[Event "5th Zurich CC 2016"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2016.02.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Shirov, A."]
[Black "Kramnik, V."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2684"]
[BlackElo "2801"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2016.02.12"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ne7 10. h3 Bd7 11. Be3 Ng6 12. Rad1 Ke8 13. a3 Be7 14.
Rfe1 Rd8 15. Ne4 b6 16. Bc1 Kf8 17. Neg5 Be8 18. Nd4 Rd5 19. Nf5 Rxe5 20. Rxe5
Nxe5 21. Nxe7 Kxe7 22. Re1 f6 23. Nf3 Bg6 24. Nxe5 fxe5 25. Rxe5+ Kf7 26. Bg5
Re8 27. Rxe8 Kxe8 28. c3 Kd7 29. Bf4 Bc2 30. g4 a5 31. Kg2 a4 32. Kg3 b5 33.
Be5 g6 34. Kf4 Ke6 35. Bxc7 h6 36. Ke3 Kd5 37. Bf4 h5 38. gxh5 1/2-1/2

[Event "5th Zurich CC 2016"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2016.02.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "Giri, A."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B92"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2798"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2016.02.12"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Be3
Be6 9. Bf3 Nbd7 10. O-O O-O 11. a4 Qc7 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. exd5 Bf5 14. c3 Bg6 15.
a5 f5 16. Ra4 b5 17. axb6 Nxb6 18. Ra2 Nc4 19. Bc1 a5 20. Nd2 Nb6 21. Ra3 a4
22. c4 Bf6 {Something has clearly gone wrong for White. His development is far
from ideal, Black's position is active and he has pressure on the queenside as
well as expansion possibilities on the center/kingside. Nakamura senses the
danger and tries to change the landscape.} 23. g4 $1 {Weakning the kingside
horribly, but obtaining control over e4.} Bg5 24. gxf5 Bxf5 25. Rc3 Nd7 $6 {
Missing a computer-like win.} (25... a3 $1 26. bxa3 (26. Rxa3 Rxa3 27. bxa3 Bh3
28. Re1 Qf7 {and there is no good way of meeting the threat of Bxd2.}) 26...
Na4 27. Rb3 Nc5 28. Rc3 Qa5 {and defending the rook on c3 is impossible.}) 26.
b4 axb3 27. Nxb3 Bxc1 28. Qxc1 Nc5 $2 {This is probably the big error in
Giri's game. He should have kept the pieces, maybe start eyeing the f4 square
with Nf6 or something similar. The trades allow Nakamura to release the
pressure and simplify into a drawn endgame.} 29. Nxc5 Qxc5 30. Qe3 Qxe3 31.
Rxe3 Rfc8 32. Be2 g6 33. f4 exf4 34. Rxf4 Re8 35. Rxe8+ Rxe8 36. Kf2 Kg7 37.
Bg4 Re5 38. Bxf5 Rxf5 39. Rxf5 gxf5 40. Ke3 Kg6 41. Kd4 Kf6 42. c5 dxc5+ 43.
Kxc5 Ke7 44. d6+ Kd7 45. Kd5 f4 46. Ke4 Kxd6 47. Kxf4 1/2-1/2

