2017 Tata Rd4: Taking no prisoners

[Event "79th Tata Steel Chess 2017-Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2017.01.17"] [Round "4"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Wei, Yi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C24"] [WhiteElo "2840"] [BlackElo "2706"] [Annotator "Georg Meier"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventCountry "NED"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 {The bishops´s opening or Italian game reminds me of the London system (1.d4 followed by Bf4 on move 2 or 3) that also had a resurgence of late, not least due to Magnus´s efforts. You can of course find fresh ideas everywhere, but the main point of these openings - at least to me - is to keep a lot of pieces on the board and beat your opponent by a better understanding of positional play and pawn structures.} c6 4. Nf3 d6 {A bit tame. But it was played after almost 6 minutes of contemplation, indicating that Yi has not made up his mind about this opening beforehand.} (4... d5 5. Bb3 Bb4+ {sophisticated!} (5... Bd6 6. Nc3 {would force Black to eventually release the tension in the center.}) 6. c3 Bd6 {is a popular line for Black}) 5. O-O Be7 6. Bb3 (6. Re1 O-O 7. a4 {would be the modern way to play.}) 6... O-O {Both sides are free to further development, so we get an impression of where both players feel their pieces belong.} 7. c3 Nbd7 8. Re1 Nc5 9. Bc2 Bg4 10. Nbd2 Ne6 11. h3 Bh5 12. Nf1 Nd7 $1 {This is important in connection with Bg4: Black must be ready to take on f3 and then he should soon halve White´s bishop pair with Bg5.} 13. g4 $5 ({Normal would be} 13. Ng3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 g6 { keeping the Ng3 at bay and with Bg5 soon following.}) 13... Bg6 14. Ng3 { The bishop on g6 will be passive for a long time, but White also created a hole on f4.} Ng5 {Being a bit cramped, Black wants to exchange pieces.} 15. Bxg5 {After 20 minutes thought! I don´t think Magnus was too thrilled with his position at this point.} (15. Kg2 Nxf3 16. Qxf3 Re8 $1 {A smart waiting move, opening the d7-f8-e6 route for the N.} 17. Be3 Bg5 18. Bxg5 Qxg5 19. Rad1 Rad8 {is completely satisfactory for Black.}) (15. Nf5 Bxf5 16. gxf5 Nxf3+ 17. Qxf3 Bg5 {with a good position for Black was mentioned by Carlsen.}) 15... Bxg5 16. d4 Bf4 {From here on it looks very much like Black was looking for direct ideas, when all he had to do is patiently improve his position.} (16... Re8 { getting the rook into play and vacating f8 for the N; good value for a tempo.}) 17. Ne2 Qf6 18. Kg2 exd4 $2 {"An absolute gift"(Carlsen). Black is giving up the center for no reason.} (18... Rad8 19. Nxf4 Qxf4 20. Qc1 Qxc1 21. Raxc1 f6 $11) 19. Nfxd4 Rfe8 20. Nxf4 Qxf4 21. f3 {Now White has a straightforward plan: Get rid of the queen on f4 and push his kingside pawns. At this point Black had to look for ways to limit the damage, and quickly.} (21. Qc1 Bxe4+ 22. Bxe4 Rxe4 23. Qxf4 Rxf4 24. Re7 {looks tempting, but Black still holds on with} Nc5 25. Rae1 Kf8 26. Kg3 g5) 21... Nb6 $6 {Further drifting...} (21... d5 {would guarantee that Black does not run out of space. The isolated pawn would remain his only worry after} 22. exd5 Bxc2 (22... cxd5 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Ba4 $1 { leaves White with the superior minor piece forever.}) 23. Qxc2 cxd5) 22. Qc1 Qxc1 23. Raxc1 d5 24. e5 Nd7 25. f4 Bxc2 26. Rxc2 {Black must have underestimated the dangers of this endgame. Clearly, digging in and holding the fort does not come easy to the Chinese prodigy. He proceeds to lose in no time.} Nc5 ({To put up a line of defense black should take f5 under control, grab space with a5 to somewhat secure c5 for his N and then centralize his king. A reasonable sequence would be:} 26... g6 27. Kf3 a5 28. h4 Nc5 29. Re3 ( 29. g5 Kf8 30. h5 Ke7) 29... Kf8) 27. Re3 Rad8 28. Kf3 Ne4 29. b4 $16 {The black N has no way back, and White is ready to settle Black with a weakness by c3-c4xd5 and decisively open the c-file.} g5 $2 {Only creating more weaknesses. } (29... f6 $1 30. exf6 (30. e6 Nd6 {looks like a decent blockade still}) 30... Nxf6 31. Ne6 Rc8 32. Rce2 Kf7 33. Ng5+ Kf8 34. f5 {with a large advantage, but exchanges will ease some of the pressure.}) 30. c4 c5 (30... gxf4 31. Kxf4 f6 32. e6 $18) 31. Nb5 gxf4 32. Kxf4 cxb4 33. cxd5 {This game clearly showed Wei not being comfortable with a quiet manoeuvering struggle. And obviously Carlsen is aware of this shortcoming. Given a strategically superior position out of nowhere he converted with ease.} 1-0