was probably ok, trying to prevent
c4 or b4 later, but after} Nb8 $1 {With the idea of Nc6-d4 Black seems to have
the edge.}) 20... Qc6 $1 {I like this move, putting further pressure on e4 and
disallowing any tricks on the a7-d8 diagonal.} 21. Rd1 Nb6 {Another strong
move. Black further controls d5, maybe threatens Nc4 and has the idea of
playing b4 in the near future now that White's knight cannot go to a4.} 22. Nd5
$2 {Perhaps based on a miscalculation, perhaps based on sheer panic of not
knowing what to do.} Nbxd5 23. exd5 Qd7 $1 {Not the only move for an advantage,
but definitely the most accurate. Black will take on d5 when he feels he is
ready, and for now prepares the advance of the e-pawn down the board.} 24. Ba5
e4 $1 25. Ng1 (25. Bxd8 exf3 {is completely winning as all of White's pieces
are hanging.}) 25... Bc7 {White isn't even down material yet, but d5 is very
lose and Black's strong pieces are better than MVL's. Another important factor
is the pressure generated by the e-pawn.} 26. d6 Bxa5 27. Qxa5 e3 $1 28. Ne2 $2
{Allowing Topalov to finish the game off quickly, but it was hopeless
regardless.} Qc6 {MVL simply threw in the towel, and it's impossible to blame
him.} (28... Qc6 29. Rf3 Rxd6 {and Black has every plus in this position.}) 0-1

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.18"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B51"]
[WhiteElo "2876"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "152"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. c3 Ngf6 5. Qe2 a6 6. Ba4 b5 7. Bc2 e6 8. d4
Bb7 9. O-O Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Nbd2 cxd4 12. cxd4 Rc8 13. Nf1 Re8 14. Ng3 Bf8
15. Be3 Rc7 16. Bd3 e5 17. d5 Nc5 18. Bc2 b4 19. a3 b3 20. Bxc5 Rxc5 21. Bxb3
Qb6 22. Bc4 Rec8 23. Bd3 g6 24. Nf1 Bh6 25. Ne3 a5 26. b4 axb4 27. axb4 R5c7
28. b5 Qc5 29. h3 Nh5 30. Qb2 Qb6 31. Qb4 Bxe3 32. Rxe3 Rc3 33. Rae1 f5 $5 {
Giri had sacrificed a pawn on the queenside for some pressure, but Carlsen
slowly but surely pushed him back. Now the Dutch tries some kind of desperate
attempt to break through the center and create complications.} (33... Nf6 34.
g3 {and White will slowly but surely consolidate and use his pawn on the
queenside.}) 34. exf5 Nf4 35. Be4 $1 R3c5 36. fxg6 hxg6 37. Bxg6 $1 {A
brilliant sacrifice... even though the position remains very complicated!} (37.
Nh4 {was perhaps easier from a human point of view.}) 37... Rxb5 (37... Nxg6
38. Qg4 Kf7 39. Ng5+ {loses very quickly.}) 38. Qe4 $2 {Surprisingly, White
has no win after this move. Carlsen had to find one of most brilliant,
machine-like and unlikely moves I have seen.} (38. Bf7+ $3 {This idea did not
occur to any of us in the analysis room. Talking later to Kasparov about it,
before he knew the answer to the "puzzle", he only knew that Qe4 was incorrect
as Carlsen played it. Instantly he thought of 38.Bh7+, but that move fails to
the surprising 38...Kh8! And instantly he smiled, thought for a second, and
said. "Of course, 38.Bf7+!"} Kxf7 39. Qe4 {Black cannot prevent the threats of
Qf5+ and Ng5+, even then it is not obvious how the attack proceeds, but Black
simply cannot save himself. We will not overwhelm the readers with the
analysis and instead invite you to try out the different variations, with or
without your favorite engine!}) 38... Rf8 39. Nxe5 $6 {spectacular but
insufficient} (39. Nh4 $1 Bxd5 {and White is up a pawn, but the position is
not clear at all.}) 39... dxe5 40. Rg3 Rxd5 $1 {The only move to survive, and
Giri did it with confidence. Carlsen thought for a long time after this trying
to come up with some idea, but there simply is no win in this position any
more.} 41. Qb1 {Inviting simplifications.} Qxb1 42. Bxb1+ Kh8 43. Be4 Rd7 44.
Bxb7 Rxb7 45. Rxe5 Rh7 46. Re4 Rhf7 47. Kh2 Kh7 {A dead drawn position.
Carlsen got more chances than he deserved, but Giri never let go of the draw.}
48. Rf3 Kg6 49. h4 Nh5 50. Rxf7 Rxf7 51. Re2 Nf4 52. Rd2 Nh5 53. g3 Nf6 54. Kg2
Rd7 55. Ra2 Rd5 56. Ra4 Re5 57. g4 Re4 58. Rxe4 Nxe4 59. Kf3 Nd6 60. Kf4 Nf7
61. Ke4 Kf6 62. f4 Nd6+ 63. Kd5 Nb5 64. h5 Nc3+ 65. Kd4 Nb5+ 66. Kc4 Nd6+ 67.
Kc5 Ke6 68. Kc6 Nf7 69. Kc7 Nh6 70. g5 Nf7 71. g6 Nh6 72. Kd8 Kf5 73. Ke7 Kxf4
74. Kf8 Kg5 75. g7 Kxh5 76. g8=Q Nxg8 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.18"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2780"]
[BlackElo "2677"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8.
a3 O-O 9. d3 Be6 10. Be3 Nd5 11. Bd2 f6 12. Qc2 Nb6 13. b4 Nd4 14. Nxd4 exd4
15. Na4 Bd5 16. Nxb6 cxb6 17. Bxd5+ Qxd5 18. Rfc1 Qd7 19. Qc7 Rad8 20. Rc2 Kf7
21. Rac1 g5 22. Qxd7 Rxd7 23. Rc7 Rfd8 24. g4 f5 25. h3 b5 26. Kg2 Ke6 27. Rxd7
Rxd7 28. Kf3 Kf6 29. Rg1 Bd8 30. Bc1 Kg6 31. gxf5+ Kxf5 32. Rg4 Bf6 33. Bb2 Rd8
34. Re4 h5 35. Kg3 Be5+ 36. Kg2 Bf6 37. Kf1 Rd7 38. Ke1 Rd8 39. Kd1 Rd7 40. Kc2
Rd8 41. Kb3 Kg6 42. f3 Kf5 43. a4 bxa4+ 44. Kxa4 a6 45. Kb3 b5 46. Kc2 Rc8+ 47.
Kd1 Rd8 48. Bc1 Ra8 49. Bd2 Rg8 50. Bc1 Ra8 51. Bb2 Rd8 52. Kc2 Rc8+ 53. Kd2
Rd8 54. Kd1 Rd6 55. Bc1 Rd8 56. Bb2 Rd6 57. Bc1 Rd8 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.18"]
[Round "3.5"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2781"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8.
Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 Bg5 12. Nc2 Rb8 13. a4 bxa4 14. Ncb4
Nxb4 15. cxb4 O-O 16. Rxa4 a5 17. h4 Bh6 18. b5 Bd7 19. Nc3 d5 20. exd5 Kh8 21.
Be2 f5 22. g3 Qb6 23. O-O Rbd8 24. Kg2 Bc8 25. f4 Rfe8 26. fxe5 Rxe5 27. Qd4
Qf6 28. Rc4 Bd7 29. Rf3 Bxb5 30. Nxb5 Rxe2+ 31. Kh3 Rxb2 32. Rc6 Qxd4 33. Nxd4
Rd2 34. Ne6 Re8 35. Rxf5 g6 36. Rf6 Kg8 37. d6 Bg7 38. Nxg7 Kxg7 39. Rf4 Kg8
40. Rc7 Rxd6 41. Rff7 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.18"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A35"]
[WhiteElo "2802"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 g6 7. O-O Bg7 8.
Nxd5 Qxd5 9. d3 O-O 10. Be3 Bd7 11. Nd4 Qd6 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Bxc6 Qxc6 14. Rc1
Qa6 15. Qb3 b6 16. Rc4 Rfd8 17. Rfc1 Rd7 18. a3 Rad8 19. Rf4 Bf6 20. h4 Qb7 21.
Rc2 Qb8 22. Rf3 Rd5 23. Bg5 Qd6 24. Bxf6 exf6 25. Qa4 a5 26. Qf4 f5 27. Qxd6
R8xd6 28. Rf4 Rd4 29. Rxd4 Rxd4 30. Kg2 Kg7 31. Rc3 Kf6 32. e3 Rd6 33. Kf3 Ke5
34. a4 Kd5 35. Ke2 Rd7 36. Kd2 h6 37. Rc1 Kc6 38. Kc3 {The endgame here looks
to be about even. Perhaps White has the tiniest of pulls, but that must be the
extent of it.} b5 $2 {An inexplicable move, shattering his own pawn structure.