[Event "5th Zurich CC 2016"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2016.02.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Anand, V."]
[Black "Aronian, L."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C48"]
[WhiteElo "2784"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2016.02.12"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nc3 {The four knights is a surprisingly
unpopular version of avoiding the Berlin, mainly due to the fact that Black
has plenty of options that supposedly give him an acceptable game.} Bd6 {
ultra solid. The point is that the bishop will retreat to f8 eventually or
move to c5 when e5 is properly defended.} 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 Re8 7. a3 {I can't
find any super-high level example of this move, though I suppose it does make
sense to clear up a2 for the bishop in case it needs it.} h6 8. Bc4 Bc5 9. Be3
Bxe3 10. fxe3 d6 {In this position Black's rook would rather be on f8. White
has a couple of extra tempi, but somehow I feel Black is solid enough to be ok.
} 11. Nh4 Be6 12. Nf5 Bxc4 $6 {Even though it is natural to break up the
structure, Black's position is so underdeveloped and the pressure on the
kingside is mounting at such an alarming rate that this trade may already be
too ambitious.} (12... Nb8 {immediately was probably a safer choice}) 13. dxc4
Kh7 $2 (13... Re6 {trying to hold on to the kingside, was been better.}) 14.
Qf3 $1 {Anand smells blood!} (14. Nd5 {was also good enough for a big
initiative, but it was not as accurate.}) 14... Nb8 {With the idea of
solidifying the kingside with Nb8-d7. But this is too late.} (14... Ng8 {
is a sad move to make, but might have already been necessary. After} 15. c5 {
clearly White stands better.} (15. Qg3 $5)) 15. Nxh6 $1 Kxh6 (15... gxh6 16.
Qxf6 Qxf6 17. Rxf6 Kg7 18. Raf1 {is hopeless. White is too active and has an
extra pawn.}) 16. Qh3+ Kg6 (16... Nh5 17. Rxf7 (17. g4 {are both winning
easily.})) 17. Rf3 {not the only winning move, actually, but the most exact.
White threatens Rg3+ or Qf5+ and Rh3.} Nh5 18. Rf5 Nf6 19. Qh4 {Black gets
mated next move.} 1-0

[Event "5th Zurich CC 2016"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2016.02.13"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Shirov, A."]
[Black "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "2684"]
[BlackElo "2787"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2016.02.12"]

1. e4 e6 {It's unusual to see Nakamura play a French...} 2. d4 d5 3. e5 {
Though most French players will tell you that if they know white will play 3.
e5 for sure, they would play the French all day every day!} c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3
Qb6 6. a3 Nh6 7. b4 {I've never beelieved in the lines that involve Bxh6
against the French, even though the great advance French expert, Grischuk,
used it against Caruana kind of recently. (In a blitz game, in which he lost!).
} cxd4 8. Bxh6 gxh6 9. cxd4 Bd7 10. Ra2 Rg8 11. h3 (11. g3 {Grischuk-Caruana,
2014 Dubai Blitz WCH}) 11... h5 12. g3 h4 13. g4 Be7 14. Be2 f6 {Pretty
typical French stuff. Black has the pair of bishops and is fighting to break
open the center.} 15. b5 Nd8 {Making way for f7. The knight has plenty of
potential from there.} (15... Na5 $5) (15... Nxd4 16. Qxd4 Qxd4 17. Nxd4 fxe5 {
is a bit too optimistic, but not suicidal by any means.}) 16. Qd3 Rg7 17. Nc3
Nf7 18. O-O $6 {This is so brave, it definitely crosses the line into foolish.
Why castle into it?} (18. exf6 Bxf6 19. Qe3 $15) 18... h5 (18... fxe5 19. Nxe5
Nxe5 20. dxe5 Rc8 $17 {was probably stronger, leaving h5 for a later moment
while finishing the development of the queenside. We will see soon how this is
important.}) 19. Na4 Qd8 20. exf6 Bxf6 21. Nc5 hxg4 22. hxg4 b6 (22... Rxg4+
23. Kh1 {leaves Black's position a tad awkward as White does have a lot of
threats here, including the pawns on e6 and b7.}) 23. Nxd7 Qxd7 24. Kh1 Rc8 25.
Rc2 Rxc2 26. Qxc2 Nd6 27. Ne5 Bxe5 28. dxe5 Ne4 29. Kg2 Nc5 30. Rh1 Qe7 31. Qc1
Rh7 32. Qe3 Qg7 33. Rc1 Qf8 {It seems that White has managed to stabilize his
position.} 34. a4 (34. f3 $11) 34... Rf7 35. f3 Rf4 36. Rxc5 $4 {This move is
so hard to understand. Perhaps Shirov thought he had adequare counterplay with
his passed pawns?} bxc5 37. a5 h3+ (37... Rb4 {is also totally winning...
Black is just up the exchange.}) 38. Kg3 $2 h2 39. Kxh2 Qh6+ 40. Kg2 Rxg4+ {
costs White a queen.} 0-1

