[Event "73rd Tata Steel GMA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2011.01.22"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "Smeets, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D44"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2662"]
[Annotator "Elshan Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2011.01.14"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 dxc4 {#The Botvinnik system.
This has become Smeets's pet line these days. A bold choice against an "in
form" Nak!} 6. e4 b5 7. e5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Nxg5 hxg5 10. Bxg5 Nbd7 11. g3 {The
most accurate.} (11. exf6 {ef6 would give Black an extra option after} Bb7 12.
g3 c5 13. d5 Nxf6 {which is good enough for Black. That said, it is not a part
of Smeets' fighting resume, since he avoided this continuation against Giri in
round two and went for the main line instead.}) 11... Bb7 (11... Rg8 {used to
be a long story of its own, however, this messy line is now considered
"unacceptable" for Black these days.}) 12. Bg2 Qb6 13. exf6 c5 14. d5 O-O-O 15.
O-O b4 16. Na4 Qb5 17. a3 exd5 18. axb4 cxb4 19. Bf4 Bh6 {#Both players are
following the "footsteps" of Giri-Smeets which ended in a wild draw!} 20. Qd2
$1 {Simple, new and of course: strong!} ({Giri went for the less efficient} 20.
Bd6) 20... Bxf4 21. Qxf4 Bc6 22. Qd4 Kb8 23. Rfe1 Rhe8 {#In this position,
very typical of the Botvinnik System, White is winning. However, It is
Nakamura who goes astray first!} 24. Re7 ({The simple} 24. Qf4+ $1 {would have
sealed Smeets' fate earlier, since} Kc8 25. Re7 Qa5 {would no longer work as
in the game due to} 26. Qd6 $1) 24... Qa5 {This move could have turned the
tables, and though Nak has missed a chance, he stays cool and converts his
advantage by consolidating his position.} 25. Rxf7 Bxa4 26. Bxd5 Qc5 27. Qf4+
Ne5 28. Be4 Rd7 29. Rg7 Bb5 30. Rxd7 Bxd7 31. Bg6 Rf8 32. Re1 Qd6 33. Qxe5 Rxf6
34. Qxd6+ Rxd6 {#After many several inaccuracies, the sky is blue all of a
sudden. It is easy to conclude "the rest is a matter of technique",
nevertheless, that is for us with engines at hand, not for the players who
have to compete with all the pressures including the clocks counting down!} 35.
Bf7 $1 {Prophylactic and precise!} Rd2 36. Bxc4 Rxb2 37. h4 Bg4 38. Kg2 a5 39.
Re5 Rc2 40. Rb5+ Kc7 41. Bd5 Rd2 42. Bf7 Bd7 43. Rxa5 Bc6+ 44. Kf1 Bf3 45. Ra1
Kd6 46. Bb3 (46. Re1 {cuts the king off from kingside and supports the h-pawn
march to promotion.}) 46... Rd3 47. Rb1 Kc5 48. Ke1 Kb5 49. Bd1 Bxd1 50. Rxd1
Rc3 {#"All rook endings are drawn", once said Dr.Tarrasch. Well....I suppose
he did not mean this one!} 51. h5 b3 52. Kd2 Rc8 53. Rc1 Rf8 54. f4 Kb4 55. Rh1
Ka3 56. Ke3 b2 57. g4 Rc8 58. Rb1 Ka2 59. Rxb2+ Kxb2 60. h6 Kc3 61. g5 {A fine
game by Nakamura who with this win tops the leaderboard alone once more.} 1-0

