Biel 09: MVL leapfrogs Navara

[Event "48th Biel GM 2015"] [Site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2015.07.29"] [Round "9"] [White "Navara, D."] [Black "Vachier Lagrave, M."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A37"] [WhiteElo "2724"] [BlackElo "2731"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2015.07.20"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O Nge7 (6... d6 {I think is more accurate, with the idea of meeting} 7. Ne1 {with} Be6 8. d3 Nge7 9. Nc2 d5 $5 {as in Hevia-Ramirez, 2014. But who am I to tell MVL what to do?}) 7. Ne1 {White rushes his knight to e3, where it controls d5.} a6 $5 {Usually in these systems Black tries to play a5 against White's early a3, but here MVL tries to break on b5 as quickly as possible. An interesting though unusual approach.} (7... d6 8. Nc2 Be6 9. Ne3 {is not as effective, put also possible.} ) 8. d3 Rb8 9. a4 d6 10. Nc2 O-O 11. Rb1 a5 $1 {Quite interesting. White hard counters b5 with this a4 move, but Black now makes sure the queenside is completely locked up, giving him easy access to adventures on the kingside.} 12. Bg5 f6 13. Bd2 f5 14. f4 {Navara decides that he doesn't want to sit and watch as Black improves his kingside position.} Be6 15. Nd5 Nb4 16. fxe5 $6 { I don't like this move at all. It gives Black too much space and central control.} (16. Ncxb4 axb4 17. fxe5 Bxd5 18. cxd5 Bxe5 19. Bg5 $11) 16... Nbxd5 17. cxd5 Nxd5 18. exd6 Qxd6 {Black has two pawn islands against White's three; also his pieces just seem to be in better positions.} 19. Bxa5 {The greedy option, and the only way to justify Navara's decision, but now Black starts rolling the kingside:} f4 $1 20. Qe1 (20. Be1 Be5 21. b4 $1 {Was probably the best option, trying to create some kind of counterplay. However after} fxg3 22. Rxf8+ Rxf8 23. bxc5 gxh2+ 24. Kh1 Qc6 $1 $17 {With some checkmate threats, including Bh3, I would much rather be Black.}) 20... Be5 $1 {It's easy to see that this pressure is close to insurmountable.} 21. e4 fxe3 22. Bc3 Rxf1+ 23. Bxf1 Re8 24. Na3 {White isn't even up a pawn anymore, and his position is very bad. Black's passed pawn on e3, his excellent centralized pieces and safer king give him an almost decisive advantage.} Nxc3 (24... Bd4 {was pretty logical.}) 25. bxc3 Bd5 {Having two bishops shooting lasers at the White king position is also pretty logical.} 26. Nc4 Bxc4 27. dxc4 Qd2 28. Qe2 (28. Qxd2 exd2 29. Rd1 Bxc3 {is just losing.}) 28... Rf8 29. Rxb7 Bxc3 30. Rb1 {losing by force, but already Navara's position was miserable.} Qxe2 31. Bxe2 Rf2 32. Bd3 Rd2 33. Be4 e2 34. Kf2 Ra2 {Black wins the exchange (Re1 is forced) and the endgame is won easily.} 0-1

[Event "48th Biel GM 2015"] [Site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2015.07.29"] [Round "9"] [White "Rapport, R."] [Black "Eljanov, P."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2671"] [BlackElo "2723"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2015.07.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. g4 $5 {The Shabalov-Shirov attack in the Meran fell out of fashion years ago, but it is hard to imagine a player who is more suited to play it than Rapport.} Nxg4 8. Rg1 Nxh2 9. Nxh2 Bxh2 10. Rxg7 Nf8 11. Rg2 Bd6 12. e4 {Even though this has been played many times, it hasn't been seen in top tournament play. The idea has been known for some time, though: Black is greedy, captures the pawn, but his development is not as good as White's and Rapport's Central expansion gives him good chances for compensation.} Ng6 13. Bg5 {It's interesting how often this simple attack of the queen in the Meran forces an awkward reaction. Black doesn't want to give up the f6 square (if he moves the queen), doesn't want to weaken with f6, and he doesn't want to retreat his developed bishop - but he has to choose!} Be7 14. Be3 (14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. O-O-O $13) 14... dxe4 15. O-O-O $5 (15. Nxe4 f5 16. Nc3 f4 {is not good for White.}) 15... f5 16. d5 { White is down two pawns, but things are about to get crazy! The center is exploding and Black's lack of development is dangerous.} Qa5 17. Kb1 (17. d6 Bf6 18. Na4 $1 {was perhaps a better version of what happened in the game.}) 17... Bd7 18. d6 $1 {Going for some positional compensation. Instead of blasting the position open, Rapport closes it, but with the idea of cutting Eljanov's army in half. It will be difficult for him to make his king safe, as well.} Bf6 19. Bd2 Qe5 20. Nb5 $6 {A nice tactical detail, but it is not necessarily such a strong move. Black avoids the trap and asks the knight what it is doing on b5.} (20. Qb3 $5 {counter pressuring b7, ocmes to mind.}) 20... Kf7 (20... cxb5 21. Bc3 Qc5 22. b4 $1 Qc6 23. Bxf6 Rf8 {and White retains a lot of compensation.}) 21. Bc3 Qf4 22. Nc7 $6 {White commits a lot of pieces to the queenside, but Black simply migrates his remaining pieces to the kingside, makes sure nothing happens in the center, and he uses his overwhelming pawn majority to finish the game.} Rag8 23. c5 Bxc3 24. Qxc3 Ne5 { Taking a look at the position, it is clear that Black has an excellent set of pieces and he is up two pawns. It's true that the bishop on d7 is just a big pawn, but if that piece on d7 was actually a real pawn, Black would be better anyway.} 25. Rxg8 Rxg8 26. Be2 Qxf2 {Third pawn, why not?} 27. Qxe5 Qxe2 28. Rh1 Qd3+ (28... Qd3+ 29. Ka1 Qh3 $1 30. Rb1 Qg3 {is just embarassing for White's pieces.}) 0-1