[Event "5th Kings Tournament"]
[Site "Medias/Romania"]
[Date "2011.06.18"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[Annotator "Rogozenco,D"]
[PlyCount "143"]
[EventDate "2011.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Qc2 {The
point of this move is that White keeps the possibility of returning the bishop
to d2, if needed. Such idea was successfully popularized by Kramnik back in
1993, when Magnus was just three years old...} c5 8. dxc5 {[%cal Gg5d2] [#] 
White is ready to play against an isolated pawn on d5. It must be said that
the modern theory considers that Black doesn't have particular problems in
this variation.} h6 (8... Qa5 {is also answered by 9.Bd2.}) 9. Bd2 O-O 10. e3 {
It is interesting that Ivanchuk himself played this line with the white pieces.
} Bxc5 (10... Re8 11. Be2 Bxc5 12. O-O a6 13. Qb3 Nb6 14. Rfd1 Be6 15. Be1 Qe7
16. Nd4 Rac8 17. Rac1 {Ivanchuk,V (2700)-Lautier,J (2655)/Monte Carlo 1995}) (
10... Qe7 11. Be2 Bxc5 12. O-O a6 13. Qb3 Nb6 14. Rac1 Be6 15. Nd4 Rac8 16.
Rfd1 {Ivanchuk,V (2739)-Mamedyarov,S (2719)/Moscow 2009 (blitz game).}) 11. Rc1
({The usual move is} 11. Bd3 {followed by 12.0-0.}) 11... Qe7 12. Be2 ({Now} 
12. Bd3 {is answered with} d4 {completely equalizing right away.}) 12... a6 13.
Qd3 $5 {A tricky move. Before castling White attacks the pawn d5, forcing
Black to misplace one of his pieces.} Nb6 14. O-O Bg4 15. Nd4 {[#]} Bd7 {
Typically for the side having the ISQ (isolated queen pawn) Ivanchuk tries to
keep as many pieces as possible.   After the exchange on e2 Black would have
also weakened square f5.} 16. Bf3 Rfe8 17. b3 {Limiting the activity of the
knight b6.} Ba3 18. Rc2 Rac8 ({There was another option:} 18... Ne4 19. Bc1 Bd6
{and here at least White doesn't exchange so many pieces as in the game.}) 19.
Nce2 $1 Rxc2 20. Qxc2 Be6 21. Bc1 $1 Rc8 22. Bxa3 Qxa3 23. Qd2 {[#]  White has
achieved a slight plus, because Black couldn't take any advantage of his IQP.
Notice that the knight on b6 is still misplaced.} Bg4 {This allows White to
use the light squares in order to create some pressure on the kingside.} 24.
Bxg4 Nxg4 25. Nf5 Nf6 26. h3 (26. Qd4 Nbd7 27. Nf4 {was tempting, but Carlsen
didn't find anything convincing after} Qc5 {since winning a pawn with} 28. Nxd5
Qxd4 29. Nfe7+ Kf8 30. exd4 {allows Black to get counterplay after} Rc2) 26...
Kh7 27. Qd4 {Here White has the same problem as at the previous move: the
queen looks very well centralized on d4, but there is nothing concrete and it
forces Black to improve the position of the knight from b6.} (27. f3 $5) 27...
Nbd7 28. Qf4 Nf8 (28... Qxa2 29. Ned4 {looks scary for Black with his queen
left far away from the king. However, after} Qa3 {White still must prove that
his compensation is worth more than a pawn.}) 29. Neg3 (29. Nxh6 {doesn't work
because of} Ne6) 29... Ng6 30. Qd4 Qc5 31. f3 Qxd4 32. Nxd4 Ne5 33. Rd1 {[#] 
White is only slightly better, but he can play for long, since there is no
clear way for Black to simplify the position.} g6 34. Kf2 Kg7 35. Nge2 Kf8 36.
g4 $1 Nc6 37. Rc1 Ke7 ({Perhaps Ivanchuk had to offer the exchange of rooks
with} 37... Ne7) 38. h4 $1 Kd6 39. h5 Ne7 ({After} 39... gxh5 40. Nf5+ $1 (40.
gxh5 Nxh5 41. Rh1 Ng7 42. Rxh6+ Ne6 {Black holds the balance.}) 40... Ke5 41.
Ned4 $1 {the black king is suddenly very exposed in the center. For instance}
hxg4 {leads to a mate after} 42. f4+ Ke4 43. Rd1 {with inevitable mate with
the knight either on d6 or g3.}) 40. Rh1 $1 gxh5 41. gxh5 Rg8 42. Ng3 Rg5 {[#]}
43. b4 $1 Kd7 44. Rh4 Ne8 45. Rf4 Nd6 46. a4 (46. Rg4 $5 f6 47. Rf4 Ng8 48. a4)
46... b6 (46... Kc7 47. Rg4 $1) 47. a5 $5 ({After} 47. Rf6 Ng8 {the rook must
return to f4.}) 47... bxa5 48. bxa5 f5 ({Preferable was} 48... Kc7 49. Rg4 Rg8)
49. Rh4 Nc4 $6 (49... Rg8 50. Rh1 Rb8 {was called for}) 50. f4 Rg4 51. Rh3 (51.
Rh1 Nxe3 52. Kf3 Rg8 53. Rb1 Nc4 54. Rb7+ Kd6 55. Ndxf5+ Nxf5 56. Nxf5+ Kc5 57.
Rc7+ Kb5 58. Rh7 {also looks strong}) 51... Nd6 52. Rh1 $1 Rg8 53. Rb1 Ra8 54.
Kf3 {[#]  The difference between white and black pieces became obvious.
Black's position is already difficult to save. For some reasons Ivanchuk kept
on playing very quickly here, although he's got plenty of time.} Kc7 55. Ne6+
Kc8 ({Better was} 55... Kd7 56. Nc5+ Kc6 57. Nd3 Nc4) 56. Nc5 Rb8 {This move
that leads to a lost knight endgame also took Ivanchuk less than a minute. On
the other hand the position should be lost anyway.} 57. Rxb8+ Kxb8 58. Nxa6+
Kb7 59. Nb4 Nc4 60. a6+ Kb6 61. Ke2 Nd6 62. Kd3 Nb5 63. Ne2 Ka5 {[#]} 64. Nc3
$1 Nc7 (64... Kxb4 65. Nxb5 Kxb5 66. a7 {queens.}) 65. Nbxd5 $1 {Very nice.
White's passed pawns decide the game.} Nexd5 66. Nxd5 Nxd5 67. a7 Nc7 68. Kd4
Kb6 69. Ke5 Kxa7 70. Kxf5 Nd5 71. Kg6 Nxe3 72. Kxh6 1-0