Still, with perfect play one would think Black should have no problems holding
a draw.} (38... Kd5 $11) 39. axb5+ Kxb5 40. b3 g5 $4 {But this move is
completely suicidal. The mistake is very hard to understand. Why does Black
shatter his own pawn structure and give White such a wonderful open file to
attack his pawns? It's a mistake that doesn't seem to be based on a
miscalculation... just an incomprehensible move!} 41. hxg5 hxg5 42. Rh1 Ra7 43.
Rh7 f4 44. gxf4 gxf4 45. e4 $1 {With this move White threats to wrap around
with Rh4 and take the f4 pawn for free. Caruana attempts some counterplay but
it falls way short.} a4 46. bxa4+ Rxa4 47. Rxf7 Ra3+ 48. Kd2 Ra2+ 49. Ke1 Ra3
50. Ke2 Ra2+ 51. Kf3 Rd2 52. Rd7 Kc6 53. Rd5 Kb6 54. e5 Kc6 55. Rd8 Kc7 56. Rd6
{1-0 (19) Nakamura,H (2802)-Caruana,F (2805) Stavanger NOR 2015 [Ramirez
Alvarez,Alejandro]} 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.19"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2798"]
[BlackElo "2780"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. Qa4+ Nc6 8.
e3 O-O 9. Be2 dxc4 10. O-O Bd7 11. Bxc4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Rfd8 13. Be2 Be8 14. Qa3
Qe7 15. Qb2 Na5 16. Qb4 Qxb4 17. cxb4 Nc6 18. Rab1 a5 19. bxa5 Nxa5 20. Rfc1
Rdc8 21. Ne1 Ra7 22. Nd3 Nc6 23. Bf3 Nd8 24. Nb4 Ra5 25. h4 Kf8 26. Rc3 c6 27.
Bd1 Ke7 28. Bb3 c5 29. Nd3 b6 30. dxc5 bxc5 31. f3 Rc7 32. e4 Nb7 33. Rbc1 Ba4
34. e5 Rc6 35. Kh2 Rb6 36. h5 Bxb3 37. axb3 Kd7 $2 {After playing a tough and
passive defense, Aronian seemed to be finally be heading towards a draw. The
position seems even as White can only win the c5 pawn by losing his own b3
pawn, but disaster strikes... out of nowhere!} (37... Rab5 38. Nxc5 Rxc5 39.
Rxc5 Nxc5 40. Rxc5 Rxb3 (40... Rb7 $1 {with good chances to hold the endgame.})
41. Rc7+ Ke8 42. Rc8+ Ke7 43. Rg8 $16) 38. b4 $1 {Strangely this pawn is
poisoned due to a mating attack.} cxb4 39. Rc8 {The immediate threat is R1c7
mate, not an easy move to parry!} Nd8 40. R1c7+ Ke8 41. Nc5 {This is the point
of Topalov's combination - which Aronian clearly missed. Rd7 is unstoppable
next move, creating a deadly Rxd8 mating threat. The Armenian gave up the
exchange and put up a valiant fight, but the material difference was too big.}
Rxc5 42. Rxc5 b3 43. Rc1 Kd7 44. R8c7+ Ke8 45. Rc8 Kd7 46. R8c3 Ke7 47. Rd3 Nb7
48. Rdc3 Nd8 49. f4 f6 50. Rc7+ Ke8 51. Rxg7 fxe5 52. Rcc7 Kf8 53. Rh7 Kg8 54.
Rcg7+ Kf8 55. Rd7 Kg8 56. Rxh6 Nf7 57. Rg6+ Kh8 58. Rf6 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.19"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "2773"]
[BlackElo "2802"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. a4
Rb8 9. d4 Bb6 10. Na3 O-O 11. axb5 axb5 12. Nxb5 Bg4 13. Bc2 exd4 14. cxd4 d5
15. e5 Ne4 16. Ra3 f6 17. exf6 Qxf6 18. Nc3 Bxf3 19. gxf3 Nxc3 20. bxc3 Qxf3
21. Qxf3 Rxf3 22. Kg2 Rbf8 23. Bb3 R3f5 24. Ra2 Na5 25. Bc2 R5f6 26. Bd3 Nb7
27. Re1 Rf3 28. Rd2 Ba5 29. Bb2 c5 30. Ba6 Nd6 31. dxc5 Ne4 32. Rxd5 Rxf2+ 33.
Kg1 Rxb2 34. Bc4 Kh8 35. Rxe4 Rc2 36. Rf5 Rd8 37. Rd5 Rf8 38. Bd3 Rxc3 39. Kg2
h6 40. Ra4 Bd8 41. Re4 Bf6 42. Re6 Kg8 43. c6 Rc8 44. Rdd6 Rc5 45. Ba6 Ra8 46.
Be2 Kf7 47. Re3 Ra2 48. Kh3 Rac2 49. Bf3 R2c3 50. Bd5+ Rxd5 51. Rxf6+ Kxf6 52.
Rxc3 Rd8 53. Kg4 Rc8 54. c7 Ke6 55. Kh5 Kd6 56. Rd3+ Ke6 57. Rc3 Kd6 58. Rd3+
Ke6 59. Rc3 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.19"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2876"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 d6 7. c3 O-O 8. Nbd2
Re8 9. Re1 b5 10. Bc2 Bf8 11. Nf1 g6 12. h3 Bb7 13. Ng3 Nb8 14. d4 {Notice
that White has wasted a tempo with d3-d4, but has recovered it by putting his
bishop on c2 without first stopping on b3. This direct transposition into the
Breyer System of the Closed Spanish cost the players 30 minutes on the clock.}
Nbd7 15. a4 c5 16. d5 c4 17. Bg5 Bg7 (17... h6 {is massively more popular, but
the idea of playing Bg7 without h6 has also been seen.}) 18. Qd2 {It's
difficult to kick out this bishop from g5 now, which is why most players
prefer to put the pawn on h6 before White can do this.} Rb8 {A novelty, and
not a very impressive one.} (18... Nc5 {was seen in the old game
Kuzmin-Spassky, 1973!}) 19. Nh2 $1 {A very classical idea. Anand swings the
knight to g4 to exploit the weakness of the dark squares around Black's king.}
Bc8 20. Ng4 {"I was kicking myself for not taking on b5 first!" was Anand's
reaction after the game. That being said, it is possible that there is no need
to take on b5 just yet.} (20. axb5 axb5 21. Ng4 $14) 20... Nc5 21. Nh6+ (21.
axb5 Bxg4 {is not clear as Black gets rid of a generally useless bishop for an
attacking knight.}) 21... Bxh6 (21... Kf8 22. Re3 {with Rf3 next move is too
dangerous. Black cannot afford to play like this, so he must give up the
bishop. Grischuk mentioned that something went wrong in Black's game if he was
forced to give up the darksquared bishop.}) 22. Bxh6 bxa4 {Black's counterplay
on the b-file is not terribly threatening. White has several ideas on how to
proceed, but Anand chooses a very direct and aggressive way - but first he
must close the hole on b2.} 23. Ra2 a3 24. bxa3 Nfd7 25. f4 {All-in. White
desires to attack on the kingside, specifically by launching his f-pawn
forward and backing it with his rooks on the f-file.} a5 $6 {Carlsen believes
he has some counterplay based on the activity of the bishop on a6 and the
weakness of d3, but this is not the case.} (25... exf4 26. Qxf4 Qf6 27. Qe3 Ne5
{is still a very complicated game.}) 26. Rf1 f6 {As Anand said after the game,
this is already a concession.} (26... exf4 27. Qxf4 Ne5 28. Bg5 {and it looks
very dangerous to be so weak on the darksquares, but Black's position already
looks to be bad.}) 27. f5 $1 {Excellent. This binds Black's pieces on the
kingside and White will transfer his queen to the g4 square.} Nd3 $1 {Trying
to create counterplay. Carlsen will be happy to give up this pawn if it means
that he will have play on the queenside and if it slows down the attack on the
kingside.} 28. Bxd3 cxd3 29. Qd1 $1 {A nice move, perfect in Anand's style.