[Event "5th Zurich CC 2016"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2016.02.13"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Kramnik, V."]
[Black "Aronian, L."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A07"]
[WhiteElo "2801"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2016.02.12"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. d3 O-O 6. Nbd2 Nc6 7. d4 Ne4 8. c3
f5 9. Ne1 e5 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nd3 Ng6 12. c4 Be6 13. cxd5 Nxd2 14. dxe6 Nxf1
15. Kxf1 c6 16. Qb3 Qb6 17. Qc4 Kh8 18. Be3 Qc7 19. f4 Rad8 20. Rc1 Bf6 21. Qb4
Rfe8 22. Bxa7 Ra8 23. Bb6 Qc8 24. Bd5 Nf8 25. Bb3 Nxe6 26. a4 Nf8 27. Nc5 Nd7
28. Nxd7 Qxd7 29. Rd1 Qe7 30. Qxe7 Rxe7 31. Bc2 g6 32. b4 Rae8 33. Bd8 Rf7 34.
Bb6 Rfe7 35. Bd8 Rf7 36. Bb3 Rxd8 37. Rxd8+ Bxd8 38. Bxf7 Be7 39. b5 cxb5 40.
axb5 Kg7 41. Bd5 b6 42. Kg2 g5 43. Kf3 gxf4 44. Kxf4 Kf6 45. Bc4 Bd6+ 46. Kf3
h6 47. Bd3 Ke5 48. h3 Kf6 49. Bc2 Bc7 1/2-1/2

[Event "5th Zurich CC 2016"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "2016.02.13"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Giri, A."]
[Black "Anand, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2798"]
[BlackElo "2784"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2016.02.12"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 O-O 8. Re1 h6
9. h3 Be6 10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. Be3 Bxe3 12. Rxe3 Qd7 13. Nbd2 Qf7 14. g3 Nd7 15.
Kg2 a5 16. Qc2 Nc5 17. Rf1 Qd7 18. b3 Ne7 19. Nc4 b5 20. axb5 Qxb5 21. Rb1 Nc6
22. Ncd2 Rab8 23. d4 exd4 24. Nxd4 Nxd4 25. cxd4 Na6 26. Qc3 Qb6 27. Nf3 Nb4
28. Qc4 Rbe8 29. Rc1 Rf7 {The position is relatively level. Black's strong
knight on b4 has a comfortable outpost, but White enjoys more space and some
pressure against c7.} 30. Nd2 Ref8 31. f4 $6 (31. Rf1 {should keep the balance,
but Giri gets too ambitious.}) 31... e5 $1 {The Dutch player must have
underestimated this move. White has no good way of dealing with this break.}
32. Nf3 (32. fxe5 d5 33. exd5 (33. Qe2 Rf2+ 34. Qxf2 Rxf2+ 35. Kxf2 Qxd4 {
is also very bad.}) 33... Rf2+ 34. Kh1 Rxd2 {is an extra piece for Black.}) (
32. dxe5 Qxe3 {is impossible.}) (32. f5 exd4 $17) 32... exf4 33. gxf4 d5 $1 34.
exd5 Qd6 $1 {Black is in no hurry: with the powerful blockade over the d5 pawn
and the weakness on f4 he is almost winning, the king on g2 is too exposed.}
35. Ne5 Rxf4 36. Kg1 Kh7 37. Rg3 R8f5 38. Rg4 Qf6 39. Rxf4 Rxf4 40. Rf1 Qg5+
41. Kh2 Re4 {When you're attacking, don't trade pieces} 42. Nf3 Qf4+ 43. Kg2
Re3 44. Qc1 Re2+ 45. Kh1 Qg3 {White is soon getting mated. A nice start for
Anand!} 0-1

