(1) Morozevich,A (2758) - Svidler,P (2735) [C45]
WCh Mexico City MEX (3), 15.09.2007
[Mihail Marin]



1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.Bc4 0-0 8.0-0 Ne5 9.Bb3!?
Morozevich remains faithful to his style. Instead of the approved 9.Be2, he plays a move that has been only rarely seen in games between strong players.

9...d6 10.f3
But this is "almost" a novelty. In most of the games, White preferred to develop his queen's knight, ignoring the threat ...Ng4.

10...Be6 11.Kh1 Bc4 12.Rf2 d5
White's opening experiment seems to have ended into a complete fiasco. He is behind in development and his advantage of space is just about to vanish.

13.Bc2 dxe4
[Black had a wide choice of tempting moves. The most logical seems to be 13...Rad8 , but then White could consider playing f4, immediately or after driving the bishop away with b3.; Maybe 13...Qh4 is best, preventing f4 in view of ...Ng4 and planning to place his rooks on the open files. It would not have been easy for White to complete his development.]

14.Nd2!
White hurries to bring his pieces into play. The point behind his last move is that 14...exf3? loses a piece to 15.Nxc4 Nxc4 16.Qd3, atacking c4 and h7.

14...Bd3?!
[After this move White is back in the game. Once he cleared the d5-square with his previous move, Black should have used it with 14...Nd5 for instance 15.Nxe4 Qb6 and White is still under pressure.]

15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.fxe4 Qg6 17.Rf4
White has a normal position now; chances are about equal. Svidler must have ben still under the impression of his missed advantage, because in the next phase of the game he effectuates a series of pseudo-active moves, completely losing coordination.

17...Nc4 18.Bg1 Qh6 19.Rf3 Qd2 20.Qb1 Bb6 21.Bb3!
Suddenly, Black is in trouble. If the knight moves, Be3 wins the queen.

21...Bxd4 22.cxd4
But now, White's pair of bishops and his mobile centre offers him a huge advantage.

22...Na5 23.Bc2 Rad8 24.Rc3 Nac6 25.d5 Nb4 26.Bb3 Na6 27.Be3 Qe2 28.Bc4 Qg4 29.h3 Qh4 30.Bxa6 bxa6 31.Rxc7 f5 32.Bc5 Rfe8 33.d6 Ng6 34.exf5 Nf4 35.Qc2 Re2 36.Qb3+ Kh8 37.Rg1 1-0