The queen will swing over to g4 to put pressure on g6, not bothering to take
on d3 just yet.} Re7 30. Raf2 Rf7 31. Qxd3 (31. h4 {was more precise, and some
engiens give it as a decisive advantage already! However there is nothing
wrong with first taking the pawn.}) 31... Nc5 32. Qf3 Ba6 33. Qg4 $1 {An
important move. Now White does not slow down and the attack on the kingside
cannot be resisted. Black could try to move Bc8, pinning the f-pawn, but that
is just sad.} g5 34. h4 Bxf1 35. Rxf1 Qd7 {Anand was running low on time, so
he decides to take a very pragmatic route.} 36. hxg5 fxg5 37. Qh5 (37. Bxg5 {
was also good.}) 37... Kh8 38. f6 {Whtie will at the very least regain his
exchange with a bishop check on g7.} Rg8 39. Bg7+ Rfxg7 40. fxg7+ Qxg7 41. Nf5
$1 {After this Black's position is absolutely hopeless.} Qg6 {otherwise Nh6
followed by mate.} 42. Qxg6 Rxg6 (42... hxg6 43. Nxd6 {is kaput.}) 43. Ne7 Kg7
{desperation.} (43... Rh6 44. Rf8+ Kg7 45. Rc8 $1 Kf7 46. Nf5 Rg6 47. Nxd6+
Rxd6 48. Rxc5 {is a totally lost rook endgame.}) 44. Nxg6 Kxg6 45. Rf8 a4 (
45... Nxe4 46. Ra8 Nxc3 47. Rxa5 {is hopeless, Black cannot stop  the a-pawn
with just a knight.}) 46. c4 h5 (46... Nxe4 47. Ra8 Nc5 48. Kf2 {also wins
easily.}) 47. Kf2 (47. Kf2 Nxe4+ 48. Ke3 Nc5 49. Rd8 {and the d-pawn falls.})
1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.19"]
[Round "4.4"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "2781"]
[BlackElo "2677"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nc3 Nb6 6. d3 Be7 7. Nh3 g5 8. Ng1
h5 9. h3 Nc6 10. Bxc6+ bxc6 11. Nf3 f6 12. Be3 Bxh3 13. Rxh3 g4 14. Rh1 gxf3
15. exf3 Bb4 16. Qb3 Nd5 17. Bd2 Bxc3 18. Bxc3 Nxc3 19. Qxc3 Qd5 20. Rc1 h4 21.
gxh4 O-O-O 22. Qxc6 Qxc6 23. Rxc6 Rxd3 24. Ke2 Rhd8 25. Rc2 R3d4 26. h5 R8d7
27. h6 Rh7 28. Rc6 Rd6 29. Rxd6 cxd6 30. f4 Kd7 31. fxe5 dxe5 32. f4 Ke6 33.
fxe5 fxe5 34. Ke3 Kf7 35. Ke4 Kg8 36. Kxe5 Rd7 37. Rg1+ Kh8 38. Rg7 Rd2 39. Rb7
a5 40. a4 Kg8 41. b3 Rh2 42. Rb6 Rd2 43. Rb5 Rd3 44. Ke4 Rh3 45. Kd4 Kh7 46.
Kc4 Rh4+ 47. Kc3 Rh3+ 48. Kb2 Kxh6 49. Rxa5 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.19"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2723"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. g3
Be6 9. Bg2 b5 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Be3 Be7 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. exd5 Bf5 14. f4 Qc8 15.
Rc1 O-O 16. b3 exf4 17. Bxf4 Qc5+ 18. Nd4 Bf6 19. Be3 Rfe8 20. Nxf5 Rxe3 21.
Kh1 Re5 22. c4 b4 23. Qxh5 g6 24. Qg4 Rxf5 25. Rxf5 Ne5 26. Rxe5 Bxe5 27. Rf1
Qd4 28. Qxd4 Bxd4 29. Bf3 Re8 30. Kg2 Re3 31. Rd1 Bc5 32. h4 Kg7 33. g4 Rc3 34.
Rd2 Be3 35. Re2 a5 36. Be4 Bd4 37. Bf3 Bf6 38. g5 Bd4 39. Be4 Be5 40. Bf3 Bd4
41. Be4 Be5 42. Bf3 Bd4 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.21"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2723"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 c6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O
e5 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. e4 exd4 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. exd5 h6 13. Nxd4 Qh4 14. Nf3 Qh5
15. Bh7+ Kh8 16. Qf5 Qxf5 17. Bxf5 Nf6 18. Bc2 b6 19. Ba4 Bb7 20. Bc6 Bxc6 21.
dxc6 Rac8 22. Be3 Rxc6 23. Rad1 Re8 24. Bd4 Bf8 25. g3 Kg8 26. Kg2 Ne4 27. Rfe1
Rce6 28. Re3 Nc5 29. Ra3 a5 30. Re3 Rd8 31. Rc1 Rxe3 32. Bxe3 Nd3 33. Rc3 Nxb2
34. Bxb6 Na4 35. Bxd8 Nxc3 36. Bxa5 Nxa2 37. Nd4 Nc1 38. Bd2 Nd3 39. Nf5 h5 40.
h3 f6 41. Kf3 Kf7 42. Ke2 Ne5 43. Bc3 Nc6 44. g4 hxg4 45. hxg4 g6 46. Nd4 Nxd4+
47. Bxd4 Ke6 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.21"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B91"]
[WhiteElo "2876"]
[BlackElo "2781"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. g3 e5 7. Nde2 Be7 8. Bg2
b5 9. Nd5 Nbd7 10. Nec3 Bb7 11. a4 Nxd5 12. Nxd5 Nf6 13. axb5 Nxd5 14. exd5
axb5 15. Rxa8 Qxa8 16. Qd3 O-O 17. O-O Bc8 18. Be3 Bd7 19. Rc1 h6 20. Qd1 Qb7
21. Ra1 Ra8 22. h4 Ra6 23. b3 Bd8 24. c4 bxc4 25. bxc4 Bb6 26. c5 $1 {The only
practical chance. Before this Grischuk's position was very acceptable, and he
had relatively good chances to equalize simply. With this move Carlsen creates
complications - extremely important since Grischuk was, as usual, in severe
time pressure!} Bxc5 27. Bxc5 dxc5 28. d6 Qb6 29. Rxa6 Qxa6 30. Bd5 $1 {
Binding Black's position. The pawn on d6 and the weakness on f7 create a
slightly uncomfortable position. With a couple of accurate moves Grischuk
should be out of trouble, but when you have only a few minutes to make 10
moves things tend to go wrong quickly.} Qc8 $2 (30... Qb6 $1 31. Kg2 (31. Qh5
Qb1+ $1 {an important resource.} 32. Kg2 Qf5 {with equality.}) 31... Be8 $11)
31. Qb3 {Now the pressure is real, it is difficult for Black to find moves.}
Be8 32. Qc3 {It's not easy to defend all the pawns, but Grischuk still has a
way to equality.} c4 (32... Qf5 $1 33. Qxc5 g5 $1 {and the passed d-pawn gives
White a slight edge, but Black should hold with perfect play.}) 33. Bxc4 Bd7
34. Qb3 Qe8 35. Qf3 Kf8 36. h5 $1 Kg8 (36... e4 $1) 37. Qe4 Bc6 38. Bd5 Bd7 39.
Kg2 Kh8 {Girschuk's passive defense was prompted by his lack of time. Carlsen
plays a tricky move on the decisive 40th move.} 40. f4 exf4 $6 {losing
instantly. You can't blame him for playing this move since he only had 18
seconds, but you can blame him for getting to a situation where he only had 18
seconds.} (40... f5 $1 41. Qxe5 Qxh5 42. Qe7 Kh7 {is holding according to some
engines, but this looks nearly losing for Black.}) 41. Qxe8+ Bxe8 42. Bxf7 $1
Bc6+ 43. Kf2 fxg3+ {Grischuk spent a fair amount of time on this move,
understanding he is completely lost.} 44. Kxg3 Bd7 45. Bg6 (45. Bg6 Kg8 46. Kf4
Kf8 47. Ke5 Kg8 48. Kd5 Kf8 49. Kc5 {Black can't do anything.} Kg8 50. Kb6 Kh8
51. Kc7 Bb5 52. d7 Bxd7 53. Kxd7 {and due to the existence of the g7 pawn,
here Black gets zugzwnaged and loses.} Kg8 54. Ke8 Kh8 55. Ke7 Kg8 56. Bf7+ Kh7
57. Kf8 g5 58. hxg6+ {and a quick mate.}) 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.21"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2802"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. e3 b6 8.
cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 Ba6 10. Bxa6 Nxa6 11. Qd3 Qc8 12. Ne2 c5 13. b3 cxd4 14. exd4
Nc7 15. O-O Ne6 16. Bd2 Qd7 17. f3 Rac8 18. a4 Rc6 19. Rfc1 Rxc1+ 20. Rxc1 Rc8
21. Ra1 Ne8 22. Nc3 Rc6 23. a5 N8c7 24. f4 g6 25. axb6 axb6 26. Ra7 Ng7 27. Na2
Nge8 28. f5 Qxf5 29. Qxf5 gxf5 30. Nb4 Re6 31. Bf4 Nb5 32. Ra8 Nxd4 33. Nxd5
Kg7 34. Bd2 Rd6 35. Rxe8 Rxd5 36. Bc3 f6 37. Kf1 Nxb3 38. Re7+ Kg6 39. Re6 Nd2+
40. Bxd2 Rxd2 41. Rxb6 Ra2 42. Rb4 Rd2 43. Ra4 Rb2 44. Rc4 Rd2 45. Ra4 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.21"]
[Round "5.4"]
[White "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D12"]
[WhiteElo "2677"]
[BlackElo "2798"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "148"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Bg6 7. Nxg6 hxg6 8. Bd2
Nbd7 9. Qc2 a6 10. O-O-O Be7 11. Kb1 Qc7 12. h3 Rd8 13. c5 e5 14. f4 exd4 15.
exd4 Nh5 16. Ne2 Nhf6 17. Nc3 Nh5 18. Ne2 Nhf6 19. Ng3 Ng8 20. Bd3 f5 21. Nxf5
gxf5 22. Bxf5 Ndf6 23. Bg6+ Kf8 24. g4 Ne4 25. g5 Rh4 26. Bc1 Qd7 27. Qg2 b6
28. cxb6 Bd6 29. Bxe4 dxe4 30. d5 Ne7 31. dxc6 Qxc6 32. Rhe1 Qxb6 33. Qxe4 Bc5
34. Rxd8+ Qxd8 35. Qc4 Qd4 36. Qxa6 g6 37. Re5 Qd6 38. Qa8+ Kg7 39. Qf3 Bd4 40.
Re2 Qd7 41. Qd3 Nc6 42. Rh2 Nb4 43. Qc4 Rxh3 44. Rd2 Qf5+ 45. Ka1 Bc5 46. a3
Nd3 47. Rd1 Nxc1 48. Rxc1 Bf8 49. Qd4+ Kg8 50. Rc7 Qe6 51. Qc4 Qxc4 52. Rxc4
Kf7 53. a4 Rb3 54. a5 Rb5 55. Ra4 Bg7 56. Ra2 Bd4 57. Ra4 Bxb2+ 58. Ka2 Bc1 59.
a6 Rb2+ 60. Ka1 Rb8 61. Rc4 Be3 62. Rc7+ Kg8 63. Rc6 Bd4+ 64. Ka2 Kf7 65. Rd6
Bc3 66. Rc6 Bh8 67. Ka3 Bd4 68. Ka4 Rf8 69. Kb5 Kg7 70. Rc7+ Rf7 71. Rxf7+ $1 {
Good calculation into a drawn endgame, with a little trick.} Kxf7 72. Kc4 $1 {
The point, gaining a tempo} Ba7 73. Kd5 Ke7 (73... Bb8 74. Kc6 $1 {Threatening
Kb7, winning! Black must return to a7.} Ba7 75. Kd5 $1 {and Black can only
repeat positions.}) 74. Kc6 $4 {Absolutely horrible.} (74. f5 {was as obvious
as it was effective.} gxf5 75. Ke5 $11) 74... Ke6 {The pawn endgame is very
obviously losing. Hammer suffered in his chair for a few minutes before
stretching his out and resigning in shame.} 0-1

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.21"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2780"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "119"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. d4 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. Bxd7+ Nbxd7
8. dxc5 Nxc5 9. O-O Be7 10. Nc3 O-O 11. b3 Nce4 12. Ne2 Qa5 13. Bb2 Ba3 14.
Bxa3 Qxa3 15. Qc1 Qa6 16. Qb2 Rac8 17. Nfd4 Rc7 18. Rac1 Rfc8 19. a4 Qb6 20.
Nb5 Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 22. Qxc1 g6 23. f3 Nc5 24. Qc3 a6 25. Nbd4 Qd6 26. h4
b6 27. g3 a5 28. Nb5 Qe7 29. Nf4 h6 30. Nd4 Qe5 31. Nfe2 Nfd7 32. Kg2 Kh7 33.
Nf4 g5 34. hxg5 hxg5 35. Nh5 g4 36. fxg4 Qe4+ 37. Nf3 Qxg4 38. Nf6+ Nxf6 39.
Qxf6 Qxg3+ $2 {Falling for a clever trap. Caruana saw a mirage - thinking that
he was up a pwn in the endgame he had no chances of losing, but actually he is
already much worse!} (39... Qg6 $11) 40. Kxg3 Ne4+ 41. Kf4 Nxf6 42. Ke5 {
Suddenly it is clear that White's initiative on the queenside is enough to win
the b6 and a5 pawns. Black must be extremely careful.} Kg6 43. Nd4 Kg5 44. Kd6
Ng4 45. Nc2 Kf5 46. Kxd5 Nf6+ 47. Kc6 Ke4 48. Kxb6 Kd3 {Here Aronian missed an
unbelievable win} 49. Ne1+ (49. Nb4+ $3 axb4 (49... Kc3 50. Kxa5 Kxb3 51. Kb5
$18) 50. Kc6 {and the king dominates the knight, the a-pawn promotes by force.}
) 49... Kxe3 50. Kxa5 Kd2 $2 {missing a draw, but it's hard to blame Caruana.}
(50... Nd5 $3 {is a draw. Why? ask your engine, the lines are too long!}) 51.
Nf3+ Kc3 52. b4 Nd5 53. b5 Kb3 {Now every move wins.} 54. Ne5 f5 55. Nd7 {
White wants to play b6 and take with the knight. The rest is trivial for
Aronian.} Ne3 56. b6 Nc4+ 57. Kb5 Nd6+ 58. Kc6 Nc4 59. Kc5 Na5 60. Kb5 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.22"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D56"]
[WhiteElo "2876"]
[BlackElo "2802"]
[PlyCount "190"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 8. Bxe7
Qxe7 9. Rc1 c6 10. Qc2 Nxc3 11. Qxc3 dxc4 12. Bxc4 b6 13. O-O Nd7 14. Rfd1 Bb7
15. h3 c5 16. d5 exd5 17. Bxd5 Bxd5 18. Rxd5 Nf6 19. Rd3 Rad8 20. Rcd1 Rxd3 21.
Qxd3 Rc8 22. a4 c4 23. Qc2 Qe4 24. Nd4 c3 25. Qb3 Qd5 26. Qc2 Qe4 27. Qxe4 Nxe4
28. b3 Nd2 29. Rc1 a5 30. Rc2 Nb1 31. Rc1 Nd2 32. Rc2 Nb1 33. Nb5 Kf8 34. f3
Rd8 35. Nd4 Rc8 36. Rc1 Na3 37. Nc2 Nxc2 38. Rxc2 Rc5 39. Kf2 b5 40. axb5 Rxb5
41. Rxc3 g6 42. f4 h5 43. Rc8+ Kg7 44. Ra8 Rxb3 45. Rxa5 Rb2+ 46. Kf3 Rb3 47.
Ra7 Rc3 48. Re7 Rb3 49. Kg3 Rb2 50. Kf3 Rb3 51. g4 hxg4+ 52. hxg4 Rb1 53. Rd7
Rf1+ 54. Ke4 Rg1 55. g5 Ra1 56. Ke5 Ra3 57. e4 Ra5+ 58. Kd6 Ra6+ 59. Ke5 Ra5+
60. Rd5 Ra4 61. Rc5 Ra1 62. Rc2 Rf1 63. Rc7 Re1 64. Ra7 Rg1 65. Ra4 Rf1 66. Ra6
Re1 67. Kd4 Rd1+ 68. Ke3 Re1+ 69. Kf3 Rf1+ 70. Kg3 Re1 71. e5 Re3+ 72. Kf2 Rb3
73. Rd6 Ra3 74. Rd8 Rc3 75. Ke2 Ra3 76. Rd3 Ra1 77. Ke3 Re1+ 78. Kd4 Rf1 79.
Ke4 Ra1 80. Rd7 Ra4+ 81. Rd4 Ra5 82. Rc4 Kf8 83. Rc8+ Kg7 84. Rc7 Kf8 85. Kd4
Ra4+ 86. Rc4 Ra5 87. Rc8+ Kg7 88. e6 fxe6 89. Rc5 Ra7 90. Ke5 Rf7 91. Rc4 Rf5+
92. Kxe6 Kg8 93. Rc8+ Kg7 94. Rc7+ Kg8 95. Rc8+ Kg7 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.22"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2723"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e6 7. g4 h6 8. Bg2
Nc6 9. Be3 Be7 10. f4 Nd7 11. O-O Nxd4 12. Qxd4 O-O 13. Qd2 Rb8 14. Ne2 b5 15.