[Event "73rd Tata Steel GMA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2011.01.22"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Kramnik, V."]
[Black "Giri, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2784"]
[BlackElo "2686"]
[Annotator "Elshan Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2011.01.14"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Qa4+ {#An
odd choice by Kramnik.} Qd7 (7... Nd7 {is another fine choice.}) 8. Qb3 O-O 9.
Be3 c5 {This is *not* a novelty by the way. Just almost.} (9... b6 {is the
main line according to statistics, though Giri's choice is not bad at all.})
10. d5 e6 $6 {seems dubious.} (10... Qc7 11. Nf3 Nd7 12. Bd3 b5 {seems to
offer good counterplay, though Kramnik would no doubt have some improvement
earlier in the line.}) 11. Bc4 exd5 12. Bxd5 Qc7 13. Ne2 Nd7 14. Bf4 Ne5 {
#With his perfectly placed bishop on d5 White is clearly better.} 15. O-O c4
16. Qb4 Re8 17. Bg3 Rb8 {To be honest, I do not think Giri blundered this pawn.
On the contrary, it presents a good practical choice since it is really
difficult to develop Black's pieces.} 18. Qxc4 Qxc4 19. Bxc4 Bd7 {#} 20. Rfd1 {
Stylish! However, I'd still feel safer with that bishop on d5!} Nxc4 21. Bxb8
Ba4 22. Bxa7 Bxd1 23. Rxd1 Rxe4 {In a sense, Giri has actually tricked Kramnik
somehow. White's chances are vastly reduced now, however, as the saying in
chess goes: "A pawn is a pawn!"} 24. Rd8+ Bf8 25. Bc5 Rxe2 26. g4 Rxa2 27. g5
$2 {#Kramnik tries to weave a mating net. Unfortunately, the advance of the
g-pawn now gives Giri a golden chance which...} Ne5 $2 {he lets slip away!} ({
Instead} 27... Nd2 $1 28. Bxf8 f5 $1 29. gxf6 Kf7 30. Bh6 Nf3+ 31. Kg2 Nh4+ 32.
Kh3 Nf5 33. Bg5 Rxf2 34. Rd7+ Kg8 35. c4 Rf3+ 36. Kg2 Rc3 $1 {would have given
Black excellent drawing chances due to the lack of sufficient material,
however, in practice it is still a long way before shaking hands.}) 28. Bxf8 f6
29. Be7+ Kf7 30. Bxf6 {White is a pawn up now, and this time Kramnik does not
any leave Giri a single chance.} Ra5 31. Kg2 Ng4 32. Rd7+ Ke6 33. Re7+ Kf5 {#}
34. Bd4 $1 {Excellent technique! White's bishop will outplay Black's knight.} (
{Kramnik has no interest in knowing whether Dr. Tarrasch is right this time
after} 34. Rxh7 Nxf6 35. gxf6 Kxf6 36. Rxb7 Rc5 {Referring to his adage "All
rook endings are drawn".}) 34... Kxg5 35. Rxh7 Ne5 36. Rxb7 Nc4 37. Rc7 Nd6 38.
Be3+ Kf5 39. Kf3 Ra4 40. Bd4 Ke6 41. Rg7 Kf5 42. Ra7 Rxa7 43. Bxa7 Nc4 44. Bb8
Nb2 45. Bg3 Nc4 46. h3 g5 47. Ke2 Ke4 48. f3+ Kd5 49. Bc7 Ke6 50. Kd3 Kd5 51.
f4 gxf4 52. Bxf4 Nb2+ 53. Kc2 Nc4 54. h4 Ke4 55. Bc1 Ne5 56. h5 Nd7 57. h6 Nf6
58. c4 Nh7 59. Kb3 {A great game by Kramnik, whose odd opening choice worked
out quite well. Giri fought well but his bold try was insufficient against
Kramnik's technique!} 1-0

[Event "73rd Tata Steel GMA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2011.01.22"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Wang Hao"]
[Black "Shirov, A."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2731"]
[BlackElo "2722"]
[Annotator "Elshan Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "124"]
[EventDate "2011.01.14"]

{The most exciting draw of the day!} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5.
b3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 Ne4 7. O-O f5 {# A stonewall! A very rare guest at the top
level. I personally remember a fine exciting game between Karpov-Spassky from
their Candidates Semifinal match (My Great Predecessors, volume 4...Right Mr.
Short?!)} 8. Ba3 Bxa3 9. Nxa3 O-O 10. b4 a5 11. Nc2 axb4 12. Nxb4 g5 13. Nd2
Qe7 14. a3 Ndf6 15. f3 c5 $1 {#} 16. dxc5 $6 {Inaccurate and too optimistic in
my opinion. Nc2 should be better objectively.} Qxc5 {Very original, as one
might expect from Shirov. Whether he is in form or not, he is fire on the
board. Here his fire does not shoot him back, and Black has the initiative!}
17. fxe4 dxe4 18. Be2 Qxe3+ 19. Kh1 Rd8 20. Ra2 Rxa3 21. Rxa3 Qxa3 22. Qb3 Qxb3
23. Nxb3 {#} e3 $4 {Terrible! Black loses a pawn for nothing!} ({Instead he
could have gone for} 23... f4 24. c5 Kg7 25. Kg1 e3 {which is not that easy
for White.}) 24. Nc2 Ne4 {Shirov might have forgotten about the pin on the
f-file} 25. Nxe3 Nc3 26. Re1 Nxe2 27. Rxe2 {#It is easy to say "White is a
piece up". However, due to the amount of material left on the board it is not
"that easy" to convert this position into a full point.} Rd3 28. Nc5 Ra3 29.
Kg1 Kf7 30. Kf2 b6 31. Nc2 Rc3 32. Na4 Rxc4 33. Nxb6 Rf4+ 34. Kg1 Ba6 35. Re1
Bd3 36. Rc1 Ke7 37. Ne3 Rd4 38. Rc7+ Kd6 39. Rd7+ Kc5 40. Na4+ $1 {Wang Hao
has done his best so far.Though, it may not be enough to win this game} Rxa4
41. Rxd3 {#This diagram deserves a full analysis in CBM!} Ra1+ 42. Kf2 Ra2+ 43.
Kf3 h5 {#It is not at all clear how White can improve his position.} 44. h3 g4+
45. Kf4 Ra4+ 46. Kg5 f4 47. Nd1 e5 48. Rd2 (48. hxg4 hxg4 49. Kxg4 f3+ $1 {is
the point!}) 48... f3 49. gxf3 gxh3 50. Nb2 Ra3 51. Nd3+ Kd4 52. Ne1+ Ke3 53.
Rh2 Rc3 54. Nc2+ Kd3 (54... Rxc2 {is also a draw!}) 55. Ne1+ Ke3 56. f4 exf4
57. Rxh3+ Kd4 58. Nf3+ Ke4 59. Nd2+ Kd4 60. Rh4 Ke3 61. Nf1+ Ke2 62. Rxf4 Rf3 {
#Shirov does not leave any room for any "Norwegian Miracle"!} 1/2-1/2