Rad1 Qc7 16. f5 Nf6 17. Ng3 {So far we have been following the game between
Navara, D - Grischuk, A in the 2014 Tromso Olympiad. That thrilling game ended
in a draw after 17...Re8, but in the annotations to that game for ChessBase
Magazine by Igor Stohl, he mentioned the possibility of playing Bb7 in this
position.} Bb7 18. Kh1 {an interesting idea. Black has a few options in this
position.} (18. Bxh6 {was considered by Stohl. You can look at those
annotations in your CBM, or simply in your MegaBase 2015! There are many
variations and tactical nuances.} gxh6 19. Qxh6 d5 20. g5 Qxg3 21. Rd3 Bc5+ $1
22. Kh1 Be3 $1 {Is a key point of the position. It will be obvious why soon.})
18... Rbd8 $2 {Already the losing blunder. The variations after Bxh6 now work
without a problem.} (18... Kh7 {looks unnatural but does defend against Bxh6,
so it is worth a try.}) (18... d5 {looks the main line here, for example} 19.
e5 $1 {the point} Qxe5 20. Bf4 Qxb2 21. Bxb8 Rxb8 {Black finds himself down
the exchange, but he has two pawns for it. Perhaps White's initiative here is
enough for an advantage, but more practical tests will be needed.}) 19. Bxh6
gxh6 20. Qxh6 d5 {What else? Without this breakthrough Black's position will
just get annihilated on the kingside.} 21. g5 $1 {Excellent calculation from
Anand, identifying the differences in the position.} Qxg3 22. Rd3 {Now there
is no possibility to play Bc5+, as the move is not check! Black is toast.} Nh5
(22... Nxe4 23. f6 $1 Bxf6 (23... Qxg5 24. Qxg5+ Nxg5 25. fxe7 {will leave
White up the exchange after recovering taking a rook next move, but more
importantly the knight on g5 is hanging to the pin on the g-file in too many
variations.}) 24. Bxe4 {threatening mate on h7} dxe4 25. Rxg3 {and Black is
simply down too much material. The pair of bishops is nothing compared to the
queen. However this was MVL's best chance.}) (22... Qe5 23. gxf6 Bxf6 24. Rf4 {
and the rook lift is absolutely deadly. Now rg4 next move wins the game.} Bg7
25. Rg3 $18) 23. g6 $1 {An important move to find.} fxg6 24. fxg6 Rxf1+ 25.
Bxf1 Nf6 {what else? Without this move Black is powerless against Qh7+ and Qh8
mate.} 26. Rxg3 dxe4 27. Be2 {White's position is not only crushing, he has
plenty of extra material.} e3+ 28. Kg1 Bc5 29. Kf1 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.22"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E20"]
[WhiteElo "2781"]
[BlackElo "2798"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 c5 5. d5 O-O 6. e4 d6 7. Nge2 b5 8. Nf4
exd5 9. cxd5 a6 10. Be2 Nbd7 11. O-O c4 12. Be3 Bc5 13. Bxc5 Nxc5 14. b4 cxb3
15. axb3 b4 $5 {After a complicated Nimzo-Indian we have the following
situation. It is quite complex, and as usual Grischuk had already used a fair
chunk of his time to get here while Topalov played rather quickly. The Russian
player attempts to reposition his knight to a better square, but it backfires.}
16. Nb5 $6 {Overlooking the following continuation} (16. Na4 Nxa4 17. Rxa4 {
and the game is approximately equal.}) 16... Qb6 17. Kh1 (17. Nd4 Nxb3 18. Qxb3
Qxd4+ {is just bad.}) 17... g5 $1 {An impressive situation. The knight on f4 
(which should probalby have gone to g3 earlier in the game rather than f4)
finds itself trapped!} 18. Qd4 {Grischuk took a very long think making this
move, which seemed nearly forced.} (18. Nh3 Bxh3 {is winning for Black as the
rooks are connected on the back rank, and now the b5 knight can be taken.}) (
18. Nd3 Qxb5 {cuts off the defense of the bishop on e2.}) 18... Ncd7 (18... Qd8
19. Nd3 Nxb3 20. Qxb4 (20. Qb2 {is also possible, but less human.}) 20... Nxa1
21. Nd4 {and Black has an extra exchange, but the compensation cannot be
underestimated.}) 19. Qxb6 Nxb6 {Now both of White's knights are under attack
since the rook on a8 is defended.} 20. Nc7 (20. Nxd6 gxf4 21. Rfc1 {is still
not clear. Black is up a piece but there is some compensation.}) 20... Ra7 21.
Nb5 (21. Rfc1 $1 gxf4 22. Rc6 {was probably the most testing for Topalov.
Black is up a full piece at the moment, but they are hard to coordinate and
Topalov has too many weak pawns. White here has a good chance to hold on to a
draw.}) 21... Re7 22. Nxd6 gxf4 23. Bxa6 Rd8 24. Bxc8 Rxd6 25. Bf5 {With the
dust more or less settled White seems to be slightly worse, but no more than
that. He has two pawns for the knight, some control over the open files and
two passed pawns.} Nbd7 26. g3 (26. Ra4 $1 {trying to get that important pawn
on b4.} Rb6 27. Ra7 {is annoying.}) 26... fxg3 27. Rg1 $2 {The idea of taking
on g3 with the rook is simply bad.} (27. hxg3 {this would have gone into a
very long game, and despite Grischuk's time trouble he might have been able to
save the position.}) 27... Kf8 28. Rxg3 Nc5 {The weakness of f4 will soon be
felt.} 29. Bh3 Re8 $1 30. Rb1 Nh5 $1 31. Rg5 Nf4 {With the knights swarming
the position, this is clearly over. The fact that Grischuk has one minute and
a few seconds to make all the moves until the 40th did not help the situation.}
32. Bf1 Ra8 33. Bc4 Ra2 34. Rg4 Rh6 35. h4 Nfd3 36. Rg2 Rxh4+ 37. Kg1 Ra7 38.
d6 Rh6 39. Rh2 Rxd6 0-1

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.22"]
[Round "6.4"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A13"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2677"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 d4 5. e3 Nc6 6. O-O Bc5 7. b4 Bxb4 8. exd4
O-O 9. Bb2 Rb8 10. Na3 Bxa3 11. Bxa3 Re8 12. Bb2 b5 13. Bc3 bxc4 14. Qa4 Bd7
15. Qxc4 Nd5 16. Rfb1 Rb6 17. a4 Qb8 18. Re1 a5 19. Qc5 Nxc3 20. dxc3 Rb2 21.
Ng5 Qb6 22. Ne4 Ne7 23. Qg5 Ng6 24. h4 h6 25. Qg4 Bc6 26. h5 Bxe4 27. Bxe4 Ne7
28. Qf3 Rd8 29. Rab1 Nd5 30. Rxb2 Qxb2 31. Rb1 Qa2 32. Rb7 Qxa4 33. Bxd5 exd5
34. Rxc7 Qe8 35. Rc5 a4 36. Rxd5 Rxd5 37. Qxd5 a3 38. Qa5 Qe1+ 39. Kg2 Qe4+ 40.
Kh2 Qc2 41. Qxa3 Qxf2+ 42. Kh3 Qf1+ 43. Kh2 Qf2+ 44. Kh3 Qf1+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.22"]
[Round "6.5"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D39"]
[WhiteElo "2773"]
[BlackElo "2780"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. Bb5+ Nbd7 11. Bxf6 Qxc3+ 12. Kf1 gxf6 13. h4 a6 14.
Rh3 Qb4 15. Be2 Ne5 16. Rb1 Qd6 17. Qd2 Bd7 18. Rxb7 Bb5 19. Rb3 Rc8 20. Bxb5+
axb5 21. Qb4 Qxb4 22. Rxb4 O-O 23. R7xb5 Rfd8 24. Ke2 Kg7 25. Ra4 Ra8 26. Rbb4
Rdb8 27. Nb3 Rxb4 28. Rxb4 Rxa2+ 29. Nd2 Kg6 30. g3 h5 31. Rd4 f5 32. exf5+
Kxf5 33. Rf4+ Kg6 34. Rd4 Kf5 35. Rf4+ Kg6 36. Rd4 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.23"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Hammer, J."]
[Black "Giri, A."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "2677"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. Nf3 g6 2. e4 d6 3. d4 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Be3 a6 6. Qd2 b5 7. Bh6 O-O 8. Bd3
Bg4 9. e5 dxe5 10. dxe5 Nh5 11. Bxg7 Nxg7 12. Be4 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Qxd2+ 14. Kxd2
Ra7 15. Rad1 Nd7 16. Rhe1 Nb6 17. Bc6 Ne6 18. Kc1 Nd8 19. Be4 c5 20. Nd5 Nxd5
21. Bxd5 Ne6 22. g3 c4 23. Bxe6 fxe6 24. f4 Kf7 25. h4 h5 26. Rd4 Rc8 27. Red1
Ke8 28. c3 a5 29. Kc2 Rb7 30. Re4 b4 31. Rdd4 Rbc7 32. Kd2 Rc5 33. Kc2 R5c7 34.
a3 b3+ 35. Kd2 Rc5 36. Ke3 R8c7 37. Rd2 Rd5 38. Red4 Rxd4 39. Rxd4 Rc5 40. a4
Rc8 41. Re4 Kf7 42. Kd4 Kg7 43. Re2 Kf8 44. Rg2 Kg7 45. Rd2 Kf7 46. Ke4 Ke8 47.
Rd4 Rc5 48. Kf3 Kf7 49. Ke3 Ke8 50. Ke4 Rc7 51. Kf3 Rc5 52. Ke3 Rc8 53. Re4 Kf7
54. Kd4 Kg7 55. Re3 Kf7 56. Re2 Kf8 57. Rg2 Kg7 58. Ke3 Kf7 59. Rh2 Kf8 60. Kd4
Kf7 61. Rg2 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.23"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E60"]
[WhiteElo "2798"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Ne5
e6 9. O-O Nfd7 10. Nf3 Nf6 11. Bf4 Nc6 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. Bxe5 Bd7 14. Qd2 Qe7
15. Rac1 Bc6 16. Rc2 Rfd8 17. Rfc1 Ne8 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. e3 Nd6 20. Ne2 Bb5 21.
Nf4 Rac8 22. h4 Rxc2 23. Rxc2 Rc8 24. Rxc8 Nxc8 25. Qa5 Qd7 26. b3 b6 27. Qc3
Qc6 {The position almost fits the description of dead drawn. With a trade on
c6 the symmetrical pawn structure would surely lead to a draw. Topalov wants
to fight for a win, but in the way that he does it is rather strange.} 28. Qa1
{threatening e4 ideas, with a discovered check down the long diagonal in case
of a capture by the d-pawn.} Qc7 29. Bh3 $2 {This move is just bad though.
Black's position is still not that much better, but White is allowing Caruana
chances for no reason.} (29. e4 dxe4 30. d5+ e5 31. Bxe4 Qe7 $15 {the knight
comes to d6 with a nice position for Black.}) 29... Qc2 {This is the point.
The queen penetrates in this square now that e4 is not really available.} 30.
a4 (30. e4 Qxe4 31. Qc3 {is still equal, but hard to play.}) 30... Ba6 31. Qa3
Qd1+ (31... Qd2 {might have been an inch more precise as it doesn't allow
White access to c1 too easily.}) 32. Kh2 Qd2 33. Bg2 $1 {in the nick of time.}
h6 (33... Qxf2 34. Qc1 {gives White enough counterplay with Qc7 coming up and
multiple threats.}) 34. a5 $1 {The only move to equalize.} Qxa5 (34... bxa5 35.
Qc5 $11) 35. Qc1 Qb4 36. e4 Qxd4 37. exd5 e5 38. Ne6+ {The final detail. The
perpetual is forced and the game ends in a draw.} fxe6 39. Qc7+ Kf6 40. Qd8+
Kf7 41. Qd7+ Kf8 42. Qd8+ Kf7 43. Qd7+ Kf8 44. Qd8+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.23"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Vachier Lagrave, M."]
[Black "Carlsen, M."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2723"]
[BlackElo "2876"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "34"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 g5 7. Bg3 Ne4 $6 {This
move simply cannot be good, but it is clear that Carlsen had at least looked
at the situation. MVL thought for a few minutes and decided to go for the
sacrificial route.} 8. Nxe4 (8. Nd2 Nxg3 9. hxg3 Bg7 10. e3 a6 {was a blitz
game between Grischuk-Kramnik from 2008. White obtained the better position
and won the game.}) (8. e3 {might be the simple move and the true refutation
of Black's intentions. He might have to start attacking with Bb4, but it
should be insufficient} Bb4 9. Qb3 Qa5 10. Rc1 Nd7 11. Bd3 $14) 8... dxe4 9.
Nd2 Qxd4 10. e3 {This is the point. The threat on the queen and on the e4 pawn
is strong, so Black must keep munching pawns to stay in the game.} Qxb2 11. Rb1
Qc3 $1 {The only move} 12. Be2 Nd7 (12... Bb4 13. Rxb4 Qxb4 14. O-O {is
already extremely dangerous for Black. For example:} f5 $2 15. Nxe4 $1 fxe4 16.
Bh5+ Ke7 17. Qd4 {with a decisive advantage: the attack is too strong.}) 13.
O-O Nc5 {Incredibly Black is holding. There are still many interesting
possibilities in this position, but the situation is very unclear. Carlsen had
blitzed up to this point and it was clear that he had seen this position in
his analysis, so MVL took the practical decision to force the draw.} 14. Nb3
Nd3 (14... Be7 15. Nxc5 Bxc5 16. Bd6 {looks uncomfortable for Black.}) 15. Nd2
Nc5 {Black must defend the e4 pawn.} 16. Nb3 Nd3 17. Nd2 (17. f3 $5 {would
have been a completely different story.}) 17... Nc5 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.23"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Aronian, L."]
[Black "Anand, V."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2780"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O e4 7. Ng5 Bxc3 8.
bxc3 Re8 9. f3 exf3 10. Nxf3 Qe7 11. e3 Ne5 12. Nxe5 Qxe5 13. Rb1 Rb8 14. Rb5
Qe7 15. d3 d6 16. e4 Bg4 17. Bf3 Bh3 18. Bg2 Bg4 19. Bf3 Bh3 20. Bg2 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.23"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "Grischuk, A."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A37"]
[WhiteElo "2802"]
[BlackElo "2781"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. a3 Nge7 7. O-O O-O 8. Ne1
d6 9. Nc2 Be6 10. Ne3 Qd7 11. d3 Bh3 12. Rb1 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 f5 14. Ned5 Nxd5 15.
Nxd5 Ne7 16. Nc3 h5 17. b4 Rf7 18. f3 e4 19. Bb2 exf3+ 20. Rxf3 Re8 21. bxc5
dxc5 22. Qd2 Qe6 23. Re1 Nc6 24. Nd5 Bxb2 25. Qxb2 Nd4 26. Rf2 b5 27. Qc1 bxc4
28. Qxc4 Nc2 29. Qxc2 Qxd5+ 30. Kg1 Rfe7 31. Rc1 Re5 32. Qc4 Qxc4 33. Rxc4 Kg7
34. e4 fxe4 35. dxe4 Rxe4 36. Rxc5 R8e7 37. Ra5 R4e5 38. Ra6 R5e6 39. Ra5 Re5
40. Ra6 R5e6 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.24"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Grischuk, A."]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A49"]
[WhiteElo "2781"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. d4 d5 4. c4 c6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. Qb3 O-O 7. Nc3 Qb6 8. O-O
Rd8 9. Na4 Qxb3 10. axb3 Na6 11. Nc3 Bf5 12. Bf4 Nh5 13. Bg5 Nf6 14. Bf4 Nh5
15. Bg5 Nf6 16. Rfc1 h6 17. Bd2 Ne4 18. cxd5 cxd5 19. Be1 Nb8 20. e3 Nc6 21.
Nh4 Nxc3 22. bxc3 Be4 23. Bxe4 dxe4 24. b4 a6 25. c4 e6 26. Rab1 Na7 27. Ng2 g5
28. Bc3 Rac8 29. c5 e5 30. dxe5 Nc6 31. Ne1 Bxe5 32. Kf1 Bxc3 33. Rxc3 Rd2 34.
Rc2 Rcd8 35. b5 axb5 36. Rxd2 Rxd2 37. Rxb5 Nd8 38. Rb4 Ne6 39. Rxb7 Nxc5 40.
Rb5 Nd7 41. h3 Kg7 42. Rb4 f5 43. Rc4 Ne5 44. Rc2 Rd1 45. Ke2 Ra1 46. f4 exf3+
47. Nxf3 Nxf3 48. Kxf3 Rf1+ 49. Kg2 Ra1 50. Kf3 Rf1+ 51. Kg2 Ra1 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.24"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Carlsen, M."]
[Black "Aronian, L."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C90"]
[WhiteElo "2876"]
[BlackElo "2780"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. Re1 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Nbd2 Nc6 12. Nf1 h6 13. Ne3 Re8 14. a4 Be6 15. d4
exd4 16. cxd4 Nb4 17. Bb1 bxa4 18. Rxa4 Bf8 19. Ra1 d5 20. e5 Ne4 21. h3 Qb6
22. Nxd5 Bxd5 23. Bxe4 Rad8 24. Bxd5 Rxd5 25. Be3 Red8 26. dxc5 Bxc5 27. Qb3
Bxe3 28. Rxe3 a5 29. e6 fxe6 30. Rae1 R8d6 31. Rc1 Nd3 $2 (31... Rd3 $1 $11)
32. Rc8+ Kh7 33. Qa4 $1 {A nice repositioning of the queen. From here the
queen can threaten the king with Qe8, and it also has access to e4 with lethal
checks.} Qxb2 34. Qe4+ Rf5 35. Kh2 $1 {A key and excellent move. White
prepares the moves g4 and Nh4, but Black still has some resources.} (35. Nh4
Qxf2+ 36. Kh2 Qf4+ $19) 35... Nf4 36. Rc2 $4 {Based on a strong miscalculation
- due to the fact that Carlsen only had about a minute and a half in this
position!} Qa1 $4 {This move, however, is completely based on an oversight.
Aronian had plenty of time to think and he clearly went wrong.} (36... Qb8 $1 {
Is fancy} 37. g3 (37. g4 Ng6 $1 38. gxf5 exf5 $1 {A hard move to find, but the
point is that no matter where the queen goes, the rook will give a deadly
discovered attack winning the White queen, giving Black a decisive advantage.})
37... Nd5 $15) (36... Qb4 37. Rc4 {would still force Aronian to find the Qb8
resource.}) 37. g4 Qf1 {Perhaps here Aronian forgot about White's next move}
38. Ne1 {Everything is defended and Black is helpless against gxf5.} (38. Nh4
Rd1 $19) 38... Nh5 39. gxf5 exf5 40. Qc4 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.24"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Giri, A."]
[Black "Topalov, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E10"]
[WhiteElo "2773"]
[BlackElo "2798"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2
Nbd7 9. Rd1 b6 10. b3 a5 11. Bc3 Bb7 12. Nbd2 c5 13. Ne5 cxd4 14. Bxd4 Nxe5 15.
Bxe5 Qc8 16. Rac1 dxc4 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Qxc4 Bxg2 19. Kxg2 Qb7+ 20. Qe4 Rfb8
21. Rc6 Qd7 22. Rcc1 Qb7 23. Qxb7 Rxb7 24. Ne4 Be7 25. Nd6 Rd7 26. Nc4 Rxd1 27.
Rxd1 b5 28. Ne5 Bf6 29. Nd7 a4 30. Rc1 axb3 31. axb3 Be7 32. Rc7 Rd8 33. Rb7
Bd6 34. g4 {Giri has some pressure: his knight on d7 controls Black's position
and b5 is weak. However it is difficult to make progress as the d7 knight is
hanging whenever the rook stops protecting it, and there is no obvious way to
retreat it.} h5 $2 {Too frisky. Passive defense is uncomfortable, but it was
what the position called for.} (34... h6 35. h4 Kh7 36. h5 g6 {White keeps
some pressure, but Black is in no immediate danger.}) 35. gxh5 Kh7 36. b4 {
Topalov probably missed this move. Now there are serious issues in the
position.} Bxb4 (36... Kh6 37. Nc5 Bxc5 38. bxc5 Rd2 39. Kf3 Rc2 40. Rxb5 {is
of course unpleasant, but perhaps a better chance than what Topalov played in
the game.}) 37. Ne5 Rd5 38. Nxf7 {Black's shattered pawn structure on the
kingside now gives Giri many targets.} Rxh5 39. f4 Kg6 40. Ne5+ Kh7 41. Nf7 Kg6
42. Ne5+ Kh7 43. Nf3 $1 Rf5 (43... Kg6 {was still bad for Black.}) 44. Ng5+ $1
Kh6 (44... Kg6 45. Nxe6 Rf6 (45... Kf6 46. Nxg7 Rxf4 47. Nh5+) 46. e4 $18 {
taking advantage of the king on g6.}) 45. Kf3 {Now Black is out of moves. The
pawn on e6 will be taken next and his position is collapsing. On top of
everything, the position of the king on h6 is dubious.} Bd2 (45... e5 46. Nf7+
Kh7 47. Nxe5 $18) 46. e3 b4 47. Nxe6 Rh5 48. Nxg7 Rxh2 49. Nf5+ Kg6 50. Ne7+
Kf6 51. Nd5+ Ke6 52. Ke4 {White is completely winning.} Rh3 53. Rb6+ Kd7 54.
Kd3 Bc1 55. Rxb4 Kd6 56. Kd4 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.24"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, M."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B92"]
[WhiteElo "2802"]
[BlackElo "2723"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Qd3
b5 9. a4 b4 10. Nd5 Bb7 11. Nxf6+ Bxf6 12. Bd2 a5 13. c3 bxc3 14. Bxc3 O-O 15.
O-O Nc6 16. Rfd1 Re8 $2 {This move was simply bad. It is the source of all of
Black's problems.} (16... Qb6 17. Qb5 Qc7 $11 {Chances are about even in this
complicated position.}) 17. Bf3 Be7 18. Qb5 {Now the rook on e8 is a tactical
target. For example:} Qc8 (18... Qc7 19. Nxa5 $1 Nxa5 20. Bxa5 Qxa5 (20... Rxa5
$2 21. Qxe8+ $18) 21. Qxb7 $16) 19. Bg4 $1 Qxg4 20. Qxb7 Rec8 21. Nxa5 Nxa5 22.
Qxe7 Nb3 23. f3 Qf4 {White has managed to win a pawn, and he is close to
winning with his passed pawns on the queenside. However, he still hast to be
careful.} 24. Ra3 $2 (24. Rab1 $1 Nd4 25. Bd2 Ne2+ 26. Kh1 {and White is
simply winning. We can compare this to the same variation but with 24.Ra3?})
24... Nd4 25. Raa1 {"I spent all my time calculating 25.Bd2, but I could not
see anything clear. Raa1 was also Stupid" - Nakamura.} (25. Bd2 Ne2+ 26. Kh1 (
26. Kf2 Qxh2 27. Kxe2 Qxg2+ 28. Ke3 d5 $1 29. exd5 e4 $1 {And the computers
with sufficient depth seem to think that this game is only a draw. The
complications are very wild, but White is not winning.}) 26... Qxd2 {even
loses for White due to the back rank checkmate.}) 25... Ne2+ (25... Nb3 26.
Rab1 {is not what MVL wanted.}) 26. Kh1 Nxc3 27. bxc3 h5 {Black has some
definite counterplay now. Winning the position is not easy.} 28. Qxd6 Rxc3 29.
Qd5 Ra6 30. Qb5 Rac6 {Black is planning on attacking White's king. White might
be able to win with precise play, but Nakamura's time was running too low for
him to do anything.} 31. Qf1 (31. a5 Rc2 32. Rg1 {would still leave MVL
struggling against the a-pawn, though with plenty of fight ahead.} (32. a6 Rxg2
$1 $19)) 31... h4 32. h3 Rc2 33. Re1 Qd2 {Now it is impossible to make
progress. The winning threat is Rg6.} 34. Red1 Qg5 35. Re1 Qd2 36. Rad1 Qb4 37.
Qd3 Kh7 38. Qd8 Rf6 39. Rc1 Qxa4 {By this point it is obvious the game is a
dead draw.} 40. Rxc2 Qxc2 41. Qd1 Qf2 42. Rf1 Qg3 43. Qd7 Rg6 44. Rg1 Rf6 45.
Rf1 Rg6 46. Rg1 Rf6 47. Rf1 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.24"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Anand, V."]
[Black "Hammer, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2677"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nc3 Nb6 6. d3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8.
Rc1 f5 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. O-O Be6 11. b4 a6 12. a3 Kh8 13. Na4 Nxa4 14. Qxa4 Bd5
15. Bc5 Bd6 16. Qc2 Qf6 17. e4 Be6 18. exf5 Bxf5 19. Be3 a5 20. b5 Ne7 21. Bg5
Qf7 22. Qc3 h6 23. Bxe7 Qxe7 24. Nh4 Bxa3 25. Bxb7 Bxc1 $2 (25... Rab8 26. Nxf5
Rxf5 27. Be4 Rf6 $14) 26. Nxf5 Rxf5 27. Bxa8 Ba3 28. Qxa5 Bc5 29. Be4 {White's
advantage is very strong. He has an extra pawn and can hope to improve his
position slowly. Hammer makes it easy for Anand.} Rf8 30. Kg2 Qd6 31. h4 h5 $6
32. Qd2 Qf6 33. Qe2 g6 $2 (33... Qf7 $16) 34. Bxg6 {A simple tactic.} Qxg6 35.
Qxe5+ Kg8 36. Qxc5 {White's up too many pawns.} 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.25"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Vachier Lagrave, M."]
[Black "Grischuk, A."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2723"]
[BlackElo "2781"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Nbd7 8.
e3 g5 9. Bg3 Ne4 10. Qc2 h5 11. h3 Qf6 12. Bd3 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 Nxg3 14. fxg3 g4
15. hxg4 hxg4 16. Nh4 Nb6 17. Qf2 Qxf2+ 18. Kxf2 Be6 19. Nf5 Kd7 20. Rh4 Rhg8
21. Ke2 Nc8 22. Rf1 Nd6 23. Nxd6 Kxd6 24. Bf5 Rg5 25. Bxe6 Kxe6 26. Rh7 Rf8 27.
a4 b6 28. Kd3 c5 29. Rh6+ f6 30. Rh7 Rf5 31. Rf4 c4+ 32. Ke2 Rxf4 33. gxf4 Kf5
34. Rd7 Ke4 35. Re7+ Kf5 36. Rd7 Ke4 37. Re7+ Kf5 38. Rd7 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.25"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Anand, V."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2798"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 O-O 8. Rc1
dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5 10. O-O cxd4 11. Nxd4 Bd7 12. Qb3 Nc6 13. Nxc6 Bxc3 14. Rxc3
Bxc6 15. Bb5 Bd5 16. Bc4 Bc6 17. Bb5 Bd5 18. Bc4 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.25"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Hammer, J."]
[Black "Carlsen, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "2677"]
[BlackElo "2876"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 a6 {Nothing more than a surprise weapon, clearly,
though it is hard to prepare against someone that usually prepares your
openings!} 4. Bg5 f6 5. Bd2 dxc4 {hard to believe that playing like this can
be good for black.} 6. e3 Nc6 $6 (6... b5 7. b3 cxb3 8. Qxb3 $44) 7. Bxc4 Bd6
8. e4 Nge7 9. O-O O-O 10. Qb3 {White is clearly better in this position. He
has the central control that we teach beginners you must fight for! Black has
no compensation for that.} Kh8 {tactically sound, but not good.} 11. Bxe6 Bxh2+
12. Kxh2 (12. Nxh2 Nxd4 $17) 12... Qd6+ 13. Kh1 Bxe6 14. d5 Bg8 15. Qa3 Qxa3
16. Nxa3 {White is simply better in this position, with some pressure on the
c-file and more space.} Na7 17. Bb4 Rfe8 18. Rac1 Rac8 19. Nd4 f5 20. f3 fxe4
21. fxe4 Ng6 22. Nf5 $6 (22. Rfe1 $14) 22... Rxe4 23. Bc3 Bxd5 $2 {It's not
clear what Carlsen missed. The World Champion usually would be precise enough
to find:} (23... h6 24. Bxg7+ Kh7 25. Bxh6 Bxd5 {with counterplay.}) 24. Bxg7+
Kg8 25. Bd4 {of course. Now the knight on a7 is under attack there is a mate
threat on h6.} Rxd4 26. Nxd4 Bxa2 27. b3 Rd8 $2 (27... c5 28. Rf2 cxd4 29.
Rxc8+ Nxc8 30. Rxa2 {with a better endgame for White, but Black still has
chances to draw.}) 28. Ne6 Rd2 (28... Rd6 $1 $16) 29. Rc3 $1 Re2 $2 30. Nf4 (
30. Rf6 $1 {would finish the game off. The threat of Rcf3 and mate on f8 is
not easy to parry, it would end up costing Black another exchange.}) 30... Rb2
31. Nxg6 (31. Rxc7 {was way more precise.}) 31... hxg6 32. Rxc7 Rxb3 $4 (32...
Nc6 33. Rd1 Bxb3 $1 34. Rdd7 Rf2 {is better for White, but far from over.}) 33.
Rd1 Nc6 34. Rdd7 {Black is simply getting mated after Rc8.} 1-0

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.25"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Aronian, L."]
[Black "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A25"]
[WhiteElo "2780"]
[BlackElo "2802"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 Bc5 4. Bg2 d6 5. e3 a6 6. Nge2 Ba7 7. a3 h5 $5 {
Clear intentions that Nakamura came in a fighting spirit!} 8. d4 h4 9. b4 {
Aronian is not one to shy away from a fight. Black starts attacking on the
light-squares on the kingside, but Aronian sets up an aggressive pawn
structure on the other side of the board.} Nge7 10. c5 Bf5 11. Bb2 Qd7 12. Qb3
(12. d5 Nd8 13. cxd6 cxd6 14. h3 {is complex, but perhaps the best way to go.})
12... h3 13. Bf3 exd4 14. Nxd4 Bg4 {Black keeps weakening White's lightsquares.
} 15. Bxg4 Qxg4 16. Nxc6 Nxc6 17. Qd1 (17. cxd6 O-O-O $5) 17... Qg6 18. cxd6
O-O-O $1 19. Rc1 $2 {This move has no point. Aronian had to be much more
careful of his position.} (19. Qb1 Qh5 20. Qd1 {and perhaps all Black has here
is to repeat moves.}) 19... Rxd6 20. Qc2 Qh5 21. Qe2 Ne5 $1 {Now this move is
too strong.} 22. Qxh5 Nd3+ 23. Ke2 (23. Kf1 Rxh5 24. Rc2 Bxe3 $1 {leads to a
decisive attack.} 25. fxe3 Rf5+ 26. Kg1 Rdf6) 23... Nxc1+ 24. Rxc1 Rxh5 {Naka
is just up an exchange here. The rest is easy for him.} 25. g4 Re5 26. Rg1 Re8
27. Rg3 Bd4 28. Na4 Bxb2 29. Nxb2 Red8 30. Nc4 Rc6 31. Ne5 Rc2+ 32. Ke1 f6 33.
Nf3 Rh8 34. g5 Ra2 35. Nd4 Rxa3 36. Ne6 Ra1+ 37. Ke2 Rh1 38. gxf6 gxf6 39. Nf4
b6 40. Nxh3 Rb1 0-1

[Event "3rd Norway Chess 2015"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2015.06.25"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Caruana, F."]
[Black "Giri, A."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C80"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2015.06.17"]
[SourceDate "2015.02.07"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5
Be6 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3 Be7 11. Bc2 d4 12. Nb3 d3 13. Bb1 Nxb3 14. axb3 Bf5 15.
Re1 O-O 16. b4 Qd7 17. h3 Rfd8 18. g4 Bg6 19. Bf4 a5 20. bxa5 Rxa5 21. Ba2 Rf8
22. b4 Ra4 23. Qd2 Nd8 24. Bg5 c5 25. Bxe7 Qxe7 26. bxc5 Qxc5 27. Nh4 Ne6 28.
Bb3 Rxa1 29. Rxa1 {Caruana used up too much time to get to this position. With
only minutes left on the clock (around seven or eight after Rxa1) it was
Giri's duty to find the precise moves to put pressure on Caruana. Instead the
Italian player escaped easily.} Qxe5 $2 {Simply letting Caruana off the hook.}
(29... Be4 $1 30. Re1 Ba8 31. Qxd3 Qc6 32. f3 Nc5 $1 33. Qd1 Nxb3 34. Qxb3 Qh6
{was a winning line. Giri had over an hour to figure this out.} (34... g5 $1))
30. Nxg6 hxg6 31. Bxe6 fxe6 32. Qxd3 b4 33. Rc1 Qf4 34. Rf1 (34. Qe3 Qxe3 35.
fxe3 Rc8 36. c4 $11) 34... b3 35. Qxg6 Qc4 36. Re1 Rf6 37. Qe8+ Kh7 38. Qh5+ (
38. Re5 $11) 38... Rh6 39. Qe5 Rxh3 40. Qxe6 {The endgame is a draw, and with
this move Caruana completed the time control.} Qxe6 41. Rxe6 Rxc3 42. Rb6 Rc4
43. Rxb3 Rxg4+ 1/2-1/2

